I'm a loose knitter, and knit my handspun (also commercial) sock yarn on
size 1s. Personally, I prefer smaller gauge yarns to large, they stress
my hands and wrists less. Plus, I like to wear my socks inside street
shoes, not just barn boots :)
Our phobia against 'small' gauges like 8 st to the inch is rather funny,
considering the socks men, women, and children routinely knit not much
more than 150 years ago.
When I started knitting in the late 70s, the only magazine I had access
to was Mon Tricot (every copy of which I treasure--they weren't dumbed
down, but were inspirational to me as a beginner and I still enjoy as an
experienced knitter). I had a baby, so was interested in the baby
issues. I used to go through and circle the gauge of each pattern so as
not to accidently want to knit something at more than 5 sts to the inch
:) I've since realized it's a silly phobia, and am making plans for
layettes at 8 sts for a grandma 'hope chest' (no, neither the married
nor single son has any news for me--yet! :)
Many people who complain their hands hurt when knitting on small needles
should just learn to relax their grip. Sometimes I think the knitters I
watch believe their needles are frictionless <g>
Holly
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