Knitting Pharm

Meet the Pattern: Pot Pourri Socks

While I haven't seen a copy in real life yet, the Internet seems to be buzzing with the recent release of Knitting Socks with Handpainted Yarns.  I'm a little buzzy too, anticipating the moment when I get to see my own pattern in a real, live book.

Meet Pot Pourri:

  Photo copyright 2008, Interweave Press

The sample socks were worked by Kristi Geraci in Pagewood Farms Chugiak Hand Dyed Sock Yarn.  Quite pretty, yes?

With the release of the blog, Carol and Interweave are embarking on a publicity blitz.  I'm pleased to do my part by giving you a little bit of the behind the scenes of my pattern and what inspired it.

I love bright, vibrant handpainted, crazy multicolours, especially watching the various hues fly through my fingers as I work a sock.  There's a soothing feeling to that old familiar motion, Magic Looping with a 2.25mm circular, with the added excitement of watching the colours mingle as a sock takes shape.

I, along with ridiculous numbers of knitters, consider Socks that Rock to be the Cadillac of such yarns.  The firm twist, the soft hand, and, oh, those colours.  However, sometimes I find it hard to do justice to a yarn that is so very special to me.

Ladies and gentlemen, give me complete order and symmetry, or give me total randomness.  The inbetween will literally keep me up at night.

Handpaints give me predictably frustrating results:  nice, fairly even stripes on the foot, crescent-shaped pooling around the ankle where my gusset increases cause the colour stacking to reverse direction, then nice striping again up the leg.  Depending on the stitch pattern and colourway being used, it can look really nice to my eye, or make me want to poke my eye out.

I sometimes use a short row or afterthought heel to minimize distortion in the colourations, but that robs me of the sock knitting process I have come to so dearly love.

When the call for submissions for Carol's latest book came out, it suggested a few means that we as designers may do well to consider:  directional changes, changing stitch counts, lacy distraction, etcetera.

Fearing I could never tame the beast of pooling, I used them all.

Pot Pourri changes stitch counts on most of its 7 repeated rows.  As well, every seventh row is a terrific yarn hog, as each pair of stitches is wrapped in a double figure 8.  This serves to not only deposit colour on the stitches, but to "reset" the yarn so that any tendency to establish colour patterning in the previous rows will be interrupted.  The gentle curve of wrapped stitches is too subtle to be a real chevron, but is just enough to keep the eye moving.

It's written cuff-down with a picot edge (the picots are even purled to give a peep of colour from the previous round), eye of partridge heel flap and a toe that is decreased in three wedges.  I'd call it an intermediate knit, but a quick one.  You may find yourself knitting on just to see if you will find pooling.  I believe you won't.

Below is a shot of a finished pair in STR lightweight, Cobblestone County colourway.  I can't see the pooling; can you see the pooling?

Buy the book, enjoy what I've heard is a comprehensive set of chapters to help you understand the nature of the handpainted beast, and knit as many socks as you can stand.

But skip to page 88 first, OK?

Update on Interweave Title

Knitting Socks with Handpainted Yarns is en route from the printer and will be available before the holidays!

Interweave have posted the Table of Contents, and it looks really, really good (if I'm allowed to say so).

Put this one on your list for holiday giving, and watch for an excerpt in the upcoming issue of Knits.

[/end PSA]

Pretty Smurfy

My favourite Hallowe'en fiends had an odd request this year.

"Could you knit a smurf sleeper for the baby?"

Um, OK.

I suppose I've knitted odder pieces than that.  At least this one had a purpose, so the baby would match his smurfy parents at their upcoming Hallowe'en party.

I started from the toes, worked up to the body, added a zipper from the back waist to the top of the head, ribbed face opening, a little stuffed short-row peak, and voila!

 

 

New pattern: Diva Wrap

Baadeck Yarns has had me knee-deep in embellished silk, and I like it.  A lot.

My second design in Tilli Tomas yarn is now available from Baadeck Yarns, free with the purchase Tilli Tomas Disco Lights.  Sequined silk is so very, very good.

Her name is Diva, and she comes in three widths.  Skinny scarf and scarf each take a skein, while the wrap width takes two.  She is worked in the easiest 6-stitch repeat and is totally reversible.

And did I mention the sparkle?

 

On an exciting note, the Tilli Tomas people have purchased batches of patterns for this and for the Uno cowl, so you should be able to purchase through them anytime soon.  Filling my first wholesale order made me feel a wee bit like peeing my pants legit.

Enjoy!

Baack to Baadeck

I have really, really missed Baadeck Yarns.  Whenever my annual professional conference takes place in Baddeck,  I love to go visit, fondle, and spend.  After a two year gap, I finally made my way back.  Behold the new stash!

Sea Silk in Baadeck Pinks, one each of the dark and light shades.

Discounted Felted Tweed, enough for my very own Tangled Yoke cardi.

Noro Silk Garden Sock, which I've been assured lacks the complete and utter suckage of its Kureyon sibling.

And some Beaded Silk from Tilli Tomas.  It's delish.

I did a design for the shop, for a lacy Moebius cowl.  It requires one skein of Rock Star, 1 long 5mm circular and the cast-on directions from either of Cat Bordhi's Magical Knitting Treasuries.

The pattern is free from Baadeck Yarns with the purchase of the required yarn, so contact Pat if your little black dress needs a bit of bling.

How's everyone else's stash doing?

Stash in, stash out

It's been a Wicked, Wicked kind of August.  Armed with 2 shades of Ottawa, a perennial favourite, I aimed for the perfect, casual fall sweater.

Nixing wide stripes from the outset, I opted instead to alternate colours on each rounds, with the solid on the collar, cuffs and pocket.  This prevented both unsightly horizontals and OK-but-unwanted pooling.

These shades were complimentary but had no colour in common.  I love the blending effect of the alternating rounds.  The "seam" is up the middle of the back, and is only visible if you want to see it.

I joined the pocket a bit differently, working the top edge provisionally and then pulling each stitch through to the inside before binding them off.  The result is clean and decidedly NOT migraine-inducing to work.

I love this sweater, although it's still too warm to model it!  Here's Amy doing her best.

And how does one celebrate an epic destash but with a bit of an enhancement?

Blue Moon Luscious Single Silk in Spinel, for a February Lady Sweater.

Some Harlot-inspired shades of Socks that Rock for baby knitting.

And a bit of discounted Opal, just because it's Opal.

 

Allow me to excuse myself; there's silk to roll around in.

Stop, knit and breathe

Life around here is not quite as it should be.  None of it involves huge personal trials, just a bunch of little things that have left me not myself.  The mojo, she's left the building.  In the spirit of appreciation, here are the small things I am taking comfort in as I ride this blip.

A pattern that I can do in my sleep.

A cool stitch pattern,

that can even be added to a heel flap for the funkiest sandal socks ever!

A yarn that does the work for me

A very tidily [if I may say so] turned heel.

Out of province yarn acquisitions

Book previews, where my name appears with some quite amazing people.  [I affectionately call the author's list a "Who's who (them) and a Who's that? (me)!]

Hats that will bring comfort

And readers who bear with me, even when I take myself far too seriously.  Thank you, all!

More borrowed words

 

Click the pretty book below to pre-order, or just to read and be in awe of Carol.  She rocks my socks.

And the Juno* for best sweater in a cotton blend yarn goes to...

Cables and Os!

*cue music*

Design by Brooke Snow, from the Amy Singer book No Sheep for You.  Yarn and needles by Knitpicks.  Buttons by Mission Falls.  Sleeve caps by Barbara Walker.  Knitted by, and fitted to, me!

Knitpicks Cotlin, Key Lime colourway.  Modifications:  longer body, full length sleeves, buttonhole band and top-down sleeves.

I'm told that the sleeve method I've yoinked from cyberspace can be found in the Barbara Walker book Knitting from the Top and is called the Seamless Set-in Sleeve.  Thanks to Becca for clarifying that for me.

And, just in time, Knitpicks has gone and expanded the colour selection in Cotlin to include some softer shades.  I may just need another one for next winter.  Somebody stop me!

[As if you could.]

* if you're wondering what the heck a Juno is, it's like a Grammy, but more apologetic.  And it says aboot.]

Previously, on a very special Lazy Knitter

When last the Lazy Knitter reported, the retained armhole stitches were waiting to become sleeves.  Today I have 2 sleeve caps that each look like this:

[pretty freaking perfect, if you ask me.]

I joined on and worked each stitch (concealing wraps as in Cat Bordhi's latest book) and picking up stitches to a total of 106 (the final stitch count for my size).  I then worked in short rows, starting with 32 centre stitches, increasing one on each row until all stitches had been incorporated.  Now it's just a matter of working in the round to the wrist, reversing the shapings.  I love this method and its effect.

The only change I would have made would be to centre the pattern on the body of the sweater.  It's not written this way, as the intent is for a row of Os in the pattern to serve as buttonholes.  Once I opted to add a button band instead of doing this, having Os on the buttonhole edge became less important.  The knits of half-cable on the edges would have made a cleaner canvas for picking up stitches, but I think I did pretty darned well with the purl background.

Speaking of facings and buttons and all good things, check these out:

I.  Love.  Them.

True to form, once the hardest parts of the sweater were done, I set it aside to work some other projects.  Lots of them.

A felted purse for my niece:

The beginnings of a pair of socks for my nephew:

More clogs, just because they're quick and fun...

And a completed and blocked Swallowtail for a draw prize at an upcoming charity luncheon.  (Click for bigger.)

I'm Toronto-bound in the morning, hoping to do a run-by visit at Lettuce Knit for Knit Night before having a sleepover with a dear, dear friend.  Have a happy hump day!