Knitting

Hand-me-down Socks

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“These socks are very needed in this Arctic cold weather!!! Thanks again !! ”

 
Poonam stopped by for a visit during the Christmas holidays. The weather was cold so I pulled two pair of socks from my sock drawer and gave them to her. Her feet are a bit smaller than mine so I selected two of the smaller pair.

This was the first pair of socks I knit – in 2003! Because I have so many pairs of socks they don’t get worn heavily so these were still good as new. 

Glad they’re appreciated and doing their job.

Socks

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I may have been quiet for the last three weeks but I’ve been knitting and sewing away each day!

Finished this pair of socks from leftover bits of yarn. I find I enjoy turning those bits of yarn into something that’s even more interesting than some of the variegated patterned yarns.

I like this pair so well that they’ve gone in my sock drawer instead of the give-away pile.

Of course I started a next pair straight away.

Sock Updates

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So it started out like this — the heels were worn (in the blue pair the wear extended into the instep). I’ve created a way of replacing heels so that was what I was planning on doing. I picked up stitches around the worn out heels, ran a holding thread through, cut out the worn part a short distance away from the holding thread, then removed the excess knitting until I reached the holding stitches.img_7133

The procedure then involves picking up the stitches at the leg edge of the heel, knitting a regular heel, then grafting back the instep to complete the sock. That worked on two pairs. Shaved the nubbies off the socks and they’re like new.

IMG_7168 The blue pair required a bit more extensive surgery! I knit the heel and the gusset and was set to graft back the toe when I discovered the toes and underside of the foot were too threadbare to warrant using. So I continued knitting the entire foot. I scrounged around my leftover yarn but I had no variegated yarn to blend with the leg so I elected to finish the foot in a solid dark grey yarn.

These will now last another couple years of hard wear!

Socks From Peruvian Merino

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I didn’t buy the yarn in Peru – I received it as a Christmas/Birthday gift. I liked the feel of the skein so decided to use it right away.

It was a lovely yarn to work with – single ply (most sock yarn is a light weight 4-ply), superwash Marino, lightly spun so it stayed together nicely as I was knitting. 

The skein had been hand-dyed variegated – no predominant colour but lots of subtle hue changes with something like a 8-10 row repeat. In the photo the socks look somewhat brown but the predominant colour when knit is more golden.

Because the yarn was 100% merino I decided to use a regular sock yarn with 20% polyamide fibre for heels and toes figuring the merino was likely too fragile for these heavy wear areas.

I really enjoyed knitting with the yarn! The socks are now in my sock drawer.

Sock Makeovers

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A week ago I was handed three pairs of socks in need of repair. Two pairs need new heels; the third needs new heels and instep. 

What you see here are the socks with the damaged parts cut out and a yarn stitch-holder in place. It’s taken a couple of hours to do this prep work. I did two pairs last night; just finished setting up the more damaged pair. I don’t have leftover yarn that matches exactly but I can come close. So now all three pairs are ready for me to begin knitting. 

Once the repairs are done the socks will get a good shaving to remove all the pills and they’ll be as good as new. I’m willing to do the repairs – takes a fraction of the time needed to knit a whole pair!

However before I start working on these socks I want to finish the pair I’m currently working on. It’ll be three-four days before I get to these.

Socks For Charlie

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Finished last night. In the mail today! Charlie’s 4 years old (almost). Foot length 6 1/2″. His legs are still a bit chunky so I used 52 stitches, 40 rows leg length. Took four evenings to make. He said he liked yellow – I didn’t have much in the way of yellow leftovers. I came was close as I could, augmented with complementary colours.

Now I need a picture with Charlie wearing them! Then I’m expecting an order for two more pairs: one for Noah (nine), one for Mattie (seven) – I’ll need foot lengths, though.

Hey, the socks fit!

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Second Knit Hat

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I finished the second knit hat a couple of days ago. As you can see, it’s LARGE before its felted.
I did the felting last evening – just about 15 minutes in very hot water in the washing machine, agitating it with a drop of detergent. I rinsed the hat by hand and wring it out with a towel.

Filled the crown with crushed newsprint, set the hat over a mixing bowl, then set the inverted bowl over one of the heating vents. The hat was dry this morning.

I used a bit of the yarn from hat #1 for a “band”, mostly because I wasn’t sure I had enough red to complete the hat. I like the contrast!

Now to wear it!

So Here – Another Pair Of Socks

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Slightly larger than my standard sock – I began with 4 more stitches for the ribbing (72 rather than my usual 68) with a decrease at row 25, and a second decrease at row 45 for a total of 64 stitches at the ankle. The foot is also longer – 62 rows after the gusset instead of the 50 I usually knit for socks for someone wearing size 7 1/2-8 shoes.

I made this pair for a woman friend – I thought about sending them to Charles, Andrea’s husband, although I wasn’t sure he’d wear pink (there isn’t a lot in these socks but there is some). I’ll get them in the mail tomorrow.

I’m now working on a small pair for 4 year-old Charlie (who has a 6 1/2″ foot). Yellow he asked for, so yellow it is. I had some yellow leftover yarn which will get me to the instep and then I will have to improvise from there.

The socks finally arrived and they fit beautifully and Sab loves them!

Felted Knit Hat

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Too bad I didn’t think to take pictures of the hat before I felted it – when I put on the finished hat (before felting) I looked like the cat in the hat with this enormous thing covering my head down to my nose!

Last night I put the hat in a small amount of very hot water in my washing machine, agitated it for about ten minutes – and suddenly the hat was half the size, felted and it fit. I wrung it out in a towel, stuffed the top of the crown with crushed newspaper, and placed the hat over an inverted bowl to dry.

It’ll look good with my navy coat, my maroon corduroy jacket, and even my red parka! I’m now knitting another in red (with a contrasting band at the base of the crown from the yarn I used for this hat).


OK – here is the hat with a smile!

Yet Another Pair

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Finished these socks last evening. Made from two different leftover patterned yarns (plus some complementary solid). The combination worked out reasonably well.

I’m coming to the end of leftovers – another pair or two – and then I’ll need to buy more variegated sock yarn.

I started a brimmed hat before leaving for Newfoundland. I’ll get back to it later this evening after I get home.