toe up socks

After my post last week about socks, in which I explained that getting socks that fit my feet and are the right length for my legs has been quite challenging, despite the fact that I have successfully completed lots of pairs of socks, I bring good news on the sock front (although this pair isn't for me). I am working on a pair of toe up socks.

the yellow does change like that - it's not just the photo - I think they had trouble with the dyeing process)

I have never knitted toe-up socks before but plan them to be the central pattern of the workshop I am teaching in September so thought it was time to give them a go.

I tried a figure eight cast on - five attempts later, I still couldn't get it. I tried a provisional cast on using a crocheted chain - but I'd have to graft the toe and that seems rather pointless, doesn't it?

So I listened to my inner EZ - I unvented a cast on. I call it my two needle backward-loop-over-the-thumb cast on. It simply means that I used a simple looped cast on and put stitches on two needles alternatively. Deceptively simple and possible whether one uses dpns, two circulars or magic loop (all of which I have to master before September). This cast on (which I unvented) could be described as a figure 8 cast on with a twisted loop.

Now, I'm sure that when my Montse Stanley book arrives from England, this cast on will be in there.

But for now, I'm just chuffed with my own achievement (until I face the short row heels).

What's in the knitter's corner?

My knitting corner is a mess! My preferred place to knit is on a 2 1/2 seater lounge (sofa) looking out onto the garden. My knitting bag, a project bag (or two) and a book (or two) are usually all that's on the other seat. Today there is a pile of stuff on the "spare" seat. It doesn't usually look like this and today it will be cleared and look like normal again. I like to be reasonably tidy and to be able to just move things quickly so someone can sit there if need be. I have been so busy knitting and reading or listening to audiobooks that I have got into a big jumble!

So what's there?

• two hats, a scarf and a pair of socks waiting to be photographed - scarves, socks and hats look so much better modelled than photographed flat (DD is visiting today so we can take the photos and pack the stuff in the "ready-to-go" charity box)
• my March Mystery 220 project - second clue today; woo-hoo! action: knit the clue then pack the WIP in a project bag until next week's clue
• one Ambassador of Love mitten (Rav link) - incomplete, waiting for the top to be grafted and the thumb knitted; this was one of the two January Mystery 220 projects; I cast on two days ago - I am knitting it as a mystery object so haven't paid attention to the pattern page
• three loose dpns that were being used for the mitten and will be needed again to complete the thumb
• a magnetic board holding the chart for the Ambassador of Love mittens
• No Purl scarf (Corrugator scarf) - started last week and ripped out and started again last night because it was too narrow; this is my television/travel knitting
• the project bag containing the yarn-in-use from which I am knitting the No Purl Scarf
• two pre-wound balls for the No Purl Scarf - the project I took to DD's and didn't get around to knitting!
• an empty project bag (to be used for the March Mystery 220 project)
• scrap papers containing instructions for the Corrugator Scarf, the Ambassador of Love mittens and the Old Shale Wimple (now frogged but I'd like to try it again)
• two knitting books (Rav links): Handknits to Wrap and Adorn (I was going to knit a beanie from this book but settled on the Slip Stitch Stash Hat instead) and Big Book of Knitting by Katherine Buss (I was looking for cast on instructions but it didn't help because being left handed I couldn't follow the directions and didn't have a mirror handy)
• patterns for Slip Stitch Stash Hat and Fourth Grade Hat (Rav links): both completed - see first bullet point
• a yarn label with the instructions for knitting socks - file for possible later use/reference
• a pair of scissors and a pin cushion holding my tapestry needle and needle threader (used for grafting and sewing in ends) - these are usually on the lounge within easy reach
• a tape measure because my knitting bag is under so much stuff I can't put it away
• a booklet containing information about workshops and coupons for the Craft Expo which opens tomorrow
• The Tin Ticket: the story of convict women in Australia; my great-great-grandmother, Agnes McMillan, is one of the central characters
• Bridget Jones's Diary - I've never seen the movie and was offered the book to read - didn't even finish the first month of the diary, didn't like the writing style or content; skipped to the end which was as I expected! Won't bother to hire the movie!!

And in the immediate vicinity?

• a bag containing two EZ UFOs - a February Baby Sweater that needs buttons and a Tomten that needs the zipper sewn in; the zipper is pinned but I have to search for some matching yarn/thread to do the job
• my Fibonnacci Strip blanket (afghan) which still has about 300 ends to be sewn in!
• my iPod (in its docking station) loaded with a couple of audiobooks - my current listening is Julie Andrews*: an intimate biography (by Richard Stirling), and next in the queue is Slave: my true story (by Mende Nazar)
• the TV guide from the Sunday paper

What's in your knitting corner?

*Although Julie Andrews had an intinerant childhood, for the most part she grew up in Walton-on-Thames in Surrey, England; which is the same place where my great-great-grandfather, William Thomas Bowley, was born and raised. His father, Edward, was the local barber/hairdresser.

Three months' worth of beanies - some photos as promised

As I've said before, beanies are good travelling companions: knitted on circulars there's no danger of losing a needle and knitted in the round there's no need to get to the end of the row! They're also good for watching television when I really want to pay attention. And when the beanies are knitted for persons unknown, it doesn't matter what size they are - each will fit someone!

So here, in no particular order, are the beanies you haven't seen before. Most of them are knitted in leftover Carnival acrylic given to me by mum.

This one is in carnival colours!

A self striping yarn in soft colours.

This one started with the left overs of the previous beanie then four more yarns were added!

This one pooled in an interesting

fashion!

Showing here are two looks from different sides of the same beanie.

This one provoked my brother to ask for a Hawthorn (Australian Rules football team) beanie for his daughter due late March!

 This one is a sunhat beanie - it didn't work as I had planned but it still works as a beanie.

 This is the chevron version of the Moda Vera "Spell" beanies I seem to have been knitting forever!

I also knitted three regular beanies from the same yarn but I think you've seen enough of this yarn.

Then there was the Skyline yarn Leonie sent when destashing her "ack".
This yarn is 80% wool and 20% polyamide and has the most striking stitch definition of any yarn I have ever seen (including cotton).

It is, however, not a nice yarn to work with - feels more like nylon than wool.

This photo doesn't do the beanie justice but unfortunately I had no human head to model this beanie.

I was running out of pink yarn so I created a stranded colour ("fair isle") version.

Notice the stitch definition which works so beautifully in this beanie.

Thanks Leonie - I'm looking forward to dyeing the rest and seeing how it turns out.

This is DD's favourite - it nearly didn't end up in the charity collection at all!! LOL

And now, a self-striped beanie of my own hand dyed acrylic. It's funny how it striped. There are twenty or so stiches to a colour repeat but the way they kept ending up near each other created stripes but not pooling! Handpainted yarns are always fascinating!

And finally, a beanie as part of an ensemble which includes Elizabeth Zimmermann's February Baby Sweater (without buttons) and "Playful" socks from Babies and Toddlers: A Knitters' Dozen. All these are knitted in three different but coordinating handpainted acrylic yarns. Amazingly, these yarns are all supersoft from going through the dyeing process.

Not shown are the lenghwise garter stitch scarf I knitted from odds and ends of acrylic yarn while visiting dad in hospital or the bed socks I knitted for him because his feet were cold but which he was not allowed to wear.

Nor can I show you the baby blanket I knitted in Cleckheaton Baby Zhivago (colourway as shown) over 160 stitches on 5mm needles. It had a garter stitch border and a pattern stitch of ten stitches stocking stitch and then stitches reverse stocking stitch over 14 rows then reverse the squares. Between the garter stitch border and the blanket proper there was a yarn-over done on the right side rows to differentiate the border from the reverse stocking stitch. I designed the blanket so my mother could knit it during her stress but I ended up knitting it all myself. I cast on Tuesday night, knitted at home and the hospital and cast off and sewed in the ends on Saturday night. Four days for a 36" square - not bad! I didn't block it because all my blocking supplies were at home in Sydney and the yarn is 50% acrylic so probably wouldn't block anyway! The finished blanket was wrapped before I had a chance to take a photo and will be given to my brother and SIL on the birth of their daughter in about eleven weeks.

PS Leonie, I can't show you the knitting in the colour I didn't like - I pulled it out days ago. If you want to check the colour, It is Bendigo Luxury "Leaf".

How to knit a circular yoke sweater top down

Above all, don’t think it through, just cast on and design on the needles making decisions as you go! [yeah right!] And if you must take this approach - keep a pattern library [I use Harmony Guide to Knitting Stitches] and these two books within easy reach:

Knitting Without Tears Elizabeth Zimmermann [Schoolhouse Press]

Top Down for Toddlers Deb and Lynda Gemmell [Cabin Fever]

1. Using a size larger needle than you intend to knit with, cast on the number of stitches required to go over the head of a child of, say, 6 years old [in this case 96 stitches; which is actually big enough to go over my head!!]


2. Change to correct size needles to obtain gauge [I knit with a size that makes the knitted fabric feel right in my hand - not too stiff, not too drape-y for the project-in-hand]


3. Knit K2 P2 rib for required number of rows [I like to fold my neckbands and stitch them down so mine looked like a turtle neck for quite a while]


4. Do six rows of short row shaping across the back of the neck starting with half the number of neckband stitches plus 12** [1/2 of 96 is 48 + 12 is 60] then 2 less, then 2 less, etc [i.e, rows getting progressively shorter: 60, 58, 56, 54, 52, 50]
   **This is the reverse of EZ's no-seam sweater which is knitted from the bottom up


5. Find four or five ways that don't work to avoid little holes at the end of those short rows


6. Rip all the short rows out and start again, this time knitting the end of the short row with the stitch below the next stitch [see EZ "Knitting Without Tears"]


7. Knit one row then increase in next row by *K3 M1* repeat to end of round [I now had 128 stitches]


8. Determine the depth of the yoke [in my case: 20cm/8inches; I found this figure in "Top Down for Toddlers"]


9. Choose a lace pattern for knitting interest and work in the round until yoke is 1/4 of its depth


10. increase this time by *K2 M1* repeat to end [192 stitches]


11. Decide that the pattern is too fussy and doesn't sit right and modify it to suit own needs



12. continue in stocking (stockinette) stitch until yoke is 1/2 its depth


13. increase as in step 10 [288 stitches]


14. continue in whatever pattern takes your fancy until yoke has reached desired depth [a modified eyelet pattern]


15. *knit 82 stitches, slip the next 62 stitches onto waste yarn* repeat for remaining stitches [modified figures from "Top Down for Toddlers" to suit my 288 stitches]


16. cast on 8 stitches at underarm, knit across to the other underarm, cast on eight stiches


17. continue on these 180 stitches in desired pattern until work measures finish length desired minus length of bottom band [I changed to pencil point ribs of my own design]


18. decrease ten stitches evenly around the body in next row


19. knit band desired length in K2 P2 rib


20. pick up 62 stitches for one sleeve on dpns


21. pick up and knit eight stiches from cast on stitches


22. put a stitch marker where the underarm seam would be


23. knit 7 rows in stocking stitch


24. in row 8, K1, SSK, K to last three stitches, K2 tog, K1


25. continue decreasing in every eight row until 46 stitches remain ["Top Down for Toddlers" recommends never going below 45 stitches for a 6yo's sweater]


26. knit the band in K2 P2 rib for desired number of rows


27. cast off loosely


28. repeat steps 20-27 for the other sleeve


29. look at finished sweater and realise the sleeves look too long


30. measure with a tape measure - yep, too long by about 9cm! [3 1/2 inches]


31. decide that's not too bad, it’s for charity not someone specific, it would surely fit someone [a chimpanzee maybe]


32. continue the internal debate: one could live with that, one may even grow into those sleeves [and out of the body width and length]


33. struggle some more with oneself for a few minutes [maybe twenty!]


34. wait until it's past bedtime [with work paid employment the following day] to decide to frog!


35. pick up the stitches, reknit the bands to desired length


36. cast off loosely


37. Try not to be concerned that it looks out of proportion - the measurements are correct!


38. look the sweater over and make a list of all the things to do differently next time!


• since it’s acrylic and it won’t block, don’t use the first stitch pattern at the beginning of a circular yoked sweater because it will never lay flat


• find another way to do short row shaping on the back of the neck


• decrease more frequently on sleeves – decreasing every eight rows doesn’t work when starting with 70 stitches and need to get to 46 – do the maths BEFORE you start the sleeves!


39. Share with readers the trials and tribulations of trying to reinvent a top down sweater [which someone with far more experience has already done!] the design process!!

this month from the Guild library

I got this:


One day I will have my very own copy but right now, there are so many things to knit and I'm trying to be monogamous!! ;-(

EZ Jackets

I finished knitting this Baby Surprise Jacket some time last year but it was only last month that I finally got around to sewing the buttons on! It's knitted from 5ply acrylic bought at the Australian Country Spinners Mill Shop in Wangaratta in July last year. It is incredibly soft, especially compared to the harsher acrylics I used in the blue Tomten below.

This is the first Tomten I ever knitted [February '08]. I had no idea how much 8ply yarn it would take to knit so it is an interesting concoction from my own hand dyed acrylic. I was going to rip it all out but I've decided it's not that bad; someone will like it! It's still waiting for a zipper but it will be finished by the next Guild meeting - that's when I anticipate handing over a heap of knitted items to my contact for Australian Inland Ministries.

And finally, the jacket just off the needles - another Tomten. I had two 50g balls of Saluetations Knitwise in navy and another three balls in a variegated blue. The 'pink' Tomten above weighed in at a little under 250g so I figured that I had enough of the Knitwise to knit another Tomten. I started with stripes - four rows of navy, six of the variegated, in keeping with the ratio of yarn that I had. It looked good when I first started but by the time I finished the body I was sick of the striping. I called it my "Sad Bumble Bee Jacket" - sad as in 'blue'. I decided to knit the hood and the sleeves in the variegated then trim the jacket with the navy. Ultimately I used less than one ball of the navy and less than two balls of the variegated yarn. DD thinks it's 'so cute' - I'm not too sure. But, working on the premise that one woman's 'so-so' is another woman's 'cute', I'm sure someone will like it. That's one of the advantages of knitting for charity - someone will like it even if I don't, and it will always fit someone! I would never knit something badly just because it's going to charity but I remind myself that I don't have to love it! [In fact, it's better if I don't, it's easier to give away!]

The leftover yarn [of which there is rather more navy than I had expected] will, probably, be used in a beanie or a pair of wrist-warmers/fingerless mitts!!

In our knit4charities forum, someone said that washing acrylics with creme shampoo and conditioner would soften them; they also suggested tumbling them in the dryer on warm. I know from experience that dyeing acrylic makes it softer so the heat must have some effect! I'm off to give it a try!!

Guild Library

Yesterday was our monthly Knitters' Guild meeting. I enjoy these meetings for many reasons.

1. Knitting with like minded people. Most of the people in our group are friendly and there's an increasing number of computer savvy attendees!


2. Workshops - even though I'm an experienced knitter and occasionally tutor myself, I attend every workshop I can because I might learn something!


3. Show and Tell - I love seeing what other people are [or have been] knitting.


4. The Guild Library - members can borrow books or a limited supply of DVDs for up to two months with no limit on the number borrowed!

So, yesterday I borrowed these two books:

I'm the very first to have this one!!

I wish I'd seen this one before I started on my latest Tomtem; there are some very cute patterns inside!!



I also borrowed this:


And DD has even more reasons to love it - yesterday she won the raffle: a $25 gift voucher at our local LYS - The Wool Inn.

BSJ was a real surprise!

For those of you who notice such things in the sidebar, my progress bar for BSJ went from 85% complete to 5%! I was at 95% when I decided to frog. *sigh* I knew there were issues while I was knitting but kept going - it's such a quick knit and I was very keen to see how it folds to make a jacket. Well, now I know and those holes from my increases were so darn obvious! *sigh again*

So, it was out with Vogue Knitting and Katharina Buss' Big Book of Knitting and yes, I was doing my increases correctly. I was using the M1 method of inserting my needle under the yarn between the two stitches from front to back and knitting through the back of the loop. Still I had several good sized holes - anyone would think I had used yarnovers! So I checked out my alternatives. I wanted something reasonably 'invisible' - the increases are part of the design but shouldn't be overly noticeable.

So I tried this method - M1 [version 2] from Vogue Knitting: insert needle under the yarn between the two stitches from back to front and knit through the front of the loop. This is much trickier than the other version, it's easy to pick up the next stitch when trying to knit through the front of the loop - no wonder this is not the method we teach for M1 ! It does indeed twist the loop but I can still see the little holes made by this method.

Because I'm knitting this for charity it's in acrylic so it won't block out. The problem is possibly 5ply yarn on 3.5mm needles coupled with my tension - the gauge is too loose! But it makes a lovely soft garment! The increases so far are in the sleeves to give fullness; I haven't yet begun the increases to shape the garment - I think I might use knit into front and back of stitch for those increases - sure that's not invisible but it doesn't leave holes either! Will keep you posted!!

Southern Hemisphere "Spring Fever"

I finished knitting a "Tomtem" jacket from Elizabeth Zimmerman's Knitting Without Tears months ago but I was never brave enough to insert the zipper. It all seemed way too hard. However, at the beginning of September I must have caught spring fever; I finished a few projects that had been hanging around. Inserting the zip was pretty easy really, once I got my needle through the thick end of the zipper tape.

Anyhow, here it is - my very first completed Tomten.
[I know there's been one in my FO list all year but it got there by mistake - it still has no zipper! I've removed it from my FO list!]

I also finished the striped blanket and a baby cardigan which had also been hanging around for weeks [no photos; it was given away without any being taken]. Now there's just the matter of the summer cardigan to finish and SSS [for two pairs] to overcome! It's those tiny 2.75mm needles that put me off! LOL

Then there'll only be recently cast-on projects in progress: a cotton baby blanket for my neighbour who is expecting her first child in February and another blanket for Wrap with Love, this time made of 28 crocheted 10inch squares. Crochet is so fast compared to knitting! But don't worry, I haven't given up knitting; I'm just taking a short detour while I decide what to cast on next! I desperately want to knit lace but what and for whom? Nobody I know is a lace person and it's not the most practical style for charity knitting. Ah! Decisions, decisions!

The Tam it did a-swimming go!

I like knitting new things - new patterns, new items, new techniques. Yes, I knit for charity and so knit some items over and over [like beanies and scarves] but every now and then [or more often as the whim might take me], I want to knit something new, something different, something I haven't tried before.

So, there I was, looking for something I could knit for charity from the one-of-a-kind hand-dyed 50g balls/skeins of 8ply/DK acrylic, preferably something in stocking stitch which would best show off those recurring colours, when my eyes, strolling through Knitting Without Tears for the umpteenth time, 'found' the pattern for a tam o'shanter. Seemed straight forward enough, and I had about 75g of yarn that would work together. Surely, a tam wouldn't need more than 225m of acrylic? And. I was right; a tam can be had from a mere 50g [155m] of acrylic.

I cast on 90 stitches, with my never-before-used Knitpicks 3.7mm needles on 60cm of cable. I had to use the magic loop technique for the first few rows but after that everything was fine. I had finished the base and decided that next time I would just do a rib not a folded back double layer for the base [waste of yarn knitting twenty rows when I could settle for ten!] I knitted on, increased to 120 stitches, knit for another 25 rows, and did a beautiful seven-point-star cast off [thank you EZ].

With two dpns still attached to the crown, I tried it on - what a shapeless bag my tam turned out to be!! Now, EZ does warn about this - but she blocks her tams. I have learned from experience that acrylic will not be blocked - not for love or money. It has great memory and goes back to its original shape as soon as it is dry! Perhaps, if I'd known what was coming, I would have done one purl row when I did the increases so the tam knew where it was to fold! But it was too late for that! I was at the end, finished, finito, finis!! [except for “cut the thread, draw it through the last seven stitches, pull it tight, sew in the end”!]

Everything may have been okay, if I was knitting it for myself or if I could be there to explain it to its new recipient. Even so, I still thought that, maybe, I could get away with it … but WM laughed once too often. Now, don’t get me wrong, he’s very supportive and just two days ago, talked me out of frogging the too-narrow scarf [again] but this was the final straw!

Can you imagine some homeless person at the food van late one night, looking at a shapeless blob that looks like a handle-less bag, recognising it as an article of headwear, and choosing it over other offerings [like practical, sensible beanies]? No, neither can I.

So, to save my poor tam from humiliation and the pain of rejection, I did what every good creator does - consigned it to the frog pond. No, not the sometime-in-the-future pond, the right-here-right-now pond. What had taken hours to bring into being was gone in a few minutes, just as if it had never been. But I remember -- adieu, Tam, we knew each other so briefly but I enjoyed the encounter except for your last few moments here.

And no, there won't be another; but I did go to bed re-designing Tam as a beret! Do you think a homeless person would want one? Perhaps someone staying in a women's refuge might appreciate one as a Mothers' Day present!