Blocks
I've figured out the plan for these! We've been talking all week about how the thing my brain REALLY loves to do is come up with pretty stitches, and then come up with ways to work with them, to slide in an out of them, to shape fabric around them. How that's a lot of what makes my designs look like my patterns. We also talked recently about how this month marks the fifteen year anniversary of Popped, my very first pattern. And quite a few of you playing along at home have noticed that the socks you saw [...]
Soon
Some, time very soon, I will show you the tops of these two hats, side by side. At that moment, our brains will, in glorious unison, go 'oooooooh, tiiiidy' and release One Precious Pellet of the good brain chemicals. This day is not that day. But that day is coming soon!
Options
So we've been talking about building blocks. How you can stack all the various parts of projects (ribbing, transitions, stitch patterns) up like building blocks to make different things (hats, socks, cowls, shawls). And, just like like building blocks, you sometimes have different shapes you can stack on top of each other. Like here, how I used a different transition out of the main stitch pattern and so the next little bit of this hat will do something different than the last one. Because if you have all the little pieces, you have lots of options. And who doesn't like [...]
Gauge…as usual
Everyone always wants to know *why* I say not to knit with yarn when it's all crumpled up like this. The answer is gauge. The wavy yarn will knit up at a different gauge than the straight stuff. The wavy yarn is more irregular, so it will just about always knit up more loosely (about a half stitch per inch difference on most yarns in my experience). And if you use the wavy bit for a while, then switch to the straight bit for the rest of the project, that change in gauge will be locked into your fabric and [...]
Not a sock
See, very much not a sock! Instead it's ribbing, a transition from that ribbing into a main stitch pattern, the main stitch pattern, a transition from that main stitch pattern back out into ribbing, more ribbing, and then decreases. All neatly lined up and delightfully tidy. Which, if you stack them up right, become a hat. Though if you stack them up a little differently, they could also become a sock. Or mitts. Or a cowl. Or a shawl. Or a scarf. Or a whatever else your glorious heart desires. Because once you have all the pieces, you can just [...]
Not a sock
This is absolutely not a sock! But also... Remember how I said my Very Favorite Part of socks (and most any other knitting project), is moving nicely between the pieces? Seeing how you can wander from ribbing into the main stitch pattern then out again and oh maybe into some decreases or increases or other nifty combo moves? How that is what makes my brain happy? Right. So. If you *happen* to have a pretty stitch pattern. And *happen* to have a way to ease into it...and back out of it...and some nice tidy decreases..it turns out you sort of [...]
Tidy Transitions
The other thing my brain likes about socks is that they give you lots of chances to do tidy transitions between sections. And oh, oh having those all flow together nicely makes my brain make the good chemicals! To move from the ribbing at the cuff into the patterning on the leg smoothly. To take that pattern on the leg and pull a few bits of it out to continue down the heel. To occasionally do something downright sneaky with the gusset decreases. To find a way to play with the leg pattern on the foot. To keep the fancy [...]
Shiny object
So socks were the first knitting project that actually held my attention long enough to finish the damn thing before I got distracted by the next shiny object to cross my path and wandered off to do something new. What can I say, the ADHD is strong in me, and I was terrifyingly unmedicated at the time. But socks...just about when you were getting bored with the cuff, it was time to do the leg. And then came the heel, and yet another chance to change things up a bit. Then comes a heel turn (which will feel like [...]
Boss of your knitting
Do you have to block your socks? No, of course not. You are the boss of your knitting, and a grown up, and I have absolutely no power to compel you to do anything at all. I do, however, want to show you what blocking your socks does and talk about when I do it and when you might want to do it. The first picture shows a pair of socks fresh of the needles, never once touched by water. You can see that they're lovely, but a bit crumpled. This is totally normal. The second shows one of them slid [...]
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