Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Fleegle's Toe-up Two Ata Time on Two Circulars

These socks are so easy, it's ridiculous. They were done two at a time on two circulars; once you start knitting socks this way, you'll never go back! Both socks use one skein of yarn, no waste, and they re both the same size when completed! How cool is that?

After I turned the heel, I used Dani Berg's Thank You Socks for the tiny mock cable pattern. Dani Berg

For the cuff, I used Jeni's Super Easy Stretch Bind Off, demonstrated by Cat Bourdi
Jeni's Stretchy Bind Off

Sunday, November 13, 2011

It was a dark and windy night...

Last night, I went out with our local Bray Road Beast sightings expert- it was a dark and windy night with a full moon.
At 9:00pm, linda and I rode out and met up with a few locals at an undisclosed location in anticipation of a possible chance encounter with a Bigfoot-type biped seen wandering the area.
We spent the next 2 hours alternating positions with a cross view of two freshly harvested corn fields, while the moon skated in and out of view as clouds scudded past.
One of the team left a plate of smelly cat food out at the perimeter of a woods, near where a footprint was discovered a few weeks back. From time to time, we'd roll down our cardoor window and make low guttural hooting noises, in an effort to get a response. All I managed to do was alert a nearby flick of Canadian geese, who became agitated by our random calls.
We munched noisily on Fiesta Chips, and tossed a few out the window, as token offerings to the Wood Nymphs and creatures of the night.
Unfortunately, Bigfoot did not grace us with an appearance and remains a mystery. I still live for the thrill of a hunt ;)

Monday, November 7, 2011

Fleegle's Sock and other random musings

I'm working on another pair of Wool-ease socks using Fleegle's Toe-up Two at Time on Two Circulars
I'm at the gusset, and like this method for its ease and simplicity.

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When I get to the heel turning part, there is an ingenious method that prevents that hole that always happens when you join the heel to the foot. The directions in the pattern explain it perfectly!

This pattern is so simple and mindless that I often find myself in random thoughts, usually of my kids and DH. Since both consume much of my conscious thoughts of the day, my blogs suffer neglect as a result. Today was one of those days. ;)

So, I'm knitting along, and I come to a spot where I'm joining my front and back, and there is this loop that got caught after the last stitch and is hanging there between my cables, like a lost stitch. Actually, it's not a stitch and needs to be worked in when I get to that point, or it will turn into a ladder rung. You know what I'm talking about: that joint at the side of a sock where all the stitches stat to spread apart like a loose seam. It happens when the tension becomes too loose when jumping from one needle to the next.
So when you come to a place where you find you have inadvertently knit with the yarn having been looped over your cable when doing the jump, then when you come back to it in the next round, twist the last stitch of that row, continue to the next needle and then on the return trip around, twist the opposite stitch when coming to the juncture. That will pull up the slack in the join and won't even be noticeable. Continue knitting rounds as before, one problem solved.


if you haven't already done so, please see this post to avoid gusset holes.


Now, it might not make sense until you actually get to this next part, so bookmark the next page! and come back to it often. I printed up both pages when I started the socks so I wouldn't have to keep looking up the links, saved me a ton of steps.

Fleeglesblog also shows you an increase that is so flawless in its simplicity, pure genius!

General Directions

The increase I use is called the Lifted Increase and goes something like this:

1. Insert your right hand needle from front to back into the top of the stitch below the next one to be knitted. Knit the stitch in the usual way.

2. Then, knit the next stitch on your left hand needle.

See http://www.knitting.co.nz/site/page_affix/toaffix_learntoknit6/ for pictures.

After I developed this method, I subsequently discovered a way to avoid gusset holes. Please see this post and follow the directions when you finish turning the heel.
Pure Genius!

I hope that my random musings have been a help to someone else like me, someone who does not follow any particular path, but gathers tidbits of others' helpful suggestions that we can adapt at some point in our knitting adventures.

I'll spare you the family drama that usually gets me to this point- I keep moving forward, burying my troubles, not littering my path with them like so many discarded soda cans. I stick to a less travelled road, one that has no Facebook billboards obscuring my view of a world seemingly filled with petty issues that others feel a need to broadcast. Maybe if those billboards came with a price tag , they'd be fewer. The price paid for freely advertising one's bad day is sometimes realized too late, down the road.

I'm a Nomad; I travel light, keeping my path clean and simple. If our paths meet, stop and say Hi~ we can share a story or just our day and be on our way. :)



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