Tag Archives: techniques

Design Series: Technical Beginnings

Woo! These socks are starting to take shape in my mind! I’ve got so many ideas!

The tally is in, and we’ve decided that the theme of our socks is (drum roll please…):

Warm and Cozy!

I absolutely love this theme (especially today-it’s gray and blustery outside, and all I really want to do is curl up in a nice armchair next to a fire and read a really great novel).

So, now that we have the feel decided on, it’s time to start talking about actual knitting details: what techniques are we going to use to evoke a “warm and cozy” feel in our socks?

Here are some ideas. Keep in mind, that these are only jumping off places. We won’t be replicating these socks specifically, instead we’ll take their ideas and tweak them to create something awesome and unique.

Option 1: Simple socks with touches of contrasting color. Sometimes a contrasting toe or cuff can transform a sock that’s dead simple into one that’s simply beautiful!

Option 2: All-over stripes. Thick or thin, bright or muted, stripes can be used to evoke almost any mood. Cozy, warm colors (chocolate browns, brick reds, and pine-tree greens) could combine to make the perfect socks for our theme.Option 3: Lace. We could do an all-over lace pattern, or include panels of lace up the sides of the socks. If you want the look of lace, but want something cozier, using thicker yarn makes fantastic socks to wear with winter boots. Option 4: Cables. Cables always make socks look warm and cozy, which would be perfect for our theme. But, keep in mind that they can make socks a little bulky if you plan on wearing them with shoes, and not just around the house. Option 5: All-over texture. My favorite socks all come from this category- sometimes, you just want a workhorse sock that looks good with any pair of shoes and keeps your toes warm. Simple socks knit with the seed stitch or basket weave stitches are classic and beautiful. Or we could try a more complicated pattern with slipped stitches or other interesting techniques. Option 6: Combination. Stripes and cables? Lace and textures? The sky’s the limit! If you’re itching for something more complicated than a simple sock designed with a single technique, let me know! And leave your ideas in the comments section.

Casting On: Picking Up Stitches

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I’m going to say something that might be controversial (or it might not be): Picking up stitches is one of my favorite ways of casting on.

I know, radical stuff. Let me explain.

If “casting on” is essentially a way of beginning a knitting project, making the initial row of stitches, then why can’t we count picking up stitches as a way of casting on?

I think it’s pretty fun, easy, and results in a more polished finished product than knitting two separate pieces and sewing them together later.

Of course picking up stitches isn’t an any-time cast on. You have to have an already-finished piece of knitting from which to pick up the stitches (obviously). But I love using it to add button bands on sweaters, turning the heel on socks, and it’s essential for modular knitting projects (like this blanket).

So how do you do it?

Naturally, you start with a piece of knitting to form the base of your project. I’m using a little swatch of stockinet, but you can pick up stitches off of any piece of knitting. On this swatch, I slipped the first stitch of every row. It leaves a nice, smooth edge that makes picking up stitches that much easier. But, if I need to pick up a lot of stitches, I’ll knit all edge stitches.

Then, I’ll poke my needle through the spot where I want my first picked-up stitch to live. See how I go through both “legs” of the stitch? If you only go through one leg, you end up with a flimsy piece of knitting. No bueno.

Wrap your yarn around the needle, just like every other knit stitch you’ve ever done.

And pull the new stitch through. You’ve picked up one stitch!

Keep picking up stitches until you have the number that your pattern requires. See how nice and neat the picked-up stitches look?

They even look nice and neat from the back. See that horizontal row of red V’s? Those are the edge stitches that we picked up. Prettier than a sewn seam!

Then, keep on knitting your project. Your new knitting will grow off the side of your old knitting and be magical and wonderful!

Casting on-Tubular Cast On (with bonus Tubular Bind Off!)

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A couple months ago, I told you about one of my favorite cast-ons, the Tubular Cast On. It’s still one of my favorite techniques, so I figured that I would tell you about my favorite aspect of the tubular cast on: the Tubular Bind Off.

I know, that’s a cheater’s answer. How can a bind off be my favorite part of a cast on? Let me explain. The tubular bind off and cast on look identical when they’re finished. I love using the tubular cast on/bind off on sweaters, because it means that my cuffs (cast on) and my collar (bind off) can have the exact same finished edges.

I’ve already linked you to a really good tutorial, so I won’t waste my (or your) time with showing you again. But, I will show you how to do the Tubular Bind Off.

Start with a piece of knitting (it looks best with a bit of 1×1 ribbing, which is why I particularly love it for cuffs and collars).

Repeat the following to the end of the row: (Knit 1, bring yarn to front, slip 1, bring yarn to back). Then turn the work and do the same thing on the next row. This seems weird, but think about it this way: you’re knitting all the knit stitches on the right side of your work, then you’re knitting all the knit stitches on the wrong side of your work.

Then, here’s the cool part. Grab an extra needle (try to use the same size that you’ve been knitting with, but if it’s a little smaller, it’s not a problem. Don’t go buying extra needles for this). Now you have two stitch-less needles and one needle attached to your work.

Slip the first knit stitch onto one of your needles. Slip the first purl stitch onto the other needle.

Then continue, slipping all the knit stitches onto the first needle, and all the purl stitches onto the second needle. When you’re done, your knitting will look like this:

Then, cutting a tail at least three times as long as your knitting is wide, use a tapestry needle and the Kitchener stitch to join the two needles’ stitches together.

You end up with a lovely, seamless, super-stretchy bind off that looks identical to the Tubular Cast on.

On the Needles

Knitting isn't so hard… sometimes

Tag Archives: techniques

Design Series: Technical Beginnings

Casting On: Picking Up Stitches

Casting on-Tubular Cast On (with bonus Tubular Bind Off!)

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