Sock Knitting Class

No matter how many times I do it, I get a kick out of making just the heel turns with my students. Here you see, in gray, just the absolutely most vital part of the Balbriggan heel. 

Sock Seams

Modern knitters are often a bit shocked to hear about sock seams that run under the heel (and even, under the entire foot, as in this example from the American Swedish Institute.) It's from the 1920s or the 1930s.

It's hard to see in this photo, but I swear the seam is there. It runs all of the way from the top of the cuff, down around the heel and under the foot to the toe. 

I think people did have tougher feet back then. Shoe style and fit expectations can change how a sock really "needs" to fit and feel, too. But, people also had different expectations of their clothes. Now, comfort is the most important element of most of our clothing. Then, practicality, cost, durability, and style were all more important, usually, than flat-out comfort. 

Socks with seams down the back and sole are easy to make on a regular knitting machine (someone, please correct me if I'm wrong). That made them inexpensive and widely available. But, it also explains why hand-knit socks were such a focus of knitting for war efforts, even during WWII. Most hand-made socks wear better, generally, and provide better padding in heavy boots than most machine-made socks, especially if you are comparing a sock with seams to a sock without seams.

I grew up wearing machine-knit socks with seams across the top of the toe. It never bothered me - until I tried my first pair of hand-knit socks. After that, there was no going back! 

Road Knitting

Is there anything like it? 

Black Socks

I...think we might have enough, now.

I'm actually grateful for my black-sock knitting. If I had been distracted by color changes, I might not have ever been motivated to seek out so many ways to knit socks!

Grafting, Kitchener Stitch and the Modern Knitter

I haven't found a perfect way to teach Kitchener Stitch, or Grafting, to everybody. All of the methods that use "go through this stitch knit-wise and that stitch purl-wise" leave me a bit cold. They require that your stitches be seated on the needle a certain way, and not everyone knits (or purls) in only one way.

My solution is to get the stitches off of the needles, as soon as possible. I use a little dental floss as a "safety net" when I do this. But, this doesn't help you if you aren't at least a little comfortable with the technique, already.

So, I turn to my guiding star for All Things That Are Kind of Tricky, the TECHknitter.

She has two excellent posts about Kitchener Stitch. Here's one that uses a darning needle. Here's another one that doesn't.

The ugly truth is, this is one skill that you have to practice to master. I mean, practice a lot. Often. Use up every little gauge swatch you've ever saved by grafting them to each other until you feel good about it.

AND, if you are someone who has to have a quiet place with good light and either a YouTube video or written instructions to manage it, that's ok, too. As long as you get a result you like, it doesn't matter how you get there. You are not a lesser knitter because of that.

I actually got a lot better at Kitchener stitch when I practiced a lot of darning and Swiss darning. It really taught me the "path" of the yarn through the stitches.

Oh, and there's also a (FREE) Craftsy class with everything you might want to know about seaming, including grafting.

My Teeny, Tiny Manifesto

This is what I'm trying to do.

from The Opinionated Knitter

I don't want to compare myself, directly, to Elizabeth Zimmermann, because I respect her way too much, but I'm trying to give socks the same sort of treatment she gave to seamless sweaters. 

It all hinges on the "key number," which she called K, for the number of desired stitches at the chest. 

I call the number of stitches used for the body of the sock S. S tells you what to do to make any toe you want. 

Half of S is X. Once you know X, you can make any heel you want. 

That's it. Please don't be scared off by X and S! 

(If I had realized I would be pronouncing X and S, I would have chosen different variables. They sound REALLY alike, no?)

I Believe Your First Socks Should Fit

Gauge swatch, in action.

This question came up in an Amazon review: "How many people can make a first anything...fit perfectly when it comes to knitting?"

It is true that perfection isn't possible in a lot of things. Your first omelet won't be perfectly beautiful. The very first thing you knit probably wasn't perfect. 

But, I'm going to risk myself and put it out there. If you:

1) are careful when you measure
2) work a gauge swatch
3) follow directions well

...you CAN have your very first pair of hand-knit socks fit you. Perfectly. 

Yes, practice helps. If you knit the same size of socks in the same yarn on the same needles, you'll learn when 2 or 4 stitches or rounds one way or the other really matters and when you can fudge it. 

I also really, truly, completely believe that you have to knit a gauge swatch whenever you have a new sock size, yarn, or set of needles. That is, if you don't want to add to your "this was a nice pattern, but the socks don't fit" pile. 

It is part art and part science, but it's not impossible!

Wall of Books

It's a bit strange. Literally, a (little) wall of my work. Those are 4 boxes that contain 88 of my books. I'm getting ready for some events, so I ordered more books than I ever have, before. Let's hope that 88 people want to take them off of my hands. 

Also, here's living proof that no matter what you achieve, it's very, very hard to impress a cat. 

Minnesota Knitters' Guild

Last night, Fragile, my socks, Dee, Leslie and I hit the road so that I could speak to the Minnesota Knitters' Guild about The History of Socks. But, really, I could have called it: 

- My History of Finding Photos of Socks from Museums and Graves

or

- How I Learned To Love Aftherthought Heels, And So Can You

or

- Holy Cow LOOK At That Colorwork

or

- If You Think You Don't Like Charts, Check Out This Argyle Sock Pattern from 1886

Can you spot my non-knitting fan club, on the right? 

I had a great time! I actually had a little too much material, so I had to skip some stuff, but it was wonderful getting to talk to so many people about socks. :)

Count, Think, or Use Stitch Markers

I like to think. I like to knit. I like to think about knitting. I just don't always like to think about my knitting (or count too much) AS I'm knitting.

The Round (or French) heel has always kind of bothered me. Just like with any heel turn, if you get off by one tiny stitch when you start the turn...well, you're going to have to pull it all out and start over. WAAAAY too much pressure for me, on some days.

I just found a cheat to make my heel turns (almost) foolproof.

Before you start the first heel turn row, place a marker dead-center in the middle of your heel stitches (that's the gold marker). Then, place another marker 2 stitches away from it, one on either side.

Knit over to the last marker, ssk, k1...

Turn. Purl over to the (was the first, but now is the) last marker, p2tog, p1...

Turn. Then just take out the markers and continue as you normally do for this sort of heel, secure in the knowledge that your first two rows, at least, are correct!

Voila. Heel turn courtesy of me. Amazing stitch definition courtesy of Simply Socks Yarn Company and some amazing Minnesota sunlight.

More Paris Wallpaper Socks

This is the front of the sock.

The bulges in the socks are from me cramming my fist in to them, not a feature of the socks!

I don't knit the same pattern, over and over, very often. My Paris Wallpaper Socks are the exception. 

I worked them, first, in gorgeous Poste Yarn, Patina. The publications I offered it to turned it down, so I submitted it to Dream in Color. 

The combination of Cashmere and sparkles in Starry was amazing! 

My mom saw that pair, in the works, and begged me for some of her own. How could I refuse? I made them for her last year. (I think I still owe my sister Lisa a pair. Sorry, sis.)

Then, I made a pair in black and red for Dee. I chose the  yarn poorly - they wore out in just a few months. 

So, once again, into the breach. This time, I'm using Dream in Color's Smooshy with Cashmere for the red and Simply Socks Yarn Company solid for the black. I love them! (That weird little bunchy bit on the right side of the second photo will block out, don't worry.)

All I See Is Blue

This is another swatch, plus my hat, wrap and coat. It's COLD! What are you casting on this week? 

Weird Bits and Pieces

Does anyone else ever end up knitting weird bits and pieces of socks, just to see if they work (or prove that they do)?

Little Gidding Farm Suri Yarn

I will do a more thorough review of this yarn later, but I just wanted to take a moment to share this little gem with you. It's a 3ply fingering, 55% suri, 30% wool, 15% nylon yarn from Little Gidding Farm, right here in Minnesota.

It's gorgeous and the color is truly jewel-like, which I love in a sock yarn! I'll let you all know how it knits up.

Regia 6-Ply Self-Striping Sock Yarn for the WIN!

Say what you will, but you can't beat sport-weight yarn for instant sock gratification. Pair that with self-striping? Magic.

Those of you following me on Instagram saw this a little while ago. If you're not on it, you should check it out. It's an awesome way to see a LOT of knitting out in the wild.

Unexpected Benefit of My Basement Office

My basement office was once an apartment of sorts, we think. It has a tiny powder room adjacent to it and an area with countertops and a sink that is a hot plate away from being a kitchenette.

So, that means that I have a dedicated space just to wash my knits. Very nice, if I do say so myself. 

Enter to Win a Dream in Color Kit

The folks at Dream in Color yarn were generous enough to give me two skeins of their yarn to give away - twins to the exact skeins I used for my Paris Wallpaper Socks.

Here's how you enter to win the yarns and a free digital copy of my pattern. Click through the link above to the Ravelry page for the socks and select "add to queue" on the right side of the screen. ("Add to favorites" is nice, too, but it's harder for me, as the designer, to see a quick roundup of who has done that.) That's it. On 1/15/15 (next Thursday), I'll use a random number generator to choose one lucky person who added the pattern to their queue and send them their prize. 

Good luck!

Not a member of Ravelry yet? Why not? It's free and awesome!

How I Wash Socks By Hand (and remember which ones need it)

I recently shocked a new-to-knitting friend when I told her that not every yarn is designed to be washed by machine. If you don't know how to wash handwash socks, it's pretty simple: 

1) Fill a sink or large bowl with cold water, add your favorite washing stuff (mine is soak), add socks.

2) Go away for 20 minutes or however long it says on the bottle of your favorite washing stuff. 

3) Rinse (if your washing stuff needs to be rinsed).

4) Gently squeeze (don't wring) water from socks, wrap in a clean towel. 

5) Stomp on towel, pretending you're stomping grapes in the French countryside (is that just me?)

6) Hang socks to dry the rest of the way. 

About half of my socks are handwash and the other half are machine-washable. Tip: Even if a sock yarn SAYS it's machine-washable, you'll get the longest life out of your socks if you hand wash them all, every time. 

Most of my handwash-only socks are distinctive colors or styles, but when I have a rather plain black sock that needs to be handwashed, I build in a little clue to myself. Do you see that tiny line of red on the otherwise black sock in the lower-right of the photo? That's my reminder - handwash these socks. I simply inserted a single round of red near the toe of otherwise all-black socks. It stands out when I'm sorting laundry, but is invisible when the sock is inside a shoe. 

Another Reason to Own A Good Circular Needle

I knit socks on dpns. I like them. I find them fast and I can really crank down on them for a tight gauge. But, I always have a good circular needle in my bag. Why? I have lots of reasons, but one is that it's the ideal stitch holder. Whenever I put stitches on hold, even for the instep on a sock, I use my circular needle. That way, when I'm working back and forth for the heel flap, I don't encounter the ends of my dpns, ready to stab me like a stainless steel porcupine. It also seems to stretch the stitches out less, so I have less of a giant gap where my instep meets my heel flap. 

I can work faster and happier. What more do you want from your knitting tools?

Twisted Loop Yarn Shop

I had a great time last night at Twisted Loop Yarn Shop!

I placed my pile of socks next to a cute tray of sock cookies that Jenni brought. YUM!

There were many nice knitters and LOTS of great yarn.

One skein (for socks for me!) jumped into one of my boxes. Don't worry, I paid for it. It's Regia 6-ply. I knit some socks from a skein of this last winter and I just love them.