Out With The Old In With The New

Old plastic needles may have been the right size, but they snapped one after another. Turns out they aren’t very good for poking – just too brittle. Also learned the hard way that you must take the needles out of your sock before you try the cuff on. Another needle bit the dust, this time in 7 pieces. Picking up the stitches was rather unpleasant. My poor sock wound up being on 1 #1, 2 #2’s and 1 #3. That would seem to be pushing my luck to get it to turn out anywhere close to gauge.


Yesterday afternoon I made a lovely new set of 5” bamboo US#1 needles. Sanding the tips to satiny smoothness took a bit longer than anticipated, but was well worth the results. Polished them with wax paper but applying a layer of beeswax may give a better finish. Two sets of US#5’s are cut and sharpened now, just waiting to be sanded and polished. Love the set of #8 straight needles I made a couple of weeks ago from chopsticks and mother-of-pearl buttons. Also cut a drinking straw into tiny rounds for stitch markers. Their lightweight nature makes them perfect for using on the DPNs. Back on track now with Sock #1 being stitched on 5 matching bamboo DPN’s. Time to start the heel at last!


Ouch! All of my Knitting Olympic DPN poking is happening on a regular if unplanned schedule. Turns out I poke myself at least once a day. No need to search elsewhere for a victim. That’s what I get for knitting in front of the computer while waiting for one of my favorite knitting podcasts to download.


Attended the Embroiderer’s Guild meeting last night. At least half a dozen others were knitting too. Next month I’m trading my new socknitting skills with a friend for her beaded knitting ideas. Time to make one of those lovely amulet bags. It’s been years since I purchased the size 0000 straight needles and strung a hank of seed beads on a ball of pearl cotton. Time to make something to match my new socks!

Ooops - looks as if Berrin doesn't think much of my knitting while we're taking a walk.

Knitting Olympic Prep

There are approximately 3,000 Knitting Olympians stitching the global community together. Thank you Stephanie for spurring us on to compete with ourselves.

Supplies are crucial to adequate preparation. Mine include Trekking XXL yarn in color #104, a luscious mix of blues, some Brittany 5" DPNs and the book Sensational Knitted Socks. I've taken my measurements and chosen my pattern, p. 37 Elongated Corded Rib. Why is this a challenge (critical for the K.O.)? It will be my first sock that is fitted to my foot, first to have a pattern continuing from the leg through the instep and foot, and will be done on 5 (rather than 4 DPNs). I also have to get my tax paperwork in order so this will be stretching it!

Worked on increasing my stamina by knitting at least 4 hours a day and going for a daily 1 mile walk on steep terrain with my neighbor Berrin, a two-year old husky. It could be that he just likes the dog biscuits I keep on hand. I like having someone else along to be on the alert for hungry black bears. Beadlizard's advice on speed knitting is also well worth checking out.

Clearing The Calendar – means finishing OTN projects. Last night it was this super soft Patons Allure scarf which is destined to be a Threads of Compassion donation. This morning I wove the tails into the Lion Homespun prayer shawl pictured above. Sometimes I don't know who a shawl is intended for while it is being knit, but within a couple of days the recipient becomes clear.

This afternoon is my "Sit & Knit" group at the LYS. I've really come to look forward to this and only wish it were more often than every other week.

Happy knitting and good luck Olympians - athletes and knitters alike. Go Team DPN!!

A Turn of the Heel

Hurray! My first pair of socks with a turned heel are done. They were done in the Plymouth Yarns Corrugated Rib pattern with Sockotta yarn. There’s nothing like your first – of anything. So here are a few tips gleaned by a novice sock maker using DPNs.

1. Check your gauge before starting. I know, every pattern tells you to do this, but you’re thinking (whine, whine, whine) it’s my first sock…. Do it anyway.
2. If the yarn is space-dyed, note where the color change occurs when starting the first sock. Take notes. Otherwise you’ll have lovely fraternal twins like mine.
3. Use training wheels. You know, those clunky point protectors. Once you become comfortable you’ll set them aside without even noticing it, until then they are your friends – go ahead give them names.
4. Ladders are part of the package. If you’re going to rip out your sock every time one starts to develop, just pack it in now. Amazingly fewer will occur the more often you knit as your tension gradually improves. In the meantime use stitch markers and shift a few stitches from needle to needle to share the ladder wealth. If you don’t let any one ladder become too wide or too long no one but you will notice. To prevent the ladders, knit the first stitch on a needle. When wrapping the yarn for the second stitch give a little tug. This will help to tighten things up.
5. Take notes while stitching. I wind up deviating from any pattern, at least a little bit, and if you want the second sock to have any chance of looking like the first keep those notes.
6. When you finish the first sock cast on the next one immediately. A UFO is more likely to be finished than an idea.
7. Sock yarns will now acquire the call of the siren. Listen to them. Buy them. Knit more socks. Same goes for needles. ;-)


Happy Knitting, Patti

It All Comes Down To Socks

Until last December I did a variety of crafts. Mostly quilting with lots of surface embroidery. Lots of quilting and teaching of quilting. And then I decided to knit a few Christmas gifts. A couple of sets of bamboo needles and some chunky/fuzzy yarns and I'm good to go. Fuzzy scarves and super soft shawls for everyone.

Because of my new found interest my darling gave me a couple of large skeins of alpaca yarn so that I could knit my own hiking socks. First I had to learn how to knit socks, which is an art in itself. Diving right into the alpaca seemed a bit risky, so a few shopping sprees later I'm armed with needles, multi-colored sock yarns, books on yarns, and more links to great websites than my favorites list knows what to do with. I've joined socknitting forums and the Knitting Olympics on Team DPN. Total immersion, there's nothing like it to really understand something. I've spent most of January knitting socks, or learning about them. This included taking a beginnners sock knitting class at the LYS Jill Deal Inc.

First off the needles: Spiral Rib Tube Socks, from the book Socks, in Galway Colorneps. Note the baggy ankles! These will make great house socks, or I'll wear them with snow boots, but they'll never fit into my hiking boots. My next pair with a turned heel will be finished tomorrow. More to come then!