In London

That's the Scurvy Shawl.

All the knitting is done, I just have to redo the cast off. I didn't like how my usual lace cast-off looked against the garter edging, and a normal cast-off was just too tight with the same size needles.

Need to redo it with a larger needle.

Knitting on the Cote D'Azur

Really, no comment or description is needed.

Air Travel

This question comes up pretty often in my knitting classes... usually around the time that I mention that socks are ideal travel knitting.

Yes, travel. As in planes.

I've never had a problem with plastic, bamboo and wood needles either going through security or on the plane. No one has ever stopped me. I have successfully traveled with a circular metal needle, too, but I went prepared to have it confiscated -- it was a lace project, and a lifeline had been threaded so it didn't matter if I had to remove it from the knitting. No problem, and it went back and forth to New York with me a couple of times.

The trick seems to be to not ask. You say the word needle to the poor security guard and he/she is more likely to think of something medical than craft-related. So I just put 'em in my carry-on bag and send 'em through the x-ray machine.

This worked again for this most recent trip.

But I did encounter a new resistance. I was asked by the flight attendant to put the needles away for landing.

I suppose I could have hurt myself with them in a landing incident... should I take away from this that knitting in the car is dangerous, too?

Hey, we all gotta take risks....

Decisions, Decisions: Travel Knitting

As anyone who has spoken to me in the last month knows, I'm going on vacation tomorrow. (Sorry if I've been boring you!)

A few days in Cannes, avoiding the film festival, and then a few days in London. There's some work planned, for both the day job and the knitting, but also lots of sitting around drinking strong coffee and relaxing.

And for that, I need relaxing knitting.

Oh, what to take... decisions, decisions. God forbid I should run out of things to knit while on a four hour layover at Heathrow....

I have one and half socks to finish for an assignment, but those will be done fairly quickly.

I have already shipped the Scurvy Shawl ahead with Norman, since it's on a metal needle and I'm taking only carry on, and I'd hate to lose my favourite Addi Turbo. 95% of the time, metal needles are fine on planes, but I'm not risking this one. I'm desperate to finish -- it's been fun, but a tough slog. I'd had been contemplating making it larger, but the challenging nature of the graph is making the calculations hard -- and anyway, she says, madly rationalizing, it's ok that it might be a bit small. I'm using much finer yarn than the original pattern calls for -- laceweight rather than sport. It's looking like it will be about 50 cm/20 inches long after blocking, and therefore have a span of about 100 cm/40 ins. This is pretty damn small for a shawl, but I'm going to treat it as a scarf. And it's going to be so outrageous that I wouldn't want it too big. It's bright orange and lime green after all.

19 rows of about 400 sts left. Which should take most of the first leg of the vacation. (I was averaging about 15 minutes a row, so that's 5-ish hours.)

And then what?

Well, naturally, I'm going to take some sock yarn, since I'll have the needles with me anyway. I can get two pairs out of 3 50g balls.


Both of the black and white mix yarns -- a twist and a tweedy mix -- were bargain bin finds. (Note both the price and the sophisticated label on the ball on the right...) If I use the plain black for the top rib, the heel and the toe, a 50gm ball is enough for a pair.

So that's about 5-6 hours of lace knitting (allowing extra time for fixing of mistakes and lifeline feeding and such).

And then two pairs of socks at about 12-15 hours a pair. Another 24-20 hours.

But I'd hate to run out.

So then there's this... the yarn from the abandoned Lace Wings project....


laceweight doesn't take up much room in my bag... and anyway, I'll have the right needle with me, and the pattern sheets take up no room at all... what the heck...

The design I have in mind is Cheryl Oberle's North Sea Shawl from Folk Shawls. Of course, because I can never leave well enough alone, it's a different yarn -- lace weight rather than the DK she calls for. And I'll be working it narrower and shorter because I don't have enough yarn. So again, more of a scarf than a shawl.

So yeah, four and a half pairs of socks, and one and a quarter shawls. That should be enough for 10 days, no?

Thank You, Mr. Postman - Harmony DPNs

The KnitPicks Harmony DPNs arrived!


Woo hoo!

They're lovely -- very pretty to look at. They're smooth but I wouldn't call them slippery.

They seem very hard, which is good. I've been bending my bamboo DPNs...

It doesn't look that extreme, but you can certainly feel the bend as you work with it.

The points perhaps aren't quite as sharp as I'd like, but they are a hair sharper than the bamboo points, and I do think that their hardness will help a lot. I'm only working a plain sock with them right now, so will get you know as soon I start into a fancy stitch sock.

I only ordered three sets: 2.0mm, 2.25mm and 2.5mm. I have a beautiful set of Lantern Moon rosewood 2.75mm DPNs, so I didn't need any more in that size. And I very rarely use anything so big as 3mm for socks. Am working with the 2.25mm set right now.

And perhaps the best thing of all: they come in sets of 6. Although I'm not in the habit of losing DPNs, I have been known to sit on them.... Anyone have any idea about their breakability compared to bamboo?

The gorgeous sock yarn in the picture above? Sorry, can't say a lot... it's classified TOP SECRET... I'll let you know about it when I'm allowed to. I have to say that the yarn is absolutely fabulous, though... it's a blend of wool, the obligatory nylon, and possibly some other delicious things which might or might not include silk and alpaca. I'm going to have a hard time mailing these off to their proper home when the time comes, I fear.

Yet Another One: This Time In Qiviut

Yet another One Skein Luxury Kerchief. This one is in Cottage Craft qiviut, which I picked up at the Frolic.

It's actually a blend -- 50% merino, 50% qiviut. Qiviut is, for those who were wondering, the softest, loveliest fibre in the world. It's the undercoat of the musk ox. Really. More from Wikipedia. One of the things I love about the yarn is that it's undyed -- that's the actual colour. And it doesn't shrink or felt, which means it makes a terrific sock yarn. And oh look, they've got one for sale! I didn't actually need to know that...

But in the meantime, I had 150m or so of a fingering weight, and so I worked another kerchief.

Sandra's Mini Sock!

As anyone who has taken my sock class -- or read my article on Knitty -- I start off sock knitters with my "training sock". It's a simple pattern that allows a new sock knitter to learn all the techniques to create a sock, in a reasonable amount of time.

To give you a sense of scale:

It's worked on larger needles and worsted weight yarn, so you can see your stitches more easily, and you can make fast progress. (I find that "real" teeny tiny sock yarn and needles can be a little intimidating for new sock knitters.)

I love seeing the training socks that result, it's fun for me, and confidence building for my students.

Sandra, who attended a recent class, was feeling so good after completing her training sock that she decided to try her hand at working with "real" sock yarn and needles.

She worked my training sock again, in a self-striping yarn she had in her stash.

The result was wonderful!

She put a long loop on it -- she suggested it would make an excellent Christmas tree decoration.

I had a better thought... if you see a red car driving around Toronto with a jaunty blue sock hanging over the rear-view mirror, you'll know that's me!

Thanks for a wonderful gift, Sandra!

Reader Mail: To Jackie, who asked about sock needles

Jackie asked whether to order the 6" or 8" length DPNs.

For a knitter who's new to working on DPNs, I definitely recommend the longer ones. You're significantly less likely to drop a stitch from longer needles.

(Some may disagree. It's true that longer needles are slightly more cumbersome to handle, but I find that the benefits outweigh the negative.)

In Case You Were Wondering

I did order the Harmony DPNs. They've shipped, can't wait for them to arrive.

I'm working on some new sock designs -- yeah, huge shock -- and I'm looking forward to some nice pointy needles. This new design is all cables and twisted stitches, and the points on my DPNs are just not holding up.

Not only are the bamboo points not very... well, pointy... but they're shredding a bit. They're getting rough. I don't have any complaints -- they've stood up well to a lot of use, and they're certainly still great for ordinary knitting. But I'm looking forward to trying the new ones out for cables.

I'll keep you posted.

Sighting: A Meditation on Yarn Choices

I was teaching a class recently.

The shop was open, and shoppers were about -- cruising the yarns, checking out the books, generally being knitterly. An older woman wandered in, clearly looking for a new project. She went straight for the books and pattern leaflets. She sat near me, and as I am wont to do, I checked out her hand-knitted garments.

She had on a twinset, with lace insets. Lace on the front of the shell (couldn't tell if it had sleeves), and then matching lace panels down both of the cardigan fronts.

It was knitted in a fine, fine yarn, and she'd clearly taken a lot of time and care in its creation.

But I could tell even from a distance that she'd knitted it in acrylic. (Two clues: the yarn had a certain sheen to it, and it was also in a colour of peach that only seems to occur in acrylic "baby yarns".)

Ok, I'm a yarn snob. I've talked about this before. I probably spend far too much on yarn for a project. Certainly, I'm lucky enough to be able to afford good yarn. It's quite possible that this particular knitter didn't have a lot of money to spend a "boutique" yarn.

She clearly loves the craft, is proud of her skills, and enjoyed knitting her twinset.

But I have to wonder about how much more this knitter would have enjoyed her project if she'd worked with good yarn -- a yarn that felt good to work with.

I say this in my classes a lot: if you're going to spend that much time with the yarn running through your fingers, you should like how it feels. This to me is even more important than what it's made of, or where it comes from. And acrylic simply doesn't feel good.

I chatted with this knitter very briefly. She commented that knitting was undergoing a resurgence. Absolutely!

Knitting fell very much out of favour in the 1970s and 1980s. I don't believe that it's a coincidence that this is exactly the time when man-made yarns became so common, when they started to replace natural fibers as the most common knitting products available. When acrylic was the best you could hope for.

Knitting is back because the pleasure of the craft is back. We're lucky. The selection of yarn available today is broader than it has ever been.

There are so many more choices than the 100% acrylic yarns of the past 30-40 years. And many of them are affordable. Fabulous cottons, great wools, and all sorts of interesting new fibres like cotton and bamboo and soy.

Oh that I could have taken her hand and lead her to feel some of these new products, this unknown knitter...

Free Pattern: Sock Yarn Baby Hat

SOCK YARN BABY HAT

Materials
1 100 gm ball SWTC Tofutsies (425m) - this is what I used -- you can use any sock yarn, and you'll get at least two or three hats from a single ball
3mm 40 cm/16 in circular needle (optional)
3mm double-pointed needles
stitch marker or safety pin

Sizes & Finished Measurements
Fits: up to 1 year (1-2 years)
Circumference: 35cm/14 ins ( 40cm/16 ins)

Gauge
32 stitches and 40 rounds over 10cm/4 inches square in the round using 3mm needles.

METHOD
Cast on 112 (128) stitches onto the circular needle, or onto a single double-pointed needle. If using DPNs, distribute across three needles. Join for working in the round, being careful not to twist the stitches. Mark the beginning of the round.

Work 12.5cm/5 inches in stocking stitch – that is, knitting every round. Don’t unroll the bottom edge to measure.

Decrease for crown:
LARGER SIZE ONLY:
Next round *K2tog, k13; repeat from * to end of round. 120 stitches.
Following round: *K2tog, k12; repeat from * to end of round. 112 stitches.

BOTH SIZES:
Change to double pointed needles when the hat gets too small to work comfortably on the circular needle.
Round 1: *K2tog, k12; repeat from * to end of round. 104 stitches.
Round 2: *K2tog, k11; repeat from * to end of round. 96 stitches.
Round 3: *K2tog, k10; repeat from * to end of round. 88 stitches.
Round 4: *K2tog, k9; repeat from * to end of round. 80 stitches.
Round 5: *K2tog, k8; repeat from * to end of round. 72 stitches.
Round 6: *K2tog, k7; repeat from * to end of round. 64 stitches.
Round 7: *K2tog, k6; repeat from * to end of round. 56 stitches.
Round 8: *K2tog, k5; repeat from * to end of round. 48 stitches.
Round 9: *K2tog, k4; repeat from * to end of round. 40 stitches.
Round 10: *K2tog, k3; repeat from * to end of round. 32 stitches.
Round 11: *K2tog, k2; repeat from * to end of round. 24 stitches.
Round 12: *K2tog, k1; repeat from * to end of round. 16 stitches.
Round 13: *K2tog; repeat from * to end of round. 8 stitches.

Break yarn, leaving a 15cm/6 in tail and pull through final stitches to close. Wash and weave in ends to finish.

Spring Blossom Sock

Using Noro's magnificently beautiful Kureyon sock yarn, in colourway 95.



A hint of spring, in a socky form.

Available on Patternfish and Ravelry.

I know that the Kureyon sock yarn isn't the softest in the ball, but it softens up very nicely with washing, and makes a surprisingly long-wearing sock.

Sock Yarn/KnitPicks Harmony DPNs

This is the Shelridge Farms sock yarn I bought at the Frolic. I believe the colourway should be called Newsprint...

On the topic of socks, since there are always socks on the go, I've recently become enamoured of the KnitPicks Harmony wood DPNs. They're absolutely beautiful, and seem to have terrific points.

Any comments? Are they worth it?

Knitter's Frolic: The Haul

I was reasonably restrained. Really.

Because I need more sock yarn like I need a hole in the head, I only bought enough for one pair... Shelridge Farms Soft Touch Ultra in a nice greyscale colourway.

A skein of Cottage Craft Angora qiviut/merino blend for yet another of the One Skein Kerchief.

Two skeins of the truly fabulous Hopeful Shetlands Real Shetland 2 ply for a rectangular lace shawl design.

What these last two have in common is that they're both undyed -- they're the actual colour of the animal that the fibre came from. I love this.

And, because I was tired and slightly irrational by the end of the day, a skein of Fleece Artist Dreadlocks at the bargain price of $20. (I think this is discontinued yarn, as it's not listed on their site anymore.) You'll notice that this isn't the colour of the animal. Perhaps the colour of a Muppet, but I don't believe you can knit with Muppet hair...

FO: Simple But Chic Baby Cardigan - now with 2 sleeves!

See, look, it's a whole cardigan! Made out of sock yarn, no less. Click to embiggen the photo to see the detail of the cabled eyelet edging.

6 months size uses just less than one ball of SWTC Tofutsies. It's a terrific yarn for spring and summer-weight baby clothes. It's a cotton blend, it comes in great colours, it's machine washable, and you can't beat the price. Despite the small gauge, it's a quick and satisfying knit.

The pattern is available for purchase on Patternfish, Ravelry, and at The Purple Purl, and you will be able to see the sample at their booth at the Knitter's Frolic this weekend. (You'll also be able to buy the pattern and see the sample of the Noro Spring Blossom sock, too... )

Sized for 6, 12 and 18 months with a girl's and boy's variation. The boy's variation has a similar cable rib pattern, but without the eyelet.
(Which means I did have to work out the buttonhole positions after all... )

One-Armed Baby Cardigan

Or perhaps, more accurately, single-sleeved cardigan for baby. Wouldn't want to confuse.

The thing I don't like about cardigans is the planning of the button placement and the corresponding buttonholes. How many buttons does it need, and how far apart?

I solved the problem a little bit differently this time. I worked an eyelet edging around the bottom, the cuff of the sleeve, the collar and most importantly, along the fronts. As a result, there are buttonholes wherever you need them...

The garment is proving very hard to photograph, but as soon as I can get the eyelet to show up in a photo, I'll post that. In the meantime, if you click to enlarge the photo you can sort of see it...

Kicking It Old School

I'm working on a new design... a baby sweater worked in sock yarn. Because when you've got a stash this big, it's good to do something other than socks with it. This is actually a design commission, from the ladies at the Purple Purl.

Here's the old school bit: I'm using straight, metal needles. Aero needles in the red slip case, in case you're wondering.

I don't often have to buy specific needles for a project, and when I started into this, it never occurred to me that I didn't have the right size... I have 3mm bamboo dpns, but the only straight ones I could find were these, hiding in the dusty back corner of my needle closet. They must be 15 years old, at least.

I use bamboo needles most of the time these days -- with the exception of some lace work -- and I always use circulars for flat knitting -- as a travelling knitter, and an incorrigible KIP-er (knitting in public), they're so much more convenient.

But here I was, forced back to straights. And metal ones at that. And you know, they're good. I'm enjoying it. Although they are significantly less convenient for streetcar and subway knitting -- they don't fit into my bag, and I poked my seatmate more than a few times. But the point is good, and they're slightly slippery, so the yarn moves very nicely along them.

It's been good to remind myself that although we've come far with needle technology, there really is still value in the old classics.

The yarn is Tofutsies, and it feels truly great... although there's all sorts of stuff in the blend (wool, cotton, SoySilk(TM) and chitin, which is a by-product of shrimp and crab processing... yes, really, it's antibacterial), it feels like nothing more than a really nice, soft cotton. A cotton with some good elasticity and flexibility, and a nice drape. It's exactly the right texture for working on these not-too-slippery metal needles.

The pattern stitch isn't showing very well in the photos, but the cardigan has a lacy edging, around the bottom, around the fronts, and around the cuffs. And it will need only a single ball.

Stay tuned for details on the pattern!

All this talk of the Torch...

...I'm starting to think about this year's Olympic project.

To refresh your memory, the idea behind Olympic knitting is that it is to be a personal challenge.

The rules are simple: cast on during the opening ceremonies, and finish no later than the closing ceremonies. The Yarn Harlot's original idea was simple: if you're going to spend that much time on the couch watching people challenging themselves, your knitting may as well be in keeping with that spirit of a challenge.

Here's the recap of my 2006 Winter Olympics Knitting:
My Project Decision
Getting Ready
Day 1: A Weak Start
Day 2: Getting Going
Day 3: Good Progress
Day 4: Pride and Fall
Day 5: Onto the Difficult Bit
Day 6: Moving Right Along
NewsFlash
Day 7: Double Argh
Day 8: Back on Track
Day 9: The Home Stretch
Day 10: Finished!
Post-Game Analysis
Gold Medal

What to do this year? It's easy.

Steeked fair isle.

In my sock classes I always talk about how some knitters have such a strong preference for working in the round that they work cardigans in the round and then CUT THEM! That is, work a steek. I'm invariably asked if I've done it, and I have to say no. Therefore, it's time to steek.

The other thing about steeking is that it's done most often in the cause of Fair Isle colourwork. Which is something I do very very rarely also.

So it's a steeked Fair Isle project, no question.

I'll be honest about my 2006 project: it was too easy. I finished very early. I might need to take on something bigger this time around.

I did a quick Google for steeked fair isle and landed on this: Eunny Jang's Deep V Argyle Vest. I do love a good vest, and it looks like something I might actually wear....

Have also considered an actual Norwegian pattern -- Lopi or Bohus or something. What I have to consider is whether I'm going to have much teaching and other work knitting going on during that time. I'm usually working on both personal projects and assignment projects - for books, for store samples, for pattern samples -- at the same time, and that seriously cuts into the time I have available for knitting for my sake. So perhaps a smaller (i.e.) sleeveless project is more sensible.

More to come...

FO: The Jane Crossover Sweater/Stupid Knitter Tricks

Voila! The Jane Crossover Sweater.

I'm very pleased with it. I love the unusual construction -- worked in one piece, starting at the side of the back. The back is worked sideways, and the fronts and sleeves are just extensions from the back.

Of course, not being content to work something as is, I had to mess with it a bit. Definitely easier with a provisional cast-on. And I worked the sleeves in the round so that no sewing at all was necessary.

The Handmaiden and Fleece Artist designs frustrate me a bit. I've written about this before -- the designs are great, and their yarns are lovely, no question. And Perl Grey in particular thinks about garment construction in interesting ways -- simple twists on the traditional creates great new ideas.

But I really really really wish they'd hire a technical editor. The instructions are at best not very well written, and at worst mistake-ridden. No mistakes in this one, but it's not wildly clear in some places, and the construction could definitely be improved. Even if you leave the sleeves flat, a provisional cast-on would eliminate a lot of frustration.

That having been said, I will continue to recommend it as a good beginner project, but there's minimal shaping and minimal finishing, and it's actually pretty quick work.

I love the sleeve finishing -- a single round of purl and a cast-off both worked with a double strand of yarn. It makes a nice, non-curling edge, but it's not dominant visually so it doesn't break the simplicity.

It's also a good demonstration of how a yarn can make or break a project. The variable texture and slight variegation of the yarn elevates a simple shape to something much more interesting.

The other amusing thing about this is that as soon as the sleeves were done it became actually wearable - a sorta shruggy thing. I often knit through a class, but this week I taught a class actually wearing the sweater while working on it. Like so...

Stupid knitter trick of the week.

Is It Dangerous?

A good chuckle the other day....

A., who is a great knitter and lovely person, attended a Cables class I taught recently. She told me that she was talking to the 7 year old daughter of a neighbour about the class... It's a knitting class, she explained.

"But you already know how to knit," says the perceptive 7 year old.

"But this is different! It's knitting cables."

"Cables? Isn't that dangerous?"

"Dangerous how?"

"Well, it's electrical."

Another Noro Sock: The Tulip Sock

I'm proud of this one, if I do say so myself.


Although it's tough to photograph well... the nice scalloped top isn't showing very well.

The stitch pattern is a variation on Dragon Skin from Barbara Walker's Second Treasury. Because the yardage of the Noro Kureyon Sock is so terrific, you will easily get a matching pair -- both pink at the top -- from one ball. It was serendipitous -- my ball was wound to start with the pink, and I think it looks like a fabulous spring blossom.

Pattern will be for sale at The Naked Sheep and The Purple Purl starting tomorrow. Suitable for sock knitters with some experience.

Notes on a Sock Yarn

Thoughts and observations as I've been working with the Noro Kureyon sock yarn.

1. The colours are truly wonderful - no surprise there.

2. Each section of colour goes on longer than I'd expected. I've worked two socks with two different stitch counts and two different st patterns, and in neither case did I work a full repeat of the colour change.

3. There's less in the way of organic matter (i.e. bits of twig, hay) in the yarn than there is in the original Kureyon. There is a little, but not much.

4. Like the original Kureyon, the thickness of the yarn varies as you work with it.

5. It's heavier in gauge than many sock yarns I've worked with.

6. But because of the varied thickness of the yarn, it needs a smaller needle than I would normally use. I'm trying 2mm (US 0) or 2.25mm (US 1) instead of my usual 2.5mm.

7. The yardage is great. I'm betting there's three socks in a ball.

8. The hand is rougher than many sock yarns -- but again, I'm not particularly worried about this one. I think it's a bit of a red herring, to be honest.

9. This is absolutely a "pull from the outside" ball. The yarn is very sticky and tangly, and god help those who insist on pulling from the inside of the ball.

10. The manufacturer instruction to handwash worries me a little bit, but not too much. I often handwash my delicates, so it's not a huge hardship to throw some socks in. That having been said, it means that it's not the best all-purpose sock yarn out there.

11. On the question of wear: hmmm.... I will monitor my own socks, and the results of others, very carefully. The nylon is a help, no question, but it is a single ply. The big burning question is how well will it actually wear?

No Words

It's as beautiful as I imagined.

"Ooh, that's very rough"

I've been taking the Noro sock project(s) with me everywhere. Lots of KIPing ("knitting in public").

It's prompting some great reactions -- "lovely colours", of course. "Interesting project", of course.

But it's amazing how many people are telling me that they feel that the yarn is too rough.

Too rough?

I think I've said this before, but holy cow, how delicate are your feet? (These comments do not apply to diabetics.) Seriously -- the insides of shoes are a lot harder on your feet than a pair of socks.

That having been said, it is rougher to hand than a lot of sock yarn, and I'm going to be very interested in how it washes and wears. Initial reports are reasonably positive, and I've heard that people are successfully washing the yarn both by hand and machine.

More to come as the project proceeds.

Noro Socks! Eeee!

Eeee!

A plain and simple sock in colour #185. Cannot WAIT to get to the orange. I decided to work the heel from the centre of the ball, so that the flow of the colouring didn't break at the ankle. Depending on how the colouring looks by the time I get to the toe, I may or may not change it up there, too.
(I'm using my own sock recipe, on 56 sts, with k2 p2 ribbing at the cuff. The gauge is marginally heavier than the usual for sock yarn, so I might even go down 2 or 4 sts next time.)

The stretches of colour are longer than I expected, but I like it. It means that the two of the pair could be radically different. Having lots of fun with it so far.

This is colour #95. I'm playing with stitch patterns on this one, to take advantage of the lovely, lovely colours. It's tulip-y. Stay tuned. This pattern will be available for sale.

The knitting is going slowly as it takes more attention, and I've had more phone and car (and therefore easy knitting) time than I have focused sit 'n' knit time.

I anticipate having more focused time over the next few days, so I'm looking forward to making some serious progress.

That Design Project I Needed to Finish Up: Coffee Morning Shawl

A month or two ago, Lorena at the Sheep told me about a very interesting new yarn she's carrying... Rosario's Sole Latte. It's made of milk fibre. (Seems to be entirely lactose free, for those that worry about that sort of thing... ;-))

I played with it for a while, swatched, blocked, tried it on different size needles, worked a few different stitch patterns, and I was very pleasantly surprised with the results.

It holds a block very well, and the variegation is enough to add visual interest to a lace pattern without overwhelming it.

The idea for the Coffee Morning Shawl was born. I chose a stitch pattern that reminded me of a coffee bean....


And I knew I wanted something not too overwhelming in size, something that wouldn't dangle in my coffee cup. I decided to think differently about the shape. I've remarked on this before, but I'm not very tall. I do like a good triangle shawl, but they're often big and unwieldy on me.

I noodled on a semi-circular concept, but then ended up with a square. An open square.


It wears like a "proper" triangle shawl at the back, coming to a nice point


but not so long that it overwhelms me.

And then because of the shape, you get good drape around the shoulders and the front, but it's not too long.


And it wraps nicely, too.

Pattern available on Patternfish and Ravelry.

It's HEEEEEEEEEERE!

Noro Sock Yarn is in the country. Two confirmed sightings so far.

Dear God I have to focus and finish up my design project so I can reward myself with an orgy of sock knitting.

I'm fooling myself if I don't think I'm going to indulge in some serious stashing.

FO: Feeling Kerchief

This is the one-skein luxury kerchief design worked in a lovely, springy shade of green Needful Feeling. The yarn is delicious -- a wool/silk/cashmere blend.

I had a single ball of it in my stash -- it was left over from a swatching exercise for some technical editing I'm doing -- and I couldn't let it go to waste. It's about 140m of a DK weight, and I get a scarf about 130 cm/50 ins wide and 30 cm/12 ins long after a light blocking. (Where "light blocking" means handwash in the sink, roll out in a towel, stretch it out a bit and leave it to dry overnight draped casually over the railing above the stairs.)

The idea behind the design -- other than making the most of a luxurious and perhaps budget-busting yarn -- was a light scarf to go with spring coats. Because we're lying to ourselves here in Canada if we think we won't need to wear scarves for a while longer.

It was also, frankly, a nice break from a lot of the other knitting I'm doing. I'm doing stuff for a book, and for some technical editing, and working on a design of my own, and I needed a change.

A quickie one-skein project was just the thing I needed. Far be it from me to complain about knitting as work, but sometimes it's hard to stay focused on a project that you're not really enjoying knitting. I just finished up something that's great, that turned out really well, but I wasn't a fan of the yarn colour that had been chosen, and that was a surprising barrier for me.

Hence a cheerful green scarf that I'll likely never wear -- but hey, I didn't pay for the yarn and it's not like it was hours and hours of work.

Just 20 Million More Stitches....

A commenter recently posted a link to this lovely cartoon...

Oh, we've all been there. When a project gets boring, or when you're knitting to a deadline, you start doing the math. I look at the clock on the DVD player/TV box and start figuring out how many minutes it takes me to knit a row/round. And then I start estimating how many rows/rounds I have left. And how many hours of knitting it will be.

That way lies madness.

If we really thought about the time it takes to knit something, we'd be horrified. 8 hours a sock?! That's just ONE sock.

I like to measure my projects not in stitches or minutes (or hours... or days...) but rather in episodes of TV. The heel turn, gusset pickup and decrease of my latest sock took two episodes of Torchwood last night (longer than usual, but I realized that my pair wasn't matching, and since they're to be photographed professionally, it actually mattered). Plus, it's entirely possible I might have been a bit distracted. Captain Jack Harkness, anyone?

Rogue, for example, took about three quarters of a season of Buffy.

Fall Trends: Knitwear still rules!

I had the privilege of attending a Canadian Fashion Week event last night, thanks to my friend L.

It's a lot of fun -- and not just because of the free Orangina and nail polish (colour #580, "Stroke of Midnight"). I got to see what's going to be gracing the store shelves come September/October this year. I'm very pleased to report that there was lots of great knitwear. And interesting stuff, too. Yes, the eternal black turtleneck, but also more knitted dresses and some really great capey sorts of things.

I liked very much the chunky knit dress in a great, traditional aran colour with a single, bold cable. I was also very impressed with what they called a "sweater cape". Imagine a big, loose, long cardigan without sleeves, with cape-style slits for your arms. I am thinking about a design already...

Semi-decent pic of the cable knit dress.
(Still looking for a pic of the sweater cape thingy.)

As I Was Saying

Really. Only sock yarn.

LK got in a new shipment of Socks that Rock, and I found myself buying two more skeins... (No alcohol involved this time, though.) Mr. Green Jeans and Grawk. Mr. Green Jeans must be a new colourway, as I can't find it on the Blue Moon site. I do love the "almost black" colourways they've done -- I've got both Grawk and Thraven in the stash now. I want to do a pair of my Basic Ribbed Socks in black, I think they'll be terrific but also subtle and very wearable.

And I've got an order in for 2 balls of the Noro Kureyon sock yarn at PP. Colours 164 and 185, if you must know.

My excuse is that I'm doing so many design samples at the moment that it's hard to take on a big project for myself. And socks are the perfect mindless rest-knitting I need. Yeah, that's it. THAT'S the reason.

Hello. My name is Kate and I love sock yarn.

Reader Mail: Another Question about Sock Knitting, A Question About Silk

Nikki asks about where to start with sock knitting. I will indulge in a bit of shameless self-promotion, and point to my "Socks 101" article on Knitty.

The article guides you through creating a mini "training sock" that teaches you all the skills you need, and then helps you create your own custom-fit basic sock pattern.

Marilyn asks about using silk for shawls. Silk is terrific for lace, it blocks very very well. I've had great success with both refined, smooth silk yarns, and rougher silk yarns. Some of the blends are just fabulous. The Feeling I mention has a relatively small silk content, and really just feels and behaves like the nicest softest wool in the world. I am a big fan of Fleece Artist's Sea Silk, I used it for my Swallowtail Shawl. I can't find that specific yarn listed on their site at the moment, but they have many other silk and silk blend yarns.

For more details on the properties of silk, take at look at Amy Singer's No Sheep for You book.

To Patti, Who Asked About Sock Knitting

Patti posted a comment to my Basic Ribbed sock pattern, and asked an important question.

She mentioned she'd didn't like the fabric she'd produced working with standard sock yarn on US size 3 needles. She said it was too loose and not stretchy.

Your yarn choice is good, it's actually the needles I'd change. Try much smaller needles -- 2.5mm (no US size equivalent), 2.25mm (US size 1) or even 2mm (US size 0).

She mentions that WoolEase sportweight works well on US size 3 -- yes, absolutely, it's heavier than standard sock yarn. Paton's Kroy is a terrific choice -- try it again, but use smaller needles.

You need to go small with sock needles, because you need a good, dense fabric that will stretch and bounce back, and will wear well. I always err on the smaller side of the recommended needles for a sock yarn, and for a yarn that's not specifically designed for socks -- the WoolEase being a good example -- I go down a couple from even the smallest recommended.

On Stashing

In general, I'm not much of a stasher. For me, a project is as much about the design as it is about the yarn, and so I can usually resist the urge to fall in love with yarn on its own. It may look nice, but unless I know what it's for, I can't make a decision about whether it's exactly perfect or not.

This attitude has saved me on a number of occasions -- saved my bank account, that is. I do stash patterns, about which I refuse to feel guilty. They take up much less storage space, cost less, and I can consider them research -- ooh hey, look, an interesting sleeve shaping!

Sometimes, what happens is that I fall in love with a yarn and then immediately have to go out and find or create a pattern to use for it. And I like to start working it quickly, as otherwise I fear I'll lose or forget about the yarn.

Over the years, this has done me well to help me manage both money and storage space.

I do have a massive blind spot, however. An exception to the stash rule.

Sock yarn.

It's cheap, you see, and it doesn't take up a lot of storage room, and I'm always knitting socks....

There's a dangerous strip of stores on Queen West, near Palmerston. Second Cup coffee shop, Comrags, my favourite dress shop, Romni wools, my hairdresser, and a truly excellent vintage shop, Cabaret. I can't get a haircut without spending at least the same again at one of the other stores.

This time, I got away pretty lightly -- only a couple of balls of sock yarn from the bargain basement of wonders at Romni. How on earth could I resist this wonder -- on sale and everything?


Part of the Regia Nation Colours line. The staff in the shop said that it's not selling because no-one likes this colour combo. Except me! For someone who rarely wears one colour, let alone two, I do have a soft spot for insane sock yarn.

Without further ado, this is my stash of sock yarn. Unused balls, anyway. 2 Socks that Rock -- one insane, one very quiet and tasteful. 2 sets of other insane coloured yarn (bee stripe as above, and a good old Paton's Kroy), and a single 50gm ball of a black and white blend that I want to (i.e. will have to, because I only have one ball) work with plain black cuffs, heels and toes.


See, reasonably restrained? None of these purchases were required -- they were all shameless stashing. I will even admit that the Socks that Rock Pirate's Booty, was bought after a few drinks. (This is the problem with your LYS is on the way home from your local bar.)

Of course, there's this other pair underway right now that I keep putting down. The yarn is Estelle Arequipa -- a great wool, angora and nylon blend. It's not stash if it's on my needles, right? Ok, so they're on one of three sets of sock needles, so it's not like I need to finish them anytime soon.

And then there's the partial balls. The leftovers. Although I don't think they count as stash, they do require storage.


Of course, after I'd taken this picture, I realized I had a whole other bag of sock leftovers. The leftovers from all the hand-dyed sock yarns -- the Fleece Artist, The Shepherd Sock, Jitterbug, Socks that Rock, etc., etc.

But otherwise, no, I'm not a stasher. Really.

Cabled Bag Design & Class

Excellent new photos courtesy of Sarah.

I'm rather proud of this design, if I do say so myself.

I'm a big fan of smaller, structured bags. I'm not very tall, as I've probably mentioned before, and the oversized slouchy bags so popular at the moment look silly on my arm.

It works up quickly, in a nice thick yarn, on needles slightly smaller than usual to create a good solid fabric.

The pattern is available at The Naked Sheep, and I'm also teaching a class on it in April. The class is two sessions -- the first teaches everything you need to know about cables of all kinds , including reading of both written instructions and charts. And the second focuses on this bag, and the complex and sophisticated cable it features.

Once More, With Feeling

(I couldn't resist, sorry.)


The Bunny kerchief again, this time for me... in a lovely, springy shade of green Feeling. Feeling is a terrific yarn, a smooth and fabulously soft wool/silk/cashmere blend from Needful Yarns. A single ball is 140m, which is enough to provide a nice little kerchief to go with my spring coats.

I rather like this design, if I do say so myself. This design solves two problems at once: a nice little showcase for a fabulous little yarn, and a quick and interesting-but-not-too-challenging project.

Don't tell me you haven't fallen in love with an luxurious (and expensive) yarn and craved a single-skein project for it? Don't tell me you haven't wished for a bit of light relief in the middle or a larger project? The bunny kerchief is a delicious distraction.

I've got several other things on the go at the moment -- and two of them have deadlines. So I'm trying not to be distracted with my own distraction project. To make it less tempting, I put it onto straight needles....

Sock Ness Monster/"Good for you"

Finished! 1 pair plain and simple socks in Socks that Rock Loch Ness.

Loving the yarn so far. Great hand, with a nice bit of squishiness for comfort. I look forward to wearing them... once I've woven in the ends, of course.

I was knitting on the subway the other day, as I am wont to do. I could see, out of the corner of my eye, an older man watching me. I was well into this second sock, at the stage where it was clearly identifiable as a sock. After a few minutes, he came up to me.

"If you don't mind me asking, how long does it take to make a pair?"

"About six hours a sock." An educated guess on my part, but a reasonable one.

"Huh." He paused.

I attempted to keep the conversation going... "I enjoy it. They're my design, my choice of colour, and they fit like they're made for me."

"They are made for you..."

I just smiled. I guess I shouldn't try to be poetic on the subway.

He took a good look at the sock one more time, nodded, and said simply "good for you."

I'm honestly not sure what he was trying to say, but whatever it was, it was nice.

Has It Come to This?

At the Sheep last night, Emily and I were chatting about the wonders of Elizabeth Zimmerman's work.

And Emily reminded me that in EZ's Opinionated Knitter book, there is a pattern for long underwear. (Pic of completed baby version.) For adults, she does a strap under the foot that reminds me of the stirrup pants I wore in the 1980s. (Yes, I admit it, and I don't care who knows.)

And you know, given the never-ending nightmare of a winter we're having, I think I may well cast on for a set. She recommends a worsted weight, so they wouldn't take that long. And maybe spring will have come by the time they're finished....

As I Feared/If The Needles Don't Fit...

After one evening gamely working away on the world's loudest sweater... tinkle tinkle tinkle of the metal dpns... I've given up again.

I need 5mm bamboo dpns.

It's not just that the needles are noisy, it's that they're slippery and hard to handle, and strangely unforgiving. It really is quite startling to me how different the experience can be.

I often talk in my classes about how swatching is a useful exercise to determine whether you're going to enjoy working with a particular yarn. But the point applies just as well for the needles, too.

Will be needle shopping later today.

It's not all socks...

I've picked up an abandoned project, Handmaiden's Jane sweater.

It's a neat idea -- worked in one piece, with an origami sorta construction. You work the back sideways, and construct the sleeves from the top half of the back stitches, and the two fronts from the lower half. You fold the two fronts up and across the front, for a wrap-around effect.

The colour really isn't reading in the picture, but it's a nice bright but not too garish lime green.

Working on it the other night, I remembered why I'd put it down. I modified the sleeves to be worked in the round (of course), and my only appropriately sized (5mm) dpns are metal. And the tinkling is driving me insane. (Not to mention poor Norman who was trying to pay attention to the television.) I might have to get new needles to finish it.

It will be just the thing for those not-quite-freezing-cold but-still-not-very-warm days of spring.

Basic Ribbed Sock for Men

By popular demand! I am very flattered that people are using and enjoying this pattern.

I have a few variations in mind... watch this space over the next month or so. I'll also compile all the size variations into one post, so it's a bit easier to read.

In the meantime...

Basic Ribbed Sock Sized for Men
Refer to basic pattern here. Notes on resizing for women here.

Cast on 64 sts for a smaller man's foot, 68 sts for a larger man's foot.

Work 8 ins/20 cm for leg.

Work heel on first 31 (35) sts of round. Work 23 (25) heel rows.

Work the heel turn as follows:
RS: K21 (23) , skp, turn.
WS: P11, p2tog, turn.
RS: K11, skp, turn.

and repeat the last two rows to turn the heel. You’ll have 13 left over, and pick up 16 (17) sts for the gusset. Then decrease the gusset down to 64 (68) sts for the foot.

And of course, lengthen the foot to suit – toe decreases start 5cm/2 ins short of your foot length.

(For those who are doing the math, the only really tricky bit is making sure that the ribbing lines up nicely on the foot. That is, you want to work the heel sts on the first 4x+3 sts so that the heel sts start and end with three knit sts, and there's a purl st running down each side of the instep sts.)

Mmmm... Bunny....

Despite not being a pink sorta girl, nor really an angora girl, have fallen quietly in love...

Cottage Craft Angora, in pink. One skein! I chose a traditional, reversible Shetland lace pattern, and worked until I'd just about run out of yarn, then cast off.

It's just the sort of thing to combat the winter blahs. Ideal for cheering up that winter coat you're seriously tired of wearing by now.

Pattern available from Patternfish, Ravelry, and at The Purple Purl.

This pattern uses one skein (120-150m) of the softest, most luxurious fibre you have in your stash. Come on, you know you have something in the bottom of a box somewhere, something you couldn't afford to buy more than one of?

More Socks

.5000001 of a pair of Socks That Rock in "Loch Ness".

That is, one full sock and the cast-on for the second.

Seriously good travelling project, which was good, because I was travelling. Compact, interesting, yet can be worked with little attention and even the barest of holds on the handrail in the subway car. (I suspect the Beastie Boys weren't thinking of knitting as they sang "Doing fine on the 1 and 9 line", but I was, and I couldn't help but sing it to myself.)

Anyway, yes. Simple stocking stitch body.

Confession time, though... I bought this colourway more because of the name than the actual colours itself. Yeah, loving the lime, and it's a cool finished effect, but if you'd described the yarn to me (browns and light blue and some greens and yellows) I would have said no.

Anyone else been sucked in? Bought a colourway because it had a great name? The Sweet Georgia sock yarns are particularly well named -- for characters in my favourite TV show, for movies, for music references.

Will be interested to see how these wear...

It's Not Just Socks, Y'Know/Email Address Change

A design project underway.


Pink angora lace to chase away the winter blahs. I don't even like pink and it's cheering me up.

Swatches show a bunch of different ideas in development. The plastic bag is to try to keep the yarn nice and clean, and to minimize the shedding all over the rest of my darker coloured knitting-in-progress. Angora is lovely, but it does shed.

If you're trying to get hold of me using the sympatico.ca email address, note that it's going away. If you need to contact me, there's a link at the bottom of this page, or use firstname at wisehildaknits dot com.

FO: The Tweedy Socks/Ribbing Needles

Stash sock yarn... not really sure what it is, the ball band disappeared. It's traditional sock yarn, with nylon. Using my standard sock recipe as per the Knitty article. 2.5mm needles.

I've been teaching a few sock classes of late, and we use my standard sock recipe as the basis for designing custom-fit socks. My standard sock recipe calls for the use of smaller needles for the ribbing. I am a filthy hypocrite on this point... I long ago abandoned the use of ribbing needles for socks.

It's partially because socks are my favourite travelling project, and if I'm travelling (whether on a streetcar, subway or a plane), I don't want to bother with any unnecessary equipment.

Plus I'm not sure they're required, strictly speaking. Smaller needles for ribbing allow the ribbing to pull in more, and mitigate the stretching out. For sweaters, when you want a tighter cuff/lower edge, this makes sense.

But for socks, I don't bother. Two reasons: I tend not to do a ton of ribbing at the cuff -- as per my Basic Ribbed Sock design, I find k1 p1 ribbing very tedious.

And perhaps -- more to the point -- if you design your sock well, it fits your leg and doesn't fall down so you don't need the tighter ribbing to keep it up.

Yes, that's right! A sock that actually fits. Back to my point in the Knitty article, if you're going to make socks you may as well make 'em to fit. I'm modestly sized -- not very tall, small feet, narrow ankles -- and I find that one-size-fits-all socks are always too big, and even the smaller size of a multi-size pattern is often a bit big. So I make 'em to fit. (I refer you back to my standard sock recipe .)

And they don't fall down! And therefore I don't need tighter ribbing! And so I don't use ribbing needles. Now, I do use a slightly smaller needle for the entire thing -- 2.5mm rather than 3mm.

There are knitters out there who might disagree with me violently. And this is the great part about this sort of thing -- we're ultimately designing and working to suit our own needs. I just don't happen to need to work my ribbing on smaller needles.

Just Socks Excerpt Online: Free Slipper Pattern

Free Moccasin Slipper Pattern

Excerpted from "Lion Brand® Yarn Just Socks" edited by Shannon Okey. Photography by Jack Deutsch. Copyright © 2007. Reprinted by permission of Potter Craft.

FO: Basic Ribbed Sock; More on Sock Yarn

Hey, that's convenient! I've just finished a pair of my own Basic Ribbed Socks, worked using the instructions for the smaller size.

Yarn: Fleece Artist Merino sock yarn. It comes as a kit, but I ignore the pattern because it's awful. (See previous post on this topic.)

I've used this yarn several times before. Other than concerns about wear (which aren't really the fault of the yarn, it's all about the appropriateness of the application), I've been happy with it.

But look at this...

these are the same yarn, same skein, and there's a fairly big difference in the colouring. It's ok, it's not the end of the world, but one part of the skein is definitely lighter. It's not how the yarn was stored, as it was stored in the skein, and I only wound it into a ball shortly before I began to knit. And in the store, it wasn't anywhere near a window. It's impossible that this is fading, it's a manufacturing problem.

I'm disappointed.

Another nudge back towards "commercial" sock yarn?

Resizing the Basic Ribbed Sock

From a request on Ravelry... I'm easy to find there, BTW... like the Harlot, my ID is basically my blog address.

The sock at the standard 60 sts fits women's shoe sizes 6 to 8 1/2 no problems.

For a smaller foot -- up to size 6 1/2 or so -- cast on and work 56 sts for the leg. The rest remains much the same -- heel is worked on 27 sts (therefore you're putting 29 sts on hold for the instep), 21 heel rows (although I'd go down to 19 if you're working for a very small foot) pick up 15 (again, 14 for a very small foot) for the gusset. Work gusset decreases so you're back down to 56 stitches. And start the toe decreases 5cm/2 inches short of the desired foot length.

For a larger foot -- size 9 or above -- cast on 64 sts. Work an additional 1-3cm/1/2 - 1 in for the leg.

Work the heel on 31 sts and work 23 heel rows. The heel turn would go like this....

RS: K21, skp, turn.
WS: P11, p2tog, turn.
RS: K11, skp, turn.

and repeat the last two rows to turn the heel. You’ll have 13 left over, and pick up 16 sts for the gusset. Then decrease the gusset down to 64 sts for the foot.

And of course, lengthen the foot to suit – toe decreases start 5cm/2 ins short of your foot length.

Anyone want a men's version?

Because he loved Lizard Ridge as much as I do

I always considered Nathan an honourary knitter.

If I believed in this sort of thing, I would hope that kitty heaven is staffed with knitters working on large blanket projects that can be lain about upon. He deserves it.