Anne Sock

Hi All!

It's been ages; let's get this blog going again! Here's my progress on the Anne socks. I'm almost done with the second sock, and I love these. The pattern is pretty easy--I knit while watching TV, so lace isn't my favorite. This pattern is lovely, though. I usually give away my knitted socks for gifts, in fact I always do! This pair, though, I'm keeping for myself.

How are the rest of you doing?

Kathleen

Binding Off a Toe-Up Sock

I finished my sock the other night! I was so excited. I tried it on (still on the circular needles) and it fit great.

I don't have the pattern in front of me, but I believe the last instruction is to "BO loosely." Having never done a toe-up sock (except the practice baby sock in the front of the Cat Bordhi book), I went ahead and did a normal basic bind off as loosely as possible. I cut my yarn and tried to put the sock on my foot ... it wouldn't hardly go over the ball of my foot and it certainly wasn't going to stretch far enough to go around my heel!

AHHH!!!!

I'm sure those of you who have done toe-up socks in the past know better, but I figured I'd post this as a warning to those who haven't done it before. (C'mon I can't be the only one who's made this mistake... right? I hope...?)

Thankfully I was able to undo my bind off. Unfortunately I'd already cut the yarn somewhat short, so I'm going to rip back a few rows of the ribbing and rejoin it to the skein so I can do a different bind off.

Here's a few options I've found that create a stretchy bind off perfect for toe-up socks:

• Do the basic bind off but use a needle 2 sizes larger than the one you knit with. (I've read mixed reviews about this -- some people who knit tight find that this still isn't stretchy enough.)
• Do a crochet bind off and chain 1 after every 2 stitches you BO.
• Use the Elizabeth Zimmerman sewn bind off. This is the one I think I'm going to try. There's directions for doing it (along with lots of good pictures) at the very bottom of this page.

Does anyone else have some bind off techniques to add to this list?

Hopefully I've saved someone the pain/disappointment I went through with my sock this week!

Jan/Feb Sock Progress!

How's everyone coming along on the new sock project? Here's mine so far:

This is my first time using Schaefer Anne, though I've used their Heather and Lola yarns in the past. I'm absolutely loving the Anne -- it's so soft and this colorway is so beautiful! I think this may be my new favorite yarn.

I'm knitting mine one at a time on two circular needles. (I'd intended to do magic loop, but discovered I didn't have a long enough circular needle in the size I needed to get gauge.) They're working up really nicely that way though.

When I took the photo above I had 2 or 3 more repeats of the lace pattern to do. I'm down to needing to finish 1 more lace repeat and then do the ribbing and I'll be done with the first sock. I'm really surprised how fast these knit up!

Fiddlesticks

How is everybody doing on their Fiddlesticks socks??? I've finished the first sock, knit the foot of the second and I'm working my way up to the cuff. I've included some pictures.

The first picture is the completed first sock and the second sock in progress. :)

The second picture shows a close up of how I keep track of which row I am on. I made a card for each row and punched a hole in it and tied them together with yarn. I just flip the card when I finish each row, (see the white marker, that tells me when I've completed a row). When I put my knitting in my bag, I use a paper clip to hold the cards together so I don't accidentally start on the wrong row. :)

The third picture is a close up of the pattern stitch. I am using 72 stitches, but I'm not following their pattern exactly. I wanted to keep my P2 column that I established on the foot using the K2P2 rib up through the leg of the sock. So, instead of doing the extra 2 rows the pattern called for, I just did rows 1 - 10. It just made for one more repeat of the stitch pattern than for the 64 stitch sock.

I hope everybody is doing well on their socks. I can't wait to see everybody next month. :)

Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday! J.J.

J.J. is on her way...

So far so good. I like the color and the pattern will really be pretty. I am knitting with 47 inch size 1 needle with a 72 cast on. I wear a size 9 shoe and this sock formula works best for my long skinny feet. I like to make the socks at the same time because I follow what I am doing and have fewer mistakes. See all soon. J.J.

FiddleSticks Disaster

Not meaning to be a post-hog and post twice in a row, but I just wanted to ask how everyone is doing on their new sock?

'Cause this is how *I'm* doing:

What happened, you ask?  THIS is what (or should I say WHO) happened: our dog, Gracie.  

I put down my knitting because I was watching Grey's Anatomy and got really sucked into the story line.  Next thing I know, I see yarn strung across the room (and our cat pouncing on it) and at the end of the string of yarn, I found Gracie with 4 crushed DPNs and a tangled mess!  

*sigh*  I was able to untangle and salvage all the yarn, but I'm going to need to get some new DPNs.  I think maybe this time I'm going to go with METAL ones!  Guess this is karma's way of telling me I should really be working on my Christmas-knitting anyway.  

Knitting Podcast: DPNs vs. Magic Loop vs. 2 Circs

On my oh-so-lovely commute home in the rain, I had the chance to listen to a few of the knitting podcasts I'd downloaded onto my iPod earlier this week.  I wanted to share one of them with you because I thought it might be of interest to our sock club: Episode 25 of Knit Picks' podcast.

In the first segment of this episode, the show host discusses the three ways of knitting in the round, specifically for socks: DPNs, 2 circulars, or Magic Loop.  Her explanations are nothing "new" per-say, but I found them helpful for envisioning how one technique relates to the other.

For instance, I have done Magic Loop, but prefer DPNs.  I've never tried 2 circs.  But after her description, I could better envision how the position of the stitches on DPNs could be easily translated to 2 circs.  So I might give it a try!

Incidentally, if you haven't checked out all the knitting podcasts out there, you should!  If you have iTunes (free) on your computer, go to the iTunes store and click on "Podcasts" and then search for knitting.  There's lots and lots of free knitting podcasts that you can download and listen to on your computer or iPod.  I love to listen to them while I'm at work or during my commute!  (Makes the time when I can't actually be knitting pass much quicker, ha ha.)

Fiddlesticks Errata

Here's the errata from the Yahoo Group for this
sock pattern. Too bad I didn't see this before
I cast on!!

On the cuff directions:
The 64(72) cast on directions are not right.


Here are the directions for the 64st cast on;
Needle 1: P1,K2,P2,K2,P2,K2,P2,K2,P2,K2,P2,
K2,P2,K2,P2,K2,P1
Needle 2: Repeat needle 1 directions.

Here are the directions for the 72st cast on;
Needle 1: P1,K2,P3,K2,P2,K2,P3,K2,P2,K2,p3,K2,
P2,K2,P3,K2,P1
Needle 2: Repeat needle 1 directions.

These directions are for circular needles.

You will also need to do this ribbing on the
instep stitches on top of foot if desired.
64st sock rib: P1,K2,P2,K2,P2,K2,P2,K2,P2,
K2,P2,K2,P2,K2,P2,K2,P1
72st sock rib: (P1,K2,P3,K2,P2,K2,P3,K2,P2,
K2,p3,K2,P2,K2,P3,K2,P1)

The charts are correct for the leg pattern.
But on the written directions Row 1 it
should read...
*P1, K6 (7), P1* repeat around.

Toe directions where it says to repeat
these 2 rnds until you have 38st remaining.
Well this is suppose to read 36st (18 each needle).
Then work Rnd 1 until you have 20st remaining
(10 each needle).

These socks are sooooo soft. I really enjoyed knitting them. I used circulars and they made up very quickly. I am so glad we have a sock club now and look forward to meeting everyone Tues. night. Happy knitting! J.J. Sisco

Sharing my Lola Walking Rib Socks

Hi all! I just thought I'd share my first completed socks for sock club...

(click the image to see them larger on my Flickr page)

They're going to be a birthday gift for my grandmother who turns 70 on November 3rd! I can't wait to give them to her.

Did everyone pick up lots more sock yarn at the Schaefer Yarn Co. trunk show the other night? I picked up some of the Heather, but I'm not sure yet what pattern I'm going to knit it up with. I got it in a beautiful, masculine blue and tan colorway so I can hopefully knit something nice for my hubby for Christmas this year!

Also, is anyone in the sock club a registered user on Ravelry? If not, go sign up! (And add me as a friend! My username there is "mandi".)

Lola socks

I love these socks

Elvin toe fixed. . .

I fixed the toe of my one finished sock (ribbing portion of second sock is done!). Here are the before and after photos.

My camera's fixed!

Here's the sock. Check out the pointy toe! I'm going to take out the toe and redo it with the correct number of increases. Then I finish the other sock and have a Christmas gift.

The second Little Sky sock on on the left.

Let's see more FOs from the rest of you!

Looking good!

Everyone's socks look just great. I love the color choices you've all made.

I got my camera battery in the mail today so I'll take some photos tonight and post them tomorrow.

Love having you all post to the blog!

Lola Socks

Here's a photo of my Lola socks. I now have them on as it is down below 50 degrees. Sure feel good.

Judy

Finished my Lola socks

Hi y'all. I finished up my socks a few minutes ago. I knit them 2 at once, toe up, magic loop. I had never knit socks before with a yarn this thick, but the finished socks fit into my shoes with no problem. I'll probably pick up another skein at club next week. :) I really love the way this yarn feels, and it's a fast knit. The color variations are fun too. :) I need more socks before the weather gets cold, IF it gets cold. :)

Here is the finished project. :)

I also completed each of the practice socks from the book. I didn't check gauge on the first sock, so they are VERY big. :) The second sock came out great, and I plan on knitting a mate to it soon. Can you tell which is which??? LOL I'll bring both to club so you can laugh at me in person. :)

Hi All!

My camera has failed me, actually just the battery, and I ordered a new one. My cell phone takes photos but I can't for the life of me figure out how to get them from the phone to the computer! Some Bluetooth thingamajig that I don't know how to work, apparently.

Aaaaannnnyyywwwwaaayy. . . I'm still working on the little sky socks, still thinking they're brilliant, still needing to frog my walking rib sock to make it bigger, still needing to finish the second sock! Oy. And knitting for Christmas, which I should have started doing a long time ago.

I got a Ravelry invite today. Big news! I haven't put anything up yet, but my name is KathCub. Let me know if you're on and I'll add you as friends.

If you've gotten a blog invite for this blog, you should be able to sign and and actually post text and photos, not just comments. Give it a try!

Here's hoping I get my camera battery soon so I can show you all my lack of progress!

If you want to be able to post on the blog. . .

Send me an email, to kathcub@yahoo.com, and I'll add you to the list. Then you can post messages and photos, too.

My camera might be broken! Hopefully I just need a new battery, though. I'm progressing on the little sky sock--those are so cute, and a brilliant construction. I love not having to pick up stitches to do the gusset!

New Pathways

I'm really getting into our book. What a great idea Pat had to use this book for sock club! I can't wait to travel through it.

Here's a link to Cat's book, be sure to check out the videos on the site; Cat shares lots of helpful techniques. I'm especially interested in the purl-tightening method.