Just Send Me A Postcard...

Way back in the spring, at the Frolic, Mum bought a knitting kit from Philosopher's. A beautiful Fair Isle design -- this one, if memory serves.

It's gorgeous, in rich blues and greens.

I wound the yarn for her with my ballwinder and swift, since to do it by hand would likely have taken longer than the knitting...


There's a lot of yarn in that kit. A LOT of yarn.

Mum's just about finished up with the other project she bought at the Frolic, and is ready to tackle this kit.

I've been helping her out here and there with that other project. It's a Fleece Artist kit, and you know how I feel about Fleece Artist patterns. It's not that it's got mistakes in it, but it's so casually written that there simply isn't enough detail for the average knitter.

But now it's just about done, and she's ready to tackle the Philosopher's kit.

Internets, I have a dirty, dirty secret: I'm not a fan of Fair Isle knitting. I love the results, but I don't enjoy the process.

I told her that she should just send me a postcard when she's done.

Latvian Mittens!

I'm honoured to count among my knitting a friends a lovely woman called Aija. She's attended a few of my classes. One day last winter, in the midst of our long, horrible, cold, nasty winter, she wore a pair of beautiful Latvian mittens. They are stunning, in black with allover fair-isle patterns in greens and blues. Being fair isle, they're lined and warm.

She told me of the long and wonderful traditions of Latvian mitten knitting. 4,500 pairs were knitted as gifts for all the attendees of the 2006 NATO summit.

Aija is from Latvia, and she visits every summer. She emailed me recently to tell me that she'd managed to find me a pair on her most recent -- very much out of season, the selection was small, but the pair she brought me are absolutely magnificent.

Handknitted with local wool in shades of soft greys, the patterning is very traditional, and beautifully done.

The details are wonderful, right down to little tails that were tied together.


But here's the thing that I love the most -- the thing that I couldn't stop talking about... the construction. They're the most practical mittens I've ever seen.

They have a a flip-top so that your fingers can be exposed when you need them, without having to remove the mitten....


And look at the length of the fingers! These are mittens for serious warmth.

But this is the best part of all...


a flip-top thumb! How wonderful is that?

Aija -- many, many thanks!

Metal Needles; The Exploded Ribbing Sock

I used a picture of a sock in my recent Knitty article -- the "exploded ribbing sock". I designed it in the spring, using a new yarn from Diamond's Luxury Collection, Footloose. The colourway is called "Mouse" which I think is rather cute. It's a rather improbable blend of a soft medium brown and a light grey-blue, which works much better than you'd expect. It's neutral but definitely not dull.

(Click to embiggen to see the detail of the stitch pattern.)

I'm on a bit of a roll designing socks with variegated yarns and reverse stocking stitch. I love how the colours in a short-burst variegated blend on the "wrong" side, and I chose this stitch pattern because it shows a lot of the wrong side, and how clearly the knit ribs stand out. This wouldn't work as well in a very strongly coloured yarn, or in a yarn with longer stretches of colour.

There's only one in the picture because I'd only knitted one. This lonely single sock has been sitting around in my sock yarn stash for several months, waiting for its mate.

Inspired by the number of enquiries and compliments I received on the picture, I decided to finish up the pair and I will be publishing the pattern shortly.

Here's number two in progress....

Note carefully the needles. Shock! Horror! I'm using metal sock needles. I never thought I'd go back, and now I'm seriously thinking of throwing out most of my bamboos.

I learnt to knit socks on metal needles -- old school, 8 inch long metal needles. And of course because my first sock was in heavy yarn, they were thick, heavy needles. Awful. I'm honestly surprised I kept at it, because managing the needles was a headache. Once I switched to proper-sized sock needles -- 2.5mm -- they got easier to handle, but still weren't great.

And then about 4 years ago I got my first set of bamboo sock needles. I loved them instantly. Bamboo needles are great because they're light, warm, and a little bit flexible. And compared to older metal needles, I had much more control over the yarn. I also bought the shorter ones, which made a big difference.

Regular readers will remember that several months ago, I was struggling with a heavily cabled design that had a lot of twisted stitches. And I discovered that the points of my bamboo needles weren't holding up. Not only weren't they very pointy, but I was shredding them. Working twisted stitches requires a good point to dig into the stitches. I was wearing down the points of my bamboo needles.

On the recommendation of other knitters, I ordered myself some sets of KnitPicks' Harmony wood needles. Love them. The points are better - sharper and more solid -- and they don't feel like they would break as easily. I'm reasonably careful, but I have broken a bamboo needle by sitting on it.

Faced with the thought of working the second Exploded Ribbing sock -- a sock that's all about twisted stitches -- I tried something new. I ordered myself a set of the KnitPicks' nickel-plated 6 inch sock needles. And yes, I'm in love.

I never thought it would happen. Metal sock needles.

They're light and they're short and those two things make all the difference in the world. And being metal, I don't have to worry they'll break when I stick my project in my purse. (Yes, I always have a sock project on the go in my purse. It's how I have such a large wardrobe of socks.) And the smooth, slick surface is tremendous for fast knitting.

I still love the wood and bamboo needles for travel. Indeed, I'm flying next week, and am really looking forward to sitting down with a set of Harmony dpns and a skein of Malabrigo sock yarn.

But for everyday use -- it's all about metal.

I Love This. Knitting Audio Books

... for the blind.

The Canadian National Institute for the Blind provides a very extensive library of audiobooks for the blind.

Available new as of August 2008 Debbie Bliss' Step by Step Knitting Workbook.

Seriously, this is wonderful. No discrimination, no assumptions, no dismissals that knitting might not be for the vision-impaired.

Since It's For Winter, It Needs a Jacket

The Wiggle Dress needed a little jacket, don't you think?

Will be available as of this weekend at the Sheep.

My Own Greatest Hit

Nearly four years ago, at the behest of Lorena, I designed the Wiggle dress.


Knitted in Rowan Calmer, with trim in Crystal Palace Squiggle, it's a dress sized for 3 to 18 month olds. It's been a huge hit at the Naked Sheep.

Lisa recently requested a winter version....


Worked in Diamond's Luxury Collection Superwash DK, again with Squiggle trim, it will make a terrific jumper for holiday parties. Next up, a little jacket to match.

Reverse Basic Ribbed Sock

I'm very fond of my Basic Ribbed Sock pattern -- I use it a lot. And I use it a lot with variegated yarns. I was looking at a half-completed Basic Ribbed Sock in a nice black and white mix of variegated yarn, when it occurred to me that I rather liked the fabric inside out. Click on the picture to see what I mean.

Whereby resulted the Reverse Basic Ribbed Sock. Tweaked so that the wrong side of the ribbing shows on the outside of the sock. Works terrifically well with a yarn that has short bursts of colour.

Sizes
Women’s S (shoe size 5-7), Women’s M (shoe size 7½-9), Women’s L (shoe size 9½+), Men’s S (shoe size 6-9 ), Men’s L (shoe size 9½+)

Materials
400m/440yds sock yarn – this pattern works for any sock yarn with a 28-30 stitch gauge
-the black and white version was worked with two skeins of Shelridge Farm's Soft Touch Ultra sock yarn
-the orangey version was worked with a skein of Arequipa sock yarn
1 set of 2.5mm (US size 1/1.5) double-pointed needles

Gauge
32 stitches, unstretched, across 4 inches/10cm in K3 P1 rib with 2.5mm needles.

Method
Cuff:
Cast 56 (60, 64, 64, 68) stitches onto a single needle. Distribute stitches evenly across 3 needles. Join for working in the round, being careful not to twist.

Work 15 (15, 17.5, 20, 20) cm/6 (6, 7, 8, 8) inches of K3 P1 ribbing, as follows:
Round 1: *K3, p1; repeat from * to end of round. Repeat this for every round.
Yes, that's right, work the leg in k3 p1 ribbing. It's quicker for most knitters than p3 k1, and you'll turn it inside as you start to work the heel.

Turn Heel:
This portion is worked flat in plain stocking stitch.

Turn the sock inside out. You're going to start working in the other direction, so that the the ribbing shows at p3 k1 on the right side of the sock. You should be positioned so that the first st of the round is a knit st, followed by three purls.

Knit first 29 (29, 33, 33, 33) stitches. Put remaining 27 (31, 31, 31, 35) stitches onto a holder. Starting with a purl row, work 21 (21, 23, 23, 25) rows of stocking stitch, slipping the first stitch of every row. The right side is facing for next row.

RS: Knit 19 (19, 22, 22, 22) stitches, ssk, turn
WS: Slip 1, purl 9 (9, 11, 11, 11) stitches, p2tog, turn
RS: Slip 1, knit 9 (9, 11, 11, 11) stitches, ssk, turn

Repeat last two rows until all stitches have been worked. 11 (11, 13, 13, 13) stitches remain, and RS is facing for next row.

Re-establish Round and Create Gusset:
Knit all heel stitches. Using that same needle, pick up and knit 15 (15, 16, 16, 17) stitches along selvedge edge at side of heel, using slipped stitches as a guide. With a new needle, work in reverse rib pattern as established across the 27 (31, 31, 31, 35) stitches of instep – those stitches that you’d set aside on the stitch holder. Using another new needle, pick up and knit 15 (15, 16, 16, 17) stitches along selvedge edge at other side of heel, using slipped stitches as a guide. With that same needle, work 6 (6, 7, 7, 7) stitches from the first needle.

The beginning of the round is now at the centre of the heel. There should be 20 (20, 22, 22, 23) stitches on the first needle, the 27 (31, 31, 31, 35) stitches of the instep on the second, and 21 (21, 23, 23, 24) stiches on the third. Rearrange the stitches if you need to.

From here on in, the 27 (31, 31, 31, 35) instep stitches will be worked in the reverse rib pattern, and the gusset and sole will be worked in stocking stitch – that is, knitting every round.

Decrease Gusset:
Work a round even – keeping the instep stitches in pattern – twisting all picked-up stitches.

Work a decrease round as follows:
Needle 1: Knit to last three stitches, k2tog, k1.
Needle 2: Work all stitches in pattern.
Needle 3: K1, ssk, knit to end.

Work an even round, keeping continuity of pattern.

Repeating these last two rounds until Needles 1 has 14 (14, 16, 16, 16) stitches and Needle 3 has 15 (15, 17, 17, 17) stitches. 56 (60, 64, 64, 68) stitches total on your needles.

Work until foot measures 6.5 (18, 19, 19, 21) cm/6.5 (7, 7.5, 7.5, 8.5) inches, or 6 cm/2.5 inches less than foot length. (Note that the finished sock should be a little shorter than the foot. This makes for a better fit.)

Shape Toe:
From here on in, you’ll work entirely in stocking stitch. Rearrange the stitches so that you’ve got 14 (15, 16, 16, 17) each on Needles 1 and 3, and 28 (30, 32, 32, 34) on Needle 2.

Work a decrease round, as follows:
Needle 1: Knit to last three stitches, k2tog, k1.
Needle 2: K1, ssk, knit to last three stitches, k2tog, k1.
Needle 3: K1, ssk, knit to end.

Work 3 rounds even.
Work a decrease round followed by 2 even rounds, twice. [6 rounds total]
Work a decrease round followed by 1 even round, three times. [6 rounds total]
Work decrease rounds until 8 stitches remain.

To finish, cut yarn, draw through the final stitches and tighten. Weave in ends.

It's Research, Really

There's a block of Queen Street West, not far from where I live, that's an absolute killer. Heading west from the corner, it's as follows: a coffee shop, one of my favourite clothes shops in the entire world, a huge yarn shop, and then my hairdresser.

And if you stand at the corner and look north, there's a little ice cream shop that makes the best strawberry ice cream I've ever tasted.

There's also a terrific vintage clothes shop about 6 doors farther down.

Killer.

It means that a haircut typically costs me significantly more than just the price of the cut.

On the yarn front, I usually try to resist, as I'm not a stasher by nature... except, of course, for my terrible weakness for sock yarn.

I found this little goodie in the bottom of a basket in the bargain basement.... $4.80. There was only one 50gm ball in this colourway, which I know gives me enough yarn for a pair with contrasting heels, toes and cuffs.

I justified it to myself because, first of all, it's monochrome, and secondly, because I've never actually worked with a yarn that comes with its own little spool of reinforcing yarn. I love that it's dyed to match. So yeah, it's research.

On Socks of the Toe Up Variety

A reader (whose name, embarrassingly, I never caught) approached me at the K-W Knitter's Fair last weekend. (Hello!)

She mentioned that she'd learnt to knit top-down socks from me, from my Knitty article of way back...

and she wanted to now tackle toe-up socks.

How very timely. I have another Knitty article that answers just that question - "Socks 102". Well, actually, it answers a whole bunch of other questions as well, but here are the key points:

I'm fond of Amy Swenson's Universal Toe-Up Sock Formula... the girl thinks like me, of course I like it!

And you'll need to use a provisional cast on, for which you can find help here...

I differ from Amy in one significant way. It's all about foot shape. As explained in Socks 102, the problem I have with a standard toe-up sock is that the fit doesn't work for me. The standard construction assumes that the circumference of your heel is pretty close to the circumference of your foot. This just isn't true for me. If a toe-up sock fits my foot well, it's too tight around the ankle; and if it fits well around the heel it's too loose on the foot. A top-down sock doesn't have this problem, because there is a gusset -- a portion worked with more stitches around the heel.

So I added a gusset to the toe-up sock. All outlined in "Socks 102".. And if you want the backstory, read here and here...

Following Up On the Soxx Appeal

Black hole of knitting is done... thank goodness.... and I have to say, I'm happy with the results. It looked pretty awful pre-blocking -- very uneven, and sorta lumpy.

I ended up steam blocking the piece, and I was pleasantly surprised at the different it made. To be precise, I filled my iron with water, cranked it up to maximum, held it about an inch above the piece and pushed the "steam jet" button.

Lovely.

(Sad but true, I use my iron more in this way than actually putting it onto a fabric.)

The stitches evened out nicely, and the fabric looks significantly better.

A reader, AuntieAnn, posted a comment about her experience with the Soxx Appeal... she said that she had trouble getting a good fit because of the elastic. My first pointer is to work a little smaller than you would normally... if you're using my sock template, instead of calculating the cast-on stitches using ankle circumference less 2 cm, I'd subtract 3 cm. And I'd work a little shorter than you usually would. My foolproof technique for figuring out if the sock is long enough before the toe decrease... ?



Halfway through working the instep stitches (so that the sts are distributed across four needles), I try the thing on.

This works best, I find, because the sock will stretch as it needs to, to fit your foot, and you'll get a good sense of what length you need to accommodate the stretch. I used to start working the toe 2 inches/5 cm short of the full foot length, but I tend to start a cm or so earlier than that now. A non-stretch sock yarn naturally stretches out during the day with wear, and I found a sock that was precisely the right length in the morning was loose by the end of the day. A sock that has to stretch a little -- just a little -- in the morning remains a good fit at the end of the day.

(Very attentive readers will recognize this yarn as one of my purchases from this year's Knitter's Frolic. Shelridge Farms Soft Touch Ultra Fingering. Newsprint socks.)

Socks 102: Knitty Article

I'm honoured, once again, to be included in the pages of Knitty.

Socks 102 -- a discussion of advanced sock topics. Different types of toes and heels, notes on using other yarns, and a method for improving the fit of a toe-up sock with a short-row heel.

A Black Hole

Credit goes to Jennifer, who captured it perfectly.

I'm working one of those super-secret projects (i.e. something to be published somewhere), and it's using an interesting yarn.

Knit One Crochet Too's Soxx Appeal. It's definitely odd to work with. Not bad, just odd. It's got a great fibre mix for socks -- merino and nylon, and a magic 1% nylon.


I've worked a pair of socks in this yarn, and I liked it very much. There is a balance that needs to be struck in sock knitting, I find... you don't want the sock too tight, but equally, you want it a bit snug so that as the wool stretches out over the day it doesn't become too baggy. I've started recommending that socks be worked about 1 cm/1/2 inch shorter than foot length -- I find that works well. The added nylon in the Soxx Appeal helps out a lot -- the elastic helps the sock keep its shape through the day and ensures that they stay snug but not too tight.

But for reasons I won't (yet) share, I'm working something else in this yarn. Something that requires a largish section of plain old stocking stitch.

Here's the thing about stretchy fibres. When knitted up, they stretch more vertically than horizontally... which means, conversely, that the fabric compresses vertically, too. Which means that row gauge is a killer. I'm getting about 45 rows on 10cm/4 inches. 45 rows! And on a large swatch of stocking stitch, that's a lot of knitting.

As we've been making our way through the first season of Mad Men on DVD -- great knitting TV, and my god what I wouldn't do for an hour in their costume department -- I've been knitting away. And every now and then, I stop to measure my progress. And at 11-12 rows per inch, it seems like it takes forever to hit that magical next inch... forever. There's times when I've measured, to see no progress at all.

It's like a black hole of knitting.

A colourful and comfy black hole, but a black hole nonetheless.

All Alpaca, All the Time

I've been lucky enough recently to get my hands on some new alpaca yarns, direct from Peru.

TimiQuipa is importing some truly lovely sportweight alpaca yarn, and I've worked up three designs for them.

A baby cardigan...


and two lace designs....

These samples will be on display and the yarns and patterns will be available at the Creative Yarns' booth at the KW Knitters Fair next week. Stop by and say hello to Saul and Simona if you're there. They're lovely people, withe a lovely product.

The yarn is wonderful -- comes a great range of colours -- some of them undyed, and is priced very well.

Their yarns are also available at the following stores across Ontario:
Creative Yarns
Georgetown Yarn and Crafts
Grand River Yarns
JanKnit's Studio
Kismet Wool Shop
Knitters Attic
Linda's Craftique
London Yarns
PickUpSticks
Riverside Yarns
Rose's Fine Yarns
Ruti's Needlebed
SheepStrings
Spun Fibre Arts
The Purple Sock
The Stitch Niche
The Wool Shop
The Yarn Boutique
Whitevale Craftworks

Bits and Bobs

In a comment to my previous post, Marilyn tells a terrific story about flying with knitting shortly after 9/11... go read it!

I've ordered the Knit Picks Harmony nickel-plated sock needles. I've been working a lot of cabled socks of late, and have been struggling with the needles. For cable and fancy stitches, you need a good solid pointy point, and the points of my bamboo dpns were wearing too much. I love the points on the Harmony wood ones, but it occurred to me - in a smack-to-the-forehead sort of way - that an even better solution might be to try metal needles again. I haven't used metal sock needles in years. This is going to be an interesting experiment. I ordered the shorter ones -- I always struggled with the 8" length.

And look! A finished object!


It's a scarf! A crocheted scarf.


As you can see in the first photo, it's got a bit of a curve to it, the foundation chain being too tight, but other than that I'm pretty pleased with it.

My first-ever finished crochet project. It's a single ball of Needful Yarn's Joy, worked in double crochet. The square at one end is, IMHO, an elegant solution to the problem of not knowing how much scarf I'd be able to get out of the yarn. I worked a long narrow piece lengthways, and then when I was close to the end of the ball, I started working rows on the short end. I used the entire ball up, and have a decent length scarf out of 75m of yarn.

Now perhaps I can tackle a Zombie or two.

Reader Mail: About Needles for Travel

"Cape Cod Momma" asks about whether Addi Turbos are accepted on planes.

In my experience, you are ultimately at the mercy of the people manning the security checkpoints... I've successfully taken a metal circular on a couple of flights, but it was never one of my good ones.

I'd personally leave the Addis at home and take bamboos, just to be on the safe side.

Looks like KnitPicks has bamboo circulars in the length you're looking for...

happy travels!

A Less Than Ideal Travel Project

It's rare I see someone else knitting when I fly, let alone other types of crafting...

There was a woman crocheting on the flight yesterday.

She was crocheting an afghan. With one of those giant "super saver" balls of yarn.

Needless to say, she was having a little trouble stuffing her carry-on bag into the overhead bin...

Ideal Travel Knitting, or Not

I'm on the road. Been to the Pacific Northwest for a few days...

lots of time in airports, and on planes, which is all great for knitting.

Bamboo needles, naturally, and I've been working on a lace design -- one of my own -- in TimiQuipa alpaca.

It's beautiful yarn, an absolute joy to work with, and I love the soft blue colour.

Here's the problem... I finished it up lace night and I have no way to block it. And it's driving me insane. I want to see how it looks, how big it's going to be.

I did block the swatch, so I have some sense -- but I'm an impatient sort, and I want to see what it will become!

At least if I knit socks on the road I can wear them when they're done. With lace, I'm stuck with a crumpled heap of yarn that looks like nothing at all....

Much interesting discussion

My last post spurred a lot of interesting discussion, and a very good comment from Christine.

She's right. The eww factor is pretty irrational... . After all, sheep are much dirtier and smellier than your average dog.

(Ok, perhaps a certain cottage-going Goldendoodle of my acquaintance is the exception here, but she does get bathed regularly...)

Any yarn spun from dog hair is washed and treated exactly as sheep wool is, so that any leftover dander or scent or dogginess is entirely removed.

So what's the hang up?

It is a lovely way to make a canine keepsake, if you will. How many dog owners wish they could preserve something of a beloved family pet?

Interesting...

Wool of the Dog?

Funny, I'd just been looking at this book last weekend, and chuckling to myself (and others within earshot) about the table of dog breeds in the back, and the comments on the suitability of various breeds' hair for spinning and knitting.

And now there's this. A whole set of portraits of people wearing their dog hair sweaters, posed with the dog(s) who provided the hair.



As a knitter and a lover of big fuzzy dogs, I feel hugely conflicted about this.

I mean, it's nice to have a use for all the hair that accumulates all over your furniture and floor...

but on the other hand... eww.

ANOTHER One?

You've seen this design before.

A few times.

I've done it again.

Another of my One Skein Luxury Kerchief, this time in a rather lovely new baby alpaca yarn I've been working with, called TimiQuipa.

Look for it at the Kitchener Waterloo Knitter's Fair.

It's nice stuff... great hand, terrific yardage (150m) at an unbelievable price, and I love the creamy natural white.