Socks

Dyelot Woes

/ Patterns, Socks / 4 Comments

I recently made a pair of socks for myself using what looked like a full skein of Madeline Tosh Sock yarn in the Copper Penny colorway that I bought about a year ago. After I finished the first sock, I was pretty sure I didn’t have enough to complete the mate so I ordered another skein. Look at the difference in dyelot! I don’t mind mis-matched socks, but the difference in dyelots  was sure to look like a glaring mistake. So, I started the second sock with the new, darker dyelot, then changed back to the original when I thought I had enough to finish the sock. The color change shouldn’t show when I’m wearing long pants.
For those of you interested in the pattern, a very similar pair will be in the July 2011 issue of Sockupied, available from Interweave Press.

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What Have I Gotten Myself Into?

/ Books, Sock Knitting Master Class, Socks / 9 Comments
As some of you know, I’ve been working on a book called Sock Knitting Master Class, which will be out in the summer of 2011. In addition to 17 sock patterns by master sock knitters, this book contains insights into how those designers (including, but not limited to, such notables as Cookie A, Kathryn Alexander, Cat Bordhi, Nancy Bush, Evelyn Clark, Anne Hanson, Meg Swanson, and Anna Zilboorg), went about creating fantastic socks. It’s a smorgasbord of inspiration and technique, whether you like to work with cables, stranded colorwork, lace, twisted stitches, slip stitches, intarsia, shadow knitting, or entrelac and whether you like to work from the top down or from the toe up. The cover (below) shows just one of the innovative designs (this one’s by Deborah Newton) you’ll find in the book.
The book is in production now, which usually means that an author’s work is mostly done. But notice the red circle in the lower right quadrant? It says that an instructional DVD will be included. I met with the folks at Interweave today to go over the contents of said DVD. Taping is scheduled for January 11, 2011, and I don’t mind admitting that I’m in a bit of a panic. Not only do I have to knit a boatload of samples in order to describe various stages of various techniques, but I have toTALK in front of a CAMERA. Despite my fears that this is going to be detrimental to overall book sales, I’m told there’s no getting out of the taping. But, between you and me, it’s perfectly fine for you to buy the book and never watch the DVD.

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Mia Culpa

/ Socks, Technique / 5 Comments

Over the summer I worked out instructions for toe-up socks that look just like top-down socks. The pattern was made available on the Quince & Co website a couple of weeks ago. Problem is, I failed to specify the type of cast-on to use. I am such an idiot!
You should use a method that casts on stitches for working in the round such as Judy’s Magic Cast-On or the Turkish/Eastern Cast-on. You can find instructions for these methods online through a Google search.

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Check it Out

/ Patterns, Socks / 4 Comments

Even though I’m not knitting much these days, the multi-size, multi-gauge toe-up sock pattern that I worked on earlier this summer got posted on the Quince & Co website yesterday. It’s included with the patterns for each of the five Quince yarns. Buy the pattern—I’m buying a lot of gas these days to visit my parents.
I’d like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your good wishes where my parents are concerned. Both and stable and on the road to recovery. We’ve arranged for my mother to visit my father today—it will do them both a world of good.

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Words I Thought I’d Never Say

/ Patterns, Socks / 5 Comments

I am finally tired of knitting socks. In the past two weeks I’ve knitted five pairs of adult medium socks and sample feet for four other sizes. I’m sure my saturation with sock knitting won’t last, but if I find time to knit today after I clean my desk, I’ll bypass my double-points in favor of circulars and cast on stitches for a triangular shawl (if I can find a suitably mindless pattern).
The first photo below shows socks with an 8″ foot circumference in Quince yarns at gauges of (from left to right) 4.5 (Puffin), 5.5 (Osprey), 6.5 (Lark), 7.5 (Chickadee), and 8.5 (Tern) stitches to the inch. The second photo shows the feet only in Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride Worsted at 5.5 stitches/inch in size (from left to right) 9.5″, 9″, 7.5″, and 6.5″ foot circumferences.

Why have I been knitting socks like a fanatic? I’ve been under a self-imposed deadline to generate a toe-up sock pattern for multiple sizes (five) and multiple gauges (ten) for Quince & Co. Unlike the toe-up sock pattern (Working Socks from the Toe Up) I wrote for the Spring 2007 issue of Interweave Knits that features a short-row heel, this pattern looks like a “normal” top-down sock with a padded flap along the back of the heel and gussets along the sides of the instep. This pattern also includes stitch gauges in one-half-stitch-per-inch increments from 4.5 stitches/inch to 10 stitches/inch that gives enormous freedom for working with a variety of yarn weights and needle sizes. I plan to send the socks and pattern to the tech editor today so she can correct all my errors before the pattern is posted on the Quince & Co website. Stay tuned.

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Red-Letter Day

/ Patterns, Sock Knitting Master Class, Socks / 3 Comments

Today my Abbey Road Socks got posted on the Quince and Company website, along with their new sock yarn Tern (a delightful mixture of 80% wool and 20% silk) and I turned in the manuscript for my next book: Sock Knitting Master Class: Innovative Techniques + Patterns from Top Designers. You can get the sock pattern right now from Quince and Co, but the book still needs to go through all the editing, design, and layout stages and won’t be available until next summer (in time for Sock Summit 2011). I’ll let you know exactly when.
Care to help me celebrate?

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Sock Heels

/ Socks, Technique / 7 Comments

As I mentioned in my last post, I’ve become obsessed with knitting toe-up socks with round heels—the kind that heel that is most commonly used for socks knitted from the top down. I’ve taught a class in toe-up socks with short-row heels for a few years, but some students have requested a more “normal” heel for these socks. To determine the method I like best, I’ve knitted a number of samples to experiment with the methods used by Chrissy Gardiner (Toe-Up! Patterns and Worksheets to Whip Your Sock Knitting into Shape), Wendy Johnson (Socks from the Toe Up), and Melissa Morgan-Oakes (Toe-Up Two-at-a-Time Socks).
Finally, I think I’ve come up with my favorite variation. To test it out, I knitted one sock from the top down (shown on the bottom), then a mate from the toe up (shown on top). There are only subtle differences between the two—the most noticeable being that the “wedge” on the sides of the toe-up sock is narrower than that of the top-down sock. This is because I worked the increases one stitch in from the edge instead of two stitches in. I’m happy to report that when on my feet, I can’t tell the difference between the two.

I plan to write up instructions for the toe-up version for multiple sizes and gauges. If all goes well, the pattern will be available online this fall from Quince & Company. I’ll let you know when!

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Great New Yarn!

/ Patterns, Socks / 4 Comments

My dear friend and co-author, Pam Allen, has recently started her own online yarn company, Quince & Company. Clara Parkes said it best in Knitter’s Review: Pam’s goal is to offer good, basic yarns in a ton of colors, sourced and spun in the U.S., priced reasonably, and backed with excellent pattern support. Those yarns requiring imported fibers (say, silk or cashmere) would be sourced as responsibly as possible. She currently has four yarns (sport, DK, worsted, and bulky), each available in 37 solid colors.
But that’s not all. Very soon Pam will unveil a sock-weight yarn, named Tern after one of the small birds native to Pam’s Maine home. Tern is a round 3-ply yarn of 75% soft U.S. wool and 25% silk added for strength, luster, and luxury. It is ideal for my current obsession for twisted and traveling stitch patterns. Pam sent me a trial skein of the yarn and I just finished the toe-up socks shown here. The pattern and yarn will be available at www.quinceandco.com very soon!
 
 

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Walking Aids

/ Socks / 3 Comments

My sister and brother-in-law came to visit for the last week. They live in Nashville, Tennessee, and are always eager to escape the southern heat and humidity. Happily, we’re having a cool spell here and the high temps have been in the low 60s. My brother-in-law “Bob” has Parkinson’s disease and uses a walker to get around. When it gets cold, he needs to wear socks, but socks can be slippery on wood, tile, or linoleum floors. Bob has tried many types of no-skid socks but he complains that none are as comfortable as the socks I’ve knitted him over the years.
This year, I bought a pair of leather soles for making mukluks at my local yarn store, then sewed them to the bottom of a pair of his handknitted socks. I made the socks for him back in 1994 when Nancy Bush’s Folk Socks book came out (these are the Ukrainian Socks; he chose the pattern). Bob is delighted—the socks are comfortable, he doesn’t slip, and we’re all a little more secure in his ability to move about. I encourage you to do something similar if there is a walker-dependant person in your life.
I had planned to wash these while they were here, but they were always on his feet (and I forgot). I can see I’ll have to make another pair so these can get washed!

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