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 [...]
Under the influence
I am not knitting a sock. I am not knitting a sock. I am not knitting a sock. I'm really really really super not. But I am under the influence of a sock. And will be for the next little while.
Involved
With all the Squishy Feelings Nonsense yesterday, I didn't actually talk much about the knitting. Let's fix that! This is a swatch to work out out some sizing for the first of the socks I'm revisiting. Like I said yesterday, a lot of the earliest patterns only came in one or two sizes, and That's Not How We Do Things Now. And while sometimes adding more sizes is just a matter of adding an extra stitch repeat, sometimes you have to do something a little more involved. Here, each and every size requires five different charts. One for the cuff [...]
Old Flame
Remember how I said I was having a fling with an old flame (aka socks, my first knitting love)? Well, it's official, I'm still fond of socks (even if my shoulder doesn't allow for a long term relationship). And next month will mark fifteen YEARS since my first pattern came out. So I decided to spend a little time with some of those very earliest patterns. And oh...oh I can see the enthusiasm of a new fascination stamped all over them! I really did just knit whatever amused me and then figure out how to write it down after the [...]
Shows Continued Improvement
You know how you look back on those (dreadfully earnest and sickeningly leaden) papers you wrote your first year of college and just wince? Or maybe it's entries in your high school journal or your first few blog entries that make you cringe. Well I did that the other day. Not with papers, but with my early patterns. Popped was my first pattern, and I didn't know what in the world I was doing back then. Luckily, that one got totally revamped somewhere along the way as part of it's release through Knit Picks Independent Designer Program, so it's fine [...]
Popped, Take Two
Much to my surprise, quite a few people at Ravelry seem to like my Popped socks. I'm oddly thrilled. It seems some kind souls are even actually knitting them with their very own yarn and needles and hands and knitting time. It's a rather nifty feeling. From their enthusiastic comments, it seems I may have successfully avoided writing a pattern for a llama saddle and indeed written one that results in socks! I'm currently waiting on the Ravelry powers that be to bestow their blessing on the pattern page. Reports differ on the time involved in this process, but I'll [...]
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