Well, the knitting pattern’s still in progress. I finished knitting the first test-mitten in the larger size yesterday, and when Paul came home and tried it on for me, it was revealed to be ENORMOUS. So, after consultation with regard to how exactly Paul likes his mittens (apart from Not At All, which he doesn’t really get a choice about, being married to a knitter), I have now re-written the instructions for the larger size. I could have unravelled the Very Large Mitten, but I spent ages working out how to make a cable pattern fit on the back of the hand, and it seems a shame to let all that work go to waste. So I’m knitting the matching one anyway.
I’ve now printed out several copies of the pattern, so I can keep notes about each pair of mittens and any alterations I might continue to make. I have two test-knitters ready to go, but if anyone else would like to give the pattern a try, please let me know! I can email you a pdf file of the latest draft, but you’ll need to supply your own needles and yarn.
This is a sock toe, my first knitted using Judy’s Magic Cast On. At first I couldn’t get the hang of it, but now I’ve got the crossing-over part figured out, it really is like magic! Next I need to figure out how to cast on two socks at once using this method. That would really knock Second Sock Syndrome (where you absolutely can’t face knitting the second one) on the head. And make sure they both come out the same. (Harder than you might think.)
When I first learned how to knit socks, I made myself a cheat sheet. I use the slip-stitch heel pattern from Wendy D. Johnson’s book, Socks from the Toe Up. I very heartily recommend this book – it has lots of different options for casting on, three different types of heel, and lots of patterns to plug into your socks once you’ve got the basics figured out.
But, I don’t want to carry the entire book around in my sock-knitting bag, which is where the cheat sheet comes in. I know how to knit socks now, but I need reminders of how and when to turn the heel, and how to do a stretchy cast off, and how many rows I knitted on the first sock, so I can make the second one the same. Hence the cheat sheet.
Because I find it so useful I thought it would be nice to share it, so I’ve uploaded it to a tutorial page. I should say that the original pattern obviously remains © Wendy D. Johnson, and you really do need her book for the full instructions! The sheet isn’t a full sock pattern in its own right, it’s just some helpful reminders for when you haven’t got the book in front of you.
Meanwhile, I’ll be knitting yet another test mitten, and hoping that this one turns out to be a normal human hand size!