Where to Start?

You may recall my plying this orange yarn from a raveled sweater:

The full story is here. I was planning to use it to make sturdy socks.

Well. After searching for a suitable pattern and settling on this nice tulip pattern by Stephanie van der Linden, I started to knit with the plied yarn. It did not take me long to realize that it was too thick for socks at my normal gauge! All that work and it wasn't going to work. Not in this pair of socks, anyway.

So for plan B, I took the yarn from the front and back of the sweater (since I had already plied the sleeves) and started the same socks with just two strands. Since this pattern is more like a recipe (including such "detailed" instructions as "turn heel") I figured it would be easy to convert it to my usual toe-up method.

But. Once I had the toes done, I took a look at the cable pattern. It was not something I wanted to have upside down on my sock. Most of the patterns I convert to toe up are either identical or just as nice when done upside down. Not this cable.

At first I thought I would be able to convert on the fly while knitting. You can't just turn the chart upside down, but I thought I could figure it out. Then I wasn't sure. I actually did a swatch of just the cable pattern. I figured it out, but didn't do the entire pattern, or write down what I did.

I went back to the sock, but didn't work on it for long. When it had been sitting forlornly in a basket for a few weeks, I realized there was just too much going on at once and I was expecting way too much of myself to be able to convert the chart.

Then. I broke through my mental barrier on this pattern when I realized I didn't have to do it toe-up just because I usually do. What a thought. It's not like I'm worried about running out of yarn--I have a whole sweater's worth. So I ripped out those toes and started again at the cuff.

It's going much better now. As in, I am actually making progress. ;)

They're not speeding along because I only work on them at home. Working from a chart just isn't good take-along knitting. (Well, maybe to a knitting group where the expectation is that you'll be knitting, but not to meetings and other places where you should make eye contact as you listen and talk.) And the chart is 24 rows of non-repeating cabling so I'm not going to be memorizing it any time soon!

It's a very enjoyable orange colour to be working with. My sister made a comment about my orange and grey zig zag quilt, that my trip to the Netherlands is still having an effect, and I think she's right. Hup Oranje!

Another Little Something

Phew! I am cranking out the finished projects these days. I did have a lot on the go, so I guess eventually they all have to start getting finished.

These are some toe-up socks I did to try another heel style. It worked ok, but didn't bowl me over with wonderfulness either. Perhaps it was ending up with a sock 1.5 inches too long the first time.
The socks were gifted to my mother this past weekend. [Red Purl] Amy's mother chided me the other day for not making anything for my own dear mother. She was quite appalled when I couldn't think of anything I had made for her [lately]. My mother didn't seem to actually agree, but I thought "What the heck" and made her some socks.

Mom doesn't actually wear socks a lot in the summer, preferring bare feet. But she really liked the socks and thought they would be great for when she visits people, if nothing else. Apparently her hosts are always asking if she's sure she doesn't want any Project Stats
Started: 2 May 09
Finished: 21 May 09
Pattern: free tutorial
Materials: free, Estelle Young Touch Cotton DK, 2 balls
socks/slippers/shoes. I guess not everyone is as comfortable with bare feet as my family is.

The little lace panels I added to the pattern worked out really well. They're just a simple 4 st YO and decrease (K2tog on one side, ssk on the other so they are mirror images). If you get everything lined up, you get diagonal lines of alternating bars and holes. Presto majesto: simple lace.

I did a picot cast off. The cuff was 2x2 ribbing, and while casting off I [K1, K1bl, K1] all in the second knit stitch. (Where K1bl is K1 through the back loop.) Then I slid these three stitches back onto the left needle, where I knit the three stitches together and then cast off like normal. The cast off turned out to be a little tight and I think if I had knit the three stitches separately and cast them off one by one that may have loosened things up. (The instructions I was looking at were a little vague on which they actually intended.)

Live and learn.

A Sock for a Walk

Last Sunday I walked in a charity walk I do every year. I didn't want to drag my Pencil Sketch Camisole along since it is far too large to do while walking and has a lace chart that I haven't memorized yet. (Only an 8 row repeat and I still can't get it into my head!)

So Saturday I cast on for a pair of socks to try another toe up heel flap pattern/tutorial by Andrea Mules. Socks are the perfect thing to knit while walking. I worked on Saturday and Sunday morning enough to get the toe increases done so I would have nothing but straight knitting on the walk.

My plan worked and I got quit a bit of knitting done. The sad part is that by the end of the walk it was obvious that the sock was too wide and I had to take it all out. (I think it was less than 2 inches so not that bad.) When I started reknitting I decided to add the narrow and simple lace panels just to keep things interesting. I'm just up to the gusset increases now and it is the perfect chance to try EZ's loop increases.

This style of increase comes in a pair so you can mirror image them.

You can see in the left image above the added stitches lean to the right, and in the right picture they lean to the left. And this is done in a very simple way...

First knit up to the point where you want to add a stitch:
Then loop the working yarn around the right needle so that it is twisted (unlike a yarnover). You can see it can be twisted in two directions:

right leaning                             left leaning

The twist on the left will result in a right leaning increase, and the one of the right will make a left leaning increase.

Then pull the yarn to snug up the loop right next to the last stitch you knit:
Now you can continue knitting. When you get back to that point in the next row, you knit it like normal, making sure to knit through the front loop so that it stays twisted. Besides controlling the direction the stitch leans, this twist also helps prevent a hole from appearing at the site of the increase.

I haven't charted it all out, but this increase is exactly equivalent to picking up the loop from the row below and knitting it so that it twists. (Equivalent except that it is done one row higher. Either will work within a pattern.)

The method discussed above causes less distortion to the row below and works better when the yarn is not very stretchy or giving. In a case where the yarn is stretchy or especially prone to leaving gaps or holes, I would recommend the method of picking up the loop from the row below.

And next up is figuring out this particular heel flap...

The Joy of Socks

Let me waste no time in showing off my socks now that they are done:
They feel warm and wonderful on my wiggling-with-joy toes.

After finishing the first sock last week, the second one practically flew off the needles. I think I can declare myself free of Second Sock Syndrome. It helped that I had a particularly long appointment at the CPA where I could knit while she put in all the numbers. Project Stats
Started: 2/22/09
Finished: 3/19/09
Pattern cost: free tutorial
Materials cost: half of $1 Goodwill vest (1/2 price!)I was a little distracted, however, and the twist on the ribbing of the second sock got a little wonked. I started doing it every three rows instead of four so it twists a little more often and spirals a little farther around the sock. I can live with that. I did remember to twist the other direction so they are mirror images (as all socks should be!), even if a little warped mirror images. (Dare I say Good Twin/Evil Twin?) Whether evil or not, I don't know yet, but they are obviously fraternal twins. No special reason I did that but that I wanted to. I like it.

Last night I was very close to finishing the sock and hubby was egging me on. But I resisted the compulsion (for once) and went to bed more or less on time instead. Then at lunch today I got all the knitting done and almost finished casting off (I was this close) but had to stop because my break was over. That would be the second instance of resisting the compulsion. But after work when I slipped into my sun-warmed car, I could resist no longer. (A girl can only be so good for so long.) I sat there in the parking lot to finish my cast off and work in the loose ends.

And then you know I wore those socks home.

They feel good. They stay up--no saggy cuffs. I can feel that they are dangerously thin in places because the recycled yarn was so thin, but I will cheerfully enjoy them now and think not about the future darning that will be necessary to save them.

I used all of the wool I salvaged from the vest front and only used a little of the wool from the back. I was originally worried I wouldn't have enough wool for one pair of socks...now it looks like I could get two! On the next pair, I'll go down to the smallest needle size I have, add a few more stitches and see how that helps with the density of the fabric. It should make it better. I will also do a little experimenting with heel types on toe-up socks. I'm still not crazy about the short row heel. But that is for later; for now I just enjoy the socks I have.

I have to say there is something very intimate about socks. Maybe part of it is just how everyday ordinary they are. Or that they fit a part of your body that you don't show around that much. Or it maybe the small size of the project and how when you're working on it, it's all right there very much in front of you, very close to you. The working on every tiny detail of the toe, heel, cuff, et al. Or that when you make them yourself they are completely personalized for you.

I doubt I will only wear socks that I've made from now on, but I will definitely be making more socks. I like elevating the ordinary to the sublime and hand knit woolen socks do that for me.

Transformation from vest to socks

What's on Your Needles?

That's a common question among knitters and thread topic on discussion boards. Having just finished two major projects (the Snowflake Illusion Blanket and one other I will post soon), this morning I spent some time preparing for and starting a couple projects. They're smaller and easy to pack and carry along. (Ie. what I call "travel knitting.")

1. A cotton bib for some lucky baby who's expected this year.

It will turn into a diamond shape, getting wider and wider until it starts to get narrower and narrower. They're are lots of patterns out there, but I liked the shape of this one, and how the straps flow naturally from that shape and then around the neck. The pattern was written up by Merin and posted on her blog here. I found it on Ravelry.

I will add that there was another pattern that I liked a lot but it was $3. I probably could have figured out the pattern just from the pictures, but decided in this case that would be close enough to stealing not to do it. I think knitting has a lot of grey area of what's actually protected, what's original, etc. But in this case I didn't do it. It didn't hurt that it was the same designer that put up a wonderful shawl pattern on knitty.com (for free) I plan on making as soon as I convince myself that I would wear it.

2. A toy ball. Knit up with swirling colours and stuffed. In one way, not a very practical gift, but in another, kids have to play with something! And knitted fabric is really easy for little hands to grip and hold. These colours were chosen because they resemble the Toronto Maple Leaf colours. (Just a little hint to who the recipient will be.)

And 3. I'm still plugging away at my toe-up socks. I think last time I posted about them, I was still working on the swatch. I've gotten a little further since then:
I'm following Kristin Bellehumeur's very excellent tutorial. Or mostly following. (It is a "tutorial" for making your own socks, not a "pattern," so I am allowing myself some leeway.) I couldn't find it when I was ready to cast on, so I followed another pattern and used a different number of stitches. The tutorial said to increase to 64 sts which matched what I had swatched, but it was way too big. So I frogged back to 44 sts. And even though by measuring this should be almost 2 inches too narrow, it fits great. So I'm going with it. (Apparently socks need some stretch.)

I did follow the tutorial for the short row heel, and I invite you to admire it:
You can see it sort of straining across the top of my foot (diagonal line from the heel) and this is pretty typical for short row heels as far as I've read. But it was a good tutorial and I wanted to follow it. I have in mind another tutorial to show toe-up heel flaps, but I will worry about that in the next pair. Meanwhile, these are fitting well, and feel great, so I think that is the main thing.

My wool is holding up well. I was...well...I was somewhere between "curious" and "concerned" about how the wool would stand up because of all the breakages I had while unravelling it. But it wound up into a ball with no troubles, and even when I had to frog back the toe the wool held up like a champ. (Phew.) It also seems that I will have plenty of wool which was another not-quite concern that I had.

Last night I gave myself some extra knitting time after work by leaving my car lights on at lunch. (Oops!) As I waited for my ever-helpful hubby to show up, I looked all the 2x2 ribbing I have to do for the cuff square in the face. And I couldn't do it. So I've added a little twist to the rib:

I will put that in every four rows moving the twist to the next rib to the right each time. So it will sort of make a spiral around my leg. It should spiral twice before I get them long enough. I thought I was going to just make some very basic socks so I could try out the pattern/method before getting fancier, but it's just too much plainness. Having something (anything) go on in your knitting every 4 or 6 rows--be it a colour change, a cable, or some other pattern--is a great tedium buster. And after knitting for 30 minutes, being able to look back and say, "Oh, I did 3 twists" or two stripes or whatever, is so much better than just looking at an ocean of sameness and not being able to see your progress. All part of eating the elephant one bite at a time, I guess.

And now that I have lots of knitting ready to take with me, I guess I have to give it up at home for a time and get to things like laundry, cooking, and doing the taxes...