New Pattern: Reliable Spring Socks

When I saw the colors in this yarn, they reminded me of a field of crocus flowers. These little blossoms are often the first sign of spring. I sometimes say that spring, as a season, isn’t reliable around here until (at least) Mother’s Day. There’s nothing like some color in your wardrobe to make you feel a little better about chilly weather. So, I hope these socks can put a reliable spring in your step, no matter what the temperature!

This pattern is featured in the April 2018 Sock Artisan Crate from Knitcrate, but you can also buy it, without the yarn, on Ravelry. Use my coupon code: math4knitters20, to save 20% on your first order!


These socks are knit from the top down and feature an easy-to-work stitch pattern.

Taking a Nap

Happy December! 

I never, ever let Wolfie or Victor play with my yarn. He simply plopped down for a nap on it, for some reason. If I'm knitting and he wants to play, I put the yarn away and play with him. 

I have a lot going on and have even more planned for 2018, so I'm going to let this blog take a little nap, too, while I get myself sorted.

Knitting Dishcloths

I'm knitting cotton dishcloths along with my students at St. Louis Park Community Education.

They are so relaxing to make! I love playing with different color combinations. The first batch of dishcloths I made is about 12 years old. The cloths are JUST NOW starting to wear out, so the timing on these projects is pretty good.

My sister gave me these knitting needles about 16 years ago, when I told her that knitting with cotton made my hands feel sore. She bought them at a festival and I have no idea what brand they are, but I think they're ebony wood. They feel so smooth and nice!

If you're just learning to knit, I recommend the ballband dishcloth as a skills-builder. You manage two colors of yarn (but, not at once), work with slipped stitches, have to stay on-pattern and knit and purl.

I'd love to see you in class! Check out my schedule, here.

New Knitting Bag!

Way back this spring, I stopped by Yarnover, met June Hemmons Hiatt and purchased a knitting belt from her. I wasn't looking to learn a new way to knit, but these things happen, apparently. :)

I really like the belt, but there was just one problem. The 30 cm needles I bought with the belt were too long for my favorite sock-knitting bag.

Obviously, I had to sew a new knitting bag, right? 

Enter Kwik Sew 3728, view B. I've written about using this pattern before, but it was a different view.

Oh, and I used this awesome Wonder Woman-themed fabric from Joann's.

I LOVE it! I made a few changes. 

- No piping. 

- Fusible fleece (Pellon 971f) to give it some body. 

- Awesome zipper that looks like metal, but isn't.

- I used nylon webbing for the straps and buried them in the seam instead of attaching them to the sides. 

Holiday Ornament Variation + Party Notes for Tonight

Like most crafters, I have a stash. Some of the things in my stash are so old that I can't remember where I bought them! 

Such is the tale of the glass ornaments I used for my Pussy Hat Holiday Ornament. They were nice and big - about 3 inches in diameter. That's around 75 mm. One of the larger ones is on the left in this photo.

I found some 70 mm ornaments. Sounded like, basically, the same size, right? 

Well, 5 mm is 5 mm! I followed the exact same directions to make a hat for the smaller ornaments. All I had to do to "make it work" is flip up the brim of the hat. I think they're super cute! Why not make 2 larger ornaments to represent parents and smaller ones for the kids on your list?

P.S. - Three notes about the party tonight!

1) The weather is pretty cool today, so if you have a hat, wear it!

2) I made two of the "original" Holiday ornaments and eight in the "kitten" size. They will all be available for sale at Knit and Bolt tonight. If you want one, you should arrive early! I suspect we will sell out.

3) It's not too late to RSVP. We would love to make sure we have enough treats for everyone, so please RSVP, if you can!

Reclaiming Our Time Socks

I was going to start a new sewing project for myself (or maybe finish one) today, but, instead, I spent a little too much time staring at Twitter and decided that I had to finish this pattern and publish it today.

These socks are knit from the toe up – with a twist. When the toe is finished, half of the stitches are put on hold and the top of the foot is worked. Then, the leg is finished. Lastly, the sole and heel are made. A little grafting at the top of the heel finishes the sock. This is all accomplished without seams, as stitches are picked up to join the top of the foot and the sole as you go.

Why put yourself through all of this? If you ever get a worn spot or hole in the sole or heel of the sock, you can simply tear it out and re-knit it. Also, in self-striping yarns, the color changes will be stretched out along the top of the foot, which is fun. If you want to save your prettiest yarn just for the top of the foot and the leg, you can work the toe, sole and heel in a contrasting color (or several colors, or in scraps).

In case you can’t tell, the message behind these socks is “we won’t stop.” We will march, speak and work to reclaim our time, and we have the everlasting, fabulous socks to prove it.

The pattern is available to purchase on Ravelry and I think there will be a kit coming up for it from KnitCircus Yarns.

PussyHat Holiday Ornament

Now, I'm not saying that this SHOULD be a gift for your relatives at the end of the year who may or may not agree with you on politics. But, if you wanted to share, I would sure love to see photos of their reactions!

No-Purl Pussyhat

Kids all go through phases where they don't want to wear hats. Our little model, Lila, is about 3 seconds away from ripping hers off in this photo. She's wearing it backwards, but she still looks super-cute (and only a knitter would know)!

This knitting pattern is super-easy, and involves nary a single purl stitch. I don't have anything against purls, I just don't invite them to the party when they're not needed.

The No-Purl Pussyhat can be made at any gauge, with any yarn, in any size. It's the only pussyhat pattern you need!

Ball Band Dishcloth

I'm still teaching at St. Louis Park Community Ed. Right now, our "Adventures in Knitting" class is going on. I like to let my students choose among a few projects so that they can have fun and learn at their own pace, instead of forcing everyone into doing the same thing, all of the time. 

I love the Ball Band Dishcloth for what I call a "second step" student. They should be confident knitting and purling, but maybe they don't have a lot of experience reading a pattern or following a pattern repeat. The dishcloth is just difficult enough so that they can learn those things, but not so difficult that it's discouraging. 

Plus, they're relatively cheap to knit and make great gifts. What's not to love?

Step Up Socks, Top Down

Quick photos in my mudroom, because that's how I roll.

It's easy to add colorblocking on the heel - a photo of that is on yesterday's post. 

The pattern is for sale on Ravelry and on Craftsy.

Step Up Socks, Toe Up

Step Up Socks, Toe Up, Self-Striping Yarn

Step Up Socks, Top Down, with colorblocked, slipped-stitch heel

In her Encyclopedia of Needlework (I use the English edition, published in 1886), Therese de Dillmont calls this heel the "heel in steps."

Her heel is beautiful, but can be hard to work out, from her instructions. I agree with her verdict: "A heel made like this is no more trouble than the former one (a square heel, what she calls the Usual heel); it fits closely to the foot and consequently wears better than any other shape."

I designed a version of her heel, which was knit from the top down, and reverse-engineered it to also be worked from the toe up. I have been knitting and wearing them since 2013. I don't wear out a lot of my socks, but I do have to darn some of them, every once in awhile. None of the socks I have made with this heel have required darning. That’s the highest praise I can offer a sock heel!

If this heel was first published over 130 years ago and I, myself, have been walking in it for over 3 years, why am I publishing it now?

I guess I was waiting for the right name and inspiration to push me: The Step Up Heel.

Donna Druchunas’s voice, especially, has been calling to me, since the election. When she asked if I had anything to contribute to her Knitting as a Political Act e-book, I was at a loss, at first. Then, I remembered this heel, tucked away in my knitting notes and sock drawer, and thought: “maybe this is the time for this heel pattern to emerge back into the light of day.”

I’m self-publishing the Step Up Socks pattern, as quickly as I can. There will be two versions: toe up and top down. I’m publishing the toe up first, since, for me, political action comes from the ground up. Top down will follow, since we need that, too. We need it all. We need everyone. No matter how you feel about politics right now, I think we can all agree that we should be on our feet, stepping up to the challenges laid before us.

I care about freedom, democracy, women's rights, indigenous rights and LBGTQIA equality. I don’t have a lot to give, but I am doing this: I’ll donate 10% of my proceeds from selling these patterns to a charity that I think will have the most impact. I may chose a new one every month, or I may stick with the same one for a long time.

Both patterns include stitch-by-stitch instructions for set sizes, very short instructions for if you want to use a customized stitch count, and tips for changing the colors and texture of your heel.

Look for them on Ravelry: http://www.ravelry.com/designers/lara-neel and Craftsy: https://www.craftsy.com/profile/lara-neel.

Mitten Knitting

There's nothing quite like knitting mittens. Quick, relaxing and fun!

This is a simple mitten pattern from One-Skein Wonders. 

Victorian Knitting Manuals on Archive.org

I included a link to Richard Rutt's collection of Victorian knitting manuals at the University of Southampton Library in my book. Sadly, pretty much right around the time that I published, they changed the way the collection was organized, which made it way less user-friendly!

They're now on Archive.org, and it's a pretty awesome resource! Go forth and marvel at how far we have come, but also remember that a lot of this wonderful knowledge has been "unfairly forgotten," as Barbara Walker said about at least one of the knitting stitches in her extensive collections. Or was it, "unjustly forgotten?" I really must read through those again, some day.

Kitty and Knitting

I keep trying to decide what's best. Whenever I try out a new-to-me heel, I find it SO EXCITING. I want to tell everyone right away!

However, I also like the idea of (maybe) writing another book, which is why I'm hiding the heels on these particular socks. 

It has to remain a mystery, for now. Only Travis, Boomer, Dee and muggles have seen them...

Fall Means New Classes!

I love teaching! This Fall, I'm signed up to teach two classes for the St. Louis Park Community Center. There are more details here. Come one, come all!

Craftsy's Cloudborn Yarn

When I heard about Craftsy's new yarn line, Cloudborn, I was curious. I mean, they already sell some of my favorite yarns. So, they should know a lot about what goes into a "good" yarn. But, knowing and doing are two different things. How would their yarns stack up? 

My sample package arrived and I love the way the colors go together!

First, the sock yarn. My sample of Cloudborn Superwash Merino Sock Twist is a hand paint called Slightly Serious. 100 grams of it (one hank) would be plenty to create a pair of socks. It's 80% Superwash Merino and 20% Polyamide. After a little googling, I'm 90% sure that Polyamide is what most people would call Nylon. It has several plies and seems well-spun. 

My Checked and Square socks would pair well with this yarn, I think. I may have to try it!

It should be hard-wearing even though it is very, very soft. And, I mean very. I think if you didn't want to make socks with it, it would also make a great Sockhead Slouch Hat (free pattern!) or an Autumn Dreams baby sweater. 

The Cloudborn Baby Alpaca Bulky is the softest of the soft. Don't expect it to be tough - 100% baby alpaca isn't going to be, but it is lofty, the color is even and even has a slight sheen. It would be darling as a Wee Speedy (free pattern!)

Last but not least in my sample pack is the Cloudborn Merino Alpaca Sport. 80% Superwash Merino and 20% Baby Alpaca. It's not a superwash yarn, even though the wool is superwash. The color I have has a heathered appearance - this is probably because the alpaca and the merino take up dye slightly differently. The alpaca will probably bloom with wear, so a complex stitch pattern may not show up well. But, these little RONA Wrist Cuffs (free pattern)? Divine.

This post contains affiliate links. 

New Apron!

Pardon the mess, I'm just excited about my apron! Check out the pretty cute pattern matching on the pockets. 

I love little three-pocket aprons for when I'm selling somewhere, teaching, or just knitting around the house. 

The three pockets are awesome for when you want to knit with multiple colors. Simply put each color in its own pocket, and you're way less likely to get all tangled up in yourself. 

When I'm teaching, my apron is great because I can shove my little sample piece of knitting into a pocket while I help a student. It reduces the amount of time I spend chasing down the yarn and needles I set down somewhere, usually across the room. 

And, also around the house, when I'm chatting on the phone with my sister as I knit, fold laundry, or whatever, it's great to have somewhere to hold my phone while I use an earbud headset!

Math4Knitters: Episode 45

Show notes and more at math4knitters.blogspot.com.

Math4Knitters: Episode 45

Awesome illustration by Leslie Johnson

Books I mentioned:

History of Hosiery

Sock Architecture

The sound quality on this isn't quite as good as I would like, but I'm determined to not let the perfect be the enemy of the good. I am using a microphone, and I'll see if backing away more from the computer's fan will help when I'm recording. 

Isn't That Difficult?

This photo is from the lovely time I had in Iowa in October. I just realized I never shared it with you. Some of the knitters (or maybe just one? If so, she was too shy to tell me.) made these little cuties to go on people's name tags at the event. Best. Nametag. Ever.

I've said it before, and I'll probably say it again. I truly believe that knitting teaches me what I need to know when I'm ready to know it. Maybe other things work that way for other people. Knitting has taught me how to sit still. It has made me a better listener. It has given me a mastery of 3-D thinking that has been a big stretch for me, at times. It turned me into an author, a public speaker and a better teacher than I was before. 

Last year, I met a knitter who was showing off a lovely Green Apple Bohus sweater. (More information about these amazing sweaters is here, but you should also check out Poems of Color for a closer look.) I told her that I had heard that the Green Apple is the most difficult Bohus sweater to knit, and wondered at her skill. She looked at me, frankly and humbly, and said, "I just followed the directions." Well, of course, she did a lot more than that! She had the skill, the materials and the patience, too. 

It made me think. There are lots of times I've been put off from trying things because I thought they were too difficult. I think we all do that. 

I also caught myself thinking - what if life came with "directions." It's an appealing idea, at first thought. But, what if you didn't like the path those directions laid out for you? Then, it would be a prison sentence. 

There are a thousand things I could choose to work on at any given moment. It's wonderful, but sometimes the hard part is choosing the best way to use my time. 

Right now, I need to make more time for writing. I owe myself (and some other people!) some work in that area. I would LOVE to take my notes from my History of Socks talk and turn it into a podcast, so that even people who can't see me speak in person can experience it, in some way. 

This is a little difficult, but in order to make time for more writing and re-starting my podcast, I need to back off from daily blogging. I will probably be most active on Instagram, if you want to see photos of my kitties and other things. 

I haven't decided on the exact schedule, but once I start, I will really try to keep it consistent! 

Here's to 2016! It will be the 11th year of this blog's off-and-on life.

Raglan Baby Sweater Yoke

I DO still knit. It's just that many of my projects are Top Secret. It's the curse of knitting things that are meant to be released later.

This is the yoke to a raglan baby sweater, from my Autumn Dreams pattern (without the extra garter stitch ridges). 

I'm just about to start the sleeves. And, no, I'm not trying to launch a Baby Noir line. Although, that would be pretty cool, in my opinion!

When one of my family members was laid up earlier this year after surgery, I wanted to give her something easy to knit. So, I had her cast on a certain number of stitches and simply work garter stitch for 6 inches. She used a very pretty, variegated yarn. Her piece will be the bottom half of the sweater. I chose this lovely charcoal since I didn't have a solid color that matched any of the colors in her yarn. 

I think it will be pretty cute!