Gold! Forest & Trees Indeed

To the strains of "Thank God I'm a Country Boy" (as used, inexplicably, by a French ice-dancing team), I got my gold medal.

And now I have a pair of socks.


This design is called Forest and Trees. The name was inspired by two things... I love how the stitch pattern suggests intertwined branches of trees in a dense forest, and I thought that it was a magical balance of stitch pattern and colour. I find that many handpainted yarns are just too damn busy for pattern stitches. As a tech editor, I see a lot of pictures of socks, and it saddens me when a knitter does all this beautiful and clever knitting, but then obscures it with a poor choice of yarn. You want a balance so you can see both the forest of the stitch pattern and the trees of the colour, to stretch the metaphor. I love a good handpainted/self-striping/patterned yarn, but if I'm going to use something wacky, I keep the knitting pretty simple.

This seems to strike the right balance, however, and I'm very pleased with the result.



The yarn, as mentioned before is Cascade Heritage Paints.

(It really is hard to produce a great of photograph of a pair of socks on your own feet, on a gloomy winter day.)

I was working on the second sock yesterday with some of the gang, and grumbling away about dropping stitches, and getting tired of turning the cables, and generally finding the knitting slow. (The problem is entirely with me, not the sock. I've been carrying it around with me everywhere, and half the time forgetting to take my cable needle, which has made for some risky knitting. I have not been applying the degree of attention this pattern requires and I've been suffering because of it.) And I was really worried about gauge - the new one seemed significantly looser than the first one.

But the gang raved about the sock-in-progress. They were so very enthusiastic and supportive of the design - and one of even them bought yarn and the pattern on the spot so she could knit them herself (thanks P!).

In light of all the nice words, I stepped back and took another look at this thing that had been driving my insane. I had been so focused on the trees of the process I wasn't seeing the forest of the sock anymore. And you know, the forest is pretty great, if I do say so myself.

Pattern for sale on Patternfish and Ravelry.

Olympic Knitting: On Why Knitting Cabled Socks Is Like Men's Figure Skating

Because your equipment needs to be very sharp, and because no matter how many times you successfully land a quad jump/turn a cable, sometimes it just goes wrong.

And you can never go wrong with a bit of Jimi Hendrix.

(Can't find a video of last night's performance, but the link is a video of the same program skated last night. I loved how Japanese figure skater Takhiko Kozuka brought a bit of rock and roll to the proceedings.)


Anyway, yes, I am making progress on the Olympic knitting, but as I've said before, it's slow. I've been alternating between using a cable needle and not for all those million cable crosses... to take the analogy further, sometimes I feel strong enough to attempt the quad jump, sometimes I just stick with a safe triple. (I consider working the cable without a cable needle landing a quad, as it's trickier and cooler.)

Glad the Signature needles are sharp.

The fabric is tight due to all the cables, and the yarn is quite fine (Cascade Heritage Paint sock yarn), and I'm finding that I drop a stitch every few rounds. I need to stay vigilant on this one.

Anyway, I'm pass the heel turn, and into the home stretch. And if I can get about three quarters on an inch done per day, I'll get my gold medal.

(And likely watch an awful lot of figure skating as I go. Am also loving the anarchy of Snowboard Cross. It's like a faster, slightly insaner roller derby.)

Olympic Knitting Update: Day 3

Today, I actually managed to do some work on my Olympic knitting. Yay!

I've been working on a deadline project (to remain secret for a while), and I've needed to focus on that. As of today, the deadline project is almost done, and I felt confident enough about it that I could pick up my Olympic sock. I got four rounds worked this morning, and tonight I'm at liberty to work on it again while the deadline project is drying after a good blocking.

(Yes, all knitting should be blocked before it's finished. You should block pieces before they are sewn up, you definitely have to block lace, and even something like socks should be blocked before they are done - it just makes everything so much tidier and finished-looking.)

The safety pin marks where I picked up again for the Olympic challenge. It's SLOOOOOOOW going, I have to say. There are 5 repeats of the cable pattern around, and there are two cable crosses in every repeat, every other round. Yes, really. This is why there are 80 sts in the sock, rather than the usual 56 at this gauge. No wonder I never finished the second one...

I am very much looking forward to being able to wear the pair of them, and that's what I'm focused on.

Work Knitting: Yak Yak Yak

In my previous post, I mentioned that I do a lot of "work" knitting - commissioned designs and samples.

In no way should this be considered "work" in the same way that showing up in an office and attending meetings and writing TPS reports is considered "work".

Case in point: I've been doing some designing for the lovely people at Bijou Basin Ranch. They have a herd of Yaks, and they spin the fibre into some of the most fabulous yarns I've ever had the privilege of knitting.


Their yarns are warm and soft and utterly delicious. It's significantly warmer than wool, and comparable to cashmere in softness. It's remarkably durable and lightweight. The yarn is spun from the down undercoat which these cold-climate beasties grow to keep themselves warm in the winter. When they shed it in the spring, the yarn is combed and harvested. So although I think Carl and Eileen are wonderful people, I hope they are suffering a truly miserable winter so that their yaks grow a really magnificent undercoat this year.

They don't dye the yarns, so you get a lovely range of natural colours.


Now available on their website, a couple of things I've designed for them...

the Honeycomb Kerchief



and the "Not Too Fussy" Men's Vest


Whether you use the yarn for one of my designs or not, I strongly recommend you get your hands on some of this stuff. It's some of the most fun I've ever had with my needles. And they have a sock yarn!!!

Olympic Knitting: It Is a Challenge...

Last winter Olympics, I knitted my very first major lace piece.

My world has changed a lot since then - all for the better, no question - but I have significantly less time to knit for myself. I'm a working designer these days, and spend most of my time on design samples and commissioned work. I love it, don't get me wrong. It just means that most of my knitting is "work" knitting.

And knitting to deadline is part of my daily life.

Right now, I'm working hard to finish a lace piece for February 19th. It's wonderful, I'm very happy with it - but it's definitely a scheduled knitting project.

So for the 2010 Knitting Olympics, my challenge will be to find time to knit something for myself.

If I can get my lace assignment done a little bit ahead of schedule and be efficient with the next assignment, then I can carve out some time to challenge myself with my Olympic knitting.

I have decided, after much consideration, that my Olympic knitting for 2010 will be to...

(drum roll, please)...

finish a sock.


Seriously.

I completed the first sock of the Forest & Trees pair last August, while enroute to Sock Summit. I'm very happy with it, and have published the design, and regularly show the single sock at my sock knitting classes, but it remains unworn because it lacks a mate.

I did manage to cast on for its mate sometime around November, but haven't got very far with it. I'm enormously keen to wear the things.

So I'm going to finish this sock.

Hey, it's all about a challenge, right? Trust me, this is going to be a challenge.

Update on Moose Pattern

The pattern is available separately, for $6.00. Contact The Purple Purl for info.

The Moose Sweater; Still Looking for an Olympic Project?

For those who follow my Twitter feed, you might recall a number of tweets around the end of last year about a moose.

I was working on a moose sweater. Not just any moose sweater... The Moose Sweater.


The sample is on display at The Purple Purl. The pattern is available exclusively from them.

I used Earth Collection Homestead yarn. This is an absolute gem - it's light and warm, with a lovely not-too-scratchy hand, but not so soft that it will pill. It comes in the three solid colours I used for the design, and I think they work very well together. Any aran weight would work - perhaps Mission Falls 1824 or Louet Riverstone - if you want to add a bit of colour

Click through to the Purple Purl newsletter if you want to see the fun Miko is having with an additional colour...

Classes - Socks and Others

Just a reminder - I'm teaching five classes at the DKC Winter Workshops in Toronto this weekend: Entrelac, Design-Your-Own Custom-Fit Socks, Math for Knitters, Pattern Alterations, and an "Expert Tips" workshop.

I'm particularly looking forward to the Expert Tips class - we'll be talking cast-ons, cast-offs, increases, decreaseds, blocking, swatching - all the goodies and tidbits that I've learnt over my years of knitting.

Spaces are still available in all classes, and you can sign up at the door.


Speaking of classes, a student from a recent sock knitting class took this tremendous photo. This is me in my happy place - sitting in the sunshine, surrounded by hot drinks, socks and sock yarn, and me wielding a ruler to measure gauge. Thanks Marnie! She also has some nice words to say about my class on her blog.

Puffy Vest: Record Time for A Completed Sweater

It took two tries, but the Puffy Vest turned out exactly the way I wanted. Last weekend, I had worked almost all the way up to the armholes, and discovered that it was too big.

So I undid it - bravely - and restarted with fewer stitches. I cast on the second time about 5pm on Monday, and I had it finished 49 hours later - just in time to wear for my Wednesday night class. (Although I have to say that it's not easy to do a three-needle bind off with only two needles, when you're on the streetcar. It can be done, but it's not for the fainthearted.) When I left the house to go to my class, it was still on the needles, but I finished it enroute. N looked a bit befuddled when I arrived home... "That didn't have a hood when I saw it last, did it?"

And it's perfect. Fits exactly the way I wanted, and looks just as I hoped it would. It needs to be quite fitted and cropped, otherwise the puffiness of the mohair would be overwhelming and unflattering.



I expect to wear this a lot.

I designed and knitted this entirely for me - an unusual treat. This wasn't a commission, it wasn't designed with publishing or sale in mind - it's just for me. I was, therefore, able to indulge my own whims - and make it to fit little ol' me.

The gratifying thing is that the response has been so good I think I will write it up for sale.

Although I might need to knit a second one, in a colour that will actually photograph well. I think I need to convince Mum to knit one for my niece so she can test the pattern...

New Design; Justifying a Noro Obsession: Silk Garden Entrelac Hat

It's no secret I love Noro yarns. And I'm always looking for good ways to use them. And I think one of the best ways of all might be Entrelac... the lengths of colour seem perfect for this technique. I've got a scarf pattern.


And now I have a hat pattern. For sale on Patternfish and Ravelry.

Uses barely any yarn - just 1 or 2 balls, depending on the size you knit.

It's not difficult, this Entrelac thing - you just need to be confident with decreasing and picking up stitches. And I know you're confident with picking up stitches because you read my blog post of a couple of weeks ago. Right?

I can guarantee that you'll get more attention knitting Entrelac in public than anything else you might have ever worked on. You get the usual glances from non-knitters, but the usual nods from knitters turn into admiring, amazed stares.

And the funny thing about Entrelac is that it's actually easier in the round than flat. Really!

Go on, you know you want to try it...

Sometimes you just have to say goodbye...

To the knitting, that is. I was making excellent progress over the weekend with my mohair puffy vest thingy...

and I knew I was approaching the length I wanted to the armhole. So I slipped all the stitches to a longer circular needle and tried it on.

Eek.

I was significantly larger than I had planned. There was an extra 4 inches circumference at the bust - and that just wasn't the look I was aiming for.

So I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and pulled the thing off the needles.

This takes courage.

I coach students on this all the time... if you're going to hate the result, if it's not going to fit, if it's not going to be what you want - ultimately, if you're never going to wear it - then it's not worth finishing. You should have the courage of your convictions to start over again.

But that doesn't mean it's easy or fun.

There's a secondary lesson here - it's always a good idea to check your progress as you're going. Measure the piece once in a while to make sure it's actually the size (and indeed shape) it's supposed to be. If I'd checked earlier, I could have saved myself some time.


Still, I'd rather have spent the extra time to get the garment I want.

So with fewer stitches, I'm making faster progress, and am well on my way to completing this thing.

(Add to list of things that make for difficult and boring photography: black mohair knitting projects in progress.)

Old Yarn, Old Needles

I've been working on a bunch of assignment knitting - most of it not yet ready for publication on the blog...

Because I am a sucker for punishment, two of those projects are colourwork. Now, it's not that I don't like colourwork, it's just that it's the sort of knitting that tries my patience - it's slow and careful work, and I am so damn critical of my own technique that I keep undoing perfectly good sections to make them "better". The results are great, but the journey is slow.

And of course, because my knitting plate is full, I inexplicably felt the urge to cast on for a new project.

Something easy-peasy, auto-pilot-appropriate, and fun.

A couple of months ago, I was chatting with a knitter about our stashes. (Comparing stash sizes is a perfectly healthy thing to do, really.) In particular, we were talking about the strange and absurd things hiding in the corners. I confessed to her that I have a soft spot for what I call "big tacky 1980s mohair".

You know, this sort of thing:

(The lime green thing I used as a background is a story for another day.)

So she appeared a few days later with a bag full for me. "Take my mohair - please."

So I did.

It was a load of tremendous black and emerald green mohair, which she'd apparently acquired in a moment of madness at the Textile Museum yardage sale, and had regretted ever since. And it's exactly the sort of thing I love. It's been sitting on my desk since I brought it home, daring me to knit it.

And last weekend inspiration hit. I'm working a sleeveless pullover thing, with a deep v neck and a hood. (Given that I really don't have time to knit anything else right now, I decided to sacrifice the sleeves.) It's loosely inspired by something I saw a kid wearing on the streetcar the other day, a hooded puffy pullover-style vest. ( I think it might also need a kangaroo pocket, but I'll decide that when I get there.)

I'm only allowed to work on it when I really can't work on anything else - when the light isn't good enough, or I have to pay attention to something else. The body is in the round to make it as quick and easy as possible, so even thought it's in black, it's plain sailing so far. Knit knit knit knit knit knit knit.... And I'm having much fun.

(If you've been paying attention to my previous rants, you'll know that I'm not always a fan of things worked in the round - they can be heavy and saggy - but in this case, mohair is so light there is no risk of stretch or sag.)

After swatching, I realized I need an odd needle size, a 5.5mm. (Precisely the one they specified on the ball band, interestingly enough, although why they give a needle size but not a gauge, I don't know...

)

Anyway, I dug around in the cupboard and came out with a needle I haven't used in years - an old Susan Bates aluminum circular. I was thinking I'd just use that to start the project, and then when I got back to a shop I'd pick up an nice slick Addi. But I've kept going on the Susan Bates - it's rocketing along. The needle is just slippery enough, and I have to say the point is a fair bit sharper than the equivalent size Addi Turbo - which you need for a fuzzy sticky yarn like mohair.


So yes, vintage yarn on vintage needles - and I'm loving it!

Counting Rows in Cables

Had a great time in KW on Tuesday - the gang was very welcoming, and there was some good discussion.

I'd taken a few of my samples and patterns, and I heard a knitter comment that she'd made a shawl that looked a bit like the one on the table... and then she realized that it was the one on the table she'd made. She'd bought my pattern online, and hadn't realized I was the designer.

I love to see other knitters working and enjoying my designs.

One of the tips I shared in my presentation was how to count rows in a cable...

Specifically, how to figure out how many rows you've worked since you've turned the cable.



Easy!

If you're working flat, start by figuring out what row is facing. If the cable is facing, that means you've worked at least one WS row after you turned it, so you've worked an odd number of rows. That's a start.

And to be absolutely precise - whether working flat or round - use a spare needle:

Insert the needle in the "hole" that's created by the crossing over of the cable. And just count up the rows from that! Don't count the one that the red needle is under, and don't count the row that's actually active on the needles - just count the rows in between.

Three!

See? Easy!

On Picking Up Gusset Stitches: Avoiding a Hole

This is a sock knitting question that comes up fairly often, most recently in a Twitter exchange.

How to avoid the hole at the top of the gusset when picking up stitches?

(This applies only to a sock with a heel flap - the rules are different for a short-row heel. I'll cover short-row heel holes at another time, if you're interested...)

When you're at the top of the heel flap, have run out of edge stitches, and need one more stitch, many knitters have been tempted by the siren song of that lovely little bar that hangs out between the heel flap and the held stitches of the instep.

This one:

DON'T DO IT!

Picking up this one causes a hole.


Other knitters just stop at that point, and give up on the extra stitch. That doesn't help either, as it can leave a bit of a gap between the instep and heel flap.

Instead, keep going in the direction you were going...

That is, keep going up in the same 'column' you've been picking the stitches up in, in a straight line...

Yes, you're up into the leg of the sock, above the divide for instep and heel flap, but this is a good thing.

First of all, it keeps the gusset pickup in a tidy straight line.


And it handily eliminates both risk of hole and gap. No hole because you're picking up a fully formed stitch, and no gap because you're actually going to cover up the divide. And going that extra stitch makes for a better fitting sock, with a bit more fabric to fit comfortably around the heel.

No, it doesn't create any significant extra bulk.

As to coming back down the other side? Before I start picking up, I count up to figure out where I need to start. And I start up in the leg a bit, to match the first side.


And final tip - on the following round, I work the picked up-stitches through the back loop. It tightens and closes them up a bit, and makes the whole thing a bit neater.

Off to K/W Today

With a 12MB PowerPoint file and a bag full of knitted goodies. Can't wait to meet everyone there!

Am taking an interesting combo of bus and train - lots of excellent knitting time.

Reader Mail & Comments on Edges

Thanks for all the great comments on the last post. Hilda would be pleased!

A knitter I was chatting to yesterday commented that her grandmother used exactly the same technique, but she had also forgotten it until recently. I'm wondering how such a clever thing got lost between generations. What's interesting to me is that my Mum didn't think it was particularly noteworthy - but then you wouldn't, if it was something you'd been doing all along.

Anyone else been doing this all along?

Kirsten comments about the "slip the first stitch of every row" technique. Yup, it's terrific way to create a tidy edge - but it's only useful if you're not going to be seaming that edge. Slipping the first row of every stitch makes seaming more difficult - and a bit messier, IMHO. But for a scarf, or a baby surprise jacket, or blanket, or what-have-you - it makes a lovely edge.

Compare the two on the swatch... slipped on the right vs. not on the left. See - lovely!


The most important thing, however, is to be consistent about it. If you forget on a single row, it borks the whole thing up. A stitch marker at the edges can be helpful with this.

Knitting Tip from Hilda

The original wise Hilda, the knitter after whom this blog is named, was my Mum's Mum.

She was a tremendous knitter and crocheter - and played a mean hand of bridge, too.

She taught me to knit as a girl. (We didn't get very far with crochet. All I could do was crochet absurdly long chains. I remember a purple one in particular. I'm honestly surprised I didn't trip anyone over with it, or accidentally throttle the cat.)

Of course, she also taught Mum.

Mum's been working on a sweater for me - a sort of contract knitting job. I sew up the sweaters she knits for herself and for gifts, and so in exchange she's doing the knitting on a cardigan for me.

I was watching Mum knit the other day, and noticed something interesting. I stopped her, and asked her what she was doing. I'm a little sheepish I had never noticed it before, it's a brilliant thing.... My Knitting Hero, the original wise Hilda told Mum to work the last stitch of every row through the back loop. As I say in my classes (usually when discussing swatching), no matter how good a knitter you are, your edge stitches are always a bit wonky. Working them through the back loop tightens up them up so nicely, and significantly reduces the wonkiness. So simple and so wonderful!

(The two Hildas on a snowy day in Niagara Falls, circa mid-1980s.)

Thanks Hilda! Still learning from you after all these years...

Starting As I Mean To Continue: Talking about Knitting

The 2010 knitting year starts with a bang for me - two big speaking engagements coming up very soon.

Tuesday January 12th, I'm honoured to be the inaugural guest speaker for the Kitchener Waterloo Knitter's Guild's Year of Lace, on the topic of "Finding your place in your lace". You can be sure I'll spend a least a couple of minutes explaining why you need to swatch... I can turn anything into a justification to swatch - try me!

And the weekend of February 6 & 7th I'm teaching at Toronto's Downtown Knit Collective Winter Workshops. I had a terrific time teaching there last year, and I'm thrilled to be participating again. I have a full slate of classes - math for knitters/basic alterations, designing custom-fit socks, the perennially popular entrelac, and advanced alterations.

If you're there, say hello!

Is It Even a Hand Spindle?

This is how little I know about spinning... an eagle-eyed reader commented that she's seen a spindle like mine in a machine in a spinning museum in Barrington, Nova Scotia. It may not even be a hand spindle - it may only be for machine use. I must confess, I was confused by the lack of little hooky thing...

(It was given to me by a friend who can't actually remember where she got it from, hence the possible confusion... )

Really terrific picture and story of the museum at this link.

Anyway, Denny will help me figure it all out, I'm sure.

Clearly, someone thinks I was good this year.

A few great books from Santa this year...


Alice Starmore's seminal book on Fair Isle knitting. If only so I can help Mum with her sweater... It's been out of print for a long time, very glad to see it back. This will be widly relevant in the very near future - I have a couple of colourwork designs cooking - one for socks, naturally, the other a garment.

Another fab obscure book on lace knitting, Gladys Amedro's "Shetland Lace".

The rather absurd and marvelous "Knitted Cakes". Next year's Christmas cake may well be knitted...

And of course, every girl needs a sheep spotting guide.... "Know Your Sheep" by Jack Byard.

This is particularly useful since Denny tells me that 2010 is the year I learn to spin. She is insisting.

I've acquired a spindle... here we go....


I may not yet know how to use the damn thing, but at least I know what a Bluefaced Leicester looks like.