We have decided to run away to the country for a few days, so I will delay the draw for the yarn until we get back.
It will now be on Sunday afternoon or evening NZ time.
And in the meantime you can imagine us pottering around central Taranaki, taking walks in the middle of nowhere and freezing with a great view of snow covered mountains.
Yes, there will be pics when I return.
Some forum friends and I had organised another yarn swap some months ago, and it was finally time to send it last week. I managed to get one off in time and one was a little late being sent – naughty me! But since have both been received I can post about them here.
The idea of the swap was to hand dye some yarn and to gather together a gift, pattern and paperwork all in a theme of our choosing. We were given some hints about their favourite colours, movies, songs, books and so on, but we had totally free reign in terms of developing our themes.
My first swappee has been knitting a lot of shawls recently. The hints I got suggested that some gold yarn would go down a treat. Gold? Well, that was easier said than done, but after a bit of experimentation I managed to come up with this colourway:
I dyed up 150g of 4 ply Patyonyle firstly with yellow and orange food colouring, and then kettle dyed in brown acid dyes to produce a semi-solid gold yarn.
I chose the theme ‘Pot of Gold’ and filled up a wee hand knit bag with gold gifts for her to enjoy.
The second swap was for another sock-mad knitter. I dyed up some more Patonyle yarn, in a luscious semi-solid wine colourway. The theme was ‘After Hours’ – like me, the recipient is a SAHM, and I knew that she understand that wonderful feeling you get once the kids are in bed and you are ‘off duty’. I included all sorts of things to pamper herself with as gifts, and chose a cute sock pattern for her.
Once these were off in the post, I was able to start thinking about the fact it was a *swap*. Sometimes you get so caught up in the excitement of dyeing, making, buying, wrapping and writing up your theme that the fact you are getting something in return almost gets forgotten. But, sure enough, I got first one parcel and then another.
First to arrive was this lovely package:
The theme is “Earl Grey” and the pattern is for Earl Grey socks – it looks like a beautifully simple but effective sock pattern for DH. I had asked for one suitable for him – but the gifts are clearly for me . They are all things for a relaxing afternoon tea – Earl Grey (of course), shortbread and yummy choc, as well as a magazine. There are also two gorgeous markers.
The yarn is Patyonle, and dyed with food colouring. They are lovely colours, which I think will knit up really nicely. DH is on holiday for the next two weeks and we have been enjoying drinking endless cups of delicious Earl Grey together.
And my second parcel was also gorgeous, and more sock yarn too. My friends clearly know me all too well 🙂 The theme of this second parcel was lavender. When I opened it it smelled good! The gifts of lavender scented soap and other goodies made it smell devine. They are from the Aromatherapy Company, and I can’t wait to try them. The yarn is a gorgeous skein of Patonyle in various purples dyed with Procion. I also got given a pattern for Lavender and Lace socks, which is very cute. So, onto my to-do list that goes!
As you can see, despite my yarn -buying ban, I’m not suffering too badly from lack of yarn.
I’ve been rather busy the last couple of days – excuse the blog break! But it suddenly dawned on me that my father’s birthday was sneaking up on me and I hadn’t organised a present for him. When I got thinking, I realised it would be nice to knit him some socks. And, given the time frame I wanted to use some of my DK weight sock yarn. A quick survey on Ravelry revealled nothing I was keen to knit, so I thought on it overnight and came up with this sock pattern. I hope he likes it.
Knit from the toe up, this is a super-stretchy 56 stitch pattern – perfect for gift knitting if you don’t know much about the shape of your recipient’s feet. The twisted rib panel flows into a gorgeous twisted rib cable that continues right to the cast off. Although cables aren’t especially masculine, these will usually be hidden by trousers, and I could not resist adding them in: the name of the cable is “Seven Sisters” from the Vogue Knitting Stitchionary 2 (p25) which I adapted for use in the round. And my father has seven sisters (and three brothers). I have called the sock pattern “Jimmy” which is the nickname given to Dad by his sisters.
I am going to load the pattern onto Ravelry and post it below. But, here’s your chance to win another of the colourways I used for my Jimmys… and then you can knit your own. Knit in Fyberspates DK Space Dyed sock yarn, I bought 5 colourways. You an choose from one of three though, I just can’t part with the green hank! Simply add your comment at the bottom of the post to go in the draw. If you’d like more entries, grab another by mentioning the competition in your blog and leave me a message to let me know you’ve done this. Two lucky winners will get the chance to pick their favourite colourway. I am happy to post international, and will also include some extra goodies for my two winners. I will close the competition on Friday evening NZ time and contact the winners to let them know.
From left: Fiesta, Reds and Plums, Pinks and Purples. This yarn is 100% Blue Faced Leicester, hand wash, and has 300m in a 100 gram hank (handily split in two for even winding).
So, without further ado, or to-do, here’s the pattern. Please let me know if you knit it and spot an error: I’ve only tested it on the second sock so far.
Jimmy
Toe up sock for DK weight yarn, sample knitted in Fyberspates DK sock yarn. Instructions are for magic loop but the pattern can easily be adapted for knitting with two circulars of on 5 DPNs. It uses a short row heel. I used 3mm needles to get a gauge of 6.5 stitches and 10 rows to one inch. The yarn I used provides 300m per 100g and I used 80 grams in total.
Abbreviations:
Kfb: knit one front and back: knit into the front and then the back of the stitch, increasing by one stitch.
K1tbl: knit into the back of the stitch by inserting the needle into the back loop rather than the front one. This twists the stitch as you knit it.
Cast on 6 stitches using Turkish cast on and knit 1 round even then:
Round 2: Kfb, k1, kfb on each needle (10 sts)
Round 3: Knit 1 round
Round 4: KFB all around (20 sts)
Round 5: Knit 1 row even
Round 6: (Kfb, knit to last stitch on needle, kfb) repeat to end of round
Row 7: knit 1 round even
Repeat rounds 6 and 7 until there are 28 stitches on each needle, 56 stitches in total.
Needle 1 becomes the top of the foot, needle 2 is the instep stitches.
Begin to work the twisted rib pattern:
Needle 1: knit 8, (k1tbl, p1) 6 times, k1tbl, knit7, Needle 2, knit.
Continue to knit in this pattern until the length of the sock is approximately 6.5cm from desired foot length and then work short row heel as follows:
Knit the stitches from needle one in established pattern.
Row 1: Knit across 27 stitches on needle 2, move the working yarn as if to purl, slip the final unworked stitch from the left needle onto the right needle. Turn.
Row 2: Slip the first stitch (unworked stitch) from the left needle onto the right needle. Purl the next (wrapped) stitch, then purl across to the last stitch. Move the working yarn as if to knit and slip the last stitch. Turn
Row 3: Slip the first stitch and knit across to the last stitch before the unworked stitch. Wrap and turn.
Row 4: Slip the first stitch and purl across to the stitch before the unworked stitch. Wrap and turn.
Repeat rows 3 and 4 a total of 8 times which leaves 12 stitches unwrapped in the middle.
To work the second part of the heel:
Row 1: Knit across the 12 live stitches to the first wrapped stitch. Pick up the wrap and knit it together with the stitch. Wrap the next stitch – so that it has two wraps – and turn.
Row 2: Slip the first stitch (which is double wrapped), and purl across to the first wrapped stitch. Pick up the wrap and work it together with the stitch. Wrap the next stitch and turn.
Row 3: Slip the first stitch, Knit across to first double wrapped stitch, pick up and knit both wraps with the stitch, wrap the next stitch, turn.
Row 4: Slip the first stitch, Purl across to the first double wrapped stitch, pick up and purl both wraps with the stitch. Wrap the next stitch, turn.
Repeat until all the wrapped stitches have been worked. You will have 28 stitches on needle 2.
Begin to work in the round again, continuing in the established pattern for needle 1 and knitting across needle 2.
Work 3 inches in pattern, then work cable round.
Cable round: Knit the first 8 stitches on needle one, and then slip the next 6 stitches onto a cable needle. Hold to the back, and then (k1tbl, p1) 3 times. K1tbl. Taking care not to twist the stitches, work the stitches from the cable needle as follows: (p1,k1tbl) 3 times. Knit to end of round.
Work 12 rows in established twisted rib pattern and then repeat the cable round. Repeat this until you have crossed 4 cables, then work 3 rows in twisted rib pattern. Set up for rib by reducing one stitch from needle 2 in the final round.
Rib: beginning with needle 1, (k2, p2) 4x, work twisted rib pattern across next 13 stitches (k1tbl, 1p)6times k1tbl, then p2, (k2, P2) to end of round. Repeat this round until ribbing is desired length (approx 2 inches).
Cast off using a stretchy cast off. I use the sewn cast off: Cut yarn to about 45cm, and thread the end into a needle. Beginning with needle one, insert the needle into the first two stitches as if to purl, pull through, leaving both stitches on the needle. Pull needle through first stitch on the needle as if to knit. Cast off this stitch. Repeat this, pulling through two purlwise, one knitwise and casing off one until all stitches have been worked. Pull yarn through the final stitch, and sew in the end.
Wear and enjoy!
The first hurdle is over – I promised myself no more yarn until I finish the winter sock club. Oh, and knit the final pair from the summer sock club too… So, one pair down, three to go! Although I did get a yarn swap parcel in the mail yesterday I must show you once it’s photographed…
This is Mandorla:
These socks are a clever design that have increases and descreases on the front of the foot instead of on the side (or bottom) for a gusset. The result is an intriguing almond shape on the front of the foot. The other main feature of the pattern are ribbed panels that are shaped and change through the toe and gusset increases and decreases. Some really interesting design ideas.
As usual, the pattern was meticulously presented an easy to follow with charted and written instructions. It assured us that the odd techniques would produced a sock shaped sock after blocking and it did.
As usual, the Vintage Purls colourway dyed especially for the sock club is delightful. And not just because I like purple. But, given that the socks are intended to be unisex patterns and colourways, as well as to reflect the season, I think it is a clever and interesting colourway. The funny thing is, I seem to struggle to make toe up socks the right length, so DH has tried these socks on and they fit – they might eventually find their way to his sock drawer. Especially if I keep getting side tracked instead of knitting socks for him!
Good bits? Innovation, colour, simple pattern. I like the clean lines the gusset free socks have around the bottom of the foot and the heel.
However I am not so happy with the nasty pull-y line I have managed to create right through the feature panel at the front.
You can see it especially in the top sock in the picture above. I thought that blocking might solve it, but alas, it has not. This has occured where you have to purl two together (twice) as the decrease, it only happened in the decrease section, and is probably the result of bad technique.Hmph. Ah well, if they end up as man socks, I don’t think it will bother DH at all.
Shortly Stitches 