Cast Off One

Had to share that I finished and cast off the first sock of my pair! It was a mile of 2x2 rib, but I powered through. Putting in the little twist pattern did help get through it. You can see the spiral when it's not all stretched out, but once I put them on, it more or less disappears. I'd show you a picture, but I am going to wait until I have the pair done.

(Ok, ok, I'll give you a peak)

Now as to the cast off [aka bind off, for some of you]: I have always done it in the regular way (knit 2, * pass first stitch over second, knit 1, repeat from *). In ribbing, I will sometimes get fancy and cast off in the ribbing pattern. This will give it slightly more stretch than knitting every stitch. Other than that, I'm a straight forward caster offer.

But recently I have been reading about sock techniques, just to learn, you know, and expand my horizons. I read about EZ's method in The Opinionated Knitter which is more sewing than knitting. And then read some threads on Ravelry that said they had an even better and easier method than EZ's. Wow, I could barely believe it, but I could try.

I tried the so-called superior method which involved * knitting two stitches together, only dropping the first stitch, repeat from *. I took a lot of pictures so I could share this method. I knit through the back loop first. It looked nice, but wasn't very stretchy. Then I tried knitting through the front loop in case I misunderstood the directions. It also looked nice and also didn't stretch much. The whole point was to get a stretchy cast off so that it gives enough to get over my heel, but still will hold my socks up. The so-called superior method was not working for me.I then said to myself: trust EZ.

I then said to myself: trust EZ. So I used EZ's sewing cast off. And guess what? It was stretchy, yet bounced back enough to hold up my sock. I love EZ.

So I took a couple pictures to share this method with you, just in case you are the type of person that understands even the simplest of instructions better with a visual demonstration. (And I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that. In fact, I married someone like that.)

First. Cut your yarn about four times longer than the row or round you have to bind off. Thread onto a tapestry needle.

Step 1. Push needle through first two stitches from right to left
and pull yarn through.

Step 2. Push needle through just the first stitch from left to right
and pull yarn through. Drop this stitch off the left needle. And repeat steps 1 and 2 until you've worked through all the stitches. Keep everything relaxed and certainly don't pull the yarn too tight. (You'll lose all that stretch.)

When you're working in the round if you really want to add the finishing touch, then on the very first stitch that you would drop off, slip it onto the end of the needle to the right instead. This will make it the last stitch you sew through (as well as the first) so that you perfectly complete your round. That's it. Easy peasy, eh?

That's all I have on socks. Well, I did cast on the second one yesterday and have all the toe increases done. Now I just have to decided where I want the white stripes on this one. (You didn't think I'd make them identically matched, did you?)

As for other things, last night I finally got around to blocking my Birthday Cowl:
I've been using it again the last couple days (BIG temperature drop) and the curling edges were driving me crazy. And whenever I was the least bit warmed up, it was itchy (a little). So I soaked it in some water with hair conditioner, and pinned it down. I'm hoping it will be dry by tomorrow because I'll have to leave the house again, and they're telling me it will be cold.

Don't the colours just look great when it's laid out flat like that, and how you can really see the path of the bias rib? The colour's called Snow Bird. I just love that for some reason I can't figure out. Snow Bird.

Kind of wishing I was a snow bird right now...come, spring, come!
-christina

Catching Up

Let's catch up on a few projects I've started or finished lately:

1. I started a red better plastic bag yesterday.

I am just loving the solid red colour; it's surprisingly rich and looks like it's just been soaked in dye. It looks like I'll have plenty to make at least one large tote. (Phew!) This bag has a rectangle bottom (about 4" x 12") and I'm not sure yet how tall it will get. I think I will do short "in line" handles (like the black and white book bag) instead of the longer handles I did on the other large totes.

2. I cast on for another Hat Fit for a Boyfriend. This one is for a co-worker's son who was recently deployed to Iraq. It's cold at night so I thought a soft, light-weight, Malabrigo hat would be just the thing. I should have enough of the same brown left over from the two hats I made previously.

3. I finished my Birthday Cowl. I had a few false starts but really like how it turned out. First of all, the Malabrigo colour "Snow Bird" couldn't look better! Second, it fits well and is so warm; it seems to keep a cushion of warm air around my neck--so nice!

I did modify the pattern slightly. It's a biased rib, written to slant from right to left. But doing decreases right to left means you have to do a slip stitch decrease (aka ssk) which is a) time consuming because you have to pause in your forward momentum and "back up" to slip and pass the slip stitch over; and b) not as attractive. No matter how you do it, the ssk is never as smooth or nice as a simple K2tog. But the K2tog leans left to right so you can't use it in this pattern...right?

Nope, you simply need to accept a left to right slanting bias and reverse the instructions. So sl1, k1, psso, k6, yo, k3 becomes k3, yo, K6, K2tog. Simple, right? It was, and is. And then I made one more small change: I didn't like the hole left by the YO so I just picked up the yarn from the previous row. (This is exactly equivalent except the YO makes the yarn a little longer and that's what I didn't want.) So my final pattern was k3, M1, K6, K2tog.

3. This session's Caps for a Cure:

I did the yellow in November and got the red one done during my travels and time off over Christmas. I like the Foliage pattern a lot. They will be sent to a cancer center in LA, CA. (Why do they need hats in such a warm climate?? Mostly because of A/C being set too cold! :pet peeve alert:)

You may notice I tried a little modification on the second cap at the crown. I didn't really like the heavy look of the four two-stitch "ribs" going down from the top so I tried the second cap with a one-stitch rib. Besides not really liking the look, this was also suggested by the pattern which has you decrease the extra rib stitch where they end in the pattern: if you have to take it out later anyway, why put it in in the first place?? So I took it out. I'm not sure it's a big improvement, but it was fun to try and turn my irritation into action! I also fiddled with the decreases: the pattern had a left leaning double decrease which really should have been a center double decrease. That was definitely an improvement, but I'm quite sure you won't be able to see the difference in these pictures.

4. And finally: what happened to my Candle Flame Scarf?

I got it finished in early December and it came out great. The Kitchener stitch to connect the two halves worked great and the seam is nearly invisible. Despite being made from the delectable Malabrigo, it turned out a little itchy on my neck. I have been advised to wash it in vinegar and then treat it with hair conditioner (wool being animal hair after all). I haven't yet tried this, partly because I'm quite enamoured with my cowl.

[ETA: the Candleflame scarf won a 2nd place ribbon at the 2009 County Fair (knitted hat, scarf or mittens set).]

Up next, I bought supplies today for the lovely "Sahara" designed by Wendy Bernard.

I'll be doing it with cap sleeves out of a silk/merino mix and the trim is a silk with sequins. Oh...it's so exciting! I haven't cast on yet because I need to take a breath and some time to get ready to do the necessary swatching and gauge-checking. (So tedious; so essential.)

And I also bought a unbelievably lovely Malabrigo lace weight in "Jewel Blue." At 470 yds I thought it might be enough for a shawl, but now I'm not so sure. Looking through lace shawl patterns has got me all fired up, but first things first. (And first, the Sahara!)

All this makes me wonder, how can I convince my hubby that I really should leave my job and be a stay-at-home wife?

Let me know if you have any great ideas on that!

-christina