Bamboo Blue Pretty! August 28, 2008

I’ve been neck deep in a secret project for the last few days.  I mentioned a while ago that I was trying to design something manly for Knitty’s winter issue?  Well, that project fell over, hit its head, and suffered a major stroke.  But then Lowell and I (mostly Lowell) came up with another idea and since then, it’s been a whirl of yarn shopping, knitting, frogging, knitting, fitting, and weaving in ends.  Hopefully the sun will come out long enough in the next two days that I’ll actually be able to take pictures of the project before the deadline hits.  Man, wouldn’t that be annoying; I get the whole project done and written up… and then can’t photograph them.  Well, here’s hoping for some sun tomorrow.

 

On my quest to find the perfect yarn, though, I’ve run across a wonderful yarn seller!  Argosy Luxury Fibers. I ordered 2 skeins of secret yarn (Hanna Sport, Blue Mills) and 2 skeins of Solace, Starry Night.  *drool*  This yarn is so soft that I just want to cuddle with it all the time.  I had this horrible vision of a delicately cabled blanket made out of this stuff- you know, the kind of project that would be so stunning (and so stunningly expensive) that the very act of making it would make the rest of life meaningless.  I quickly shoved that vision into a back closet in my brain and stacked several mental crates in front of it in hopes that it won’t come back out to haunt my dreams.

 

Hanna Sport, Blue Mills	Solace, Starry Night

 

Her pictures are much better than mine (click on her thumbnails for a gorgeous close up of the yarns.)  I waited all day to take these pictures in the sun, but as previously stated, the sun did not appear.  The colors are pretty accurate, but you miss the beautiful shine.

 

So, anyway, I ordered these yarns.  And as soon as the box arrived, I tore it open to discover my 4 beautiful skeins… and 2 extra skeins. My first thought was, “Wait, did I order yarn and totally forget about it?” Then I saw the note from the owner.  Melissa included the yarn for free!  I literally squealed aloud with delight.  (Gave the cats a good fright, it did.)

 

I was so excited that I even called Lowell at work and babbled something like, “Oh my god, free, bamboo, blue, pretty!” and then hung up.  The yarn she sent is Bonsai Bamboo in Teal. I am already head over heels in love with Hanna Sport, which I used for the secret project.  I’ve got about a skein and a third left, too, which I’m crazy excited about.  It’s so soft and silky and lightweight, you just have to feel it to believe it.  I think the Solace is next on the project block, but I think a pair of gloves made out of the Bonsai is soon in my future.  Let me tell you, the combination of great yarn with such a nice gift… Let’s just say, I’m putting in another order in a few days for some Christmas knitting supplies.  I’m not sure if the stars have aligned to shine a bright and inspiring light into my life in the form of silk blend yarns… or if this is some sort of conspiracy by my credit card company to get me to run up mountains of debt.

 

Honestly, I’m not sure I care which one it is.

Vikkel Braid August 23, 2008

This was supposed to be up much sooner this week, but we’ve had some Internet problems and been pretty busy.  Anyway.  Enough about me, on to the braid!

Edit 8/20/08: I can’t believe I didn’t actually link this back to the project it’s used in!  The vikkel braid is used in the Arthurian Anklets.  And probably other projects in the future.

I first learned about the vikkel braid in Nancy Bush’s Folk Knitting in Estonia.  This is a great book if you’re interested in historical/traditional knitting.  She has instructions for 3 different braids in the book; all make the stitches look like they’ve tipped over onto their sides, but all made very differently.  According to the book, vikkel is the word for stitches that cross over each other, which is just how this braid is worked.  This braid looks so nice on socks and mittens and it’s sure to bring questions of “How did you do that?!”  As you’ll see, it’s pretty easy to get such adulation.

 

Step 1: Increase 1 stitch using an M1 increase. 

Step 2: Place the stitch just made back onto the left needle. 

Step 3: Bring the right needle behind the left needle, knit the second stitch on the left needle through the back loop,

then knit the first stitch on the left needle through the front as normal. (Getting the right needle around the left needle tip smoothly takes a little practice, but you’ll get the hang of it.)  Drop both the first and second stitch off the left needle.

Repeat Steps 2-3 until the end of the round, rearranging stitches as needed.  Give the working yarn a good pull right before slipping the stitches off the needle to keep the tension right.

At the end of the round, slip the last stitch over the first stitch of the round to get back to the original stitch count.

 

See, I told you it was pretty easy.  Now, go forth and vikkel!

Arthurian Anklets August 16, 2008

I love these socks. They gave me so much trouble while I was making them, but I forgive them because they’re awesome. After a washing, the Louet Gems has gotten so soft. Lowell looked at the socks at one point and said “Those are pretty. They remind me of those dresses, like in King Arthur or Robin Hood.” So he gets all credit for the name. (If you don’t like the name, it’s his fault! Can’t blame me.) I love the French blue/copper combo; I’ll have to use that again sometime.

 

These are made using the principles in Cat Bordhi’s book, New Pathways for Sock Knitters. For those that haven’t found this great book, Cat realized that as long as you increase 2 stitches every 3 rows, it doesn’t matter where those increases are. I’ve put the increases so that they look like the typical top-down heel flap gusset, but the socks are knit toe up with no heel flap. Crazy, huh? The socks end up with a slightly longer gusset section, but it fits really well. If you’ve got New Pathways, feel free to insert your own Master Numbers into the pattern.

 

The only problem with this approach is that it makes the pattern much harder to write up (I guess that’s really my problem, not yours). This liberated increase thing is great, but if you’ve never read New Pathways it can be confusing. The increases used are lifted increases, instead of the normal M1s. You can, of course, use M1s if you prefer. Knotions has a great tutorial on lifted increases if you’ve never used them before. The part that really deviates from normal is the heel turn/”flap.” You’ll be knitting short rows for the bottom of the heel, but instead of working each row gobbling up one wrapped stitch to turn the heel, all the wrapped right-side stitches are worked right after one another in one row, then you turn and purl all the wrong-side wraps on one row. This ends up looking a lot like a standard top-down heel turn. Then, you’ll essentially be knitting more short rows, in that you won’t be knitting in the round yet. The “heel flap” is knit back and forth, but instead of wrapping stitches, you’ll ssk and p2tog to join the “flap” to the sides. This also gets rid of all the stitches increased during the gusset section. There’s some moving around of stitches, but it’s not too bad.

 

This pattern is written for 2 circular needles. If you prefer DPNs, just split Needle 1 and 2 in half, so that you have a quarter of the stitches on each needle. Sometimes (this is so silly) I think of my DPNs as Needle 1a, 1b, and Needle 2a, 2b instead of 1, 2, 3, and 4. I can’t help you if you’re one of those freaks that only uses 3 DPNs to hold the stitches. The pattern uses 5 colors, but the light blue in the center of the leg color work is optional. If you’ve got stash to bust, great. If not, the Ginger or the French Blue look great in that spot, or just keep using Caribou. Fewer ends to weave in that way! The top is one of my favorite parts, I think it looks like a crown; after the color work, a vikkel braid (from Folk Knitting in Estonia) is worked and then the sock is bound off using Elizabeth Zimmerman’s Sewn Bind Off. The edge flares out from the leg just slightly, which I wasn’t sure about at first, but has really grown on me.

 

Oh, and you’re not imagining things, the two socks in the pictures are slightly different… I tried putting some 1×1 ribbing on one to see how it changed the fit, but I didn’t feel like ripping it back out again when I realized it did nothing. Live and learn.

 

Edit 8/25/08: I’m sorry if the charts weren’t loading. I’m trying out some new blog writer software and I’ve had a lot of trouble with this post… anyway, I think I fixed the images.

Edit 9/13/08: If you’d like more information about the sock construction without the color work or stripes, check out this post.  Also includes information on sizing the socks.

 

Arthurian Anklets

Download the PDF: Arthurian Anklets

• Finished Size: Women’s Size 8 1/2-9, foot length 9 1/2″
• Needles: 2 size 0 (2mm) circulars (or DPNs), 2 size 2 (2.75mm) circulars (or DPNs)
• Yarn: Louet Gems Pearl, MC: French Blue (1 skein), CC1: Ginger (1 skein), CC2: Champagne (1 skein), CC3: Caribou (1 skein), CC4 (optional): Neptune (1 skein)
• Yardage: MC: 170 yards, CC1: 25 yards, CC2: 30 yards, CC3: 25 yards, CC4 (optional) 3 yards
• Extras: Stitch markers (at least 2), tapestry needle
• Gauge: 9 sts x 12 rows = 1″ in stockinette, 9.5 sts x 11 rows = 1″ in Leg Chart

Special Stitches

LRinc (Lifted Right Increase): Pick up the right side of the stitch below the next stitch on the left needle and place it on the left needle. Knit into the front of this new loop. Knit the next st as normal. Picture tutorial here.

LLinc (Lifted Left Increase): Pick up the left side of the second stitch below the last stitch on the right needle and place it on the left needle. Knit in to the back of this new loop. Knit the next st as normal. Picture tutorial here.

W&T (Wrap and Turn): RS: Bring yarn forward between needles. Slip the next stitch knitwise. Return yarn to back of work. Slip wrapped stitch back to left needle. Turn work. WS: Move yarn between needles to the back of the work. Slip the next stitch. Return yarn to front of work. Slip wrapped stitch back to left needle. Turn work.

CW (Conceal Wrap): RS: From the front, pick up wrap from underneath and move it up and over the stitch it wrapped onto the left needle (the wrap should be on the left of the stitch it wrapped). Knit stitch and wrap together through the back loops. WS: From the front, pick up wrap from underneath and move it up and over the stitch it wrapped onto the left needle (the wrap should be on the left of the stitch it wrapped). Purl stitch and wrap together.  See Cat Bordhi explain this technique here.

Vikkel Braid: M1 and place stitch just made on left needle. *Knit the second stitch on the left needle through the back loop then knit the first stitch as normal and drop both stitches off the left needle. Return the stitch just made to the left needle.* Repeat from * to * to the end of the round. Pass the last stitch over the first stitch of the round to return to the original stitch count. Picture tutorial here.

Tip: Try joining new colors 10-15 sts before they’re needed and carrying the tails forward 10-15 sts after they’re cut to reduce the ends you need to weave in. If that didn’t make any sense, check out the Weaving Ends In As You Knit Tutorial. If you’re doing color work, you probably have all the skills needed for this- it’s the same thing as catching a yarn to shorten a float, you just do it every stitch.

Toe

Using Judy’s Magic Cast On and smaller needles, CO 12 sts in MC (French Blue) to each circular needle. 24 sts.

The starting needle is Needle 1 which will be the instep needle. The second needle is Needle 2 which will be the sole needle.

Rnd 1: Knit

Rnd 2: K1, LRinc, knit to last st on Needle 1, LLinc, K2, LRinc, knit to last st on Needle 2, LLinc, k1. 4 sts increased.

Repeat Rnd 1 and 2 until there are 72 sts total (36 sts on each needle) ending on a Rnd 2.

Foot

Knit 4 rounds in MC (French Blue).

Foot Chart

Knit 2 rounds in CC1 (Ginger).

Knit 1 round in CC2 (Champagne).

Change to Size 2 needles.

Work Foot Chart across all stitches (repeat chart 9 times.)

Change to Size 0 needles.

Knit 1 round in CC2 (Champagne).

Knit 2 rounds in CC1 (Ginger).

Knit 3 rounds in MC (French Blue).

Gusset Increases

Round 1: LRinc, place marker (PM), knit to the end of the needle, PM, LLinc, knit to the end of the round. 2 sts increased.

Round 2 and 3: Knit.

Round 4: Knit to marker, LRinc, slip marker (SM), knit to second marker, SM, LLinc, knit to the end of the round. 2 sts increased.

Repeat Rnds 2-4, until 10 sts have been increased (13 rows), ending after Rnd 4.

Join CC1 (Ginger) and work Rnds 2-3. Carry MC (French Blue) upwards by twisting the yarns at the beginning of the round.

Work Rnds 4 and 2-3 in MC (French Blue). Carry CC1 (Ginger) upwards by twisting the yarns at the beginning of the round.

Work Rnds 4 and 2 in CC1 (Ginger). Cut CC1 (Ginger).

Continue working Rnds 2-4 in MC (French Blue), starting with Rnd 3 until there are 100 sts total, ending after Rnd 4.

Heel

Set up: *K2, LRinc* 6 times, k2, knit to second marker, *k2, LLinc* 6 times, k2, knit to 2 sts before the end of the round, w&t. 12 sts increased.

There should be 76 sts on Needle 1 and 36 sts on Needle 2.

Short Rows for Heel

The short rows are worked back and forth on the sole needle (Needle 2).

Row 1 (WS): Purl to 2 sts before the end of Needle 2, w&t.

Row 2 (RS): Knit to 1 st before last RS wrap, w&t.

Row 3 (WS): Purl to 1 st before last WS wrap, w&t.

Repeat Rows 2-3 until 12 sts have been wrapped on each side, ending after a WS row. 10 sts remain unwrapped in the center.

Turn Heel

Row 1: Knit to first wrapped st. Conceal Wrap (CW) 11 times, until last wrapped st. Pick up the last wrap as normal, then (treating wrap and its stitch as one st) ssk with the last st on the left needle.

Row 2: Sl 1, purl to the first wrapped stitch. CW 11 times, until last wrapped st. Pick up the last wrap as normal, then (treating wrap and its stitch as one st) p2tog with the last st on the left needle.

Heel Back

Set up step: Move the 20 sts before the first marker from Needle 1 to the left side of Needle 2. Remove marker and replace marker between the sole sts and the moved sts. 55 sts on Needle 2.

Row 1: *Sl 1, k1* to 1 st before the marker, remove marker, ssk, turn. 1 st decreased.

Set up step: Move the 20 sts after the second marker from Needle 1 to Needle 2. Remove marker and replace marker between the sole sts and the moved sts. 74 sts on Needle 2.

Row 2: Sl 1, purl to 1 st before the marker, remove marker, p2tog, turn. 1 st decreased.

Row 3: *Sl 1, k1* to 1 st before the gap, ssk, turn. 1 st decreased.

Row 4: Sl 1, purl to 1 st before the gap, p2tog, turn. 1 st decreased.

Repeat Row 3-4 until 2 sts remain on either side of the gaps.

Leg

Knitting in the round resumes on the first round.

Round 1: *Sl 1, k1* to 1 st before the gap, ssk, k1, knit to the end of Needle 1, k1, k2tog, knit to the end of the sole. 2 sts decreased.

Knit 4 rounds even.

Knit 1 round in CC1 (Ginger). Cut MC (French Blue).

Leg Chart

Purl 1 round.

Knit 2 rounds in CC2 (Champagne).

Change to Size 2 needles.

Work Leg Chart across all stitches. (Click Chart to see bigger version.)

Change to Size 0 needles.

Knit 2 rounds in CC2 (Champagne).

Knit 1 round in CC1 (Ginger).

Work Vikkel Braid over all sts.

Bind off using EZ’s Sewn Bind Off.

Please Note: I post my patterns as soon as I’ve completed them because I’m excited to share them with you. They have not been fully tested. But they are free. I’ve made every effort to make sure that the instructions are clear and error-free. There may be typos or pattern mistakes and if you find them or have any questions, please let me know by posting a comment or emailing me, dailyskein at gmail.com.

 

This work by Cailyn Meyer is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

Is Moronical a Word? August 16, 2008

Hello, this is Cailyn’s Common Sense.  She’s completely taken leave of me, so I decided to hijack her blog.  The public must be informed about her lapses in judgment!  She is unfit to lead!  Unite and revolt from under her tyranny, I say!

Listen to what she did the other day.  She finally finished that pair of socks that she’s been working on, you know the ones.  The ones that have been giving her no end of trouble since she finished the heel of the first one.  She finished them and wanted to take pictures of them, clearly.  I told her to go upstairs and use her pretty little light box and sock blockers to take the pictures.  No, she said, she wanted to take the pictures outside, the light was better.  OK, I said, go into the backyard and use that spot from the Danube socks, that worked out pretty well.  But did she listen to me?  Of course not! That fool wanted to take the pictures near some water.

At this point, as you can imagine, I was pretty fed up. I mean, here were some perfectly good options and she just shot them down!  But, I’m a professional and I don’t get paid to give up on a stubborn client.  I listened as she outlined her plan.  She was going to a park up the street, which has a pretty cedar bridge and a stream.  (Of course, I said, the stream will probably be dry, since it’s been 85 degrees lately.)  No matter, she said.  It’ll be pretty anyway.  She decided that walking was better than driving, saves gas, burns calories, etc.  Again, I pointed out the temperature.  She ignores me.  She has to bring the tripod, because no one else is stupid enough to join her on this mission.  It won’t fit in her CamelBak, so she grabs the nearest thing- a messenger bag.  Doesn’t have time to look for a backpack, since it’s already 2:30, she said.

Well, at least take some water, I urged her.  She put a water bottle, the camera, the tripod, and the socks (which had almost been forgotten in the messenger bag switch) into the not-quite-big-enough bag.  And this bag was heavy! She stepped outside and I almost convinced her to turn around.  It was pretty hot and she was going to be walking on an asphalt path next to a big road with no shade…  She put in her headphones and turned on a Lime and Violet podcast and I knew I was lost.  I decided to just stay home.  Let her go have her crazy photo shoot on her own.

I hear she didn’t even make it to the stream she was heading for.  She decided to take the pictures at this underpass on the trail, sitting on a half-rotten log and getting crawled on by big ants (she hates ants).  She told me that the rocks were really neat-looking.  I told her that if she had gone outside to take the pictures because the light was better, then taking the pictures in a dark underpass kind of defeated the purpose.  She didn’t really have anything to say to that.  She even looked a little sheepish!

Really, the woman should not be allowed to take pictures by herself.  It’s just unhealthy.  Although, she did take this nice one at the end of the street.

She said to tell you that the pattern for the socks should be up early next week.  And to stop typing and give her her darn blog back.  I don’t know though, I think I’m a better writer than she is.  Ha, she’s threatening to sic Sense of Humor on me.  We’ll see about that…

Ties that Bind 2 August 13, 2008

The Knitting Gods were not appeased. But that’s ok. See what I care. I’ll finish those socks even if they send a dragon to stop me! (Please don’t send a dragon!)

I think I’ve opened a dangerous door with that cast off experiment the other day. There are so many, many different ways to cast off… I wish I had time to test them all! While I’m sure that EZ’s Sewn Bind Off will forever remain the stretchiest cast off, sometimes it’s just not right for the piece you’re working on. Or the actual sewing drives you nuts. Or, like me, you keep loosing your tapestry needle. Thus, I present to you

A Study In Stretching, Continued

Same deal as before, all swatches knit with Knit Picks Memories (discontinued) on Size 2 needles. They’re 20 sts wide and 11 rows tall, cast on using the long tail method. I pinned the swatches down unstretched and measured the width. Then I stretched the swatches as far as they’d go, pinned them down again, and remeasured. This article in Knitty has detailed tutorials for two of these cast offs; I might make a tutorial for the third.

Suspended Cast Off

This is one of the cast offs from Knitty. I really liked knitting this one- it has a nice rhythm to it. It’s done by knitting 2 stitches, passing the first over the second, but don’t drop it off the left needle. Then knit the next stitch, going around the slipped stitch. Drop both stitches off the needle and repeat. It looks really pretty, just like a regular cast off.

Suspended Cast Off, Stretched

And it’s fairly stretchy. I think this one has potential as a sock cast off, especially if done in with the next size up needle. Further research will be required on this specimen.

Crochet Cast Off

As you can see, this yields a cast off edge identical to the suspended cast off. (So identical, in fact, that I almost mixed them up… multiple times.) This one requires a crochet hook in a similar size to your knitting needles. Which can be a problem if you either don’t have a lot of crochet hooks or if you can’t ever find them. The crochet cast off is essentially the same as a normal cast off, but using the crochet hook instead of the right needle and drawing the new stitch through the old one instead of passing it over.

Crochet Cast Off, Stretched

Good, but not great. A little stretchier than a regular cast off, but not as stretchy as the suspended or sewn. I think the annoyance of having to find a hook in the right size puts this cast off far down on my list.

Zig Zag Cast Off

This is a very intriguing cast off. I read about it on Weebleknits and it originally came from Ask Athena from Knitter’s, I think. That site has a lot of cast offs that will need to be tried… someday, lol. This is worked with a combo of slipping stitches, k2togs, p2togs, and passing the slipped stitches over. This creates an interesting zig-zag look to the cast off edge which I think will look better on some 2×2 ribbing instead of stockinette.

Zig Zag Cast Off, Stretched

Oh boy, does that stretch! Not as much as EZ’s Sewn Cast Off, but really, that’s like comparing any other swimmer to Michael Phelps. EZ and Phelps are just in a different league. This cast off has the clear advantage of being worked right on the needles, no sewing required. I think this could work out really well for socks or mittens, especially if you want a unique edge. I’ll be making a tutorial soon, because this one might be hard to understand from the written descriptions.

There are so many more cast offs to try… tubular, double knitting, increasing stitches… I can only do a few at a time before I start to hate making those swatches, so this might have to be a recurring topic to cover more of them. We’ll call it… Casting Off with Cailyn or Bind Off to Success! or The Evening Stretchfest. Something like that.