Category: knitting

I’ve been knitting since 2005, and it seems as though I’ve spent the whole of that time avoiding knitting socks. I like big, chunky jumpers, made from big, chunky yarns. You can’t really knit a wearable sock on 10mm needles! They’re small, they’re fiddly, the Magic Loop technique is incomprehensible to me, and knitting with a set of four double-pointed needles is like wrestling with a large wooden tarantula.

And then, as I mentioned the other day, I knitted the Sox on 2 Stix.

I’ve been wearing them as house-socks until now, as I was a bit afraid of rubbing away the fragile yarn inside a pair of shoes. Today though, I wore them out of the house.

I only went to the Post Office and back, to see off my last Ebay parcels. But all the way there I wanted to do a little dance of joy, about my lovely socks! Every person I passed, I wanted to say, “Hey! Are you looking at my socks? Look at my socks! I made those! I knitted them myself! Look at my socks!!”

I’ve never really subscribed to the school of thought that wearing “special” underwear can make you feel better. In my experience, wearing fancy underwear guarantees only that I’m going to be uncomfortable and cross. But, I do like socks, and my delicate little feet dictate that I can’t wear shoes without them, so I may as well wear socks that I like. I have socks with stripes and strawberries and bees, and even a pair with glow-in-the-dark aliens on them! None of these, however, can compete with the joy of wearing your very first pair of handmade socks.

Wearing handmade socks is so awesome that I now have no choice other than to buy a set of wooden double-pointed needles, and learn to knit them “properly”.

I am being aided and abetted in this by , who has very kindly sent me three balls of the most luxurious Regia sock yarn with silk. It feels so soft and scrumptious that I can’t wait to wear it on my feet – even if I do have to wrestle with a large wooden tarantula to make that happen!

I’ve been trying to knit a cardigan with this green Rowanspun Chunky for ages. It started out last year as the Nicky Epstein Cardigan with Cabled Points, but the pattern made me so cross that I unravelled the whole thing in a fit of pique. I’d made it all the way through the back, both sleeves and half of the left front, so it wasn’t a decision to be taken lightly. That was a heck of a lot of knitting to undo!

In the middle of March I decided to embrace the ways of Ann Budd, and write my own pattern.

I feel as though I’ve been working on this forever, probably because I’ve been knitting with this yarn since September, but it’s actually taken about ten weeks from writing the pattern to finishing the cardigan. I’ve also had a good few weeks where I didn’t knit at all because of my wonky wrist.

As this is the first pattern I’ve written myself (except for the pink scarf, which wasn’t quite as complicated!), I really wasn’t certain how it would come out. Thankfully, I’m really pleased with it!

Here you can see me wondering whether the edges will actually meet, so I can put the zip in.
(The answer’s yes, it’s very stretchy!)

The only thing I would change is the fit of the armscye. Ann Budd’s measurements are quite generous in this area and I prefer a more fitted style, so I’ll be making the sleeve head a bit smaller in my next pattern. Otherwise, the waist shaping is in the right place, the measurements are spot on, and I’m really pleased!

After knitting six gloves over Christmas (two pairs and two half-pairs), I decided the time was right for me to make my first foray into socks.

I still hate loathe and detest wrangling with a handful of double-pointed needles, so I decided to find a pattern that I could knit using just two knitting needles, like a normal person. ;P

Sox on 2 Stix, from Knitty turned out to be the solution.

had given me two balls of Louisa Harding Kimono Angora for Christmas, so that seemed perfect for making a pair of really luxurious first socks.

The pattern is begun at the heel. You work short rows to make the heel cup, knit down to the toes, work the short rows again, and then knit your way back up the instep. Then you knit your way around the ankle, until the leg of the socks is as long as you want it to be. Seam the sides, et voila! Socks!

I decided to make tiny little short socks, as they’re the kind that I wear most often, and they go nicely inside my summer shoes. I had a few issues along the way, mostly with the short row shaping leaving enormous great holes in the toes and heels! It didn’t seem to matter how I wrapped and turned, the holes still appeared, so I fixed this in the time-honoured fashion of darning the toes as I was sewing up the seams. I left the holes in the heels, as they actually look quite pretty, and they aren’t uncomfortable to wear.

I also discovered that after I’d cast off the first sock, I couldn’t get my foot inside it! I have a high instep and I tend to cast off very tight, which turned out to be a bad combination. Fortunately I was able to undo the cast off and try again, but this did leave the socks quite loose around the ankle. Next time I think I might try 1×1 ribbing for the cuff instead of 2×2, and matters would definitely be improved by using a yarn with a bit more natural stretch to it.

So far I’ve only worn these socks for padding around the house. Kimono Angora isn’t really an appropriate sock yarn, and I know that as soon as I put these inside a pair of shoes I’ll wear straight through the toes. They’re amazingly soft and fluffy and comforting though, so these are definitely for those rainy weekends when you’re curling up on the sofa with a weepy film and a big bar of chocolate.

I also discovered the hard way that, thankfully, Kimono Angora doesn’t felt! I’d managed to scoop the socks into the machine with the rest of the laundry, and I gave a little shriek when they fell out, all wet and sorry for themselves. They had shrunk a little bit, but I put them on my feet immediately and padded around squelchily in the kitchen for a few minutes, and thank goodness they’re fine.

I’d like to knit some more of these, to go with all of my summer skirts, so what I need now is some recommendations for DK weight sock yarn. I like self-patterning or variegated colours the best, but I really would prefer DK to 4-ply for this pattern.

Any suggestions?

The Dreaded Lurgy keeps striking me down in sudden and annoying ways, so I have mostly spent the weekend quietly knitting.

The first part of the weekend was spent unravelling, when I realised that I couldn’t bear to knit another stitch on the Cardigan with Cabled Points, and I was no longer certain that I actually wanted to wear it even if I did force myself to get it finished. So, I made the executive decision to unravel the whole thing.

I still wanted to knit a zip-fronted cardigan, but I decided to go for something a lot simpler. No pointy bits, no cabling on rows that didn’t line up, just a simple fitted cardigan.

Having turned to Ann Budd for help, I managed to get this far:

I’ve typed the pattern out below, for a size 36″ chest. Once the cardigan’s finished, I’ll write out the pattern in more sizes and make it available, probably as a PDF file. It should work with any chunky weight wool.

I haven’t checked the pattern for any glaring errors yet, mostly because I haven’t finished knitting it! I’ll make edits as I go along, if I find anything that’s difficult to follow.

If you decide to follow the pattern and find anything odd about it, please let me know!

Moss Stitch Trim Zip-Up Cardigan

Wool used – RowanSpun Chunky, approximately 525 metres.
Any chunky weight yarn should work out fine, as long as the gauge is correct.
7.5mm straight needles.
12 stitches and 18 rows to 4 inches.

The pattern below is for a finished chest measurement of 36″.

Back
Cast on 54 sts
Moss stitch for 10 rows
St st until piece measures 6″
Dec 1 st at each end of next and foll alt row*
Work 5 rows even
Inc 1 st at each end of next and foll alt row
Work even until piece measures 13″
Armhole Shaping
Cast off 3 sts at beg of next 2 rows
Cast off 2 sts at beg of next 2 rows
Dec 1 st at each end of next and foll alt row
Work even on 40 sts until armhole measures 8½”
Shoulder Shaping
Cast off 5 sts at beg of next 4 rows
Cast off rem 20 sts for back neck

Left Front
Cast on 27 sts
Moss stitch for 10 rows
Change to st st, keeping 6 sts in moss stitch at end of all rows. (This creates self band.)
St st until piece measures 6″
Dec 1 st at beg of next and foll alt row*
Work 5 rows even
Inc 1 st at beg of next and foll alt row
Work even until piece measures 13″, ending on ws row.
Armhole Shaping
Cast off 3 sts at beg of next row
Cast off 2 sts at beg of foll rs row
Dec 1 st at beg of each rs row, 2 times
Work even on 20 sts until armhole measures 7″, ending with ws row
Neck Shaping
Slip 6 edge sts onto stitch holder
Join new yarn, and work to end of row
At beg of next ws row, cast off 5 sts
Cast off 1 st at beg of next rs row (neck edge), 2 times
Then dec 1 st at neck edge every rs row, 3 times
Cont even on 4 sts until piece measures same as back, ending with ws row.
Shoulder Shaping
Cast off 4 sts.

Right Front
Cast on 27 sts
Moss stitch for 10 rows
Change to st st, keeping 6 sts in moss stitch at beginning of all rows. (This creates self band.)
St st until piece measures 6″
Dec 1 st at end of next and foll alt row*
Work 5 rows even
Inc 1 st at end of next and foll alt row
Work even until piece measures 13″, ending on rs row.
Armhole Shaping
Cast off 3 sts at beg of next row
Cast off 2 sts at beg of foll ws row
Dec 1 st at beg of each ws row, 2 times
Work even on 20 sts until armhole measures 7″, ending on rs row
Neck Shaping
Work to last 6 sts.
Slip 6 edge sts on to stitch holder.
At beg of next rs row, cast off 5 sts
Cast off 1 st at beg of next ws row (neck edge), 2 times
Then dec 1 st at neck edge every ws row, 3 times
Cont even on 4 sts until piece measures same as back, ending with ws row.
Shoulder Shaping
Cast off 4 sts.

Neck Band
Sew fronts to back at shoulder seams
Mark centre back
Work on 6 sts of each front band in moss stitch until they are long enough to meet at centre back
Cast off and sew bands together at centre back, or graft bands together
Sew bands to fronts and back neck.

Sleeves
Cast on 28 sts
Moss stitch for 10 rows
Change to st st
Inc 1 st at each end of every 6 rows, 9 times
Work even on 46 sts until piece measures 16″ (or desired length to armhole)
Shape Cap
Cast off 3 sts at beg of next 2 rows
Cast off 2 sts at beg of next 2 rows
Dec 1 st at each end of every rs row, 2 times (32 sts)
Dec 1 st at each end every 4 rows
Dec 1 st at each end of every rs row, 6 times
Cast off 4 sts at beg of next 2 rows
Cast off rem 10 sts

Finishing
Block all pieces, if necessary
Sew fronts to back at side seams
Sew sleeve seams
Set sleeves into armholes
Insert zip at centre front.

Notes
*If you do not require waist shaping, simply leave these rows out, and work even until piece measures 13″.

As you knit the fronts, you may find that the moss stitch pulls the work upwards. you can gently stretch the bands out as you go, or you can leave it, and even things out when you block.

When you knit the bands, you may find that you need to knit them longer than you think, in order to stretch them around the curves of the crew neck.

Recently I bought a sewing pattern from an American Ebay seller. As a little free gift, she included a mini packet of Kool Aid! Having looked at the ingredients and decided that I didn’t want to risk actually drinking it, I thought it might be fun to do a little experiment.

I must admit, I didn’t have very high hopes for this experiment’s success. The instructions on Knitty and in Simply Knitting Magazine (Issue 26, April 2007) both state that you should use only unsweeetened Kool Aid, and that you should allow 1-2 3.9g packets per 50g of wool. I had only one individual serving (smaller – sorry, I didn’t note down the weight) packet of sweetened Kool Aid, so I wasn’t at all sure whether it would have any effect on the wool at all.

I bought a single 50g ball of Sirdar Eco Wool. It’s completely undyed, so I figured that would be perfect. I followed the instructions in Simply Knitting magazine.

First I pre-soaked the ball of wool in warm water. Apparently wool floats! Not to worry – it soon sinks when it gets nice and wet. It helps to press the air out a bit.

I left the ball of wool soaking for about an hour, to let it get nice and wet all the way through. I didn’t bother unwinding the ball into a skein, as I figured that the dye bath would penetrate all the way through, and I didn’t mind if the outside was brighter then the inside. I just wanted to see whether it would work at all! The water is warm, but not too warm.

Here’s the wool, now soaking in the Kool Aid.
I took the ball of wool out of the water, and drained it in a colander. I pressed out most of the water, taking care not to scrunch the wool about too much, in case of felting. In the casserole dish, I poured in the Kool Aid, and then diluted it with warm water, roughly the same temperature as the wet ball of wool. When all of the Kool Aid crystals were dissolved, I popped the ball of wool into the solution, and added more water – enough to cover the whole ball. I then scrunched the wool around carefully, to make sure the dye was going all the way through.

Then it was on with the lid, and onto the hob for a good cooking! Simply Knitting magazine said, “When cooking on the hob, cover and simmer gently for 20-30 minutes”. I left mine cooking for about an hour, because I was watching Funny Girl on tv, and lost track of the time. I don’t think it ever quite reached a simmer either, as I left it on the very lowest setting. During the ad breaks, I carefully turned the ball of wool, to make sure the dye really was going all the way through. I’d recommend using gloves for this part – firstly because it’s hot, and secondly because I ended up with pink fingers for most of the day.

Tipping out the Kool Aid solution, I left the ball of wool until it was cool enough to pick up.

I then transferred it to the shower. I made sure that the water was roughly the same temperature as the ball of wool, and rinsed out the excess dye. I then squeezed out as much water as possible, taking care not to risk accidental felting.

Winding the wool around my clothes airer to dry, I’m really pleased to find that the dye is much more even than I’d hoped for. I think I’d call this experiment a success!

And here’s the final result! Left overnight to dry, and wound into a neat little cake, I have a lovely ball of pale pink wool!

The dyeing made no mess whatsoever (except for my pink fingers, but that was my own silly fault!), took very little supervision, and was extremely easy to do.

You can buy Kool Aid in the UK from D T Crafts or Kool Aid UK for as little as 40-50p per packet. Kool Aid UK also sometimes sell expired packets specifically for dyeing, as they can’t be used for drinking once they’re out of date.

The ball of Sirdar Eco Wool cost £3.99, so the addition of 50p for the dye definitely wouldn’t break the bank. I’m not sure I’d want to try and dye the yarn for a whole jumper, as you’d have to get a bit scientific about the dilution of the Kool Aid to make sure that all of the wool came out pretty much the same colour. But for single-ball projects, I’m definitely going to be doing this again!

My newest issue of Simply Knitting magazine has arrived!

The free gift this month is a pattern counting device, which is perfectly timed, as I keep losing track of my cables.

I spent much of yesterday afternoon knitting, and swearing. I don’t know what it is about this particular cardigan, but swearing seems to have accompanied its entire construction so far.

(The back and sleeves are complete, and I’m working on the left front.)

First I was annoyed that the edge cable and the point cables don’t twist on the same rows.

Then I was annoyed that my tension changed when the cabled points stopped, and now my edge cables are getting smaller and smaller! Either that or I’ve lost count, and am cabling on the wrong rows.

Either way, this cardigan is very annoying.

(Why would all the cables not twist on the same row? Why?!)

Looking at the photograph, you can see very clearly that it’s definitely my tension that’s mucking up the edge cabling. You can see that the knitting between the two short cables is much looser than the knitting immediately above them.

Do I unravel an afternoon’s work and start again, or can I live with wonky cables that might even themselves out in the wash? I’m feeling quite inclined to live with it at the moment.

Speaking of cables, for weeks I walked past this jumper in my local Marks & Spencer.

Every time I saw it I thought, “I could knit one of those”.

If I’m not heartily sick of cables when I’m finished with this cardigan, I might give it a go. The one change I would make is to mirror the cables on either side of the central section. It annoys me (another thing!) about the Nicky Epstein cardigan that all the cables face the same way, so I don’t really want to knit a second annoying cabled garment!

I did learn something extremely useful while I was knitting this cardigan. I learned that if you expect all the cables to be twisting on the same row, and don’t read the pattern properly, and then discover that you should have cabled the front band two rows ago… it is perfectly possible to carefully drop the six stitches you’re working on for those two rows, twist them round to make the cable, and then pick those two rows back up again.

This is not something I’d like to make a habit of doing, but I’m pleased to find out that it works!

Now that my Dad has opened his Christmas present (my parents are going away this year), I can safely reveal that it has taken three weeks to knit a single glove for him. It was ribbed, it was fiddly, and it was in DK, which is the thinnest yarn I have ever used.

Now that I don’t need to have the second glove finished until he comes back from his travels (oops…), I decided to give my fingers a bit of a break, and go back to the Nicky Epstein Cardigan with Cabled Points. I knew that knitting with chunky wool on 7½mm needles would be much faster than ribbing in DK, but I wasn’t expecting to complete both of the sleeves in just two days!

I’d completely lost track of where I was up to on the first sleeve, so I decided to bite the bullet, unravel what I’d done, and start again. I’m really not having very much luck with this pattern.

This time the mistake genuinely wasn’t mine, but a printing error. The row numbers for the sleeve had been printed wrongly, and before I knew it I had three fewer stitches than I needed. I made an executive decision not to undo the sleeve again, but instead to make some cunningly disguised increases on the next row. Thankfully, this worked really well.

I also made an executive decision to change the increases on the sleeves. As you may have noticed on my previous encounter with this cardigan, my maths really isn’t up to much, and I couldn’t cope with cabling on every sixth row and increasing on every eighth. My decision was to make the increases on the same rows as the cables, which made for less counting, which is fine by me!

As it happened, by the time I’d finished the correct number of increases the sleeve was already at the exact length I was supposed to keep knitting to, so if I’d been increasing every eight rows instead of every six, it would actually have been several inches too long!

If you click through to the larger picture of the single sleeve, you can get a much better indication of how this will look once it’s finished. You can really see the bright flecks of blue, and the occasional spot of red, scattered across the sleeve.

I was off work yesterday, with tonsilitis, so I thought I’d have a nice relaxing afternoon on the sofa, gently coughing into a bit of nice simple knitting.

I had a skein of Colinette Parisienne mohair and a skein of Debbie Bliss Pure Silk, which I thought would pair up nicely together to make a fabulously soft scarf.

I wound them into balls with my trusty ball winder, and made a start.

I had wondered whether the mohair might be a bit of a pain, as I’m using two strands held together with one strand of the silk, and I was a bit worried that I might get into a tangle using the yarn from both the inside and the outside of the ball at once.

Three rows later, and I discover that the problem is not going to be with the mohair, but with the silk.

My carefully wound ball has started to fall apart at both ends!

An hour of careful untangling later, and I am faced with this:

That could have gone better. 🙁

The LJ Brit Knits community have been extremely helpful, and in the end I was able to untangle the whole thing, without taking the scissors to it! It only took five and three-quarter hours… I could have knitted the whole scarf in that time!

Speaking of which… I’m about twenty rows in, and I’ve now decided that the scarf is too wide. I’m really not sure yet whether I can face unravelling the knitting as well as the yarn, so I might just have to learn to live with a short, wide scarf!

Lesson Of The Day: Don’t wind silk into centre-pull balls!

Every now and then I go through my giant stack of magazines, cut out the bits which interest me, and chuck the remains in the recycling.

Over the weekend, I found a picture of a jumper that I really liked, and idly wondered whether I could be bothered to work out a pattern to knit one for myself.

Today, I arrived home from work to find the Fall issue of Knit1 magazine sitting on my doorstep. (Thanks to Magazine Café, where you can subscribe to American magazines in the UK.) What should I see amongst the patterns? A jumper which looks remarkably similar to the one I’d snipped out of Elle!

On the left: Elle UK, August 2007. Jumper by Louis Vuitton.
On the right: Knit1 Magazine, Fall 2007.

Perfect.

I’ll probably never get around to actually knitting this pattern. On the list of things I really want to knit for myself, this one’s pretty low. But just knowing that I can knit it, if I want to, is making me very happy this evening.