Knitting

Welcome to my site! I use this blog to post my progress on the cross stitch and knitting projects that I am working on. You can find out more about me, check out more details about my projects, or check out a random post. You can also subscribe to my RSS Feed to receive updates as I post them. You can also contact me if you have any suggestions, questions, or random thoughts. Have a look around and feel free to come back often.

I have finished the first installment of socks from the Ram Club. They look wonderful and feel great on my feet. I am tempted to give them to my son to try to stave off his complaints that the socks that I am knitting for him are unfinished.

Now I need to sit back and find something else to work on until the next shipment comes along.

It has been a long time since I have posted anything. Part of the reason for this is that I haven’t really been doing anything craft-related lately. Instead I have been engrossed in the Vorkosigan Saga, which I regret not having read before. This is a series that is definitely not run-of-the mill and has hooked me from the first chapter of the first book that I read.

Last week I received the first shipment from my subscription to the Ram Club The yarn was so nice that I couldn’t wait to start knitting it into socks. Last night I finished the first sock and started the second.

The included pattern is fun to work and has taught me a couple of things. This is the first time that I have knit with two strands of yarn. I like the results as it gives more depth to the color of the sock. I also enjoyed knitting gussets and a heal flap in reverse as I knit from the toe up.

The only change that I made to the pattern is that I used a short row toe a la Priscilla Gibson Roberts. I prefer using yarn overs at the beginning of each short row instead of wrapping the next stitch. I think that the toe looks much better that way.

The sock fits my foot perfectly and feels wonderful. I can’t wait to have a pair.

Working with my own design and ideas has definitely been an interesting experience. It requires taking a leap into the unknown followed by a willingness to start over and make adjustments if things don’t turn out quite like you had envisioned. I am not quite sure that I have the temperament to do this.

To review, I am knitting a sock for my son using a stranded pattern that I took from Knitting Workshop. When I decided to do this, I was a little worried that there would be too many rows in the pattern for the sock. To compensate for this, I decided to knit from the toe up thinking that I could put the heel where it belonged and then just have an extra-long sock.

Yesterday as I approached the end of the pattern, I decided that the sock was all out of proportion and I still had to knit the ribbing for the cuff. This sock was so long that it looked like it would eventually reach over the top of my son’s knee. There are also a couple of bands in the pattern that look a little strange to my eye. My son has also mentioned that they don’t look quite right to him either.

After a few minutes deliberation, I decided to rip back to the heel so that I could take out the two offending bands. My wife thought that I was nuts for doing this and a part of me agreed with her, but I think that the sock will look much better in this new configuration.

I had hoped that with all of the knitting time I had this weekend I would have pictures to show. Now the sock only has about four more rows than it did on Friday night. This setback coupled with the prospect of having to knit the same pattern a second (and eventually a third) time has made this project a little less attractive to me. I may have to let things sit for a little while.

Besides, my cross stitch projects started calling to me yesterday morning.

Knitting this second sock of the pair was a breeze for me. I was amazed at how fast I knit each pattern repeat. The regularity with which the decreases occur at each side of the pattern coupled with the movement of the yarn overs across the pattern was almost hypnotic. It seemed that I was finishing pattern repeats almost as soon as I started them. I continue to be intrigued by how the stockinette sections are pulled at different angles with respect to one another. It almost looks like entrelac to me.

How were they received? Very well. My daughter loves them and was happy to let me take a picture of them on her feet.

So I have now knit socks for all but one of my children. I have actually cast on another sock and am working with an idea that I had. I am excited to see how it turns out.

In the last week or so I have been bitten by a knitting bug and I have renewed interest in working on this cardigan. I especially like the lattice cable running up both sides of this piece. While it looks nice, it is kind of a pain to knit because cabling is required on every right-side row and things can feel a little tight at times. With about seven more inches to go, it seems like I will never hit the top. Of course, I would probably be more successful if I concentrated on this sweater only.

My youngest daughter has decided that her favorite colors are purple, pink, and yellow, a combination that my oldest son has dubbed purinkellow. I have decided to knit her an afghan made out of these colors. So here is the first installment of the Purinkellow Afghan.

This afghan is really the Children at Play Afghan that can be found in the Fall 2003 issue of Knitter’s. I have felt driven to knit to the point where one square is completed and now I need to do eleven more and complete the border for it to be finished. This is the first time that I have done modular knitting. It is really quite fun to see things take shape as I knit. It is especially intriguing to see a row of knitting gradually turn into a square or a rectangle. We’ll see how I feel about this technique once I am trying to knit with a big afghan flopping around.

My wife doesn’t particularly care for it and I tend to agree that it is looking a bit garish. But who can account for the tastes of a seven-year-old girl?

My apparent blogging inactivity has not been accompanied by crafting inactivity.  I have started working on a cardigan that I can wear at work.  It is Jack’s Cardigan from Men in Knits.  I am knitting it using Emerald Wool of the Andes Bulky from KnitPicks.  I have finished about two-thirds of the back and can’t wait to move on to the front.  I like how it is turning out.

Unfortunately I haven’t had time enough to take any pictures of it.  I also worry that the yarn is so dark that I won’t be able to get a good picture of it anyway.

All of this knitting, however, is done at the expense of other projects.  My cross stitch is feeling particularly neglected.  I also have to finish the second sock of the pair for my daughter.  On top of that I am in the middle of knitting an afghan for my other daughter and my son is constantly badgering me about when I am going to knit his pair of socks.  I pomise him that I will do it sometime in the next decade or two, which is too much for his ten-year-old brain to handle.

I haven’t felt like knitting socks for quite some time. That changed about a week ago. It must be the onset of (relatively) cooler weather.

This Scrolls Sock is based on a sock pattern found in More Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch. I used the short row heel and toe instructions that are found in Priscilla Gibson-Roberts Simple Socks Plain and Fancy because I like those directions better.

This is the first time I have knit a lace pattern like this. It is fascinating to watch how the different blocks of stockinette automatically bias with respect to each other. Watching the lace take shape made knitting this sock always interesting. Of course, I wonder if I will think the same thing half-way through the second sock.

My daughter chose the pattern and I am knitting them for her. When I showed her the first completed sock she danced for joy. That makes all of the time spent worth it.

My daughter has decided that she wants to be Hermione Granger for Halloween. She and my wife decided that it would be really cool if she could have a Gryffindor scarf to complete her costume. So what would and decent father do but knit his daughter a scarf.

This is a modified Year 3-4 scarf pattern that is found in Charmed Knits. My daughter likes the stripe pattern for the Year 1-2 scarf, but I didn’t want to knit in the round, so we compromised. I also modified the scarf pattern to knit at a larger gauge. The red yarn is Red Hear Super Saver Burgundy and the yellow is Caron Perfect Match Sunflower, which is the yarn that my daughter and wife picked out. I am knitting to a larger gauge because Red Heart sets my teeth on edge and the less knitting that I have to do with this stuff, the better.

So far I like how it is turning out. I can knit about one stripe at one sitting before I have to put it down. If I can manage to knit one stripe a day, it should be done in time.

Several years ago I knit a Beth Brown-Reinsel’s At Sea Gansey. After quite a bit of struggle, I finally figures out how to perform the Channel Island cast on that was used to start the sweater. I am posting the description of what I learned so that I can remember how to do it sometime in the future.

Once I figured out how to do the Channel Island cast on, I found that it wasn’t all that difficult. I even figured out how to eliminate the first slip knot that isn’t really a part of the cast on. I think that a couple of pictures would go a long way to help in understanding how it is done. So here is a wordy description that I can use to make sure that I don’t forget how to do it the next time.

1. Measure the amount of yarn that you need for the tail. The tail needs to be doubled, so fold that length of yarn over. Now the tail end of the yarn ends in a loop and end of the yarn is now at the beginning of the tail.
2. Lay the beginning of the tail between the thumb and forefinger of your left hand. Wrap the tail counter-clockwise around your thumb, twice. Run the ball end of the yarn around your forefinger. The loose end of yarn will hang down a little and separate from the other parts of the yarn. Your hand should now look like this:
   
3. Now, with your right hand, put your needle behind the single strand of yarn that runs between your thumb and forefinger and pull it towards you so that you form a V with the yarn. This will be the first stitch.
4. Now, stick the needle up and underneath the four strands of yarn that are wound around your thumb. Then put the needle over, behind, and under the ball end of the yarn, thus forming another loop on the needle. Pull this loop through the four strands of yarn. Release the loops around your thumb and tighten them to the bottom of the needle. This is probably the trickiest part of the whole maneuver. Now there are two stitches on the needle.
5. Once again, lay the tail end of the yarn between the thumb and forefinger of your left hand and wind it counter-clockwise around your thumb, twice. The ball end of the yarn runs around the forefinger of your left hand. Your hand will now look like this:
   
6. With your needle, make a yarn over by putting the needle over, behind, and under the ball end of yarn.
7. Now put the needle up and underneath the four strands of yarn around your thumb and pick up another loop from the ball end of yarn by running the needle over, behind, and under the yarn. Pull this loop through the thumb loops, release the thumb loops, and tighten these loops up against the needle.
8. Repeat steps 5-7 until there are the desired number of stitches on your needle.

Clear as mud? Probably. There should probably be more pictures, but I only have two hands. Once I get going I find that the most irritating mistake that I can make is to forget to make a yarn over before I pull a loop through the thumb loops. I am glad that I kept trying until I got this cast on right. It really makes a nice edge.