Helix Sox

This is a variation of my favourite sock pattern, but the simple ribbing pattern creates a Helix spiral around the foot.  The pattern hugs the leg and foot top really well, so it will fit everyone.  BTW: that shoe is one of my new Fluevogs!! LOVE THEM!
Yarn: any sock yarn, patterned or plain.
Needles, 2.5mm double points (I like bamboo)
Helix Ribbing Pattern (multiple of 6 sts):  K3, P3 repeat around sock for four rows, [then shift one stitch to the left, and repeat four rows again] repeat this shift to make the pattern*** photo of pattern in a drawing, below***

Cast on 66 stitches and join in the round. Start the 3 by 3 Helix Ribbing Pattern, and work this in the round until total length is about 7 inches.

Heel: Put half the stitches (33 ) on one needle by knitting next 16 sts, and transfer previous 17 onto the front of this needle. Rearrange the other 33 sts onto two needles with 17 on one and 16 on the other. These 2 needles will be ignored for a while.

Working on the 33 st needles, Purl (wrong side) across. Right side: [Slip one, K 1] repeat across row. Work these two rows until repeated 15 times. (the heel should be almost square and be about 2.5 inches).

With right side facing you will now do the magic that is a heel turn! K18, K2tog, K1, turn to wrong side facing. Slip one, P5, P2tog, P1, turn. Slip one, Knit to the stitch before the gap (the space between the slipped stitch and the old heel stitches). Knit 2 tog (thus closing the gap and picking up the last slipped stitch and the next old heel stitch), K1, turn. Slip one, Purl to st before gap and P2tog over gap, P1, turn. Repeat these two rows, until all the old heel stitches are involved and worked.

Right side again: Knit across heel, pick up 15 sts up the side of the heel (put these on needle 1).

Work next 33 sts on needle 2, AND continue to work Needle 2 in the Helix Ribbing, as established. Pick up 15 sts on the other side of the heel and knit half of the bottom of the heel sts. (needle 3). Check and make Needle 1 and Needle 3 have the same number of sts on each, adjust if needed.

Round ONE: Knit down Needle 1 to 3 sts before end, K2tog, K1, Needle 2: work in K3, P1 pattern as established, Needle 3: K1, K2tog, knit to end of needle. Round TWO: Knit needle 1, Pattern needle 2, Knit needle 3. Repeat these two rounds, until back to 66 sts (17, 33, 16). Then continue in stocking stitch for the under foot and helix ribbing stitch for the top of foot, until about 6 inches from the picked up stitches of the heel (or until sock is about 1.5 inches short of your foot length). Toe: round 1: Needle 1: Knit to last 3 sts, K2tog, K1. Needle 2 K1, K2tog, K across to last 3 sts, K2tog, K1. Needle 3: K1, K2tog, K across to end. Round 2, Knit all sts without decrease. Continue to knit these 2 rounds until 16 sts are left. Graft two rows of eight sts.

Do it all again for sock two.

pattern in sketch form....

 First stage of the big felt project.  Make Pre-felt pieces.  These are layered merino rovings, blended in three thin layers and wet with soap to slightly bond together.  You want these pieces to hold together, but not felt hard or shrink.  The idea is that this fabric can then be cut (into leaf shapes) and laid onto the sky blue background rovings, and then the whole piece will be rubbed and worked, and then shrunk together, so that the leaves remain clearly defined in the background colour.  Above you see the merino roving (in the bag) and the edge of the layers on the blue bubble wrap.

 Here I am laying on the last layer of the light green piece.

 This one is the medium green, with dark green bits that will be used to shade the leaves.  It will be more apparent when I cut them.

Above is the light green piece, drying.

Not terribly exciting in themselves, but the large piece will involve many layers of leaves and stems and apples to reach the end result.... More to come!

Burning the knitting needles at both ends....

It has been a crazy week, and I have hardly had time to breathe, never mind knit!  I did finish a quick knit in cotton.  It was from spring summer 2012 Knit Simple, pattern number 17.  I adjusted it (as I usually do) and changed the pattern to basic stocking stitch , skipping the twisted knit stitch and also skipping the neckline shaping.

 As you can see in the photo below, the right side piece is knit sideways with the lower "ribbing" produced by garter stitch.  The left piece is the same as the right AFTER the dropped stitches have been pulled to ladder from one side to the other.  You can see how the length grows!  It is nice and full of easy drape, and looks nice with a matching tank top underneath.

In the last 7 days I also: made two more bridesmaid dresses, made another summer dress, put five zippers in five dresses and finished all the hems.  Five dresses done.  I also hemmed a three layered wedding dress (purchased) and hemmed pants and a jacket sleeve length for a men's suit.  I ALSO worked 40 hours at my "part time job" - covering for a vacationing co-worker.  I even played 3 rounds of golf, including 7am this morning before going to work for the 1 - 8pm shift.
So goodnight crafty readers, I will sleep well tonight  :)

Blue Ribbon Cowl Neck

Blue Ribbon Cowl Neck

Yarn:  SRK Sari , 50gms = 95 meters,  12 balls  (or a chunky ribbon that knits to gauge)

Gauge: 14 sts and 20 rows = 4 inches on 7mm needles.

Needles: 7mm for body, and 7 and 10 mm short (16 inches)circulars for the cowl neck.

Size: Medium, fits bust 36 – 42.  This yarn is VERY stretchy and is designed to stretch to fit.

Back: Cast on 55 sts.  Work in knit 1, purl 1 ribbing for 4 inches.  Increase 7 sts in the last row and change to stocking stitch.  Work until length is 14 inches from start.  Cast off 4 at the start of next two rows for armholes.  Work even until total length is 23 inches.  Cast off all sts.

Front: Work the same until the cast off for armhole is done.  Work until 3 inches below back length.   With right side facing, Knit 23, cast off center 8, knit last 23.  Working both sides at once (attach another ball of yarn to the first side) Work in stocking stitch, decreasing one each NECK edge on the right side only five times (18 sts on each side left.)  Work even until same length as back and cast off remaining sts.

Sleeves:  Cast on 30 sts, work in knit 1, purl 1 ribbing for 3 inches.  Increase 2 sts on last row, and change to stocking stitch.  Increase 1 stitch each side every 6^th row until 52 stitches.  Work even until the sleeve is 16 inches long.  Cast off all stitches, and make another sleeve.

Sew shoulders, and with short 7mm circulars , pick up 70 stitches evenly around the neck opening.  Work in knit 1, purl 1 ribbing for 5 inches.  Change to 10 mm circulars and continue in ribbing for 6 MORE inches.  Cast off all sts VERY loosely.

Sew sleeves in the armhole opening, sew sleeve and side seams.

Preview of New Pattern

 Next pattern is coming... a ribbon cowl neck sweater in navy blue!  So classic.  I just finished it and will have to carve a bit of time to plunk down the pattern, but I promise to get to it in a couple of days.

Meanwhile, I am finishing the fourth bridesmaid dress, anticipating a fitting this weekend, and I have lots of other sewing to get to as well.  Golf is back in my life, playing today at 1:30 with the girls!  And we have a guest in the house for a week... meet Cosmo...

He is a green cheeked Conure, and loves to hang out with my hubby.  Here is a close up of him and you can clearly see that he was helping the handyman to paint the garage door! (yes, the beak is normally all grey, not grey and white!)  I hope my daughter forgives us for painting her bird!

Here We Go!

This is the first (of many) entries that will follow the process of my wall art felt piece that will be part of the Cultural Capital of Canada art project.
The inspiration for this piece is the photo below.  I taped it on my wall.  It is 18 inches wide and five feet tall.  This piece will be hung on a wall in the Region Office in St. Catharines, along with four other "fruit belt" photo inspired fibre and mixed media art pieces of the same size.  I am so excited to be part of this project!

The next photo shows the fun I had at The Fibre Garden last week.  I purchased mostly merino and corriedale rovings in blues and greens, and there is a citron silk that has stunning shine on top of the natural merino batting that will be the base of the wall hanging.  There are skeins of shrinkable wools in front and embroidery threads and vials of tiny glass beads!  All the supplies I need to "paint" this picture in wool!

The first thing I did was make a small sample.  It is about 12 inches by 15, and I wanted to see how the colours blend and how much the combination shrinks so that I can best calculate the finished size of the big piece.  I also did a bit of needle felting to accent the apples.

Notice the way the silk add shine and texture (because it shrinks at a lesser rate than the wool.  The tree branch will also have some texture when I add some boucle wool to the mix.

 for more felting blog entries go HERE
and HERE.

Sarah's Cable Merino

This is my go-to pattern, it fits every time. The raglan always fits shoulders, especially when combined with the springy ribby small cables. I have mastered the technique of making 4 stitch cables without the cable needle, by knitting in the back of the third and fourth stitch, then without pulling those off the right needle, flip it around to the front and knit in the first and second needle. Then, pull all four off the left needle.... MAGIC! But, for most non-insane-extreme knitters, it is a very simple 4 stitch cable, always the same, always on the 6 row repeat. Easy. The feature of this design is leaving 4 stitches intact at the edge of the raglan for each piece, and perform the decreases on the inside of this band. It creates an 8 stitch wide band when sewn together and really defines the raglan. (photo below)

Pink Cable Raglan Sweater

**knowledge of cable knitting is very helpful here**

Yarn: Grignasco Merino-Gold, 15 balls, 50gms, 125 m. (Or DK weights Merino that Knits To Gauge!)

Needles: 4.0 mm (US 6), and medium cable needle. (or size to get correct gauge)

Gauge: 28 sts and 36 rows = 4 Inches ***IN CABLE PATTERN*** Knit your swatch in the cable pattern, then wet and block without ironing or flattening** important as the cables will relax a bit***

Size: Medium (37 inch bust, but very stretchy to a bit bigger or smaller should work)

Cable Pattern: Row 1: P2 [K4, P2] repeat across to end. (swatch and sweater have stitches that are a multiple of 6 plus two more stitches… ie: 6 times 21 = 126 plus 2 = 128 for the main body.

Row 2, 4, and 6, : K2 [P4, K2] across.

Row 3: same as row 1

Row 5: P2 [Cable 4 left, P2] across. ** Cable 4 left= put 2 sts on cable needle, hold to front of work, knit 2 sts, then knit 2 sts from cable needle**

Back: Cast on 118 sts. Work in K2, P2 ribbing for 2.5 inches. On the last row increase 10 sts across (128 sts)

Begin Cable Pattern (above), and work until length is 15 inches.

Raglan shaping: cast off 8 stitches at start of next two rows, keeping cable pattern as established.

Decrease row: (right side) knit 4 (even if this is a cable row 5), Purl 2 together, work stitches as expected in the cable pattern until 6 stitches are left on the needle, Purl 2 together, knit 4.

Wrong side: knit and purl what you see on the needles.

Continue these two rows, decreasing on the right side. If there are not enough knit stitches to create a cable, just knit those. This happens inside the 4 edge sts as the raglan progresses.

Work until you have 36 sts left, and add a few rows if needed until 9 inches since the raglan cast off. Cast off all remaining sts.

Front: Work same as back until 4 inches below top neck of back. Neckline: Cast off center 26 sts, join 2^nd ball and work both sides at the same time. Continue to decrease the raglan edges on the right side and at the same time , decrease one stitch at each neck edge every right side row 5 times. Work only until the length is ONE inch below the back length, and cast off the few sts left on each needle.

Sleeves: Right sleeve: Cast on 54 sts, Work in k2, p2 ribbing for 2.5 inches, increasing 8 sts on last row.

Establish cable pattern on 62 sts, and work up sleeve, increasing one stitch on each side every 6^th row. When the increases allow, incorporate the cable pattern into the new stitches.

Work until 104 stitches on needle, work even until 17 inches from start.

Raglan shaping: Cast off 8 stitches at start of next two rows, Work decreases same at back and front, every right side row, inside the framing 4 stitches.

Work this raglan, until Length of sleeve matches the front length (1 inch shorter than back). Cast off 3 at start of right side row, continue in raglan pattern on the left edge through to end. Next right side: cast off 2 at start. Next right side: cast off 2. Last right side, cast off rest.

Left sleeve, work same to 1 inch below back length: Working from the WRONG SIDE: cast off 3, then 2, then 2, then bind off all, while working the regular raglan shaping on the right side only at the right edge.

Neck Ribbing: Sew all the raglan seams except ONE at the back shoulder. (or sew all and use small length circulars to do the neck ribbing)

Pick up approx. 100 sts around the neck edge. Work in k2, p2 ribbing for 1.5 inches – OR you could continue up into a mock turtle or full turtle neck here!)

Sew last raglan seam.

Sew sleeve and side seams.

Wet in cold water, and lie flat shaping gently to air dry.