April | 2011 | Italian Dish Knits

Archive for April, 2011

Green Stripey Socks with an Afterthought Heel

April 27, 2011

When I got this great yarn at Rae’s, I wanted to get going on some socks. This is just a plain, stockinette sock using the technique I learned at Rae’s to knit socks without a pattern, toe-up. I decided to knit the leg in plain stockinette because I just wanted the self striping yarn to show without any texture.

Barbara, who teaches that sock class at Rae’s, really prefers an afterthought heel, placing waste yarn as you knit, which is easily picked out later for the heel. Having done socks with both a gusset/heel flap and the afterthought technique, I’ve come to prefer the afterthought heel, too. It’s by far the simplest method, requiring no pattern or keeping track of short rows and Barbara feels it’s the most comfortable to wear.

Another bonus with an afterthought heel – you basically knit a whole tube for the sock, from toe to cuff, and so it doesn’t interrupt your self striping yarn or any other pattern that you’re doing.

I also did a Russian bind-off for the cuff, which I really liked using this method (love this lady’s accent). I had tried the Russian bind-off in Wendy Johnson’s book, Socks from the Toe Up, and did not like that version at all.

Pattern: None!
Yarn: Pagewood Farm, Forest Camo
Yarn for Toes/Heels: Yarn Hollow Bitty/Jade
Needles: US #0, circular, using magic loop
Ravelry Page

Posted in finished objects, knitting, magic loop, socks/footwear, techniques | Tagged afterthought-heel, toe-up | 7 Comments »

Easter Bunny Cosy

April 19, 2011

One of my favorite knitting blogs is Little Cotton Rabbits, written by Julie, a wonderful lady who blogs from the U.K. She knits the cutest animals and this is one of her patterns for a little bunny cosy. I thought it would be a nice gift for a friend of mine who has invited us to her house for Easter.

There a lot of M1s and decreases, of course, in this pattern. When I switched from bamboo needles over to my Addi Lace needles, it got a lot easier to do those. This is knitted flat. If I make another one, I might at least do the body in the round – I so hate purling.

Aren’t these the cutest little ears?

My friend loves purple, so a purple sweater it is for the bunny.

Pattern: Bunny Egg Cosy
Yarn: Dale of Norway, Baby Ull
Needle: US # 2, Addi Lace circular
Ravelry Page

Posted in finished objects, gifts, holiday stuff, knitting | 8 Comments »

WIPs

April 18, 2011

Rae had a “Sock Hop” at her store and I couldn’t resist all the sock yarn. I got some lovely hand dyed yarns from Pagewood Farms and Yarn Hollow. There was a green colorway I loved and so I just had to start some socks. I needed some mindless knitting anyway, because I finished the men’s hat. There is no pattern, because I’m knitting them using the patternless method taught by Barbara in her Sock Class at Rae’s. It’s really empowering, knowing you can knit something without a pattern. I used Judy’s Magic Cast-On, cast on 16 stitches, increased to 60 on size 0 needles and am working straight stockinette for the foot. I’m going to put in an afterthought heel and then not sure how I want to knit the leg.

I’ve been working diligently on the Snowflake Socks for my SIL, but this project takes complete focus because it’s two stranded knitting and you have pay strict attention to the chart.

Look at what it’s doing here today:

A good day to get a little knitting in. I’m starting a tiny project for Easter that I’ll let you in on later in the week:

Posted in knitting, socks/footwear, yarn | 1 Comment »

Brooklyn Tweed’s Men’s Striped Hat

April 14, 2011

It’s a little busy around here today. I’ve got workmen in my house, going in and out constantly, because we’re remodeling a couple of bathrooms. I’m also setting up for a cooking lesson I’m giving tonight, where I’m going to teach how to make fresh pasta with a roasted pepper sauce.

But I have to get in a little knitting, somewhere, right? I’m continuing work on this little project, which I’ll write about later:

But I do have an FO to show you. Continuing on with my Christmas knitting, I’ve just finished this men’s hat from Brooklyn Tweed – a Jared Flood design. It’s a very simple hat and a quick knit. You use two yarns, a solid and a self striping yarn and alternate them. The hat can look so different, depending on the striping yarn you use.

I think the four decreases at the top are interesting.

I knit this using the Magic Loop method. The Shibui striping yarn was pooling as I was knitting it and I didn’t want every stripe to look the same. So every couple of rows, I would cut it and the next stripe I would begin striping it from the other end of the yarn ball.

Pattern: Turn a Square from Brooklyn Tweed
Yarn: Shibui Merino Worsted in Sand #51304 and
Cascade 220 Superwash in Walnut
Needle: US #6 and #7, Circular
Ravelry Page