Our Sock KAL site - come join us!

We're doing it. Knit-A-Long with us and the "Need A Sock?" book .



Your two KAL guides will be Deb Gemmell and Brenda Harris.






Friday, June 24, 2011

Thanks to everyone who participated in the Need A Sock KAL. I'm going to close it off now since we seem to have run the course with our socks. I hope your sock knitting continues to provide warm feet to you and your loved ones.
Deb

Monday, June 20, 2011

I'm back knitting socks!! It's so relaxing. This summer I'll be knitting adult sweaters so having a small project on the go all the time will be a refreshing change.
This is my second waffle sock in sock yarn from Shelridge Farm. It's a beautiful chestnut brown and I love the waffle stitch so it's a joy to knit even if it is a big sock (men's size 11 shoe). I've started the heel which means I'm about half way done already. yay.
-Deb

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Have you checked out the Spring issue of Knitty.com? Out of 18 designs, 4 are for socks. So socks are a big spring/summer project. They are small and easy to carry around. They could get you started on your gift knitting, Christmas is still going to come around before you expect it, again. They might be more colourful if knit in the summer. I know in one of Elizabeth Zimmermann's books she says that it's best to knit mittens in May. There is no hurry for them so you can take your time and make them as fancy as you like. I like that, knit Fancy socks in summer.

Are you knitting socks this summer?
-Deb

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Darn It

Darning is fun. Hmm maybe not. I was handed a damaged sock where half of the cast on at the top of the ribbing of my husbands sock was totally unraveled. It seems that this is the spot that goes first on his socks.
He has size 11 feet and very narrow feet. So I knit his socks with a 9" circumference. But I guess getting that cast on over his heel is the problem. These socks were knit from the top up but the lesson learned here is that next time I will cast on (or cast off as the case may be) for the 10" circumference.
I picked up the open stitches with the tiniest needles I have and then cast off again with the right sized needle adding in some increases as I went. I just have the ends to sew in and I'm done. I expect the matching sock to be coming to my knitting repair shop soon.
-Deb

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

De-feeted

Am I the only one to be aggressively repelled by a ball of sock yarn? I have tried to knit a sock ( not even assuming that I could manage two) with sock yarn that my mother brought back from Nova Scotia about three years ago. It is very pretty with repeats of greens and blues. It came with a pattern that I lost. I have tried three times to knit CF cabled socks- it rebuffs me. Could it be suffering from anxiety because it is separated from its original pattern? Could it be missing Nova Scotia? I feel ( deep down) that it is a personal thing between the two of us. I have been found wanting. I have unravelled the little bit that it did let me knit and I am giving it , and its history to a sock knitting friend.
I have other yarn that likes me. Time is too fleeting to engage in hand to hand combat with a ball of twisted fibre!

Monday, March 14, 2011

Second Sock Syndrome

Normally I don't suffer from the dreaded SSS disease.  But after knitting lots and lots of socks this past summer, I took a sock break.  Which turned into a bad case of SSS.

The socks I knit last summer for the Need A Sock? book were all ones-ies.  All needing mates  to make them serviceable.  Finally my sock mojo has returned and pair number one is complete.
 
This is a 60 stitch sock,  knit on 2.25 mm needles using the Chevron Lace  pattern found on page 39, under Variation On Fancy Socks.  Because Chevron Lace is a six-stitch pattern, I wanted a six-stitch ribbing which would flow nicely into the lace pattern and chose  example number two of the three given in the book.  That is P1, K4, P1    

A 60 stitch sock on 2.25mm needles is proof positive that lace expands.   Normally, with only 60 stitches, I would use a larger needle.  Most often  2.75mm.  Conversely, if knitting on the 2.25 mm needles, the socks would have 64 or  even 68 stitches.  But due to lace's holey, stretchy nature, I have a sock that fits me with only 60 stitches and a 2.25 needle. 

For this sock, I used a straight stockinet Heel Flap bordered with three garter stitches on each side. 
 
And for a change from my normal Round Heel, I used a 'V' Heel.  It fits my narrow heels well, but wide-footed wearers might find it too restrictive.  

Conversely - or perversely - for me, these lace patterns which would seem to be a more time-consuming knit, actually knit up more quickly than plain old stockinet.  It happens like that because of the grouping of rows.  Four rows to a repeat and I don't allow myself to  stop knitting until a repeat is finished.  When ready to abandon knitting for those mandatory tasks like dinner prep or laundry, one more row becomes one more repeat.  Four rows.  And the sock is done faster than you might imagine.

This is a pretty sock.  The lace combined with the bright cheerful colours make a great addition to 
my winter sock drawer.

 

Saturday, March 12, 2011

One sock DONE. Yay. It's a dark colour but beautiful in it's colour variation. And my husband tried it on and it fits.

The waffle is a terrific stitch pattern and a pleasure to knit.

I want to show you a tip for finishing the top of the sock.
Usually there is a gap on your cuff between the last cast on stitch (where the tail of yarn is attached) and the first cast on stitch. You can get rid of this gap when you sew the tail in. *Take your sewing up needle and insert it through the first cast on stitch from back to front.
Pull it through and take your needle to the back and insert it through the last cast on stitch from back to front.
By inserting both needles from back to front you have made a figure 8 with the yarn. The crossing of the figure 8 fills in the gap. Repeat from * once more.
Take the needle to the back and insert through the back of a stitch to secure. You may find that by sewing through the first cast on stitch twice you get a small hole. Thread your needle across this small hole and it will close.
Now thread the needle down one leg of a knit column of stitches of the ribbing and cut it off, you're done.
You now have a lovely even edge to your cast on.
Works a treat.
-Deb

Friday, March 11, 2011

Brenda is at the Brier and still knitting. Check out her post. She has a pic of the chevron socks. They look really good.  http://brenda-bjhf.blogspot.com/  Brier Knitting post.

Monday, March 7, 2011

Look at that. I've made real progress. This is the waffle pattern and I like knitting it a lot. Good thing too because I still have a size 11 foot to knit. It's not looking like I'll get these done before winter is over. Who would think I would be looking for winter not to end!

Susan, I think the photograph in the last post made the needles look white. They are really ordinary aluminium needles that you can buy anywhere (Paton's brand needles). I have seen some lovely coloured metal needles which I think would be lots of fun to use but I can't find a website for them, sorry.

Is anyone else knitting socks still? Got any photos?
Deb

Monday, February 28, 2011

I'm a little bit further along on my sock but baby sweater knitting is interfering at the moment. I need another day at the curling rink to do some more spectator sock knitting.
As you can see my husband likes his socks l-o-n-g. When I get the heel done they will be 12" long. Yikes, it takes a while to get there. Patience, patience. Doesn't knitting teach us a lot?
-Deb

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

I have made my choice.
I'm knitting the Waffle socks, one of the variations on the Basic Rib. It's easy to follow and except for checking at the beginning of each row I can knit these and do other things, like watch curling. These are for my husband so I went to his size on the size/gauge chart and cast on 70 sts for 28 sts = 4" gauge. They were way too big. I ripped out the 3" I had knit and started again by looking at the circumference of the socks. I need a 9" circumference for him since he has narrow feet which corresponds to a smaller foot size than he has but will knit the length for the a size 11 foot. I now have 64 sts on my needles and they look exactly right.

Sharon was commenting on fingering vs. sock yarn. As far as I know they are the same as far as the gauge of the yarn is concerned. Usually fingering applies to yarn for knitting garments and sock yarn is usually for socks, except when it's not. Sock yarn can be used for garments too and is referred to more often than fingering now. The difference may have something to do with how they are spun. Sock yarn is usually spun so it's tougher.
Does anyone else want to wade in here with any comments?
-Deb

Friday, February 11, 2011

Yes, I'm still here Sharon. I went to the big city for a meeting and decided to try taking the GO train. It was wonderful, an hour and a half of knitting time instead of driving time, yay. With my morning free I visited a yarn store, of course, and bought some lovely sock wool.
It's a lovely merlot coloured brown/red. Gorgeous. So now I'm ready to get going and I have a weekend of curling spectating to knit at. My daughter is curling in Mixed Zones this weekend. Knitting keeps me from biting my nails. It's harder to watch than it is to play!!
-Deb

Monday, February 7, 2011

Thank heavens someone is back!

I have been nervously clutching my sock needles and yarn, waiting for someone to post. I was worried that the party was over, and I had not been told. Lovely socks, Deb. I am casting on immediately- it's a greeny bluish yarn my Mum bought for me a few years ago in Nova Scotia.
Ribbed socks this time.
Whistle while you knit!

Sunday, February 6, 2011

They are DONE. Yay! I enjoyed working this pattern. The changes I made were to put in the Quilted Lattice pattern in the Fancy Sock. I used sock yarn with 66 sts and the Elizabeth Zimmermann heel. It worked really well and I'm very happy with the socks. I had a hard time picking a pattern which would work with the very stripey dyed wool and this one did the trick.
Here's a cropped, very fuzzy look at the slip stitches in the Lattice.
It was easier to work than it looks. And has a good rhythm to it.
Now what next. I really like the cable pattern so that's what I'm looking at. With or without the holes depends on who the socks are for.
-Deb

Monday, January 17, 2011

Getting back into the groove is difficult after the holiday. It seems to take several weeks just to find my feet, so to speak. But now I have finished my Quilted Lattice sock.
One sock done. But wait, I see the cast on for the second sock, well done me. I'm patting myself on the back for that!
Anyone else back to sock knitting now that the holiday knitting is over? We had 6" of snow yesterday which is a good motivator.
-Deb

Friday, January 14, 2011

Let the bells ring out, let the people rejoice! I have finished the pair of socks in record time ( under a year). I am keen to do it again.
It's already a Happy New Year.

Monday, January 3, 2011

I have to admit to a mostly non-knitting holiday. It was a nice break for a working knitter but now the new year is here and it's time to get back to it. Happy New Year. Here's to a good knitting year.
I'm a little further along on my Quilted Lattice sock. I made a small boo-boo on the heel by using 2 stitches less than I was supposed to (aargh, how does this happen?) but I didn't go back and fix it I just carried on. But, and this is a huge step for me, I wrote it down!! Now I have a small chance at making the second sock the same as the first with the same mistake in it. A small step in my development as a knitter because I somehow think I will remember what I did, HA!

My plan is to finish this pair and then work on some more 'second' socks for my husband since two different first socks are sitting in a drawer languishing and not being worn. Do you have any sock plans?
Deb