Curious Knitter

Double Heelix: Taming your yarns

2011-06-27T22:06:00.000-07:00

As the first wave of early adopters casts on their Double Heelix projects, another question many of them have been asking is: "how do you keep those 4 strands from becoming a tangled mess?"

Well, it does take a little doing, but less than you might think. There are three things I do that seem to keep the tangle at bay.

#1: Maintain consistent yarn positions relative to the work. This project is not a good one to knit while on the go. You can't toss all your yarn into one bag or basket without asking for trouble.

So, if you're this dude...

Your yarn 4 balls would be placed like so, relative to your work (and your person).

#2 Twist your work in the opposite direction that the yarn twists.
As demonstrated by this quick (0:20) Youtube video.

#3 If all else fails...
The little balls of yarn should be small enough that you can unwind them and pull the all the way out of the tangle. Then you can manually disengage the 2 large yarn balls from each other, and then wind up your small balls again.

Keep those questions coming, and I'll get to 'em as soon as I can!

Double Heelix: Demo video

2011-06-26T05:54:00.000-07:00

Double Heelix went live three days ago, and I've been thrilled with the reception!

Here is a YouTube demo video I just put together, which walks you through the cast on and the first 2 cycles of the heel. It's definitely a challenging sock project to tackle, and I hope this makes it easier for knitters to get over the inital learning curve.

Thanks to everyone for your interest, I am honored. :)

.

Double Heelix!

2011-06-20T07:07:00.000-07:00

The day has arrived. Knitty is up!

(Photo: Lorilee Beltman)

If you visit this article from the latest issue of knitty.com, you'll see a project that has been long in-the-making. The design in the article is a version designed for high contrast, semisolid yarns, but there's more than one way to wrap a helix around a foot!

(Photo: Eddie Carden)

You'll recognize the knitty socks here (I'll call them "Flavor 1"), along with another flavor, kindly modeled by my sister-in-law.

In Flavor 1, the 4 strands that make the heel reduce to 2 at the ankle, which then split off to work either the cuff or the toe. The helix knitting ends at the ankle and the rest of the sock is stockinette worked in the round.

In Flavor 2, all 4 strands used for the heel continue to make the rest of the sock, but the 4 strands split into 2 sets at the instep. 1 strand of each color is worked in either direction, which changes the bold helix into a pinstripe helix.

(Photo: Jeny Staiman)

Flavor 2 is made with Blue Moon lightweight sock yarn, in colors Bejewelled and Korppi. The gauge for this yarn is slightly larger than that of Shibui/Koigu (I get 7.5 st/inch with BMFA lightweight and 8 st/inch with Shibui/Koigu). But if you are knitting for a medium, large, or extra-large foot, all you have to do is follow the knitty instructions for the size below the one you're making. Size S using Blue Moon will yield a medium-sized sock, and likewise, size M made with Blue Moon will yield a large-sized sock.

Now here's another flavor...

(Photo: Jeff Staiman)

I affectionately call these socks "Double Heelix On Acid" because they are made with a Rockin' Sock Club yarn called "Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test" (some readers may recognize it). The yarn was so bright, I thought it would benefit from some contrast with black, and this is where I ended up.

In this flavor (Flavor 3), after you finish working the heel, all 4 strands continue to make the next part of the sock. It doesn't matter whether you carry the 4 strands into the foot or the heel, so I made one of each!

Sizing with Flavor 3 is as with Flavor 2, since it also uses Blue Moon Yarn. Actually I'm not sure what I used for the black, it was something in my stash that matched the gauge. But if I were to pick a Blue Moon yarn it would definitely be Shadow.

There are yet more ways to explore this topic, and as I make my way through them, I will share them with you. Thanks for reading!

Provisional Primer

2011-06-08T15:26:00.000-07:00

(Updated June 10)

I've done a lot of thinking about how intersecting knitted parts fit together. Sock parts in particular. Like many knitters, I got holes at the corners whenever I picked up provisional sts, as you would with an afterthought heel. Not anymore! Getting a neat join with a provisional cast on is a key component of many patterns I'm currently working on, so I thought I'd offer some basics as a reference.

Part 1: Knitting over scrap yarn

One makes afterthought heels (or glove fingers, or moebius baskets, etc.) by knitting some of your live sts with scrap yarn, then knitting over these scrap yarn sts with working yarn. Later, one un-picks the scrap yarn and continues with a new strand of working yarn, and works the heel. That's it in a nutshell.

Here are some visual aids...

1. Decide where your opening is going to be, and how many sts will need to be picked up later (e.g., about 16 sts for a glove finger). Divide the number in half. That's the number of stitches you're going to mark with scrap yarn.

2. Knit the selected sts with scrap yarn (in this case, 8 sts).

3. Knit over the scrap yarn with working yarn (for illustration purposes, this is shown in a different shade, although in practice there is no need to use a different strand). The sts immediately above the scrap yarn are the provisional sts. Red arrows mark the direction in which you will work these sts (i.e., up!)

4. Continue knitting.

Once you've finished the section on top of the scrap yarn, you'll come back and remove the scrap yarn. As you un-pick, you would of course put the live sts onto your needles (light blue sts on one needle, dark blue on another needle). In my illustrations, I've purposely left the needles out. Just pretend they're there.

5. Here's the fabric with scrap yarn removed.

Now let's take a closer look at the provisional sts, just above where the scrap yarn was. When you knit these earlier, you had 8 loops going up, indicated by the red arrows. (Note that the 8 sts on the bottom of the opening, in light blue, also line up with these arrows.) Now you're going to pick up the loops from the underside of the provisional row and knit in the other direction. The black arrows indicate the direction you'll be knitting those loops.

Note that there are 7 live loops on the underside of the provisional row, one fewer than you had on the top. That's because the top and bottom of the provisional row are offset by 1/2 stitch.

And that brings up a little problem... see those holes on the outer edges where your scrap yarn was?

An easy way to tighten up this area is to pick up the sts on these edges, marked in green below, and put them on the needle with the dark blue sts.

Now you have one more stitch on the top than you do on the bottom, for a grand total of 17 sts around. Voila, a much better join!

Part 2: Using a provisional cast on

So far we've been talking about picking up provisional sts by knitting a partial row with scrap yarn, then knitting your provisional sts right over it. This is all well and good, but it limits you to having approximately the same number of sts on the top and bottom of your opening. What if you want to have more sts on one side?

Let's say we want to have 10 sts on the top, and the same 8 sts on the bottom. Rather than knitting those 8 sts with scrap yarn, just run a length of scrap yarn through them to act as a temporary stitch holder.

Next, cast on the desired number of sts with scrap yarn (e.g., 10 sts).

Lucy Neatby has an excellent video on how to do this kind of provisional cast on.

Next, knit over your cast on sts in the next row. 10 red arrows indicate the provisional sts and the direction you're working.

Keep knitting...

Now when you come back and un-pick your scrap cast on, you'll notice that, assuming you pick up the end sts, you will have 11 sts going in the other direction, marked with the black arrows. The 8 sts in the row below that were held with the scrap yarn are conveniently waiting for you to pick them up again, giving you a total of 19 sts around.

So in either case, if you have (x) provisional sts, you will have (x) going up and (x+1) going down, assuming you pick up the end sts.

I will note that I do still get little holes at the corners even when I pick up the edge sts. I typically get rid of the holes by distributing the extra slack along the adjacent sts. That way there's no need to use a strand of yarn to close the hole. Some knitters pick up additional sts and knit them together. Do whatever works for you!

A note to those of you who dismay at the idea of working a heel (or foot, or finger, etc.) with an uneven stitch count: Fret not. You can still Kitchener your sides together, so long as two conditions are met:

1. the number of sts on the two needles differs by 1,
2. the graft starts on the side with the greater number of sts.

.

Heelix: Teaser photos!

2011-06-06T14:49:00.001-07:00

I have finished my first three working samples of Heelix and felt it was time to give folks a sense of what to expect at the Sock Summit next month. So, without firther ado...

On the left is a Heelix made with 2 variegated yarns from Prism. On the right is a Heelix made with 2 semisolid yarns from Smooshy. Both these socks were cast on at the heel, then the 2 strands divide at the ankle to make the leg and the foot, respectively.

These two socks show the wide range in color effect you can get depending on your yarn choices. The two Prism colors I picked (Alpine and Cabernet) overlap just a little bit in shade, making for a subtly-spiraling heel design with intermittent color convergence. The one on the right (the "manly" sock, so dubbed because my husband said to me, "hey, I'd actually wear that one." Harrumph.) is made with 2 shades of Smooshy: Grey Tabby and Black Pearl. In real life, the contrast is a little more evident than it is shown here.

Next we have here something a little different. And this begins to show the versatility of Heelix: did you know, you can use the Heelix cast on to make a helix toe, not just a helix heel? This gives you a helix all the way up the foot, then the 2 strands divide at the ankle to work heel and leg.

I knit this particular one using ToshSock in Citrus, and ShibuiSock in Pagoda.

So, Heelix used in combination with a sock construction worked entirely in the round is incredibly flexible. I am having a great time mixing and matching the colors in my yarns and my sock configurations. I hope this post will get my students psyched for what they will learn at the Sock Summit this July!

Interlock Bindoff: the Back Story

2011-05-18T11:34:00.001-07:00

Have you seen the latest? In April 2011, Interlock Bindoff was published on knitty.com. Here’s a video I just put together as a demo.

Some of you might be wondering, what gives? Why is Jeny so obsessed with stretchy bindoffs?

A couple of years ago Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bindoff was published in in knitty.com. I've been thrilled with the response, for the most part. But for the most part is a key caveat. Some people hated it, which kindof kept me up at night.

The folks I know who have more publications to their name tell me not to sweat it. "No one can please everyone," they say. Which is true. But since I make my living seeing the world through the eyes of others (my clients, my students, my 2 year-old, etc.), and since I am an insatiably curious person, I decided to examine the point of view of these knitters who didn't have great experiences with JSSBO. Maybe I could learn something from this?

My primary finding of interest was that some folks disliked JSSBO's appearance.

I think it's pretty, but that's a subjective opinion. However, it's a fact that JSSBO is quite visually prominent, so I wondered if I could come up with something that was just as elastic and snapped back just as well as JSSBO, but blended into the fabric more organically. Achieving high elasticity without flare was the real challenge here.

Since most cast ons don’t seem to have the same issues as bindoffs, I approached this challenge via reverse-engineering. Deconstructing the simple loop cast on is what ultimately led me to Interlock Bindoff.

I discovered a few months ago (ironically, just a couple days before Interlock went live) that I was not the first person to explore this topic. Those of you who are familiar with the brilliant Skew sock pattern will recognize the other intrepid explorer as our very own Lana Holden, who apparently is my evil twin in many respects, not just knitting.

All this said, I hope you’ll give Interlock a try. It’s a bit more fussy than JSSBO, given that it’s sewn. But for things like socks and cuffs that don’t have a ton of stitches, it’s the one I always use now!

On to Sock Summit!

2011-04-20T22:26:00.000-07:00

Look, look! Hey, that's me!

This summer at the Sock Summit, I will be teaching a class called "Heelix," which covers two topics:

1. Cast on and knit a heel using helix knitting,
and,
2. Knit a sock from the heel-out.

The helix heel maps a double Archimedes Spiral to a heel shape, resembling a configuration something like this.

Heel-out socks follow this sequence of events (bearing in mind that you can switch the order of #3 and #4).

Stay tuned for upcoming posts containing more detail on some of the techniques used in this class. Although I won't be posting any class content, I will share some related fundamentals that will come in handy with all kinds of knitting projects, socks and beyond!

Judy's Magic Cast On, a-la-Jeny

2011-02-07T15:39:00.000-08:00

A bit over a year ago, I posted my version of Judy's Magic Cast On, which is very similar to the traditional version except that I start on the bottom needle. My original post is here. Then sometime after that, I re-engineered the first step, to make casting on easier and to make the end result neater. In the meantime, I also got some more practice using Adobe Illustrator. So I now present to you some updated illustrations of this excellent provisional cast on brought to you by the extremely clever & creative Judy Becker.

In the illustrations below, blue indicates the working yarn, held with the thumb and wrapped over the top needle. Red indicates the tail, held with the forefinger and wrapped over the bottom needle.

Starting position:

Position the 2 tips of a circular cable pointing to the left, and wrap the yarn around the bottom needle like so. (This will become your first cast on stitch.) Hold the working yarn with your thumb. Hold the tail with your forefinger.

Step 1: Cast on the first top stitch. Bring the working yarn up behind the bottom needle and in front of the top needle.

Now swing your hand down behind the needles, as shown by the arrow. This will bring the working yarn over and around the top needle. The result will look like this. You have now cast on two stitches: one on the bottom needle, and one on the top needle.

Step 2: Cast on the next bottom stitch. Bring the tail up in front of the bottom needle and behind the top needle.

Step 3: Cast on the next top stitch. Bring the working yarn up behind the bottom needle and in front of the top needle, just as you did in Step 1. Swing your hand down behind the needles... ...and you will have two stitches on each needle. Repeat steps 2 and 3 until you have cast on the desired number of stitches. Then you can continue to knit with your working yarn.

Mobebius Cast On: the way I do it

2010-08-07T19:53:00.001-07:00

A well-known way to cast on a moebius is Cat Bordhi's method. This is the first one I learned, and it served me well for many a moebius. But, true to my nature, I eventually got curious about other possibilities. After a litte web research and some playing around on my own, I found that there are, in fact, many ways to start a moebius. In this post, I'll show you my (current) favorite way to do this.

I spent some time deconstructing Cat's method, and found that it was very similar to the classic looping provisional cast on, the key difference being that you're looping your working yarn around the cable, rather than a length of waste yarn. Kinetically, these methods are very different, but the end result is quite similar. This gave me the idea to try to adapt other provisional cast ons for moebius purposes.

The method described below is adapted from the Turkish Cast On, commonly used for casting on toe-up socks. Turkish cast on is about as simple as you get -- it's just a continuous series of wraps around 2 needle tips. But it gets a little tricky when you adapt it to a moebius. Instead of just holding onto the yarn and wrapping it around and around, you are wrapping it around a cable ring, so you have to reposition your hand with each wrap. But despite this little inconvenience, I find it's the easiest and friendliest moebius cast on.

Start with a 40" cable needle.

Step 1
Tie a slip knot into the end of the yarn, and place it on your R needle.
Loop the cable around, and lay it in front of the knot and the working yarn.
Hold the yarn behind the needle and cable.

It should look like this:

Step 2
Release the yarn and move your hand around to the front of the cable.

Step 3
Grasp the ball of yarn from the front of the cable.

Step 4
Holding the yarn, bring your hand above the needle.

Step 5
Bring your hand back down below the needle. Yarn now wraps around the needle and cable.
This is your first Moebius stitch. When counting sts for final width, count this wrap as one stitch.

Repeat steps 2-5 to make more wraps. As you continue to wrap, slide your cast-on stitches to the right, so they slide off the R needle and onto the cables.

By the way, as you slide your wraps onto the cables, do not pull out the extra slack. The wraps need to be loose enough to slide around and onto your other needle.

When you’ve cast on enough sts to go all the way around your cable needle, your work should look something like this. Place a stitch marker on your right needle to indicate your starting point. Work the first stitch on the L needle, indicated with the arrow.

With your stitch marker in place, work the first stitch on the L needle and continue around.

Notice how your slipknot is now on the cable. It started out on the R needle, and as you continued to cast on your moebius stitches, it moved clockwise around your cable to this position.

After you’ve worked all the cast on stitches (once around, or half of 1 moebius round), your slipknot will be on the tip of your L needle, and your stitch marker will be on the cable. Pretty cool, eh?

So, now you know how I like to do it. But if you, like me, are still curious about other ways to cast on for your moebius, here are some links you might find interesting.
Toroidal Snark - sarah-marie belcastro describes a variety of ways for casting on.
Iris Schreier's moebius cast on - video demonstrating an alternative way of casting on -- the result is kindof like Judy's Magic Cast On a-la-moebius.

A little ditty about Illustrator

2010-07-01T05:27:00.000-07:00

My blog has been calling to me lately. "Feed me! Feed me!"

I’m in the middle of several unfinished projects that are not ready for blogging. But I do have a little ditty to share about Adobe Illustrator. This post might be useful if you are interested in learning how to make your own knitting illustrations, and it assumes you have working knowledge of Illustrator. Please see my previous post on this topic, "Knitting with Illustrator," for more on this.

Many thanks to Lindsay (Ravelry ID = lynzele) for sending along this extremely helpful tip!

Have you ever noticed the Appearance window in Illustrator? Little did I know the power of this tab…

If you’ve read my blog post "Knitting with Illustrator," you know that I was creating an outlined path of yarn by

drawing a curve,
copying that curve,
pasting the copy behind the first curve, and
changing the color and increasing the stroke width of the copy.

This meant that for every segment of the yarn path, I had two objects in the Layers window. There are a LOT of yarn segments. Getting them all into the right order was a downright pain in the ass.

Thanks to Lindsay, I now know I can cut the number of objects in half, because of the option to duplicate the path in the Appearance window:

Now I can draw a path, duplicate it in the Appearance window, and I still have only one object in the layer.

(Click on any photo below to enlarge)

I can even give different properties to the two different strokes of the object. The image below shows a duplicate path in which the thicker black stroke has butt caps, and the thinner pink stroke has rounded caps.

So, here’s a little exercise. Let’s draw an overhand knot using our newfound knowledge of this feature. If you were to take a piece of rope and tie a simple overhand knot, it should look like this:

If I draw the path of this knot with the pen in Illustrator, it should look like this below:

In order to make the Illustrator path look like a knot, some portions will have to move forward, and other portions will have to move back. Illustrator doesn’t let you weave a single path the way you can weave a physical piece of rope (alas), so you’ll have to copy segments of the path and layer them in order.

First, increase the width of the stroke so it’ll look more like a knot, and less like a thin pretzel. Then, in the Appearance window (lower right), click on Duplicate.

With the top stroke in the Appearance window highlighted, and the path selected, change the color of the top stroke. Let’s make it hot pink…

Now decrease the width of the top stroke. You can make this change in the Stroke window (right above Appearance in this screen). In this case, decreasing the pink by 1 point looks right for depicting an outline.

Using the direct selection tool, click on the curved segment on the left side of the knot. The handles in the image below indicate which path segment is selected.

Now copy the segment (Ctrl-C) and paste it in front (Ctrl-F). The image below shows these commands in the Edit menu, in case you are not a shortcut-junkie like me.

Now select the path segment that runs through the middle-left.

Paste this segment in front. Note that the new segment will be on top of the main path, but will be below the first path segment you created.

The Layers window might be an easier way to see the order in which the paths sit on top of each other. See that little blue square? That indicates which path is active -- in this case, the middle-left segment in the image above.

Repeat this process with the last segment. Copy the segment with the direct selection tool and paste in front.

You now have something that looks like a knot. You might notice, however, that the ends of the segments are visible. To hide the ends, you can round them off.

Select each of the line segments you just created (use the Selection tool -- the black arrow -- for this, or just click on each segment in the Layer window).
Highlight the top path (the pink one) in the Appearance window.
Click on the Rounded Ends button in the Stroke window.

Voila!

Felted Duck Slippers

2010-06-01T15:27:00.000-07:00

Finished the pattern at last. Hooray!

Please see Ravelry to download the PDF file. Hope you love them as much as I do!

Duck Slippers: Sneak Preview

2010-05-18T14:03:00.000-07:00

After three weeks or so of playing around with felt to figure out how it works, I finally am just about done with my duck slippers. I'm still working out the bugs in the pattern, but here's a preview of the finished product.

Here they are straight out of the washing machine - my jeans are hiding the unfinished cuffs. Those strings are the ends of the cotton yarn I used to preserve the holes along the edge, for picking up stitches later (thank you Helen and Tracy for this excellent suggestion!!)

One finished cuff, on & off the foot

The next post will have the complete pattern and detailed photos of the process.

(added 5/19)
For those who don’t mind working without a lot of direction, here are the bare bones.

For slippers: 2 skeins Cascade 220 yarn, color #7827, US #8 needles.
For cuffs: 1 skein Cascade 220 Superwash, color #877, US #3 needles.
You will also need:

crochet hook close in size to US #3 needles.
length of cotton or other yarn that will not felt

Cast on and Round 1 same as Duck Socks. 6 sts.
Next round, Turkish cast on 2 sts (1 wrap around both needles) at each end. 10 sts
Repeat this round once. 14 sts.
TCO 4 sts (2 wraps) at each end. 22 sts.
TCO 6 sts (3 wraps) at each end. 34 sts.
TCO 10 sts (5 wraps) at each end. 54 sts.
TCO 16 sts (8 wraps) at each end. 86 sts.
Work 1 round in pattern. still 86 sts.
Place YO at each end (start with YO, work 1/2 of the round, then YO again). 88 sts.
Work 1 round in pattern. still 88 sts.
Decrease (2 top + 2 bottom) every 5th row 6 times. 64 sts.
Decrease (2 top + 2 bottom) every 4th row 2 times. 56 sts.
Change from working in the round to working back and forth. From here out, decrease on bottom only.
Decrease (2 bottom) every 4th row another 3 times. 50 sts.
Decrease (2 bottom) every 3rd row 5 times. 40 sts.
Decrease (2 bottom) every other row 5 times. 30 sts.
S2KP 3 central sts on bottom. 28 sts.
Work toes and heel as you would for booby socks (i.e., center toe does not wrap around bottom).

Pick up and knit a row of sts along the edge of opening with cotton yarn. On the second row, bind off. The bindoff does not need to be stretchy.

Felt.

After felt is done and dry, rip out cotton yarn along edge and pick up sts with superwash yarn, using crochet hook. Knit cuff as desired and bind off. I picked up a total of 92 sts, and reduced to 60 over 8 rows.

Don't Fear the Felt, Part 3

2010-05-06T23:23:00.000-07:00

When Cat talks, knitters listen.

After my last post, Cat Bordhi chimed into the comments with a suggestion to try felting in the washing machine. Apparently, my 12% / 25% shrinkage rate is less than one should expect from machine felting. Since this is my first felting project, the perspective of experienced people counts for a lot. So I took a break from slipper-making to run a few tests.

But here's the rub: I have a front-loader, which is not great for felting. Still, I wanted to see what I'd get with the tools that were readily available.

(edit) Results from my little n=3 experiment supported what I thought I'd find: front-loaders are not great tools for making felt. Ok, what now? For the time being, my knitting activities are restricted to my daughter's naptime, so that doesn't lend itself well to finding a top-loader outside the home. That's ok. I'm still curious to see where felting by hand will take me. (/edit)

I made 4 identical swatches on size 8 needles (Cascade 220), and tried different ways of felting. Just for curiosity's sake, let’s take a look at the fabrics.

View from the front:

Top row: felted in warm wash; felted by hand in hot water.
Bottom row: felted in hot wash; not felted (control subject).

Shrinkage rates were (in width/length):
Warm: 8% / 25%
Hot: 5% / 19%
Hand: 11% / 28%

Here's a closer look:

Warm

This one turned out really uneven. Admittedly, this may be because it went in with a full load of laundry.

Hot
This one turned out pretty even (this time I put it in with just a pair of jeans), but it really didn’t shrink all that much.

By Hand
Notice how, in comparison to the other 2 felted swatches, this is the only one that really looks like felt. You don’t see the stitches like you do in the others. It feels a lot stiffer, too. The edges on this one are not as even as the machine-felted pieces, but a) I quite like the irregularities, and b) I bet you could even out the edges with a little fussing (stretching, blocking, whatever).

Also, this is the only swatch that turned out completely flat. This is a big selling point with me.

View from back:

(edit) I’ve come away from this little experiment feeling a greater appreciation for hand-felting. Granted, this is within the context of not having easy access to a top-loader, but still, I feel like there’s something really satisfying about being able to experience this amazing transformation right in my hands. (/edit)

I’ll continue with iterations 3 and 4 in the next post. (Sneak peek: I’ve actually already completed 3 and am working on 4, and I suspect the next post will conclude this series.)

Don't Fear the Felt, part 2

2010-04-27T15:04:00.000-07:00

So continues the saga of my first felting project... (for part 1, go here)

I am making decent progress on the felted duck slippers. This post documents the development of iteration #2. Sizes and gauge are identical to those of the first felting post. Please forgive the variable lighting in the photos.

I think I've got the basic construction down, now I just have to figure out the shaping & sizing for an adult. The felting process shrinks the length by 25% but the width only 12%, so I'll have to figure out new dimensions for these. The test booties look satisfyingly duck-like, but I suspect they'd be pretty hard to walk in.

1. Fresh off the needles.
In this version, I started working back-and-forth at the point where Duck instructs you to start increasing for the instep stitches. This yields a larger opening than in the original pattern, which is important in this case since the felt will not stretch to fit over the foot. I did not pick up sts around the opening to knit the leg -- I moved this step to after the felting process.

2. Just after felting. Note how in this version, the opening is almost half as long as the foot. It was a lot smaller in the first one I made!

3. Picking up sts around the rim with a crochet hook (this was a HUGE pain. I'll come up with an easier way for the final pattern).

One of the things I'm fussing with here is, I don't want to have a ridge on the inside of the knitted cuff that will rub against the wearer's ankle. This is why you see in the picture above that I pulled loops out of both sides -- I later put the inside loops on one needle and the outside loops on another, and then pulled a loop of working yarn through both the inside & outside loops. This way, the picked-up sts were centered over the rim. But it was a huge pain to get the tension right. There are definitely easier ways to do this, and I am now messing around to find the way I like best.

4. With knitted cuff. The cuff started out with 51 sts, decreased sharply up the instep (dec 2 every row for 6 rows), then a few more rows in pattern before binding off.

5. Comparison to the first iteration (which was knitted whole, and then felted)

More to come...

Don't Fear the Felt

2010-04-21T13:59:00.000-07:00

This is the first in what I expect to be a short series of blog posts documenting my first felting project.

I've been resisting felt for years now. I always told myself it was because I simply loved the soft & flexible feel of knitted fabric, but really I think it's because it's just plain scary to take something I've worked on for many hours and subject it to an irreversible transformation that might well ruin it.

Recently I reminded myself that I used to make pottery, and no matter how many glaze tests you do, you really never know what you're going to get until, two days after the firing, you un-brick the door. And yes, sometimes the piece you spent weeks on is ruined, and you run for the hammer in tears. But sometimes the little tea bowl you made in 5 minutes is nothing short of a gift from the kiln gods.

So, after doing some reading, testing, and murming of a few incantations to gather up all my courage, I turned this...

Into this.

(For anyone reading this who is waiting for the adult version of the duck sock, you now see my diabolical plan in progress. For grown-up ducks, I am going to make felted slippers!)

Here are a few shots to show scale.

Left to right: Duck socks, Blue-Footed Booby socks, felt test sock.

The orange test sock was knitted with Cascade 220 (color #2436) on size 8 needles, following the Blue-Footed Booby (i.e., toddler Duck) pattern. I felted it simply by agitating by hand in the bathroom sink. It took some elbow grease, but otherwise wasn't too difficult to get an evenly worked result. It took me about 10 minutes. It shrank about 25% in length and 12% in width.

I have to say, I'm pretty tickled with the way the result looks. But... well, it doesn't really function all that well. Since felt doesn't stretch, I can barely get this thing onto my daughter's foot, and once it's on, it flops around like a clown shoe (and she made it clear immediately that she did NOT like that).

I've got the next iteration in progress on the needles, and planning to try out some different ways of opening at the instep.

More to come later...

Baby Boobies

2010-04-08T14:52:00.000-07:00

Not baby booties -- baby boobies!

This post outlines the pattern for the toddler version of "Duck," published recently in Knitty.

I chose to model these socks after the blue-footed booby, since my husband loves the Galapagos and is a huge fan of this bird. You may of course choose your own inspiration when choosing your color. When my daughter outgrows these, maybe I'll make her some pink flamingo feet.

I also wanted to mention, just in case you are concerned about one possible disadvantage of hand-knitted socks for new walkers...

Fortunately for me, knitters are some of the cleverest and most creative people I know, and the fine folks at the Fiber Gallery on Phinney Ridge suggested I use fabric paint to add a little traction to the bottom. Thank you Fiber Gallery!

Some of you may notice that this sock does not correspond exactly to the pattern below. Specifically, I decided to try moving the decreases to the outer edges, so I would have vertical rows along the bottom. But in retrospect, I like it better with the decreases down the middle.

As always, I encourage you to thumb your nose at my instructions and play around with your own ideas.

The Gist

The booby sock pattern is very similar to the duck sock pattern. Stitch count and directions are the same, with the following exceptions:

Use a slightly thicker yarn, and larger needles.
Do not purl the center stitch on the bottom of the sock -- knit all the way across.
End the center toe at the tip, where you cast on, rather than wrapping around and working to the back of the heel.
Since you are not working the center toe along the bottom, you will end up with 6 live I-cord sts, rather than 9, to be slipped onto a 3rd needle and then onto the same holder as the heel sts.

Other than that, it's the same.

The Details

I recommend that you reference the Knitty article Duck while making these socks, as it contains photos and illustrations of the process. The booby socks are so similar in structure to the duck socks, once you understand the gist of how they are different, you probably won't even need the instructions below. Differences between this pattern and Duck are indicated by bold red type.

MATERIALS
Yarn
Baby Ull by Dale of Norway [100% superwash wool; 175m per 50g skein]; color: #6714 Blue; 1 skein

Needles
Two US #3/3.25mm circular needles, 24 inches or longer, or one needle of sufficient length for Magic Loop. (Note: this pattern was developed for circulars, but if you are devoted to your dpn's, may I suggest you check out this video tutorial, kindly posted by Mojen.)
One set US #3/3.25mm double-point needles (you’ll need only two or three of them)

Notions
Crochet hook, close in size to US #3/3.25mm
Small stitch holders
Tapestry needle
Elastic thread (optional, but a good thing if your toddler likes to pull her socks off)

GAUGE
28 sts/40 rows = 4" in stockinette st

Gauge makes a noticeable difference in size!

PATTERN NOTES
Please see Knitty.com for references to standard abbreviations.
This pattern also uses:

Non-standard abbreviations (these techniques are known by a couple of different names)

RLI (Right Lifted Increase): Use the right needle to pick up the stitch below the next stitch on the left needle. Place it on the left needle, then knit into it. 1 stitch has been increased.
LLI (Left Lifted Increase): Use the left needle to pick up the stitch 2 rows below the last stitch on the right needle. Knit into this stitch. 1 stitch has been increased.
S2KP: Slip next 2 sts together, knitwise, as if to work a k2tog. Knit next st, then pass both slipped sts together over st just knit. This forms a centered double decrease.

DIRECTIONS
Note that a semicolon ";" indicates the halfway mark, where you change to your second circular needle. Differences between this pattern and the original are indicated by bold red type.

Shape Center Point
Using Judy's Magic Cast On, CO 4 sts (2 sts on each needle).
Round 1: [K1, yo, k1] on each needle. 6 sts.
Round 2: CO 2 sts (1 st on each needle), k2 (first st to be knit is new CO st), p1, k1; CO 2 sts (1 st on each needle), k5. 10 sts.
Round 3: CO 2 sts (1 st on each needle), k3, p1, k2; CO 2 sts (1 st on each needle), k7. 14 sts.

Shape Webbing
Round 4: CO 4 sts (2 sts on each needle), k5, p1, k3; CO 4 sts (2 sts on each needle), k11. 22 sts. Round 5: CO 8 sts (4 sts on each needle), k9, p1, k5; CO 8 sts (4 sts on each needle), k19. 38 sts. Round 6: CO 12 sts (6 sts on each needle, k15, p1, k9; CO 12 sts (6 sts on each needle, k31. 62 sts.
Round 7: K15, p1, k15; k31.

Begin Side Toes
Round 8: YO, k15, p1, k15; YO, k31. 64 sts.
Rounds 9-11: [P1, k15] twice; p1, k31.

Shape Foot
Round 12: P1, k13, k2tog, p1, ssk, k13; P1, k13, k2tog, k1, ssk, k13. 60 sts.
Rounds 13-15: [P1, k14] twice; p1, k29.
Round 16: P1, k12, k2tog, p1, ssk, k12; P1, k12, k2tog, k1, ssk, k12. 56 sts.
Rounds 17-19: [P1, k13] twice; p1, k27.
Round 20: P1, k11, k2tog, p1, ssk, k11; P1, k11, k2tog, k1, ssk, k11. 52 sts.
Rounds 21-23: [P1, k12] twice; p1, k25.
Round 24: P1, k10, k2tog, p1, ssk, k10; P1, k10, k2tog, k1, ssk, k10;. 48 sts.
Rounds 25-27: [P1, k11] twice; p1, k23.
Round 28: P1, k9, k2tog, p1, ssk, k9; P1, k9, k2tog, k1, ssk, k9. 44 sts.
Rounds 29-30: [P1, k10] twice; p1, k21.

Gusset
Round 1: P1, k8, LLI, k2, p1, k2, RLI, k8; p1, k8, k2tog, k1, ssk, k8. 44 sts: 24 sts on first needle, 20 sts on second needle.
Rounds 2-3: [P1, k11] twice; p1, k19.
Round 4: P1, k8, LLI, k3, p1, k3, RLI, k8; p1, k7, k2tog, k1, ssk, k7. 44 sts: 26 sts on first needle, 18 sts on second needle.
Round 5-6: [P1, k12] twice; p1, k17.
Round 7: P1, k8, LLI, k4, p1, k4, RLI, k8; p1, k6, k2tog, k1, ssk, k6. 44 sts: 28 sts on first needle, 16 sts on second needle.
Rounds 8-9: [P1, k13] twice; p1, k15.
Round 10: P1, k8, LLI, k11, RLI, k8; p1, k5, k2tog, k1, ssk, k5. 44 sts: 30 sts on first needle, 14 sts on second needle. Note that center st on first needle is knit, instead of purled.

Heel
Work first 9 sts of first needle in pattern; place next 13 sts on st holder for instep. Turn work so that WS is facing. Heel flap will now be worked back and forth in rows over remaining 31 sts. When working first row, work all sts onto one needle.
Row 1 [WS]: P8, k1, p13, k1, p8.
Row 2 [RS]: K8, p1, k4, k2tog, k1, ssk, k4, p1, k8. 29 sts.
Row 3 [WS]: P8, k1, p11, k1, p8.
Row 4 [RS]: K8, p1, k3, k2tog, k1, ssk, k3, p1, k8. 27 sts.
Row 5 [WS]: P8, k1, p9, k1, p8.
Row 6 [RS]: K8, p1, k2, k2tog, k1, ssk, k2, p1, k8. 25 sts.
Row 7 [WS]: P8, k1, p7, k1, p8.
Row 8 [RS]: K8, p1, k1, k2tog, k1, ssk, k1, p1, k8. 23 sts.
Row 9 [WS]: P8, k1, p5, k1, p8.
Row 10 [RS]: K8, p1, k2tog, k1, ssk, p1, k8. 21 sts.
Row 11 [WS]: P8, k1, p3, k1, p8.
Row 12 [RS]: K8, p1, S2KP, p1, k8. 19 sts.
Row 13 [WS]: P8, k1, p1, k1, p8.
Break yarn.

Now you will rearrange the sts so that they fit together like a zipper. The diagrams below show how to do this in general; you can apply these principles to your stitch total (19).

With RS facing, divide remaining sts between 2 needles, placing first 9 sts (represented by medium blue) on right needle and last 10 sts (light blue) on left needle.

Follow the steps below to slip sts to a holder or third needle, alternating 1 stitch from each needle as you go.

Fold fabric in half so that the left needle is in front of the right needle.

Slip 1 stitch purlwise from left/front needle to third needle.

Slip 1 stitch purlwise from right/back needle to third needle.

Repeat steps 2 and 3 until you have transferred all sts to your third needle.

In the case of your sock, since you are working this section over an odd number of sts (this example shows an even number of sts), your result would begin and end with the sts from your left/front needle.

Leave these sts on their holder until you have finished the toes. At that point, you'll bind these sts together with applied I-cord.

Toes
Toes are worked in applied I-cord. Cords will be worked along columns of purl sts which run along top and sides of foot.

Please see Duck in knitty.com for detailed instructions on working the toes. This blog post focuses only on finishing the toes.

Work center toe first. Start and work over top of foot as described in Duck, then when you come to the tip of the webbing, work one more row without picking up any sts from the foot. Bind off and weave in ends. The idea here is, you want it to stick out just a little bit.

Work either of the side toes next, exactly as described in Duck. When you come to the stopping point of your first side toe, place the 3 live sts on holder and break yarn.

When you come to the stopping point on your next side toe, do not break the yarn -- this is now your working yarn.

As you did with the heel sts, place the 3 sts from each toe onto 2 separate needles, and then slip each stitch onto a third needle, alternating side to side like a zipper. You can start from either toe.

After you have slipped 3 sts onto your third needle, grab the working yarn (it doesn't matter if it's from the right toe or left toe), bring it between the two needles and then behind the third needle. Then slip the last 3 sts to the third needle. (I’m working on a diagram for this.) Your working yarn should emerge from the back, between the 3rd and 4th sts.

Slip these 6 sts purlwise onto the same holder/dpn that has been holding your heel sts. You should now have a total of 25 sts on the holder.

Close Back of Heel
Heel will be closed by working applied I-cord, continuing from the side toes.

Next Row: K2, k2tog tbl. Sl sts purlwise back to left needle.
Repeat this row until all sts have been worked. 3 sts remain.

Cuff
Continuing from I-cord sts just worked, pick up and k 9 sts along upper edge of opening, k held sts of instep, pick up and k 9 sts along upper edge of opening. 34 sts.

Next Round: *K3, p2, [k2, p2] three times; repeat from * once.
Repeat this round 15 times more, or until cuff is desired length.
K 2 rounds. BO all sts using Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bind Off.

FINISHING
Weave in ends. If desired, sew elastic thread through inside of cuff.

Quack!

2010-03-21T23:56:00.000-07:00

Knitty is up! :)

Now I finally get to post a photo of the duck socks that I made for my daughter about a year ago:

Below is the toddler version I developed after my little one started walking. These were inspired by the blue-footed booby.

Photo courtesty of Chris Abraham.

The booby socks use the same pattern as the Duck Socks except they have a flat sole.

Please stay tuned for a followup blog post with more detail, including the booby sock pattern. I'll be back soon!

ADDENDA

1. Want an adult version? I'm working on it! Stay tuned to the blog and I'll post both additional sizes when they're ready.

2. DPN-users, check out this video, posted by Mojen on Ravelry: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mojen/4457054527/. Thank you Mojen!

Knitting With Adobe Illustrator

2010-02-21T23:38:00.000-08:00

Over the past month I have participated in a whirlwind of knitting and other creative activity, but I realize you certainly wouldn't know it from my lack of blog entries. I have been thinking about this particular post for quite some time, since quite a few of you have asked me about this topic.

TechKnitter is my inspiration to learn how to make knitting illustrations. Any of you who read her blog will certainly understand. Since knitting illustration is its own unique beast, and there are not a lot of resources out there that specifically address how to learn this skill, I had to struggle through a lot of trial and error to get started (and as I continue learning, the trial & error continues). I'd like to share with you the key insights I've learned so far, in hopes that it will help get you drawing! (Note: this is my own method; I don't know what TechKnitter does.)

This tutorial assumes you have basic Illustrator skills. You should know how to use the pen, how to manage layers, colors, strokes & fills. You should also know how to use the Grid and the Smart Guides. If your Illustrator skills are more raw than this, I highly recommend the Classroom in a Book series, published by Adobe, to get you started.

Before you start: Understand the topology of your fabric.
Note which parts of the paths come to the front and go to the back, and note that this is different for knit stitches and purl stitches.

You may notice that my drawing doesn't exactly look realistic. Compare with a photo I found on the Classic Elite Yarns website:

Even though my illustrations don't necessarily reflect what you'd see in real life, I find that it's easier to explain knitting concepts when I open up the fabric and show the path of the yarn. This is just my own style -- your mileage may vary. :)

For our tutorial, let's start with a single knit stitch.

Step 1: Draw a stitch.

NOTE: To see a larger image, just click on it!

Using the pen tool, draw a single stitch. From the image above, you can see where I put the anchor points, and where I pulled the handles. Set a thick stroke width (in this case 10 pt) and no fill.

Step 2: Copy and paste the stitch.

Choose the Selection tool, select the black path, then copy and paste [ctrl-C]+ [ctrl-V] (or select these commands from the Edit menu). Position the new path directly above the first one. Change it to a different color, one that is clearly distinctive from the color of the first.

Tip: Take note of what's happening in the Layers palette. As you add objects, they appear here.

Step 3: Interlock the stitches.

In order to represent a knit stitch, the black path will have to be in front of the red path in some places, and the red path will have to be in front of the black path in other places. Illustrator doesn't let you bring parts of a continuous path to the front and send other parts to the back. Try it and you'll see what I mean.

So, you're going to do this by copying specific segments of the black path, and superimpose them on top of the red.

3.1 Add anchor points.

Choose the Add Anchor Point tool from the tool palette (hold down the Pen tool to get the flyout menu) and add four new anchor points (A, B, C, and D) in the approximate positions labeled above.

3.2 Select the "leg" segments of the black path.

Choose the Direct Selection tool and click on the black path between anchors A and B. Hold down the [shift] key and click on the black path between anchors C and D. (Note that the path segments will not turn yellow -- this is for illustration purposes only)

3.3 Copy these segments and paste them directly on top.

Press [ctrl-C] to copy the selected path segments, then [ctrl-F] to paste directly on top of the black path.

NOTE: It doesn't matter if you Paste In Front [ctrl-F] or Paste In Back [ctrl-B]. The important thing here is to NOT use Paste [ctrl-V], because if you do, your new segments will not be in the precise X-Y location that matches the black path, and it will be difficult to reposition them manually.

3.4 Group the new path segments.

Press [ctrl-G] to group (or select this command from the right-click or Object menu).

Although this step is optional here, it's a good habit to get into. Right after you paste them, all your new segments will be selected, so it's the perfect time to group them. Once you start making fabric with more stitches and rows, grouping your segments becomes crucial.

Note that the new group is now visible in the Layers palette. All of the objects that make up this group (in this case just 2 path segments) are listed under that group.

3.5 Bring the new segment group in front of the red path.

You can do this several ways: select the segment group and open the the R-click or Object menu (then Arrange --> Bring to Front), or simply click on the object in the Layers palette and drag it up above the red path.

Take a moment to admire your work. You've just made your first interlocked stitches! Now, to make the texture of the fabric really pop, it's good to outline these paths you've drawn. Let's outline these paths in bright yellow.

Step 4: Outline your paths.

Note that before you start making your outlines, your Layers palette should contain three objects: a group, a red path, and a black path. In this step, you will create a copy of each object directly behind it, then change the stroke width and color of the duplicated object. Here's how:

4.1 Duplicate the black path.

Select the black path, Copy it [ctrl-C] and Paste in Back [ctrl-B]. In the drawing space, it will look like nothing has happened, but in the layers palette you'll now see two black paths. The one at the very bottom of the list is the one you just created.

4.2 Change color and stroke of the duplicate path.

Leaving the new path selected, increase its stroke thickness (I chose 14 point) and change the color to yellow. Take note of how the Layers palette automatically updates as you make changes to your objects.

4.2 Outline the red path.

Select the red path, then repeat steps 4.1 and 4.2.

4.3 Outline the black path segments.

Select the segment group, then repeat steps 4.1 and 4.2.

Now, I know what you're thinking here: "yuck, I can see the edges of my path segments!" To hide these lines, select the black path segments (not the yellow ones) and open the Stroke palette...

By default, your strokes end in butt caps. Make sure only the black path segments are selected, then click on Round Cap.

... and, voila!

I'm sure this is enough information for now. Once you master this much, you'll be ready to draw fabric with more stitches and more rows. Stay tuned, that tutorial will come soon!

What makes a good teacher?

2010-01-20T21:18:00.000-08:00

Something happened yesterday that made me stop and think about this.

I stopped into a local cooking school to pick up some flavored oil. It’s owned by a woman who ran a catering biz for years, and decided that she wanted to teach. It’s a pretty neat little place. During the transaction, I asked her a question about pie crust.

I’m happy with my pie crust, but I don’t really understand why it works. And, not surprisingly, in addition to being a curious knitter, I am also a curious cook. So I asked the owner, “I make my pie crust by doing [x], but I don’t really understand why that makes such a difference. Do you know?”

Before I had even finished my question, she was shaking her head. “That’s not the way you do it," she said. "Here’s what you have to do…” and proceeded to tell me about her method.

“But wait,” I said, “I’ve tried that, and it didn’t work.” I mentioned an example of why her method didn’t work for me.

“Well, I don’t know what to tell you,” she said, “because that’s the key. That’s how you make good pie crust.”

Now I should mention, my point here is not how to make a good pie crust. It’s about how to share information with others in a way that leaves them feeling good, in addition to feeling better-informed. (As you might guess, this is my goal in teaching knitting methods.) Although I have no doubt that the owner of the cooking school only wanted to help me to make better pie crust, and wanted me to feel good about that, I left feeling not good. This puzzled me. She probably knows a lot more about pie crusts than I do, and here she was giving me the benefit of her experience, for free. Why did I not come away from the exchange feeling good about it?

Well, I have a theory. I suspect that any given student, no matter how well or how poorly she understands a given subject matter to begin with, will have a better learning experience if the teacher starts by listening, rather than talking. That is the kind of teacher I aspire to be. Certainly when it comes to knitting, there are so many different ways of doing the same basic thing, who am I to say there's one way to do Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bindoff? Oakdryad on Ravelry figured out you can do JSSBO with a crochet hook. What a great insight, I wish I'd thought of that!

I think it would have made all the difference if the owner of the cooking school had showed even a little interest (even if she had to fake it!) in what I was doing now. Her immediate response was “Stop right there, there’s one way to do it, and here’s what it is.” I know she meant well. But the meta-message was: “I’m not interested in hearing what you do, because if you’re not doing it this way, you’re doing it wrong.”

I never would have guessed that in striking up a conversation about how to make pie crust, I would come away with such a rich collection of musings on the kind of teacher I want to be. And her tips on pie crust were quite useful, too!

Second Sock Syndrome? Bah!

2010-01-02T20:43:00.000-08:00

Ah yes, the Second Sock Syndrome...

Like many sock knitters, I too experience the phenomenon of thoroughly enjoying knitting sock #1, and then having no interest in knitting an identical sock #2.

Various clever and well-meaning souls have suggested cures for this malady. There's the two-at-a-time method. Even the two-in-one method, for daredevil knitters. These and other cures may indeed help increase your chances of finishing your pair of identical socks. But they sidestep the real issue, which is: why do socks have to be identical?

I personally like unmatched pairs, and I know some of you out there agree. But, most people I knit socks for prefer traditional matched pairs. Therein lies the quandary: do I please the recipient, and be bored through sock #2, or do I try to convince the recipient to appreciate unmatched pairs, so I will enjoy my time knitting both socks? (This gets into the whole philosophy of gift-giving, but let's save that discussion for another time.)

Below is a recent pair of socks modeled by their recipient, my dear husband. They look a fine pair, don't they? Well yes, that's the point. But there are, in fact, some important differences.

I knit the first sock (on the left) from the cuff down. I knit the second sock (on the right) from the toe up. This proved to be an interesting exercise, a good excuse to do a few side-to-side comparisons.

Comparison #1
Below on the left is the cuff-down sock, started with stretchy slipknot cast-on. On the right is the toe-up sock, finished with Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bind Off.

Before washing:

When I first posted this blog entry, I was ruminating about the slight flare on JSSBO, irritated that it didn't snap back in as nicely as the slipknot cast on. But then I did the laundry this morning, and found...

After washing (not blocking, just drying flat):

Woohoo! Ok, I'm happy. :)

Up close, and stretched out, here's the slipknot cast-on (left) and JSSBO (right). To offset the slight flare in JSSBO, I added some elastic thread along the top of the inside (which, now that the socks have been washed, I can see was probably unnecessary).

Comparison #2
The cuff-down sock (left) has a star heel. The toe-up sock (right) has a wedge heel. Both were knitted as afterthought heels. Either heel design would have worked starting from either the cuff or the toe.

(back view)

(side view)

Comparison #3
I had a little fun with the toes too. The cuff-down toe (left), the first one I knit, flows smoothly and simply across stockinette. For the toe-up sock (right), I added a decorative channel of purl stitch between the increase stitches, which flowed continuously into the pattern on the foot.

There are more differences still, but they get progressively more hairsplitting and difficult to show in photos. Suffice to say, the two socks look similar enough to the gift recipient to qualify as a matched pair. But at the same time, I enjoyed making the second sock just as much as I enjoyed making the first, because it was a completely fresh sock-knitting experience!

Spirals!

2009-12-05T16:50:00.001-08:00

I've been experimenting lately with making continuous spirals. The first project was a mini-hat.

(Top view)

If you count the strands knotted on the top you'll find 5 purple and 3 white. Note that the purple spiral is 5 rows high and the white spiral is 3 rows high. This is not a coincidence.

(Side view, inside-out)
I'm showing it to you inside-out so you can see that the yarn does not carry across any rows or columns of stitches; the stripes spiral continuously, all the way to the top, like a barber pole. (I'm not sure if this would qualify as a helix -- I think so but can't say with any degree of authority.)

You might be wondering, if you're knitting a spiral form, how do you start and end? If you look at the candy-cane sock below, which I knit cuff-down, you can see that the cast-on row cuts across the red stripes.

Unlike the baby hat, the stripes don't go all the way to the tip of the toe here. It's possible to do, it's just a pain. For this particular sock, I decided to end the spiral just before the toe. I'll tackle the spiral toe next time.

The image below should give you some idea of the work involved...
Yes those are 12 different strands of yarn that I am working with simultaneously. If you count them you'll find 8 separate balls of white and four red. As with the hat, each strand of yarn corresponds to 1 row on the sock -- only this time, I broke the pattern up into 7 white, 3 red, 1 white, 1 red. The box with the 12-piece separator was a nice way to keep all of the strands separate, while maintaining easy portability of the project. Half-bottle wine box with separator graciously provided by Panther Creek winery.

Allow me also to point you to the work of Sarah-Marie Belcastro, topological graph theorist and uber-expert knitter. She knits her spiral pieces differently than I do -- just another interpretation of the form. She has a new book pending publication which will demonstrate her method. If you're a Raveler, check out her Spiral Bedsocks!

Cast-On!

2009-11-28T12:41:00.000-08:00

JSSBO is in the latest episode of Cast-On! (audio is here)

I'm honored. I'm speechless. Thank you, Brenda!

:)

Geeking out with Judy's Magic Rib

2009-11-18T21:42:00.000-08:00

Now that I've showed you guys how I do Judy's Magic Cast On, in both knit and purl, you're ready to try alternating them, giving you a ribbed cast-on, which I have affectionately named "Judy's Magic Rib." Judy's Magic Rib is a great way to start mini-moebii which you can use for sock or sweater cuffs, baby hats, etc.

Fundamentally, Judy's Magic Rib breaks down into just four components:

Cast on in knit.
Transition from knit to purl.
Cast on in purl.
Transition from purl to knit.

This post will focus on the Transitions because we have already covered how to cast on in knit and purl in previous posts (here and here). In the transitions, you will:

Bring both strands of yarn through the middle between the two needles, to the other side.
Rotate the yarns one half-twist.

Note that you can do these two sub-steps in either order; this is the order I happen to prefer, and this is what is shown below.

I have to warn you: the kinetics are tricky. You'll be moving two strands of yarn towards you vs. away from you AND rotating in one direction vs. another. It took me *many* attempts to understand how this works. I dearly hope that my efforts to make this technique understandable to you have not been in vain!

The example below is for k2p2 rib.

1. Cast on 2 sts in JMCO-knit.

Start on the bottom needle, end on the top needle. For a refresher on how to do this, click here.

2. Transition from knit to purl.

1. Bring both strands of yarn between the two needles, from back to front. Be careful to not let that last stitch slip off! (It's easier if you first bring the yarns together with your thumb & forefinger, then bring them through the middle.)

2. Rotate the yarns around each other to un-cross them. This is a bit of a pain, because you have to reposition the yarn in your left hand, and switch which finger holds which end of the yarn.

The image below shows this in principle. The three images that follow show how I do it (which you can ignore, if you want to use a different set of movements).

Before I show you how, first I'm going to point out to you that when you're doing JMCO-knit, you hold the tail (red) with your forefinger and the working yarn (black) with your thumb. Whereas when you're doing JMCO-purl, it's the opposite: the working yarn goes on your forefinger, and the tail goes on your thumb. In both cases, the working yarn gets wrapped around the top needle, and the tail gets wrapped around the bottom needle. In theory, if our wrists could rotate another 180 degrees in either direction, it wouldn't matter which finger held which strand, but we humans have our limitations.

So, this is why, when you transition from knit to purl and purl to knit, you have to switch yarn positions.

Hope that makes sense. :)

Here's how I rotate the yarns from JMCO-knit to JMCO-purl...

Note that I used to drop both ends of the yarn, rotate them, and pick them up again. Doing that for each and every transition got old really fast. I eventually figured out this method, which I like a lot better.

(a) With your thumb, let go of the working yarn. Bring your thumb under and behind the working yarn, then up and and in front of the tail.

(b) Now that your thumb is holding the tail, release your forefinger. With your thumb, swing the tail down, behind the working yarn.

(c) Now grab the working yarn with your forefinger, and swing it out.

Transition done! Now you're ready to continue casting on in purl.

3. Cast on 2 purl stitches. Remember how to do this? :) Refresher is here.

With your thumb, throw the tail over the bottom needle by rotating your wrist out, then back.

Throw the working end over the top needle with your forefinger.

(below) You've now cast one purl stitch onto each needle, for a total of three stitches on each needle.

Cast another purl stitch onto each needle, for a total of four stitches.

4. Transition from purl back to knit. (This is the reverse of the transition you did in Step 2.)

1. Bring both yarns between the needles, from front to back. Be sure that last stitch on the top needle doesn't slip off! Bring the strands of yarn together, then through the middle.

2. Rotate the strands of yarn around each other, so that the tail crosses behind the working end. Note that this time you are rotating them in the opposite direction as you did for Step 2.

In principle:

Here's how I rotate the yarns from JMCO-purl to JMCO-knit:

(a) with your forefinger, let go of the working yarn. Bring your forefinger around behind and over the working yarn, then down in front of the tail.

(b) Now that your forefinger has the tail, release your thumb. With your forefinger, swing the tail up and behind the working yarn.

Congratulations, you've just completed the first repeating segment of Judy's Magic Rib!!!

Now you're ready to cast on more knit stitches. Remember how do to this? :) Refresher is here.

Wrap the tail around the bottom needle...

Bring the working yarn behind the bottom needle and in front of the top needle...

Swing your hand down below the needles...

You now have a total of 5 stitches on each needle.

Cast on one more knit stitch, then transition back to purl, and keep going until you have the number of sts you want on both needles. Then you can continue knitting in a circle (e.g., for toe-up socks), or use one of your needles as a stitch holder and continue knitting in a tube.

How I Do Judy's Magic Cast-On...

2009-11-10T06:33:00.000-08:00

THIS POST HAS BEEN UPDATED. Please see new updated post here.

How I do Judy's Magic Cast On is a little different. I start on the bottom needle. (I do this with the purl version too, as you may have noticed already).

This is just personal preference. Cat Bordhi, Wendy Johnson, and Chrissy Gardiner (and probably others) all teach it the same way, starting on the top, but aside from this my method is nearly the same as theirs. Note that their collective method differs a little from the original 2006 publication, with respect to stitch mount (see the *notable word on my JMCO-purl post, for more about that).

I prefer to start on the bottom for a couple of reasons:

I personally find it easier to end on the top needle. I think it makes for an easier transition when you turn your work and continue knitting in the round. And if I end on the top, I want to start on the bottom, so I have an equal number of stitches on the needles.
Judy’s Magic Rib (which I *will* eventually get around to posting… it’s taken a lot more time than I expected) transitions between knit and purl after a top-needle wrap.

Starting on the bottom means that the first step is different. The other thing about my method that is a little different from Cat/Wendy/Chrissy is that I rotate the yarn around the needles in big circles with my left arm, rather than rotate the needles around the yarn with my right wrist. Trust me, you end up with the same end result. I just find the bigger motion to be more ergonomically friendly.

Bottom-needle starting position: Wrap the yarn around the bottom needle like so. The working yarn (black) comes over the front of the needle, held securely with your thumb. Hold the tail (red) in back with your forefinger.

Step 1: Wrap the working yarn around the top needle.

This first step is a little tricky (sorry!) but you only have to do it once. You’re going to arc your left hand in a full circle around your needles, and catch the working yarn (black) with your top needle halfway around.

a. Hold both ends of the yarn securely in your left hand, and hold your needles securely in your right. Swing your left hand up above the needles, in a circular motion towards you.

After you swing your hand up, your yarn is going to cross, like this. Note how the tail (red) now comes around the front of the needle from underneath, and crosses behind the working yarn (black).

b. Slip the top needle just above where the yarn crosses.

c. Now bring your hand back down behind both needles to starting hand position, in a circular motion away from you. Note that when you do this, the working yarn (black) will cross over the top needle, and the tail (red) will cross behind the working yarn.

There. You're done with the hard part -- you’ve just made the first stitch on your top needle. You now have one stitch on each needle.

From here out you can ignore the rest of my instructions and follow Cat/Wendy/Chrissy's (but, remember to end with the top needle). Or, keep reading if you want to see how I get the same end result with a different set of motions.

Step 2: Wrap the tail around the bottom needle.

With your forefinger, bring the tail under and in front of the bottom needle, and then slip it behind the top needle.

The result will look like this:

Step 3: Wrap the working yarn around the top needle.

a. With your thumb, bring the working yarn behind the bottom needle, then in front of the top needle. Swing your whole hand up as you do this.

The result will look like this:

b. Now swing your hand back down behind both needles, in a circular motion away from you, back to starting position.

The result will look like this:

You now have two stitches on each of your needles.

At this point, keep repeating steps 2 and 3 until you have the desired number of stitches on your needles. Here’s what it will look like after you do this three more times:

Let's take a closer look:
You can see in the image above that the end result looks the same as stockinette stitch, and that the stitch mount on the top and bottom needles is reversed. This means that when you turn your needles 180 degrees to knit across your bottom needle (pink)...
...you can knit normally. You don't have to do anything special to secure the tail end, and you don't have to knit through any back loops. Just let go of the tail and knit across the red loops with the working yarn. Yay! :)

A Lesson In Humility

2009-11-02T19:02:00.001-08:00

There's something about actually drawing the path that yarn makes on a pair of needles that allows me to see just how much I've been overlooking. It is a very humbling experience. But a tremendous learning opportunity -- it's like putting on a pair of glasses, not knowing how badly you need them, and suddenly realizing how much you were missing in the way you were looking at the world before (and yes, I'm speaking from experience there).

Because of some very astute observations one reader (you know who you are) shared with me about my last couple of posts, I thought maybe I was missing something about the way I do Judy's Magic Cast-On, so I dove deeper into the physics and kinetics of this method (you guys are going to see just how much of a nerd I really am). And sure enough, I found some things I hadn't noticed before. Because I am an über-perfectionist, the illustrations aren't quite ready in time for my self-imposed weekly Monday deadline, but they're in progress:

Click to view larger image

(These may also give you some idea as to the process I use to make the illustrations -- a few of you have been asking about that).

So, as I did before when my knitting content wasn't quite ready by Monday, I've uploaded another cute video of my little one to keep you entertained. This one's less than a minute, so do click on it and watch!

Watch it on YouTube

A crash course in illustrating | More on Judy's Magic Cast On

2009-10-26T01:39:00.001-07:00

For the past 2 weeks I've left my knitting on the shelf and focused on (a) becoming more fluent with Illustrator, and (b) creating illustrations that would be easy to follow. Specifically, my goal was to have illustrations of Judy's Magic Rib for you this week (see my previous post "Ode to Judy" on this). I got as far as Judy's Magic Cast On in purl. So, I'll finish the illustrations for Judy's Magic Rib next time. Following the illustrations is a philosophical discussion on the purpose for doing this in the first place!

How to do Judy’s Magic Cast-On* in purl:
Hold the yarn like so. The black line represents the working end of the yarn; the red line represents the long tail. The working yarn comes up and over the bottom needle and leans to the left.

1. With your forefinger, lift the working yarn (black) over and around the top needle, then down and in front of the bottom needle. I'll show this in two steps.

(1a) First, lift the working yarn over the top needle...

(1b) …then down and in front of the bottom needle.

2. Now take your long tail (red), and with your thumb, throw it over the bottom needle and around the working yarn. You'll rotate your wrist out and back to do this. This is also shown in 2 steps.

(2a) First rotate your wrist out, and with your thumb, throw the tail over the bottom needle...

(2b) Then rotate your wrist back in. Note how the tail now crosses in front of the working yarn, on the underside of the bottom needle.

Note also that you have one loop around the top needle and one loop around the bottom needle.

Now repeat step 1 (both a and b). Lift the working yarn over the top needle and bring it down in front of the bottom needle.

As you pull the working yarn around the top needle, this pulls the tail up from the bottom. You now have two loops around both needles.

Now repeat step 2 (both a and b). Rotate your wrist out, throw the tail over the bottom needle, and rotate your wrist back in.

You still have 2 loops around both needles. The next time you repeat step 1, you’ll have 3 loops on both needles.

Keep going, and pretty soon you have a group of stitches on your needles:

------begin philosophical discussion------

Ok so now that you have JMCO-purl on your needles, perhaps you’re wondering why I would bother to figure this out in the first place. Why use JMCO-purl if you can just do JMCO? Well, a couple of reasons...

One, because I wanted to be able to cast on in a rib pattern, so that I could make mini-moebii cuffs for socks, hats, and other small openings (you can use JMCO to start a moebius -- more on that later). Two, because I just plain like taking stuff apart and reverse engineering it.

Ah, and on that note, some of you out there in blogland may notice that my JMCO-purl is not, in fact, the true reverse of the original Judy’s Magic Cast-On, as published in Knitty in 2006. (See my *notable word below for details.) Yes, a very astute observation. Well, as with many things in life, there are multiple ways to do JMCO. And here I would like to take this opportunity to plant a subversive seed in your brains by quoting Judy Becker herself:

“If I did everything the "right" way, I never would have invented JMCO. And if Cat had actually followed the JMCO instructions, it probably would have been years before I realized that it doesn't really matter which way you wind the yarn around the needles - the magic is in the middle (sort of like Voodoo Donuts). So strike those words from your knitting vocabulary!”

Yay Judy! Subtext: don’t assume you have to follow the instructions (yes, even my instructions) to come up with something that works for you!

------end philosophical discussion------

*A notable word about JMCO and stitch mount:
Normally when knitting or purling, the stitches are wrapped around your left needle leading with the front leg. Take a closer look at the last illustration and you will notice that the black loops on the top needle do just that; they lead with the front. Whereas the red loops on the bottom needle lead with the back leg. This is on purpose, and this is where my method diverges from what would be the reverse of the original JMCO.

Why does this matter? Well, say you’re starting a toe-up sock. After you cast on your stitches, you’re going to rotate your needles 180 degrees clockwise and work across the red stitches. See what happens as you turn the work 180 degrees?

The red loops, now on the top needle, change orientation and lead with the front leg, and the black loops, now on the bottom needle, lead with the back leg. Work across the row of red stitches as you normally would, then rotate clockwise again, and the black loops would once again lead with the front leg. Magic!

A little shameless self-promotion

2009-10-20T13:49:00.001-07:00

If you live in the Seattle area and are interested in learning how to knit a moebius, I will be giving a free, informal workshop at The Weaving Works on Thursday, Oct 22 from 6-8 pm. Yes that's TODAY. Sorry for the late notice.

Please see the Weaving Works' List of Fall Classes for information on this workshop, as well as many other fine activities they have going on.

Hope to see you there!

We interrupt this regularly scheduled program...

2009-10-18T11:03:00.000-07:00

Y'all can blame TECHKnitter for lighting a fire under my butt to figure out how to make illustrations, rather than relying solely on photos. For the past week or so I've been rather obsessed with learning this skill. And there's a learning curve, so I don't have anything presentable to share with you this week.

Well ok, I guess I can show you the result of my first lesson...

Anyway, in an effort to keep you entertained in spite of my lack of instructional materials for this post, I bring to you this little ditty:

(Watch on YouTube)

I suspect it will appeal to parents and cat-owners alike. It's amazing what babies will find to entertain themselves.

Stay tuned, my first illustration project will be instructions for Judy's Magic Rib.

Ode to Judy

2009-10-12T01:04:00.001-07:00

There once was a knitter named Judy
And one day, while sick and all woozy,
She made up a trick
It's really quite slick
It's a cast-on, and it is a beauty.

In the Spring of 2006, Judy Becker published her Magic Cast-On in Knitty.com. Sock knitters around the world quickly adopted this ingenious technique and applied it to toe-up socks.

But what about other ways to use JMCO? And other patterns, besides stockinette stitch?

After I learned how to do Judy's Magic Cast-On, I adapted it to a rib pattern. This is useful for all kinds of things -- but mostly I use it to make mini-moebii.

This little guy, for instance, is the perfect size for making baby socks. (Yes, that's Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bind-Off at the edge.)

My latest video walks you through doing the traditional JMCO, reverse JMCO (i.e., purl), and JMCO Rib -- which, with Judy's permission, I have affectionately named "Judy's Magic Rib."

(watch it on YouTube)

In the video I show two strands of yarn tied together in a knot. This is just for visual reference so you can more easily see which end is the working yarn (purple) and which is the non-working, or tail, end of the yarn (red). Normally Judy's Magic Cast-On is done with a single strand of yarn -- in fact, that's what's so great about it!

Note that Judy's Magic Rib will always have a visible half-stitch shift at the cast-on row. I happen to think this is an endearing feature, but I know Judy doesn't love it.

Thank you Judy for sharing your ingenious cast-on with all of us!

Below are some images that I hope will clarify the process of doing JMCO-purl. You need to get comfortable with this before you can master Judy's Magic Rib. (10/23 Addendum: Note that the exact method here shown for starting JMCO-purl is a little different from what I show in a later post, "A crash course in Illustrator." The newer one is better!)

1. Put the yarn around the bottom needle with the ends coming toward you, the non-working end (red) coming over the top. Get ready to swing the working (purple) yarn up with your forefinger so it crosses in front of the non-working (red) end.

2. With your forefinger, continue upwards; swing the working (purple) yarn up and over the top needle, bringing it back through between the needles.

3. With your thumb, grab the non-working (red) yarn...
(The working yarn is now IN FRONT of the bottom needle -- sorry this is a bit obscured in the photo).

... and swing it in front of the working (purple) yarn, and up and over the bottom needle.

4. After you swing the non-working (red) yarn over the needle, rotate your hand clockwise.

5. After you have rotated, use your forefinger to bring the working (purple) yarn up, over, and between the needles.

6. Then, as in step 3, grab the non-working (red) yarn with your thumb and bring it in front of the working yarn, and over the bottom needle.

You now have two stitches on your needles. From here, continue from step 4 (in which you rotate your hand).

Hope this helps to clarify Judy's Magic Cast-On in purl. Stay tuned for written instructions for Judy's Magic Rib!

Is there a topologist in the house?

2009-10-04T22:29:00.000-07:00

Seriously. Because I would really like to know what is the proper name for this form:

It's a double-knit moebius. But what's the mathematical name of this thing? It's got a half-twist, so it must be a moebius. But it has an inside and an outside, which means it has volume, so it can't be a moebius. So what is it? (My best guess: some kind of twisted toroidal form). If there are any topologists out there reading this, I hope you know the answer, and that you will let me know.

Here is my latest video, which explores these topics.

(View in YouTube).

Here's where this saga began...

Once upon a time I learned from Cat Bordhi's book A Treasury of Magical Knitting how to knit a moebius. Pretty cool. Then I heard through the grapevine that Judy Becker had made a doubleknit moebius, which naturally made me want to try to make my own. Only I wanted mine to be continuous, with no insertion point. The image above is what I came up with. The red crochet chain shows where the stitches came off the needles.

While I was knitting it, I was vastly curious what I would end up with if I bound off the edges separately and unfurled it, instead of grafting the edges together. So, here's what you get if you pull off the crochet chain...

Pull the sides apart...

Untwist, and voilá!

To my complete surprise, I found it to be the *exact same* form that you get if you cut an ordinary moebius down its center axis: a tube with 720 degrees (2 full turns) of twist.

Ergo, you can take this form and re-shape it into an ordinary moebius (note how the knit and the purl sides meet in the middle here):

I don't know about you but I thought, oh man, this is way cool!!

If you stuff the closed form to give it some volume, you get this:

Note how the half-twist goes away as it gains volume, and instead you get a spiral running through the middle. Awesome!

I've continued to explore this topic and found that there are yet more ways to create a doubleknit moebius, some of which may surprise you. Stay tuned...

Jeny's Stretchy Slipknot Cast-On

2009-09-26T07:07:00.000-07:00

Since Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bind-Off was published in Knitty earlier this month, a number of knitters have asked me if there is an accompanying stretchy cast-on. Well, there is. It is the most elastic cast-on I know -- more elastic than the classic long-tail cast-on. And this one is not a long-tail cast-on so you don't have to worry about how much yarn to leave for the tail.

Like my bind-off, this cast-on is super-stretchy:

And like my bind-off, this cast-on also hinges at the bends of the ribbing.

I've created a video to show you how to do it.

This video is also available on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n8E3I6Cg2k.

The basic premise of this cast-on is this:

1. Make a slip knot.
2. Make another slip knot.
3. Continue.

It's really as simple as that. But it's a little tricky getting the slip knots to all line up right next to each other on the needle. The video will walk you through the tricky parts.

The origin of this bindoff is somewhat of a mystery. Years and years ago I learned it, or something like it, from a book. I later forgot how to do it, and couldn't find the original resource I learned from, or any knitters who knew it, so I had to figure it out all over again by myself. This happened a few more times over the years. And I still can't find the resource, or any other knitter who uses this cast-on. So who knows if it's an original, or if it's some ancient cast-on, lost in the midst of time. It doesn't matter -- it's an awesome cast-on that every knitter should know about. If you've ever used or seen anything like it, please post a comment!

Warning: This cast-on is a bit finicky about the kind of yarn you use. You should use yarn that is a smooth texture and uniform in width. Trying to do this cast-on with yarns like chenille, or any of the yarns shown here, will give you nightmares!

ADDENDUM 9/28: Now that this post has been up for a few days, other knitters who know this cast-on (or very similar) are coming out of the woodwork. Yaaay, I knew you were out there!

Check out this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKwYH-vqJL0

The author twists the yarn around the needles with a different set of motions, but the end result is, in fact, the same.

ADDENDUM #2, 10/4: A-HA! Confirmation that yes this does in fact exist in print. See Montse Stanley's Buttonhole Cast-On, p. 76, fig 2.37.

Video tutorial for Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bind-Off

2009-09-21T10:40:00.000-07:00

Cat Bordhi, grande dame of sock knitting, has just posted a video tutorial of my bind-off. Thank you Cat for helping me to spread the word!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abBhe-JYmgI&feature=channel

Cat will be signing copies of her new book, Personal Footprints for Insouciant Sock Knitters, at Yorkshire Yarns in Lakewood WA on Thursday September 24, 4-8:30 pm. In addition to her fabulous sock construction patterns, her book also teaches the JSSBO as a bind-off for toe-up socks. Cat is a fabulous human being and well worth the trip to come meet her and say hello. I hope anyone within driving range of Lakewood (Tacoma suburb) will come to Yorkshire Yarns this Thursday!

Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bind-Off

2009-09-11T11:28:00.000-07:00

Knitty is up! Yaaaay!

Knitty.com will tell you all about how to do this bindoff, called "Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bind-Off."

I used to go to great lengths to avoid binding off -- going so far as learning how to do a k1p1 Kichener stitch so I could graft on a waistband. I generally avoided toe-up socks and other patterns that required a bindoff, losing out on a world of designs.

After I got seduced into the world of making moebii, which are knit from the inside out (unless you want to do a very messy graft) I realized that the jig was up -- I couldn't escape binding off anymore. This sparked a series of attempts to come up with a better bindoff, and this one quickly rose to the top of the bunch. It went through some evolution after I got in touch with (the AMAZING) Cat Bordhi. She helped to simplify and streamline it.

What makes a curious knitter?

2009-08-18T20:58:00.000-07:00

For anyone who has ever thought that reading the directions would give you an unfair advantage in figuring out how to do something -- you are a kindred spirit.