Old German Sock Knitting Rules:

I do not remember when I knit my first pair of socks, but when one of my daughters came to visit wearing a pair of socks that her sister-in-law had knit for her, I automatically blurted out “I know how to knit those” and promptly found my double point needles, some yarn, and started knitting a pair.

Later on, I found an old German booklet. Printed by the Kingdom of Sachsen, Germany entitled “Strumpfgesetze” (Sock Laws). The Kingdom of Sachsen was in existence from 1806 to 1918, the end of WWI. No publication date is noted, but I would estimate it was written in the early 1900s.

I realized that I used the same rules: Stitches divided onto 4 DPNs and knit with the fifth one. Cuff as many rows as stitches on one needle. Rows for the leg are equal to total stitches cast on. Heel over needles 4 and 1 knit for 2 rows less than the total stitches on needles 4 and 1. The instructions use the heart-shaped heel cap. (And here I thought this particular cap was a newer invention.) The little pamphlet has several other variations for turning the heel. For the foot, after finishing the decreases of the instep, the instructions state to add as many rows as total stitches on 2 needles. For the toe,

 again, several versions are offered.

One of these days I will have to try the other versions for turning the heel and knitting the toe, just for the fun of it.

I promise to have another installment of what I think I have learned since that first pair of socks, I knit so many years ago.

Keep on knitting!

Part 4 and 5 of the Mr. Ghan Afghan Crochet-Along

Can you believe it I am on time and all caught up and eagerly awaiting the pattern for Week #6. I am really building up my crochet skills. Week #4 is called "Change" for the loose coins men carry in their pockets and may put on the dresser at night while Week #5 depicts "Chicken Scratches" albeit they are much neater than the scratches my chickens left behind or my hand writing which has frequently been mistaken for chicken scratches as well. So without further ado, here are the photos. The "Country Blue" keeps taking on different shades depending on the light that is available while photographing the tiles.

Continue to crochet or knit, Merrily. 
 

Afghans - Part 2 and 3

The second and third rectangles are completed. Waiting for tomorrow's issuance of the fourth one. The third one, Quivers, had me baffled and it took three tries before the little gray cells engaged and then it was a breeze.  So here are the photos. The quivers pic isn't the best, but that's what happens when it's too snowy and dreary outside and the lighting on the inside isn't the best. All in all I'm very satisfied and grateful to Melinda for her design and graciousness in offering it free to those of us who signed up in the beginning. But now that I know her designs and instructions, I wouldn't be at all adverse to paying for any of her patterns. 

 Arrows

 

Quivers

Keep on crocheting. 

Afghans

I have developed arthritis in my right hand knuckle right below the index finger. Unfortunately, my body seems to be on a down hill trip since I turned 75 in May of 2015. I found, however, that the knuckle can tolerate crocheting; so crocheting it is for now.  Ravelry has a number of crochet communities and by searching I found Melinda Miller Designs. And thus the project Mr. Ghan. Crochet has not been my thing since the 5th Grade when I was forced to crochet a pillow insert with No. 10 crochet cotton. Me thinks a pot holder would have been much better for a first crochet project. My mother wasn't much help either since she was a knitter. Finally her girlfriend took pity on me and helped me cheat a bit. I know the basics: single, half double, double, and triple crochet and was able to make simple Granny squares and the ubiquitous shell baby blanket. But otherwise I side stepped anything crochet. So now I've decided that maybe I should put that prejudice aside and learn a few tricks. Melinda's Afghan crochet-along gave me that little kick in the derriere I needed. I even bought Red Heart yarn since I can't imagine hand washing a blanket made with all wool. Each Friday will bring a new rectangle. The first one is done, with just a little hand holding from my youngest daughter and I am proud of it. Didn't know you could do such fancy things with the simple double crochet stitch. The photos aren't the best. They were taken inside where it is almost as dark and dreary as it is outside.

Instead of saying "Knit on, merrily", I suppose it'll have to be "Crochet on, merrily."  

The evolution of a scarf

I haven't been knitting much lace in the last year because of the tremors I had developed and it was difficult to knit intricate patterns.  It was just too bothersome to get the needle through the correct stitch. But I mentioned this problem to my doctor and he had a miracle cure: a very low dose of a Beta blocker. Low and behold, the shaking stopped. It's amazing what little inconvenient things can crop up once you've hit 75. Luckily all my ailments are mechanical; no heart, blood pressure, kidney, etc. problems, just plain old arthritis and those darn "essential tremors." They really ought to be renamed "non-essential" since one really doesn't need them.

I am a sucker for Knit-Alongs. So this year, I decided to knit Unikatissima's Advent Calendar.  I had two yarns from which to choose, a lace-weight Alpaca and a light fingering hand-spun Shetland/Alpaca. Here are my swatches:

 This is the lace-weight Alpaca

Shetland/Alpaca

Since it was a particularly cool day, I chose the Shetland/Alpaca mix. Besides, there are few occasions in my life style where I would benefit from a delicate and elegant shawl.

Day 1 looked like this:

Day 2:

Day 10:

Day 12:

This is the insert in the middle of the scarf to lengthen it to your liking. The nice thing about Susann's patterns is that they are adaptable and one can make them wider, narrower, or knit them with a cotton yarn to make a table runner. I am seriously thinking about knitting her 2014 Advent Calendar as a table runner.

Since it is still December 13, I am now sitting down and knitting the 18 rows, a manageable daily portion.

Knit on, merrily.

And another sweater!

I can't believe it, but I have entered the stage of knitting sweaters willingly. I've always knit them for charity, but rarely for myself.  Well that had to change. 

So here is my second winter pullover. Barbara Walker's book on knitting from the top down mysteriously reappeared from the netherworld of my knitting book library. I have no idea when I bought the book, but it has been several years ago. I must have looked at it, saw that it was nothing but text and, therefore, put it aside quickly. This German likes her charts. Give me a chart and I am ready to go. On the other hand give me text, and I'll avoid it like the plague.

Last winter (early 2014) I decided that I needed to conquer this short-coming of mine. I had a five-ball bag of Regia Hand-dye Effect sock yarn which I picked up for very little at Little Knits  and thus this sweater was born. It did end up in a corner for a good year, before I decided maybe I needed to continue with it since I wasn't going to knit socks with the yarn. About midway through, a skein of hand-dyed grass green sock yarn made it's appearance by peaking out of a pile of yarn. And thus the green stripes were born. I call it yarn doodling instead of doodling on paper during those long ago boring staff meetings in which I tried to emulate the Dutch painter Piet Mondrian.

(I assume by now you have figured out that I am not the most organized person. I used to blame it on the cat, but, alas, he is no longer around. Sammy used to carry off yarn to his own special hiding place.)

The pullover is a dream to wear. It is light weight, warm and fits well.  I may just have to use Barbara Walker's instructions again, provided I remember where I put the book.

I added two things to the instructions. A series of short-rows right after I joined the front and back together to compensate for my slightly rounded back. I also added a few stitches on both sides of the front to accommodate my ample bosom. And finally, I finished with picot edgings around the neck, hem and sleeves.

 
 Knit on! Merrily.
 

I've been busy preparing for winter. It's going to get cold around here, the snow is going to pile up and the heating bill can only be kept down by wearing warm sweaters. When I first came to the United States all those many years ago, every house I entered was overheated in my opinion. But gradually the thermometer in my house went up and air conditioning was installed and turned on the moment summer temperatures appeared. Now I am back to what it was like years ago: the air conditioning was not turned on this summer and the winter heat is set at 62 degrees F. Thus the need for warm woolly things. And I was a lucky woman. My not so local yarn store (not much is local around here) had a "clean up the store" sale. If you bought three bags of yarn, the purchase was 50% off. This meant, of course, that I could buy yarn after which I had lusted for a long time. Bunny yarn or more formally called Angora yarn. Yippee. I was able to get my hands on a bunch of Knitting Fever Angora (70% Angora, 25% Merino and 5% Nylon). It is soft, light weight and warm. It is just right for the milder Fall weather and when deep winter comes along, a Tee underneath will keep this old woman warm.

I chose Heidi Kirrmaier's Simple Summer Tweed Top Down V-neck as the basic pattern with changes needed for my ample bosom. As usual I added stitches once the depth of the arm was knitted. The other problem I have to deal with is my somewhat rounded back. Normal patterns always make the back appear a little shorter than the front. The idea came to me to add some short rows in the back which worked out beautifully. I started the short rows right after I had joined the body at the underarms. So now I have a "drapey", sloppily comfortable sweater. 
 

Now if I could just straighten up that posture of mine.

Knit on! Merrily.

More Socks

Some more of the socks I've knit in the past year-and-a-half.

These were knit with a strand of Cascade 220 Fingering and a strand of Regia Creativ. The Regia yarn was a sock blank died by Regia. It's the yarn I love to hate. Sock blanks aren't my favorite to begin with, but these were dyed at a diagonal with one color at either end of the blank and the second color in the middle, which actually knits up to half the sock in one color and the foot in the second color. Weird! But at a sale price of about $2 per100 grams, I just couldn't pass up the bargain. When mixed with the  Cascade it doesn't look too bad.

The pattern is the basic sock pattern I have known since "Hector was a Pup." The leg is a simple cuff of k2, p2 and the rest of the leg k3, p1. The foot is knit with a flap heel (my favorite) and the toes are knit with the following formula: No. of stitches on one of the four double point needles less 2 stitches. If each of the four needles holds 14 stitches, the formula is as follows: 14-2+12. Dividing the 12 stitches by 2 = 6. Decrease 4 stitches every other row six times, then decrease the same no. of stitches every row until 2 stitches remain on each needle. Break off yarn, pull yarn through the remaining 8 stitches, tighten and pull end of yarn to the wrong side and sew in. If the stitches on the needle are an uneven no., e.g. 15 stitches, decrease 7 times x every other row and  6 times every row. Simple and no Kitchener stitch.

The second pair, a pair of knee socks,  is also knit with 2 strands of yarn; one strand of light worsted JoJoland Baritone (a leftover from a sweater I knit for a girl at the Akkol orphanage) and 1 strand Knitpicks Stroll Heathers and Twists sock yarn. I inserted a 2x2 left leaning cable with 1 purl stitch on each side of the cable and 6 stitches stockinette in between the cables. The cables are my own design; I think the overall sock pattern was someone else's idea but darn if I remember where I saw it.

As always "Knit on!", merrily.

Some eye candy of finished socks

My sock knitting came to a standstill when I decided that this woman needed some sweaters and tops, but I realized that I have neglected to post any socks I knit during 2014 and the beginning of 2015. So here are some photos of socks that have gone or will go to the orphanages in Kazakhstan.

These boot socks were knit with left-over Debbie Bliss Donegal Tweed together with one strand of Regia Design Line Garden Effect. The pattern is fashioned after the Wisconsin Winter Socks pattern.

I am calling these socks “Doodles” because that was exactly what I was doing: doodling. After getting ready to pack a batch of socks for the Motherless Child Foundation, aka Mittens-for-Akkol, I was at loose ends and didn’t quite know what I wanted to do with this yarn. None of the thousands of patterns on Ravelry enticed me nor came I across a pattern in my vast collection of sock pattern books. So I just started to knit.
Pattern: Cast on 56 stitches, 14 stitches per needle. Cuff k1, p1 for 14 rows. 1. 4 rows stockinette. 2. For next two rows purl across first needle of 14 stitches, knit next 14 stitches; repeat one more time. 3. Knit 2 rows. 4. Repeat #2. 5. For the next six rows on fiirst needle: p2, k2 across 14 stitches, ending with p2, knit 2nd needle; repeat once more. 6. Repeat #2. 7. Repeat #3. 8. Repeat #2. Repeat 1-8 as often as needed for the leg.

Just a plain pair of socks knit with Regia Creativ yarn.

Until next time. "Knit on, merrily."

 

Breezy Comfort

While talking to my son the other day, I was told that some knitters in the Tacoma, Washington area wanted me to update my blog. I can't believe it, but the last time I posted was in 2013. Ravelry and Facebook have taken over. 

A lot has happened since then. I've gotten two years older, the bones in my spine want me to know that I have a spine and that it's not very happy. After being my constant companion for 15 years I have lost my beloved Pepe Le Pew, the rat terrier. He was approximately 16-1/2 years old. He was suffering from kidney failure and dementia and was just as stubborn and independent as his owner. I adopted him from the parking lot of the prison at which I worked and didn't regret it one single day. 

Besides life happening, I've been, of course, knitting. Socks and sweaters for the kids in the Kazakhstan orphanages, shawls and scarves for one of my daughters, and this year, sweaters and tees for myself. 'Twas about time. Our not so local yarn shop had a "clean up the shop" sale. If you bought three packs of yarn (each bag the same color and dye lot) you got 50% off. Now how can a knitter pass up such an opportunity. 

One of the treasures I found was a boucle yarn called Yardley by Bristol Yarn Gallery, an Alpaca/Silk yarn. I had been coveting it for some time. The yarn knitted up into a light weight, drapy, but warm cardigan that will be just perfect for the fall here in Northern Michigan where the white stuff usually starts flying in October. The pattern is free from Drops (garnstudio.com), a Scandinavian yarn company and is called  http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/136-8-breezy-comfort. I had to make some slight changes to the front and I made it a little longer so it would warm my derriere when the weather gets colder. All in all I am pleased with it.

I have learned something new in the past few months as far as shaping is concerned. I have fairly narrow shoulders, but my bust is ample. That leaves me with two possibilities: Have the neck so wide that it falls off my shoulders, but fits my bust or have the neck fit properly, but the garment is too small to fit across my front. If I knit from the top down, I use a smaller size, but increase stitches either across the front or on the sides of the front only, depending on the pattern.

Both the Breezy Comfort and the Gemini tee are knit with increases across the front. By the way, the Gemini pattern can be found on Knitty.com. It was knit with a very well aged bamboo sock yarn. 

So folks this is all for now. As Elizabeth Zimmermann used to say "Knit on!" To that I add "merrily."

Trying to catch up with postings

Once again it's been too long since I posted.  My excuse:  I got busy knitting.  Finally sent off a box full of socks to the Motherless Child Foundation and as of the weekend after Thanksgiving they have arrived in Kazakhstan.  It's always a surprise how many pairs I was able to knit during the year when I pack them up for shipping.

I already have two pairs started for next year's gift box, but have taken time out to knit myself a sweater.  The older I get, the more woolly things I need to keep warm.

Here are the socks:

Odds and ends socks knit with dark green Wildfoot yarn and patterned yarn of unknown history.

Knit with Opal Diamant yarn from a free pattern on Ravelry . You can click on Ravelry to get the pattern.

Knit with yarn hand-spun by my youngest daughter.  The pattern is Kalajoki by Tina Seppala.  Again, the pattern is free.  

More to come.  Knit on, Merrily! 

Oh my, it's already the last day in October

It's Halloween or All Saints Day, but the little goblins won't be out tonight due to the weather.  It's miserable outside. It's raining, it's pouring, but thank goodness it isn't snowing. Not that any goblins ever visit us since we live outside the village and the house cannot be seen from the street. More socks have been finished since the last time I blogged and all of them will shortly be packed up and sent to the Motherless Child Foundation for transportation to the orphanages in Kazakhstan.

So here are photos of two more pairs of finished socks.

The pattern is Rainbow Cable (Regenbogen Zopf) by Sonja Koehler.  The pattern can be found on Ravelry . The yarn was hands-pun from roving by Yarn Hollow, a Michigan yarn dyer.  She can be found on Ravelry as well. 

The yarn used was Plymouth Stiletto. As far as I am concerned the yarn was a disaster: 3-1/2 knots within a fairly short length. The 1/2 knot were 2 pliés of the 4 plies. On top of the knots, the yarn knotted together was a totally different sequence than the rest of the yarn. Yikes. It’s a pity since the yarn was nice to knit with. I cast on 60 stitches and decreased to 56 stitches on foot since the pattern was not continued on the foot.

I have seen this pattern on various website. Basically the stitches are divided equally into as many sections as wanted and then the last two stitches of each repeat are crossed with one stitch offset each row so that the running stitch becomes a spiral.

Knit on, Merrily!

More Socks!

I am still trying to catch up with photos of finished socks.  Here are two more pairs ready to be taken to Kazakhstan by the founder of the Motherless Child Foundation.  I am still having fun finding odds and ends and putting them to good use.

This pair was knit with some hand-dyed navy blue yarn and scraps of unknown origin. Of course the hand-dyed portion was master-minded once again by my daughter.

The netting over the summer squash is to discourage the deer from eating the leaves and protecting the summer squash.

The second pair was actually knit with a brand-new skein of sock yarn from the Yarn Hollow bought at the annual fiber festival in Charlevoix, Michigan.  This pair is also going to the kids in Kazakhstan.

Aren't these luscious colors?

More socks to come. 

Knit on, Merrily!

Oh my, it's been a month since I last posted.

How time flies.  But I've been busy knitting socks and more socks. The pile of odds and ends seems to be multiplying rather than being depleted.  Of course, every so often our cat dives into his private stash of yarn balls and supplements my stash with an odd ball of yarn.  We can't be the only household in which the cat has amassed his own stash of yarn in a place only known to him, or are we?

So here are the next three pairs in the series.

These are knit with the remainder of some ancient Brown Sheep sock yarn on a 1 lb. cone which I bought for the huge sum of $1. 
A pi shawl and another pair of socks emerged from that pound cone as well.  I think I've used up the last of it. The lighter color is yarn I do not even remember buying. 

This is what happens when you forget to rewind one of the patterned balls which you have divided into two.  You get two different socks. These socks are made from a mixture of yarns, the blue cuffs and heels are knit with a hand-dyed yarn and the toes with a dab of Opal.

A variety of Opal, Regia, hand-dyed and ONLine. I weighed the yarn, halved it and knit until the yarn ran out.   

So now you know what I've been doing.

Knit on, Merrily!

Playing with finger paint, almost.







I feel like the proverbial 4 year old who has been given finger paints and a sheet of paper.  Except, I am not using finger paints, but left over sock yarn to knit socks and I hope there is a kid out there that likes wild and woolly socks as much as my daughter and I do.

 

 

Of course, there are the inevitable ends to sew in.  I've tried the knit in the ends as you go method, but don't like the look of it.  So I've gone back to my old method.

This is the second pair in the series. I got wise with this pair and changed the yarn every row and, thus, didn't have that many ends to sew in since I could carry the yarn along. 

 

More to come.  I'm on a roll.

 

Knit on, merrily.







No more odds and ends sock yarn afghans

I finished the afghan made with left-over sock yarn.  It only took from September 2009 to May 2013. Never again.  Way too much work to sow together.  I kept procrastinating and then the dreaded moth invasion happened and thus the afghan was smaller than anticipated.  It still ended up a good size.  In order to stabilize the edges of the afghan, I single crocheted one row and then did the crab stitch.  It'll keep my son-in-law warm when he takes his naps.  The photo is without the edging.  I was so glad to be done with it that I forgot to take a picture. 

 

I still have odds and ends of sock yarn.  They will be made into much needed socks for the Kazakhstan kids.

 

Knit on Merrily!



Witches Garden

Another pair of socks for the orphanages in Kazakhstan via the Motherless Child Foundation.  These were knit with an ancient ball of Opal sock yarn which I picked up on the cheap some years ago at www.littleknits.com . The pattern is by Sonja Koehler and the link to the pattern is on Ravelry.  It is available in both German and English.  The pattern is easy to knit, but slightly boring due to the moss stitch.  I saw one photo where the knitter knit the back of the sock in stockinette. 

Knit on, merrily!

It's been a while...

...exactly a month less one day since I've posted last.  I have been busy, however with knitting, ripping out, knitting, ripping out, and knitting.  Somewhere in the vastness of the Internet, I found instructions for these:  Dryer balls.  Yep, you read correctly.  And here is a photo of said dryer balls:

If you click on the link above, instructions will appear magically.  You can use these felted balls instead of fabric softener sheets.  It actually works, provided the load isn't too heavy.  I made four balls, but will make another batch and have enough for larger loads.  Of course, if you like the smell of dryer sheets, these will not give you that lovely Spring-time aroma.

The link above will lead you to the instructions; however, there really is no magic to it and despite the blogger's exhortation to wind the balls "just so" you don't have to.  The instructions call for worsted weight Fishermen's Wool.  But you don't have to go out and buy that either.  I used repurposed feltable, fingering weight yarn from projects that just didn't work out.  I just had to wind more yarn to get the same size.  Also, I knotted the yarn together when it ran out and continued winding.  The only thing I had to do was to do the exact opposite of my mother's instructions.  Instead of winding the ball loosely, the balls of yarn had to wound really tight.

Oh, and if you have cats who like wool, shut the dryer door after removing the wash or the balls may end up in the cat's food bowl.   

For a change a pair of non-short row socks

Happiness is finding two skeins of hand-spun yarn that you didn't realize you had.  Spun by my youngest daughter from Corriedale roving.  The color is a light gray with a tinge of perriwinkle and I mean a tinge. The yarn is spun in a heavy sock weight and tightly twisted, so it should wear well.  I think I found just the right pattern for it.  The pattern is by Sonja Koehler and can be found on Ravelry under Sonja's Sockenland .  While the pattern is written both in English and German, the group  is almost all in German.  It's a good thing I can still read German; however, my writing abilities have deteriorated over the years.  At times, I have difficulty remembering which words are masculine, feminine or neutral, particularly with words that have been adopted from American English.

The name of the pattern is "Pfaffenwinkel" or Priests' Corner.  I was hesitant to use the name since the word "Pfaffen" was a slightly or not so slightly derogatory word for "priests," depending on the region you lived in,  and I definitely lived in an area where few people were catholic.  While most Catholic children went to a Catholic school, there were a few that attended the local village grade school. We certainly had our "priests' corner" on the school yard and more than one fight broke out on the line of separation. Of course, when I was a child, girls didn't fight. Once I started 5th grade, I went to a secondary school for bratty and precocious girls.  I have no idea what today's school system in Germany looks like, but in my time those kids who were smart went to a different school starting with 5th or 6th grade.  There seemed to be none of the sectarian separation I experienced in grade school. 

But back to "Priests' Corner."  I did what most of us do when we want to find out something:  I googled.   And here is what I found and it's in English.  I also found out the name was given to this part of Bavaria in the 18th century due to the large number of abbeys and pilgrim churches.  It's only taken 73 years to learn that this area of Bavaria had a nickname. While it is a beautiful area, in my opinion the Black Forest and the rest of Swabia are even more beautiful.  Old regional rivalries are hard to bury.  For those in Michigan think of football:  UofM vs. Ohio State. 

And there is enough yarn left to knit another pair of socks.  Yeah!

Knit on Merrily.

It's that time of the year...

...when once again it becomes fun to just go for a drive on the back roads of our area of Michigan.  Each year Spring brings new discoveries.  For example this tree burl:  we've driven through this area a number of times, but never saw it before. Nature truly is a marvel.

We also made a drive to Ludington, Mich. State Park and look what we saw?  Have you ever seen a salmon net pen?  Well now you have. We were there just at the right time.  According to information posted by State park staff "about 250,000 salmon are delivered to the Big Sable River net pens.  The fish are fed in the pens by battery-operated feeders.  The pens are covered with chicken wire to prevent predation by raccoons, herons and gulls.  Fish are in the pens for about three weeks, or until they smolt and lose their parr marks (vertical bars on the body).  The net rearing also helps the fish to imprint on the site, enabling them to return as adults in three years."

 

Now back to knitting.