Knitting Again!

Yes, I've picked up my much missed needles again! For this project, I am designing and knitting a hat for my daughter. The yarn is handspun by me alpaca yarn. The original idea was to spin and knit a blanket for her, but then I got a bunch of blankets at a shower (some really nice handmade ones too). I started spinning it before she was born but am just now getting to knitting it. The idea has morphed into a hat, knit from the top down. I like that for the same reason I like toe up socks, you can try it on as you go. I'm thinking an I-cord edge will finish this hat off nicely. I hope I can find time to finish it before it gets cold!

Baby Leg Warmers Again

I know its been a while, but yes, I finished the baby leg warmers and I finished them in time for baby to wear them. :)

They're a super easy project and a great way to use sock yarn left over from a smallish pair of socks!

Baby Leg Warmers

I had some of my orange and pink hand dyed yarn left over after knitting the socks, and wanted to knit something small with it. I think baby leg warmers are super cute! They are practical too, as diaper changes are so much easier than if your baby is wearing pants.

I'll share my simple pattern with you.

Size: 8 in around leg and can stretch to a little bigger.

Materials: Fingering weight yarn

Gauge: 8 st/in

Difficulty: Easy

Pattern: Cast on 64 stitches and join in round. I cast on both leg warmers using one long circular needle. I'm also knitting from both ends of the yarn.

K2, P2 *repeat around*

Continue ribbing for 10 rows.

K around, continue for desired length or you are running low on yarn.

K2, P2 rib for 10 rows.

Bind off using the decrease bind off to keep the edge stretchy.

Happy Knitting

Sample Socks

I knit these socks to show off my hand dyed yarn, so people can see how the yarn knits up. If someone wants to buy them, that's cool too. The plan is to bring them to the shop downtown and have them next to my yarn.Here is a close up of the heart pattern on the leg.

Q&A Skew Socks

I received a question in my comments about my skew socks, asking how I did them two at a time on one circular needle.

First I used the magic loop technique which I often use for two at a time socks.

Then, specific to that pattern:

Knit it twice up to the increase mini-gusset section.

Then you can either keep track of left vs. right socks very carefully or put one sock on a spare needle to hold it until you have completed through the decrease mini-gusset section.

There was some sticky moving stitches around to make it work, but I think its worth it to not have to knit them one at a time.

I put the heal stitches on safety pins until I finished knitting the rest of the socks and then I Kitchener stitched it together, but when you do it isn't a big deal.

Then the legs are the same again, but pay attention to which way they are facing.

Happy Knitting :)

They're gone already,

gone to the giftee. I finished the Slippery Socks! The results were great, but had I known how long it would take to knit, I probably would have knit a different pattern.

Here are the cables close up! This is on the sides of the socks.

This is on the front and back.

The yarn I used is Paca-Peds: Superwash Alpaca Sock Yarn in Frosty Nite.
I paired that with a size 1 needle.
Yep, I went ahead and used a circular needle instead of the double points the pattern calls for (Hey, I don't have size 1 double points and I like doing socks 2 at once so I don't mess up and make them different. I'm just a rebel like that.) I had to do some creative rearranging of stitches for the heel and then again to finish the toe.
I like the cables and the pattern is pretty straight forward (use stitch markers to tell you where the end of the different needles would be if you're going the circular route, that part requires a little math).
However, I wish the sizing was more clear, as the pattern is for "an average woman's foot", and it instructs you to knit until "2 inches less than desired length". That is a bit difficult if you can't measure the giftee's foot, which can be awkward and totally spoil the surprise! That's why I linked those handy charts in my last post.

Now the socks have been given already or tardily as the case may be, and I hope the giftee loves them!

Sock Sizes

I'm working on another pair of socks (shhhhh) and I've noticed that many patterns I've looked at say something like "knit until 2 inches less than foot length".

Well that doesn't make it much of a surprise if I go up to the giftee and ask to measure their foot!

In my searching I found this chart that gives you shoe size to average foot length.

These charts from My Jewel Thief Knits give even more information on sock sizes!

I'm so glad I found those!

Turkish Cast On

I used the Turkish Cast On in the baby socks I recently knit. It was really simple, just wrapping the yarn around both needles (or both ends of the needle).

Here is a good tutorial.

Here is a video tutorial.

I think it works better for casting on a larger number of stitches than only a few. The little socks I made started with 8 stitches, 4 on each needle. It kind of looks like I started knitting from a small circle rather than a line which is the usual for socks.