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.

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.

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...

Math4Knitters: Show 48

Show notes and more at math4knitters.blogspot.com.

Math4Knitters: Episode 48

Woven Stockings, Caucasus, 700 CE

Really old, really cool knit sock from about 1100 - 1200

Click to make bigger.

This one is a bit smaller, but just as cool

My favorite version of an afterthought/inserted/pocket heel. (Full information about making this heel is in my book, Sock Architecture, and my Craftsy class.) If you watch the Craftsy class, you get to see me get REALLY excited when the heel bone and the thumb bone on a model skeleton are the same length.

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.

Dip Your Toes Into the Victorian Era!!!

My friend, Wendy, and I are planning a workshop for this coming April. 

We will make a teeny version of my Bootstrap Socks and learn about how that fits into 1850.

Join the authors of "Yarn Works" and "Sock Architecture" for a day-long dive into history. Wendy J. Johnson (author of "Yarn Works: How to spin, dye, and knit your own yarn") will start in the morning with the methods and materials available in dye baths of the 1850s. Choose a provided 19th Century dyestuff to hand-dye a skein for a pair of adult-sized socks and learn past (and modern) natural dyeing techniques. Lara Neel (author of "Sock Architecture: Heels, toes, and techniques for knitting awesome socks" will pick up the ball in the afternoon with the history of sock knitting in the Victorian era and will walk you through methods for knitting socks that have been partially lost to history. As you knit a mini sock, Lara will show you techniques that are fast, fun, and fantastic—and can be used in any sock pattern you choose.

You will go home with the naturally-dyed skein of yarn that you dyed in the morning (enough for a pair of adult socks), the mini-sock you created in the afternoon, and a pattern to knit an adult-sized pair of socks using the techniques you learned in the afternoon.

Additional workshop benefit: The day-long session is being held at Gale Woods Farm, a 410-acre, working educational farm and park within the Three Rivers Park District. It's located on picturesque Whaletail Lake in Minnetrista, Minnesota. You will have an opportunity to tour the farm facility with a farm staff guide and meet the animals during a break in the day. Before or after the session, you may take advantage of the walking paths located throughout this beautiful site.

Cost: $75.00 (cost includes supplies*)

Date & Time: Saturday, April 2, 2016 – 9 am – 4 pm (A half-hour is allotted for lunch. Class participants should bring their own lunches. Refrigeration and a microwave are available. Tea, coffee, and water will be provided.)

Location: Gale Woods Farm, 7210 County Road 110 W., Minnetrista, MN 55364

Ages of participants: For ages 16 and over. (We can only accept a total of 16 participants so sign up early!)

*All materials & supplies (except needles & misc. knitting notions) will be provided by the instructors. You will be given a miscellaneous supply list when you register.

Register by March 15, 2016 at the Three Rivers ParkDistrict/Gale Woods website or call Gale Woods at 763-694-2001.

Hopkins Fall Fiber Festival - Come Take a Class from Me!

This photo is from last year.

I didn't think it would do me a lot of good to just sell books, as I did last year at the Fall Fiber Festival. So, when they asked if anyone wanted to teach, I jumped at the chance! It's coming up in just a few weeks.

I'm going to teach one of my favorites: Beyond Basic Sock Techniques. It could be called "This is the stuff that makes knitting socks easier, faster and more fun," but that's waaaaay too long!

We decided to keep the classes small - 10 spots. There are two times: 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. That's the same class twice, not a four-hour class broken into blocks. There's a little more information here.  

You're supposed to register by contacting me. My email address is on the page I linked to, above. When you email me to sign up, I'll write down your name. You can pay me at the venue. I will be able to take cash, charge or check. 

Yarn Ends

Reports that I have given up knitting have been greatly exaggerated. I AM knitting, but a lot of my projects are top secret. But, I think I can get away with showing you a little pile of ends.

Minnesota State Fair!

Third Place!

Paris Wallpaper Socks, 5th Place

I received two ribbons this year at the Minnesota State Fair! The third-place socks are stockinette-stitch socks with a Balbriggan heel in Poste Patina Glass Mountain from Simply Socks Yarn company. The red and black Paris Wallpaper socks are in Dream in Color's Smooshy with Cashmere.

It's always so exciting to see all of the exhibits at the fair!

State Fair Knitting Prep

You can't see the pills in this photo, and they weren't horrible, but they were there.

This weekend, I will do something I have never done before. I will enter a state fair. This one.

I'm a little terrified and very excited to see what the judges say! I looked over what I've made in the last year and decided that my Paris Wallpaper Socks were my favorite. But, they've been worn a few times and had some pills on them. So, I washed and blocked them, then brought out the razors.

This should only be attempted under good lighting when you are not tired and are entirely sober. To remove each pill, grab it with your non-dominant hand, then use the razor to cut the pill away from the underlying fabric. My set of 10 blades came with a way to store used blades, and I simply start with a fresh one every single time. I only do this once or twice a year, so it's pretty cheap to just start with a new razor.

If you just pull the pills off, without a razor, they will only re-emerge. This is a  more permanent solution, and it's easier on your knits.

The operation was a complete success! Wish me luck!

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!

The First Few Rows

I keep finding different ways to think of (and knit) the beginning of a round (French) heel turn.

In my Craftsy class, the really important bit is:

ROW 1 (RS): Sl1, knit to the center of the heel sts, k2, ssk, k1. Turn.

Which means the same thing as (from page 23 of Sock Architecture):

If X is an even number:

Row 1 (RS): Sl1, k(X/2) sts, k1, ssk, k1. Turn.

(My Craftsy class is restricted to X being an even number, to keep things simple. If X is odd, there is help for you in the book!)

So, even though I said it two different ways, I seem to know what I'm about in those moments.

But, a sharp-eyed knitter pointed out: in the patterns section of Sock Architecture, I seem to have led myself astray. By one stitch. It is an important, stitch, though!

(pages 51, 101 and 104, Sock Architecture)

Row 1 (RS): Sl1, k14 (15, 16, 17, 19, X/2), ssk, k1. Turn.

Should be: Row 1 (RS): Sl1, k14 (15, 16, 17, 19, X/2), k1, ssk, k1. Turn.

I am adding this to the Errata page. I am so sorry if this has caused any of you to think that you have failed at counting to 2, 5, or 17!

My Weird Little Sock Drawer

These little guys are all knit up. Seven pairs of socks that are my size, but I can't wear them, yet. I have to photograph them, first!

Paris Wallpaper, Worn

Even Boomer approves, who normally doesn't care too much about socks. Paris Wallpaper. Love.

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?)

Donna Druchunas' Sock Classes on Craftsy

Donna Druchunas, the force of nature behind the incredible Sheep to Shawl series, is also Craftsy instructor. We met up, over email, to talk about our classes. Here's the skinny on hers:

Does your class cover cuff down, toe up, or both?

DD: I have 3 sock classes on Craftsy. Knit Sock Workshop and Knit Original Toe Up Socks both cover toe-up sock knitting. Knit Original Cuff Down Socks covers, perhaps obviously, cuff down socks.

What kinds of heels and toes are covered in your course?

DD:

Knit Sock Workshop has a Bosnian Toe, a Swirl Toe, and basic afterthought heels.

Knit Original Toe Up Socks has a wedge toe, a mocassin toe, and a short-row tow. The heels are a gusset heel, an afterthought heel, and a short-row heel.

Knit Original Cuff Down Socks has a wedge toe, a round toe, and a short-row toe with choices of a Dutch heel, a French heel, and an short-row heel.

Does the course include patterns? If not, how to the students create a finished sock?

DD:

Knit Sock Workshop has patterns for a lace sock and a colorwork sock. The colorwork sock can be worked in a single color for beginners.

The Knit Original Cuff Down and Toe Up classes each have a universal pattern for students to create their own custom-fit socks as well as 3 bonus patterns.

What kind of fitting information do you include? Is it about customizing patterns or creating unique sock designs?

DD: In the Knit Original Socks classes I mostly focus on creating unique socks, but have a few tips on working with patterns to improve fit. Knit Sock Workshop is all about working from the patterns.

Paris Wallpaper

This might be the last time I make Paris Wallpaper socks, and it might not be. I'm not making promises - they're so much fun to make!

Trailer for My Craftsy Class

Just in case you're curious about exactly what's in my class, here's the class trailer (complete with map of Minnesota!).

And, no, I don't know what is the deal with my pinkies. Apparently I'm fancy like that.