Category: Knittastic!

I think I am never meant to knit a sweater.

Sweater #1 – Too small, didn’t like the pattern/yarn combination. Will be frogging the HALF of a sweater that I knit in the near future.

Sweater #2 – I’m allergic to the yarn, at least before blocking. Since I know it is just the dye, I am still working on schmoozing Mike into knitting this one for me. It is all garter stitch, so good for when he is on conference calls.

Sweater #3 – Started tonight. Did a gauge swatch, right on at 20 stitches over 4 inches, or 5 stitches per inch. Yeah! Cast on and started the back. Knit close to 5 inches of the sweater. Decided it looked rather wide, so I realized I should check my gauge. I am now getting 4.5 stitches per inch, and it is about 2.5 inches wider than it should be. GAH!

The good news is that the pattern is pretty basic with minimal shaping. Matter of fact, the back is a big rectangle. So I’m going to cast on for the smaller size to get the width that I want. From the math I did earlier, that should work out, right? It was supposed to be 5 stitches per inch, cast on 120 stitches, get a piece of fabric 24 inches wide. If I cast on 110 stitches at 4.5 stitches per inch, I should get a piece of fabric close to 24 inches wide, right?

There is hope, right? I don’t have to give up yet, do I? (Of course, after Wednesday, my shot at the whole NaKniSweMo thing will most likely be over. But I at least want to try!)

I’m afraid that I am allergic to the Noro Kochoran that I am using for my sweater (Lucy Jacket from the Naturally Noro book) just like I am allergic to the Noro Kureyon yarn. I am not allergic to wool, so it must be something about the dye that they use, or maybe all the plant matter in their yarn. Really, I like picking tiny pieces of twig out of my yarn. *rolling my eyes* I knit on it too much today on it, and now I am congested and I have itchy eyes. What fun! (Ugh.)

Good thing I have, oh, I don’t know, five to ten other projects I can be working on right now!

Tonight I got shut down by an attack of the GERD, so this post is not full of photos as I had planned for it to be. On a positive note, the incomplete Cable Twist sock is now done, and I will wear it to class tomorrow on my right foot, while I wear my air cast on my left foot. Seems that the “you can stop wearing it in 3 weeks” statement from my doctor before wasn’t quite accurate, and I still have swelling around my ligaments in my left ankle, so I am supposed to wear it whenever I walk any distance for the next month. I have to wear a full sock under it, so I’ll wear an ugly white sock on my left foot, and my pretty red one on the right. That shouldn’t earn me too many crazy looks, right?

On to the Kid n Ewe Guest List! In addition to myself and Julia, we had:
– Katy Blogless
– Courtney
– Nan C.
– Chris
– Caro
– Janna
– Kristin
– Linda, Sister of Janna
– Jody, Friend of Janna (and new knitter!)
– Amy
– Amanda
– Susan (along with Ken)
– Enid
– Kim
– Abbe
– Amy
– David
– Kelly
– Jene No Blog
– Staci
– Anna
– Jane, whose blog URL I did not write down
– Jeannie

Did you see who was missing? Stalker Angie! Seriously, if any event needed a knit stalker, it was this one. I mean, there were throngs of knitters everywhere. But no Stalker Angie. I was bummed. Ok, really, I was bummed about everyone who was unable to make it, but we all noticed the missing stalker.

I also have to give HUGE PROPS to the gracious donors of door prizes:
– Caro of Splityarn – business card holders and a needle case
– Jeanette Selleck, Fancy Stitcher – embroidered sock bag (contact me if you want to purchase one – they are super handy!)
– Brooks Farm Yarn – two lovely skeins of their Riata yarn
– Discount Yarn Sales – eight (8!) skeins of Hill Country Sock Yarn
– Hockett Would Work – a beautiful wood carved drop spindle

Thank you again to everyone for coming out – it was a really great time! I only wish I would have had more time to sit & visit with everyone. We are just going to have to start having knitter retreats or something like that – giant slumber parties that last 2 or 3 days in order to get all of the socializing in! Who is up for that?

I would have posted this earlier, but I wanted to write to Adrian at Hello Yarn to make sure it was ok with her first. Always play nice with respect to copyright. So here it is!

To create the cables on the back of the heel of the Hello Yarn Cable Twist Socks, I did the following:

(Done with Magic Loop, but should be the same for DPNs or socks on two circs. Needle choice should not make a difference.)

– Knit the sock from top down according to the pattern. It is an 8 row repeat. When I reached the length that I wanted, I finished up to row 7 of the repeat, stopping the row at stitch #55 of the 56 stitches. I left the final purl stitch with the instep stitches. Then I started the heel.

Next row, Row 1 of heel – turn work (WS): knit the knits and purl the purls, working back across 28 stitches. It will be slip 1 as if to purl with yarn in front, P5, K2, P5, K2, P5, K2, P5, K1.
Row 2 – work row 1 of pattern stitch – slip 1 as if to purl with yarn in back, LT, K3, P2, LT, K3, P2, LT, K3, P2, LT, K3, P1.
Row 3 and all WS – Repeat Row 1.
Row 4 – slip 1 as if to purl with yarn in back, work row 3 of pattern stitch (K1, LT, K2)
Row 6 – slip 1 as if to purl with yarn in back, work row 5 of pattern stitch (K2, LT, K1)
Row 8 – slip 1 as if to purl with yarn in back, work row 7 of pattern stitch (K3, LT)

Repeat until heel flap is the length that you prefer. I did two repeats, and then added 4 rows of ribbing at the very end before turning the heel. (WS – K1, P5, K2, P5, K2, P5, K2, P5, K1. RS – P1, K5, P2, K5, P2, K5, P2, K5, P1) End with right side row.

Turn the heel:
Row 1: (WS) Slip 1 as if to purl, P15, P2 tog, P1, turn
Row 2: (RS) Slip 1 as if to purl, K5, SSK, K1, turn
Row 3: Slip 1 as if to purl, P6, P2 tog, P1, turn
Row 4: Slip 1 as if to purl, K7, SSK, K1, turn
Row 5: Slip 1 as if to purl, P8, P2 tog, P1, turn
Row 6: Slip 1 as if to purl, K9, SSK, K1, turn
Row 7: Slip 1 as if to purl, P10, P2 tog, P1, turn
Row 8: Slip 1 as if to purl, K11, SSK, K1, turn
Row 9: Slip 1 as if to purl, P12, P2 tog, P1, turn
Row 10: Slip 1 as if to purl, K13, SSK, K1, turn
Row 11: Slip 1 as if to purl, P14, K2 tog
Row 12: Slip 1 as if to purl, bring yarn to back between the needles, K14, SSK – 16 sts remain

Continue with pattern instructions as given.

Next time I make a pair, I will change the gusset decrease round to be K to 3 stitches from marker, K2tog, P1, slip marker, P1, knit pattern on instep, P1, slip marker, P1, SSK, K to end of row. The regular (non-decrease round) would then be K to 1 stitch rom marker, P1, slip marker, P1, continue in pattern, P1, slip marker, P1, K to end. That way the P2 column that starts at the top of the sock would go all the way down the side.

Please let me know if you have any questions or pattern modification suggestions!

First up, the WONDERFUL cable twist sock. I was inspired by Grumperina to knit this one, although I would have missed it completely without Donna posting about it in her Del.icio.us links. She always finds the best stuff, so I troll her feed often.

Pattern: Hello Yarn Cable Twist Socks
Heel: Modified by me to continue cables down the back for wearing with open-back shoes
Yarn: Mountain Colors Bearfoot, Rich Red

I love this pattern, and once you get going on it, it is very easy to remember. I’ll write up the heel directions after I finish the other sock.

In case you ever wondered, photographing the back of your foot? Not so easy. Just so you get a good mental image, I was outside in my back yard in a nightshirt, one partial sock, and my crocs. Never mind the fact that it is November, the mosquitos were still attacking me. This whole photo shoot of the sock was a very, very interesting balancing act. Good thing I am well versed in shooting without using the viewfinder!

If you look close, you can see that I don’t have the whole foot done yet. The perk of knitting with the Magic Loop method? It is easy to photograph socks while they are still on the needles!

Next up, we have the “To be Frogged Sweater” also know as the Babies & Bears for Grown-ups sweater. I have to go back now and check, but my gauge must have been really off when I got to the garter stitch body. This sweater fits Katy Blogless (although a bit too short), and she is, uhm, several sizes smaller than I am. So there is no way in hell that it will ever fit me, plus I don’t like the garter stitch part of the body. No miracle of blocking will ever help it. Ever. So it will be frogged and become a cardigan sweater, and I’m ok with that. The yarn is a delight to work with, so it is worth knitting with it all over again.

Last but not least, we have the Fetching mitts from Knitty.com. These are truly a one skein wonder, and if you knit the pattern exactly you will use all but a few feet of the skein. Scary close actually as you knit in the thumbs. This was another interesting photo shoot, since I don’t have the left mitt finished yet – it still needs a thumb – so I was wearing the right one and taking photographs with my left hand and the camera upside down. I swear, I do have fingers, I just had them curled under too far in the one shot. Oops. Too many mosquitos out there to take this shot again.

Pattern: Fetching
Thumb: Modified by me to be symmetrical
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran (yarn called for in pattern), one ball in dark brown. (Looks lighter in the photo than in person.)

All photos can be viewed larger over at Flickr.

Now we should all do a “cold weather dance” – much like a rain dance, but, well, you know, hoping for cold instead – so I can wear the Fetchings and the socks at Kid & Ewe this weekend!