From fiber to fabric

We are fortunate to celebrate Jesus' birthday with our children and my father. Here is our Christmas tree with a bit of picture doctoring to hide the overflowing bookcase:-)

posted by Judith B @ 12:52 PM 2 comments

Here are the goodies I recieved from my sock swap sister, Nancy. The yarn is beautiful and look at the lovely stitch holders. Thank you Nancy.

posted by Judith B @ 12:11 PM 1 comments

Here is the picture of the sock I knit using the pattern I wrote.

posted by Judith B @ 7:41 PM 0 comments

This pattern was what I wrote while knitting my swap sock. I gleaned info from several sources online and in various books, then came up with my own variations which became the following basic sock pattern.
Sock pattern using two circular needles

CO 60 sts onto 1 size 3 circular needle, slip half the stitches onto a second circular needle. To join the ends slip the first stitch on each needle onto the end of the other needle. Each half round is knit with the same needle. Slide the stitches of the needle without the yarn hanging down to one end. Knit those stitches with the other end of the same needle. Be sure the knit side faces you when knitting the rounds or the purl side will show on the outside. You will always slide the stitches to the end where the yarn is fed from the ball opposite the side just knit. The first 2 stitches of each side will need to be pulled up tight to avoid ladder forming between the two circular needles.

1st round Knit across both needles.
2nd round K 1 P 1 across both needles.
Continue until ribbing measures 1 ½”

Knit in the round until total from cast on down measures 8”

Heel Flap- done on only one needle, the other “rests”

· Row 1 slip 1 as if the knit, knit across, turn
· Row 2 slip as if the purl, purl across, turn *
Repeat from * to * until row 17, then Knit across.

Heel turn

On the knit rows knit together the stitch before and the stitch after the gap made by the purl row. On the purl row, slip the stitch before the gap and purl the stitch after the gap then slip the slipped stitch over the stitch just purled. ( SSP )

Row 1 K 17sts, K 2 tog, K !, Turn
Row 2 Slip 1, P5, SSP, P1, turn
Rw 3 SL 1, K 6, K 2 tog, K 1, turn
RW 4 SL !, P 7, SSP, P1, turn

Rows 5 to 12 repeat above increasing stitches to be Knit or purled each row.
Row 13 K 18 sts.
Gusset decreases

Place marker on needle, Knit through slipped stitches ( 15 sts ) ( be sure you pick up both sides of the slipped stitch.) Knit 15 sts on resting needle onto working needle.
Knit remaining 15 stitches on previously resting needle and pick up and knit through slipped stitches, place marker, knit across to other needle knitting 15 needles off that needle. You should have 45 sts on each needle.
· * Knit to Marker, slip marker to needle, SSK, knit to end of needle. Switch to other needle, knit to 2 stitches before marker, K 2 tog, continue knitting that round. Next round knit only, No decreases on second round. NOTE: decreases every other round only. *
Repeat from * to * until 30 sts remain on each needle.

At this point knit off 15 stitches from one needle to another on both needles, so the needles are parallel to the sole of the foot.

Knit until foot measures 8” from heel. Begin decreases.

* Rnd 1 K1 K 2 tog, knit across until 3 sts from end , SSK, K1. Repeat on second needle.
Rnd 2 Knit only* Decreases are every other row only.!
Repeat from * to * until 12 sts remain on each needle. Finish with the knit round.

Kitchener stitch off toe. Switch end stitches from one needle to the other to avoid points on toe end.

I prefer to knit 4 to 5 rows of waste yarn and do the kitchener
Stitch from the purl side.

For the best tutorial for knitting on two circular needles is:

http://www.az.com/~andrade/knit/socks.html

Feet to prayers sock as developed from various sources and tips learned from knitting my first circular sock.
Pattern and tips written by Judith Bartel

posted by Judith B @ 9:01 PM 2 comments

This is what happens when I lose track of which row I am on. It is supposed to be a 5 sided coaster. To see what it is supposed to look like follow this link to DIY Network online.

http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/na_knitting/article/0,2025,DIY_14141_4989552,00.html

posted by Judith B @ 8:56 PM 0 comments

Here is the heel of the sock I knit for the sock swap. I will post more pictures later.

posted by Judith B @ 8:50 PM 0 comments

I finally finshed the sock for Cindy and sent it on its way today. What a blessing to learn to knit this sock and pray for my sister in the Lord. I used the pattern I wrote using all the ideas and experiences from my first sock.

posted by Judith B @ 5:42 PM 0 comments