March 2005 Archives

Anne-Caroline and I have been emailing back and forth about doing a raglan in the round. Simple, right? The only sweater type that might be easier to knit is a drop shoulder.

Here's the catch though. She wants to do the sleeves a different color from the body. In the round.

Have any of you come across a technique that would make this work? You guys always amaze me with your knowledge so I thought I'd ask. I kinda sorta remember hearing about a way to do intarsia in the round and this is pretty much the same thing.

I can't seem to get my brain past the "yarn's at the end of the section" problem to think up a way to make it work.

Where are the new pics?

It's still dreary and overcast in my neck of the woods. Tomorrow is supposed to be 60 and sunny so I'm hopeful I'll be able to snap a few pics for you tomorrow morning!

These socks were such a pleasure to knit up! It's the first time I've knit a sock with cotton in it.

Yarn

Regia Cotton Surf. They come in big 100g balls and I have about 7 grams leftover. The yarn has about 40% wool in it which gives it a nice resiliency and stretch, but the cotton makes it lighter weight and less warm -- perfect for in between season wearings.

Matching the Stripes

After posting earlier in the week about those great matching stripes, many of you asked if I had any hints on how to do it. Here's what I did:

When I started sock 1, I purposely cast on starting at the very beginning of an orange color change. At this point I didn't know what the stripe repeats looked like, so I just pulled the yarn out until the first color change.

I knit up sock 1 without any concern over how the stripes were laying out. But, After several inches it was clear that the yarn had a 9-stripe repeat. Every 9 stripes started over with the same color and width sequence. It's important to note that not all sock yarns are so predictable. Here's a pic of the socks side-by-side. Can you see the 9-stripe repeat?

Then when it was time to knit sock 2 I pulled the yarn out of the ball until I reached an orange spot. I knew I needed a longer orange chunk followed by a shorter orange chunk. I found the start of an orange stripe and then kept pulling out until I found the next one. Once I found the longer stripe followed by the shorter stripe I knew where to start. I then started the sock exactly the same way I started sock 1.

Honestly, I didn't expect the socks would match up as well as they did! The Cotton Surf is VERY consistent and that made all the difference. Consistent gauge helps too, but if the yarn didn't repeat so well it wouldn't have mattered.

Washing the Sock

You may have noticed in last week's pic that there was a ridge along the center of the sock. This was where the 2 circs met. I had never had that happen on wool socks before and I wasn't sure if it would relax. But it did! If you look at the top pic it's completely gone.

Picot Edge Hem

I did end up pulling out the first hem. I went with Marnie's suggestion of Kitchnering it. There's a great illustration in Montse Stanley's book on how to Kitchner a hem in place. It's similar to kitchnering garter stitch. I was S-L-O-W but it worked -- took about 1.5 hours per sock! And it's as stretchy as the rest of the sock.

Pattern

Just a regular old toe-up with short row heel. I used a figure 8 toe with no slip knot so I could go back and pull it tighter once I had knit a few inches. I made the sock 10% smaller in width than my sock pal's foot, and I reduced the leg by 8 stitches about an inch above the heel because it seemed too wide for sock legs. I did a basic YO K2tog picot edge, followed with 4 or 5 rows of stockinette, and then the Kitchner hem.

I'm past the armholes on the back now, so it should be smooth sailing!

While working on it last night I thought some of you might like to see how I do the armhole curves. I think I saw this first in EZ's Knitting Without Tears. You see how my edges don't do any of that stair-stepping? It makes the curves nicer and sewing it up far easier! Wanna see what I do? Here are a few pics for you too!

* inches left on the back

Amy tagged me for this almost 2 weeks ago! Where does the time go?

1. Do you knit continental or English?
Continental, sorta. I hold the yarn in my left hand but I still wrap the yarn around the needle rather than picking it when knitting. My hands cramp up if I try to pick so I don't! I think the way I knit looks really weird but I get good tension and very rarely have hand or wrist pain, so I no longer concern myself with needing to learn how to knit "correctly".

2. How long ago did you learn to knit?
I think I was in late grammar school -- probably 6th or 7th grade. So that would make it approximately 20 years ago. I taught myself over the summer when I was looking for something to do while watching Wimbledon. I don't know why I remember this detail, but I do!

I had learned how to crochet several years before that from my Aunt Mary but I always thought I'd have to learn how to knit to be a "real" yarn crafter. No one told me this, I just decided it on my own. I'm sure it had something to do with the fact that at that point there were virtually no crochet sweater patterns, and the ones they did have were pretty butt-ugly.

While my Mom doesn't knit or crochet, I have to credit her with my lifetime love of handcrafts. She taught me how to embroider (crewel) and sew. She's a master at both. She made her wedding gown and almost all of my clothes when I was little. I absolutely loved wearing things she made. One of my favorites was a little denim jumpsuit with an embroidered scene of a rainbow with the sun shining down on the trees and flowers. It was gorgeous. I think I was 4 or 5 when she made that for me.

It almost makes up for that yellow and bright blue chevron-striped sweater vest pant combo (the pants were solid bright yellow) that she dressed me in for Kindergarten pictures. Pictures, mom? What were you thinking?

aside -- where did numbers 3 and 4 go?

5. First FO? I have absolutely no idea. Same thing goes for sewing. The only first FO I remember was my first crewel work. It was a little pixie girl sitting under a mushroom cap hiding from the rain. I hope Mom still has it because I'd love to see how good/bad those stitches look.