Socks That Itch!

I finished my socks a couple of weeks ago, but I only just realised I had not posted them, doh!  What is most upsetting is that they fit perfectly, the colours match on both socks but they itch my skin even after several washes and have been tumble dried too.  As my husband would say "I am a sad panda!"

The pattern is by Chrissy Gardiner and it is called mix and match rib, I got it from her book here.  I also used her anatomical toes which fit my feet better than the regular wedge shaped toes.










I really really liked working on these and couldn’t put them down and learned a few lessons along the way.  I started them two at a time on one circular needle in the magic loop technique.  While this was fine and I could do it, I think I am happier if I work on one at a time as I felt like I was getting somewhere.  So I ordered a second circular needle so I could work on the socks separately.

When this turned up, it felt like it was bigger and I got in a blind panic thinking I had actually knitted my socks on a smaller needle than I thought I was.  After much debate I realised I had used the size I thought I was (2.5mm) but the unusual knitting style I was using (eastern uncrossed) had resulted in my gauge being 10 stitches per inch instead of the 8 stitches per inch called for in the pattern.

After some more panicking I bought a 2.75mm needle and did some swatching and got 9 stitches per inch, at this point I recalculated the pattern for this new gauge.  If I hadn’t recalculated I would have ended up with a sock that was too small.  In the end instead of starting the pattern I did some more increases to get the stitch count right, and then I started the rib pattern.

I really loved working this rib, as the bamboo ridge gave me something to count and I found I didn’t need a row counter.

When I got to the heels I followed a different way of doing short rows.  I find the conventional way of wrapping and turning very fiddly to do with such small yarns, so I followed the concept here by a lady known as Fleegle.  A warning to anyone who follows that link, the numbers she gives do not result in a heel.  To make a heel from this you need to be able to modify the numbers for your sock.

I was worried about using a short row heel as my feet have high arches but it turned out fine, the socks fit perfectly.  However, the yarn makes my feet itch and I cannot wear them for long without wanting to pull them off and scratch.  I should have known this was coming as I find my skin is easily tickled and itched by things.  As it turns out my mum is a size smaller than me and my MIL is a size bigger, and as my MIL gets cold feet frequently I am hoping these will fit her.  My only other complaint is that I have already bought some more of the same yarn brand for more socks and now I won’t be able to make them for me.  This does however give me an excuse to buy more yarn.

Oh well, it just means my MIL is getting a second pair of socks which I am sure she won't mind.   In the meantime I've got my eyes on a different brand of yarn, but I will save that chat for another day.

In the meantime heres something I made with a program I own called Electric Quilt.



Have fun!

Pointy Sticks of Doom!

Pointy Sticks of Doom is something my hubby would say, or to everyone else they are call Double Pointed Needles (DPN's). 

I learned to knit last summer because I kept seeing lots of beautiful things on Ravelry that I wanted to make but couldn't, so I decided to learn.  I quickly came across the concept of knitting socks but initially didn't understand why someone would do so.  However, over time I kept seeing beautiful yarn and patterns for socks and I got drawn in.

It seems the more traditional way of knitting socks is on DPN's so that's where I started, this is where the Pointy Sticks of Doom come in.  You see, having a tube of knitting with four or five six inch sticks in it, that you are expected to knit with and not hurt yourself is a bit frightening.  Now, there are other ways to knit socks without using DPN's but part of me was upset that I couldn't get the hang of them so every now and then I keep getting them out and trying again, as someone else said "its like wrestling a hedgehog!".

Over time I learned the other ways to knit socks, magic loop, two circular needles and even a tiny nine inch circular needle.  However each of these presented their own problems, the tiny circulars was too small to hold for instance.  As for using longer circulars (two circulars or one in magic loop style), well the amount of time it was taking me to move the stitches around from needle to cable and back again was getting me down.  That's not mentioning the fact I was knitting tightly and getting the loops over the join at the cable was tough at times.

So as a result, yet again, I got out my pointy Sticks of Doom and went to a group on Ravelry where a very nice lady was helping some crocheters learn to knit socks.  I was a late starter to all the fun but they answered my questions and made me feel welcome (Even though I was being a pain with daft questions).

With their help I figured out how to hold the DPN's so I could actually knit with them (this turned out to be very  important).  Something else they helped me with, and I feel silly for not realising it, is why I was getting ladders.  Now ladders tend to form at the point where two needles meet, the stitches look stretched out and as a result the stitches look like a ladder.  To be honest very small ladders come out in the wash but these were too big for my liking (I'm a perfectionist, or as my mum would say "your a pain!" lol)

The most common way to get rid of ladders is to knit the first stitches on every needle quite tightly, this is based on the theory that the ladder is formed because your knitting is loose at that point.  So that's what I had been doing, but oh no, it wasn't working.

The lady who was helping the crocheters to knit, suggested that my actions to prevent ladders may actually be causing them.  At first I ignored her comment, then out of desperation I tried, in effect I actually stopped trying.  That was the light bulb moment, the ladders vanished, together with the way I was holding the DPN's I now get virtually no ladders at all.  Although to be honest there are two points where you can see not a ladder, but that a column of stitches is ever so slightly looser than those around it.  Now this should come out in the wash, and I would bet chocolate that no one else could see it  (well if I could find the cable for my camera).

So where does this leave me?  Well I Had started my socks with my Opal yarn but with circular needles, however I'm getting ladders and gauge problems.  So I reckon I will stop and frog them and start again with Pointy Sticks of Doom!

Phew, I didnt mean to go on so long, espescially without pictures :)

Have Fun!

My First Sock Yarn

I've been researching knitting socks for ages, even put some books on my Christmas wish list.  As it is I ended up with two books on knitting socks, both are the toe-up variety.  The thing is I've been drooling over it and researching for a few months now and decided it was time to get to it.

So here is the yarn I got, Opal Surprise 4ply.  This isn't the yarn I had planned on buying, it's a bit more expensive than I planned to learn on but when I saw it I couldn't resist the colours.  Opal is supposed to be very good quality that really lasts.



To go with it I needed some circular knitting needles (I can't get the hang of DPN's) and I figured that for Magic Looping that 40 inches would be a good length. I wasn't sure what sizes to get as I have no idea what my gauge is going to be so I opted for 2.25mm and 2.5mm (the 2.5mm is what the ball band says).   Hopefully one of these will give me a good gauge for socks as you usually work these at a tighter gauge than normal.



For now I'm just going to start knitting a swatch, first a flat one with 2.5mm needles in garter stitch to get the hang of working with tiny needles and thinner yarn.  Once I'm happy I'm going convert this sample into a tube and change to stockinette stitch with magic loop.  After I get the tube going I'm going to switch the needle size to the smaller one (leaving a mark of some kind to show where I changed).

I know more experienced knitters would just start with the sock and use that as the swatch but I'm being careful (I worry too lol).  I'm hoping that the opal won't mind being unpicked so I don't waste any.  After I get my gauge checked (and it's suitable) I can start with my socks.  I still can't decide if I will do a plain vanilla sock or a ribbing one, we shall see :)

Have Fun!

Viking!

Not long ago I found a little amigurumi on Ravelry which I knew my husband would like, he liked it so much be bought me the book "Creepy Cute Crochet".

While I was playing around he found out there was a Viking pattern on the designers website and asked if I could make one as a leaving  gift to a co-worker.  So off I went, it took me two attempts to get one that I liked, but he is cute!  He is about 3 inches tall :)




He doesn't have a sword in this picture as it was added later, but he turned out OK :)  As for my earlier attempt that didn't work so well?  Well it turns out my daughter loves her new "snowman" and loves throwing him around the room :)

Enjoy!

Babette Construction - Section Five

Colours and Order

8.2 - saffron and meadow
4.23 - shrimp and saffron
4.21 - saffron and meadow
4.24 - shrimp and saffron
4.22 - shrimp and saffron
8.3 - matador and shrimp






Its nice seeing the green come out more, I think there's blue coming in the next section.  Having laid this out om my bed I think the finished blanket is going to be bigger than I envisioned.  I also don't think its really going to look great until near the end due to the way the colours are distributed over the blanket.

Enjoy!

Babette Construction - Section Four

Colours and Order

6.9 - shrimp and saffron
4.36 - shrimp and saffron
2.37- saffron and meadow
2.38 - shrimp and saffron
6.10 - shrimp and saffron

So far so good, I am still enjoying myself.  The JAYG is still going well too, theres no confusion as to where to start or stop - not yet anyways.  I am enjoying it so much I'm planning what to do next, either another Babette in different colours or something that utilises the JAYG.




Have Fun!

Fish

OK, so not the kind you can eat but Inklingo-able ones lol.  After I bought the Inklingo CD 1 and 2 I played around with some of the shapes to add to my Hexagon Layout collection.  The CD gave half hexagons, thirds and quarters so I had lots to play with.  So far I have at least 10 new layouts, however I can't figure out how to draw them in Electric Quilt so can't make a nice slide show like I did before.  My plan is to make a 20 inch block of each layout, they will either be made into cushions or a quilt.  Whichever way they end up being used I can see me doing sashing and using a quilt as you go method.

Here's me playing around with paper shapes to see what I came up with.



Here's is one lonely fish.



And here he is with some of his mates.



Each little fish doesn't take too long to make and is so easy using Inklingo for matching the corners up (I'm quite bad at corner matching normally).

Have Fun!

Double Four Patch

Some time ago I started a scrappy quilt using a block called a four patch (shown below) I have recently gone back to this block and come up with some new (to me anyways ) ideas.  Like the Tetris layouts I can see this being done either by crochet or by patchwork.

Here is the basic block.


A standard layout with the basic block.



A rainbow coloured Trip Around the World



Many Trips Around the World, rainbow style.



A rainbow.



Another Rainbow

Tetris Layouts

A while back I was bored and played around with some coloured pencils and square paper.  I came up with a design that reminded me of a Tetris block.  I can see me making this by either patchwork or by crochet.


This first one is the layout I started with, I wasn't sure if I should include the black stripes or not.



Here it is with the black background stripes removed.



An alternate colour scheme?

Babette Construction - Section Three

The start of the blanket was easy, now we get onto something a bit harder but not by much.  I was intending to take pictures of all the joins so that others could follow it.  This was due to the Babette having different sized squares and others using my joining method may cause confusion as to where to start and stop each join.  However, I do almost all of my crochet in the evenings which makes for bad photos.  I also realised that the photos I was taking were not going to help anyone at all.  Having decided not to go into as much detail as I had planned to meant I could work a lot quicker and enjoy the process more without having to think about when to stop to take a picture.

The Squares
2.39 - Shrimp and Saffron
2.40 - Saffron and Meadow
4.32 - Shrimp and Saffron
4.33 - Matador and Shrimp
4.34 - Shrimp and Saffron
4.35 - Shrimp and Saffron



Construction Order
I'm going to start at the right hand side and work as follows; 2.30 ; 2.40 ; 4.35 ; 4.34 ; 4.33  4.32



I'am happy about this project so far, it hard to see how its going to look compared to the plan I did a while back but the first new colours are coming in briefly in this section - the green.  I also like how each section is going together quickly.  Although as I get futher in I guess it will take ages as the later sections have a lot of squares.

Its nice how after each bit theres nothing else to do as it joined as I go, and I really love the air crochet technique I came across in Ravelry recently.

I like this pattern and at this point would like to do a granny style one, nneed to figure out colours though as I like working to a chart :)

Have Fun!

Hexagons

This is a test.

Hexagons

My first Toe!

I only learned to knit last year, and having found Ravelry I wanted to try to knit socks.  So heres a picture of a sample toe I made recently, its in DK weight so its too big for anyone I know, but it did show me I could make a toe.



Next up, lets see if I can make a heel!

Have Fun!

Rainbow Stripe

Rainbow Stripe
Originally uploaded by ellensmum
This is a blanket that will just be for me, made from my Random Waves Pattern I blogged about earlier.

Part Five – Joining Multiple Smaller Squares onto a Larger One

Right, the last part, as in part 4 of this series I am going to skim past some of the stitches to be joined.  The reason being that by now (this assumes you have read the other parts in the series first and not just started here) you don't need every picture, just the start and end of the joins.  If you haven't already go back to the start and work through all the other parts of the series, if you are only working with same size squares then you only need part one and not this one.

The next picture shows where we are starting, as usual the square to be added is worked until the first corner 2 DC chain 1.  In the picture below we will be joining the bluebell square on from point A to point B.  It may be helpful to place a marker on the centre DC of the purple square as this stitch lines up with the seam and not either of the squares.

Picture 1. Where we start.

Now to connect the first chain, as in earlier parts; lengthen the loop on your hook, remove hook, place hook through chain on purple square (both loops), pull the working loop through, snug the loop back to size, now chain 1, shown in Picture 2.

Picture 2. To the left loop connected, to the right chain made.

Now we can connect the first DC; lengthen the loop on your hook, remove hook, place hook through stitch on purple square (both loops), pull the working loop through, snug the loop back to size, DC in blue square, shown in Picture 3.

Picture 3.

Next the 7th DC; lengthen the loop on your hook, remove hook, place hook through stitch on purple square (both loops), pull the working loop through, snug the loop back to size, DC in blue square, shown in Picture 4.

Picture 4.

Now for the chains at point B (shown in picture 1).  Point B is the centre stitch on the purple square and as discussed in part 4 of this series, this stitch lines up with the seam between this square and the next one.  As we complete both this square and the yellow one (which is coming up next) a chain from each of the bluebell and yellow squares will be joined to the centre stitch - yes both of them. 

For right now carry on as normal connecting the first of the two chains to this centre stitch as follows; lengthen the loop on your hook, remove hook, place hook through centre stitch on purple square (both loops), pull the working loop through, snug the loop back to size, chain 2 in bluebell square, shown in Picture 5.

Picture 5.

That's the bluebell square joined on, you can carry on as normal to finish it, shown in picture 6. 

Picture 6.

Now on to the second square, which is joined from point A to point B then from point B to point C (picture 7).

Picture 7.

The first chain;  lengthen the loop on your hook, remove hook, place hook through chain on bluebell square (both loops), pull the working loop through, snug the loop back to size, now chain 1, shown in Picture 8.

Picture 8.

The first DC; lengthen the loop on your hook, remove hook, place hook through stitch on bluebell square (both loops), pull the working loop through, snug the loop back to size, DC in yellow square, shown in Picture 9.

Picture 9.

The last DC; lengthen the loop on your hook, remove hook, place hook through stitch on bluebell square (both loops), pull the working loop through, snug the loop back to size, DC in yellow square, shown in Picture 10.

Picture 10.

Tthe first corner chain; lengthen the loop on your hook, remove hook, place hook through chain on bluebell square (both loops), pull the working loop through, snug the loop back to size, now chain 1, shown in Picture 11.

Picture 11.

The second corner chain, this is the one I mentioned earlier, this needs to be connected to the same stitch as the corner chain of the bluebell square.  So look at the centre stitch on the purple square, you should be able to see that it already has something going through it, make sure this is the place you connect your chain to as you will run out of space otherwise.  So, lengthen the loop on your hook, remove hook, place hook through centre stitch on purple square (both loops), pull the working loop through, snug the loop back to size, now chain 1, shown in Picture 12.  At this point on the purple square you should have 7 DC available to connect to in order to complete the joining process.

Picture 12.

The first DC of the second side; lengthen the loop on your hook, remove hook, place hook through stitch on purple square (both loops), pull the working loop through, snug the loop back to size, DC in yellow square, shown in Picture 13.

Picture 13.

The last DC; lengthen the loop on your hook, remove hook, place hook through last stitch on purple square (both loops), pull the working loop through, snug the loop back to size, DC in yellow square, shown in Picture 14.

Picture 14.

The corner chain;  lengthen the loop on your hook, remove hook, place hook through first chain on purple square (both loops), pull the working loop through, snug the loop back to size, chain 2 in yellow square, shown in Picture 15.

Picture 15.

Now you can complete the yellow square as normal, which should look like picture 16.

Picture 16.

I hope that all made sense, if not please leave a comment and I will try to fix it.

Back to Joining Index.

Have Fun!