Tag Archives: sock

Design Process Series: Heart and Sole

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Our socks are nearly finished, guys!  And just in time for it to get all hot and summery.  (Nothing better than wearing big woolen socks in the July heat.  Ick!)

Let’s get started!

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With the Main Color, knit back across the heel flap, moving the marker as you go.  Using the same  needle, pick up and knit 12 (13, 14, 15) stitches along the side of the heel flap.

Knit across the next 24 (26, 28, 30) stitches normally (these are the top of the foot).

Then, with your spare needle (the one we set aside at the beginning of the heel flap), pick up another 12 (13, 14, 15) stitches along the remaining side of the heel flap and knit to the marker. Remove marker.

You’ll have the stitches arranged on 4 needles.  Two (the ones on the top of the foot) will have 12 (13, 14, 15) stitches each, and the other two (the ones on the sole of the foot) will have more.  The beginning of the row from now on will be between the two “sole of the foot” needles.  Confused?  This might help.

Now that we’re all set up for the foot, it’s time to start knitting.

  • K to 2 before the end of the first needle, k2tog.  K the next two needles even.  On the fourth needle, ssk, then knit to the end.
  • K all stitches even.

Repeat these two rows, alternating decrease and even rows, until all needles have the same number of stitches (12 (13, 14, 15) stitches each).  You’ve finished the gusset and it’s all easy sailing (er… knitting) from here.

Knit all stitches even until the sock measures 2 inches shorter than desired from heel to toe.  End at the bottom of the sole.  Break yarn and get ready for some exciting toe action next week!

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Design Process Series: Turning the Heel

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OK, guys.  It’s time.  Time to turn the heel.

I remember my first pair of socks.  I got to the heel, took one look at the instructions, got scared and put it in the bottom of my WIP pile for about a year.

Let’s not do that.  Heels aren’t that scary.  It’s just some little short rows, and then next week, we’ll pick up some stitches.  No biggie.  (If you want a more detailed explanation, feel free to go back to my “Socks by the Numbers” series.)

This heel will be a basic short-row heel with a reinforced slip-stitch heel.  The slipped stitches will make the heel lovely and thick and squishy (which I think will fit well with the whole “warm and cozy” thing).  They’ll be perfect for wearing with your favorite pair of broken-in hiking boots. (Or while sitting on the couch with a cup of cocoa.)

Ready to start?  Great!

So far, we’ve been knitting in the round on 4 needles.  Now, we’ll be using just one needle, working back and forth as we work up the heel flap.

Join your CC and knit the next 24 (26, 28, 30) stitches onto a single needle.  You’ll have an extra needle.  Put this somewhere you won’t loose it.  We’ll need it later.  These 24 (26, 28, 30) stitches are your heel flap stitches, and we’ll only be working with these stitches today.  Turn your sock around and get ready to work back across your heel stitches.

  • Slip 1, then purl across.
  • (Slip 1, knit 1) across.

Repeat these two rows until the heel flap is 24 (26, 28, 30) rows long.  Finish with a purl row.

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I couldn’t find a stitch marker, but you should have one right in the middle of the blue section.

Next, we’ll shape the heel cap.  (This is the part of the heel that gets nice and round.)

  • K12 (13, 14, 15) then place marker.  Then, K2, K2tog, K 1, wrap and turn.
  • P to marker, slip marker, P2, P2tog, P1, wrap and turn.

Then:

  • K to 1 before the wrap and turn gap, k2tog, k1, wrap and turn.
  • P to 1 before the wrap and turn gap, p2tog, p1, wrap and turn.

Repeat these last two rows until you have worked all heel flap stitches.  (On the last two rows, the math might not quite work out and you might not be able to do the last k1/p1, or the last wrap and turn.  Don’t worry about it!)  End with a purl row.

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Break Contrast Color, and get ready to work the foot next week!

Design Series: Halfway there!

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We’re almost there, guys!   I’m itching to go buy yarn and cast on!

If you’re just joining us now, we’ve been designing a knitting pattern together.  We decided to make socks, and we wanted them to be warm and cozy.  And, last week, we decided to make them with a simple gray and indigo-blue pattern.

This week, I have two questions for you.

First, do you want the socks to be made at a standard sock-yarn gauge, or should they be slipper socks, worked at a larger (DK or Worsted) gauge?

And, of course, what do you you want our simple stripes to look like?  here are 4 variations to choose from.

Design Project Socks

Vote!  Quick!  I really want to go visit the yarn store and start knitting on these socks!

 

(And, don’t forget to enter your name into the drawing for a copy of “Cute, Cuter, Cutest!”  You’ve got until Friday before I pick a winner!)

Design Series: Inspirations

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All right, knitters!  The votes have been tallied and it looks like socks are the big winner!

When I’m working on my own designs, the next thing I decide on is the inspiration behind my project.  This isn’t anything technical; I’m not doing any math, or even picking out any stitch patterns yet.  This step simply lets me figure out what the feel of the project will be.  Once I decide on an inspiration, the rest of the design will start to fall into place.

So, here are a few options for the inspiration of our socks:

Option 1:  Fun and silly, like this little goat.

funny-animal-pictures-of-the-week-039-001[1]Option 2:  Sleek and sophisticated, like the Singapore skyline.singapore_skyline[1]Option 3: Delicate and feminine, like these forget-me-not flowers.Forget-Me-Not-[1]Option 4: Warm and cozy, like this mountain cabin.cozy-cabins[1]Option 5: Light and breezy, like this tropical beach.Tropical-Beach-2[1]Option 6: Natural and outdoorsy, like this mountain range.yellow-stone-national-park-mountains[1]Option 7: Cool and practical, like the Pacific Northwest coastline.

Rialto-Beach-Olympic-Peninsula-WA[1]Let me know what you’re into, and next week, we’ll start narrowing down the design.

Pattern: Christmas Scallops Stocking

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I love Christmas. I love the family, I love the gifts, I love the food, and I love the decorations. But, I’m not super-traditional when it comes to decking my halls. Red and green are a little passé, and Rudolph (and his red nose) are old hat. I’m a fan of sparkly tinsel and multicolor blinking lights.

This stocking is just what I look for in a Christmas decoration. It’s festive, but not boring. Traditional…ish. I’ve picked a deep winey red and a pale seafoam green to my delightfully chubby stocking. Experiment with the colors to make one perfect for every member of your family!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThe Christmas Scallops Stocking is a simple, fast knit that you can work up in a weekend. It is knit from the top down, in the round, at a largish gauge. A few easy rows of Fair Isle creates the decorative colorwork at cuff and toe. The heel is formed by a simple series of short rows in an easily memorized pattern.  You’ll have plenty of time to finish these stockings before Santa arrives on Christmas Eve.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAGet the pattern for free here:

Christmas Scallops Stocking

Pattern: Sunday Morning Slipper Socks

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OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAPour yourself a cup of tea, pull out a favorite book, and slip on these thick and cozy socks for the perfect lazy Sunday morning.  Delicate lace flows from the leg to the top of the foot, making these super-warm slippers surprisingly girly and flattering.  They’re thick enough to be extra-cozy, but thin enough to leave on when you slip on your clogs and run to the store for some fresh doughnuts.  Worked in wooly DK-weight yarn and larger-than-normal needles, these socks knit up in a snap, so you have time to make a pair for yourself, your mother, your sister and your best friend.

See the pattern details on Ravelry.

Or, get the pattern here for $3: 

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Knitting as Therapy

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This weekend I realized something that I have known for a really long time in the back of my mind, but crystallized on Saturday.

My roller derby league had a bout this weekend (Tilted Thunder Rail Birds, if you’re in the Seattle area… you should come watch us play.  It’s pretty rad).  I was doing my usual pre-game running around with my team (running stairs, beating up a punching bag, listening to gangsta rap… you know, the usual).  But, when we finished our usual pre-bout ritual, we had an extra fifteen minutes before we had to go out and start playing.

We were all antsy and hyped up on adrenaline.  I was so anxious I could hardly sit still, much less think about the strategy we were about to execute.  So, I did what every good knitter would do.  I pulled out a half-finished sock and worked a few rows.

WP_20140301_001(My teammates-as usual- teased me about it.  But if it makes me a better skater, I think they should just shut their mouths.  So there.)

I do this before every game.  It helps me calm down, focus and take a deep breath before having to do something difficult or scary.  I even bring my knitting along when I go on job interviews.  I (obviously) don’t knit during a game or an interview, but knowing that it’s there is somehow comforting.

It’s like therapy, or mood stabilizing drugs, but fuzzier.  And you get a sock at the end.  I know I’m not the first (or the last) to discover the therapeutic uses of knitting, but still.  It’s definitely something that needs to be put in the list of “Reasons You Should Knit.”

When do you use knitting as therapy?

Through the Grapevine Socks

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These are socks worth gossiping about!  Their simple structure is offset by two panels of ladylike texture on either side of the leg.  Two grapey cables run between trellises of delicate openwork, making a sock that looks intricate, but is very simple to work up.  A delight to knit, and a pleasure to wear, the grapevine will be talking about these socks for years to come!

The Through the Grapevine Socks are knit on size 2 double-point needles using Knit Picks Stroll yarn (or your favorite brand of sock-weight yarn), in women’s size Small-Medium or Medium-Large.  They are worked from the 1×1 ribbed cuff down to the toe.  The heel is made using standard heel-flap construction, and the toe is created with sets of decreases on either side of the foot and closed up with the Kitchener stitch.  If you have difficulty with sock construction, please see my pattern “Socks by the Numbers” for more information.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAKnit up a pair of Through the Grapevine Socks for yourself.  The pattern is available through my Ravelry store for three dollars:

Christmas Knitting: Gents

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We can’t forget about the dudes!  Sometimes they’re a little harder to knit for, since they (typically) don’t go for fancy lace and pompoms and such.  But, here I’ve dug up some pretty neat (and manly!) projects for the guys in your life:

Bus Hat by Kylie McDonnell-Wade

bus hat

 

Handsome Scarf by Spilly Jane

scarf

Modified Army Gloves by Selyn Birnbaum

gloves

Socks With Pints On by Spilly Jane

beer

Yikes! Stripes!

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I don’t know about you, but I’ve still got socks on the brain.  They are possibly my favorite project to work on when I’m looking for something easy, portable and fun.  But, sometimes having a million plain socks gets boring, so sometimes I mix it up, and use self-striping sock yarn.  Lots of brands carry self-striping sock yarn, and when you buy it, it just looks like regular variegated sock yarn (except that the label will have the word “stripe” on it…duh):

But, when you knit your socks, you magically end up with beautifully striped socks with absolutely no effort on your part!

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Pretty awesome, right?

So, how do they do it?  Basically the yarn company figures out how much yarn the average knitter uses for every row when she makes her socks.  Then, they dye the yarn in row-long increments, so that each row is a different color.  So, for example, if it takes 1 yard of yarn to knit 1 row, they might dye the yarn sow that 5 yards are blue, then 5 yards are green.  This means that in the finished sock, you will end up with a 5 row stripe of blue followed by a 5 row stripe of green.  Pretty clever!