Maia Spins

Leaving On A Jet Plane

I leave in the morning for New York.  I can't wait!  I have been dreaming of this day for six months!  I will meet up with my fiber partners in crime, Brooke and Rachael, for a few days in NYC and then we head up to Rhinebeck!  Are you sick of hearing about it yet?

Today we had our spinning group (without Brooke who is at SOAR, I am so jealous!)  I found a foot that is perfectly sized for the cable socks.  Thank you Marlowe for modeling.  The lighting wasn't right so the sock looks much bluer than in real life. 

I've started the next one in my quest for avoiding knitting my sweater.  You know, the one I intend to wear at Rhinebeck.  Sigh.  I will take it with me and try to force myself to knit it.

My friend Linda brought her Mystery Sock!  I didn't even know she was knitting it.  She is knitting it in yarn I dyed too.  You may recognize it as the same colorway I'm using for my Charlie Socks.  She got it at the last Sunday Spin & Knit group.  It was very cool to see my dyeing on my sock design, knit by someone else.

There are other Mystery Sock sitings.  I will post them soon.

Speaking of hand-dyed sock yarn, our friend Kristine, of A Verb For Keeping Warm, came with her beautiful yarns and spinning fibers.  She has Bluefaced Leicester sock yarn.  You know I couldn't pass that up!

Yummy, soft, and smooshy!  I took this picture in the fading light, but the colors are pretty close.  I've already wound it to pack for my trip to Rhinebeck.  What to make?

On a doggie note, we discovered something new about our little Sam.  I don't want to disparage my sweet boy, but he isn't exactly bright.  I was doing laundry the other day.  We have a front loader and I usually sit on a small plastic stool to load the machine.  The washing machine is in the kitchen next to the back door which has a doggie door.  Apparently, I left the stool and laundry basket so they blocked access to the door.   Roger had let Sam out of a different door.  Sam came around to the doggie door and came into the kitchen trapping himself.  An hour passed before we realized that Sam was not just hanging out in the kitchen.  He had remained in the "trap". 

Yes, he could have gone back out the doggie door and come to the other door.  Yes, he could have stepped onto the stool or jumped over it.  Did he?  Nope.  Sweet, cute boy.

Makes it a lot easier to keep him and his dirty paw prints off of a wet kitchen floor!

Mystery Sock part 4

Have you forgotten about my mystery sock?  I hope not!

It is all about transitioning to the ribbing and making the back of the leg pretty.  You can make the ribbing shorter or longer to suit your style or the amount of yarn remaining.

If you want to make a shorter version, you can start the ribbing at round 59 on chart 2.  Yes, that is on the foot before the heel is turned.  You could also do another cable and then start the ribbing after round 75.

Tomorrow, I'll show you a fun felting project made with a new friend.

Mystery Sock part 3

Part 3 - On to the heel shaping!

Follow the chart until the sole side of the sock measures approximately 6.75 inches for the small size, 7.5 inches for the medium size, and 8.5 inches for the large size. End on an even row. This pattern assumes a high arch. If you have low arches, work the chart 0.5 inches less than the measurements given above.

Click on the image for a full size version of the chart.

Abbreviations
RS: Right side of sock
WS: wrong side of sock
k2tog: knit 2 stitches together knitwise
p2tog: purl 2 stitches together
ssk: slip 1 knitwise, slip 1 knitwise, place back on left needle and knit through the back of the loop.
ssp: slip 1 knitwise, slip 1 knitwise, place back on left needle and purl through the back of the loop.  It is a bit tricky, but worth it.

Heel Shaping
Use only the stitches on the sole needle(s). If you are using double pointed needles, you may want to put all the sole stitches on one needle. Start on a wrong side (WS) row as follows:
(WS) slip 1 purlwise, purl until 2 stitches remain on the left needle, turn work.
(RS) slip 1 knitwise, knit until 2 stitches remain on the left needle, turn work.
(WS) slip 1 purlwise, purl until 4 stitches remain on the left needle, turn work.
(RS) slip 1 knitwise, knit until 4 stitches remain on the left needle, turn work. Continue in this manner until you have 10 heel stitches remaining unworked, ending on a RS row. There should be 10 stitches on each side of the heel stitches. Turn work.

Now we need to incorporate these stitches. You should be on a WS row.
(WS) slip1 purlwise, p8, ssp, p1, turn work.
(RS) slip1 knitwise, k9, k2tog, k1, turn work.
(WS) slip1 purlwise, p10 , ssp, p1, turn work.
(RS) slip1 knitwise, k11, k2tog, k1, turn work.
Continue in this manner until all the stitches have been incorporated. There will be fewer stitches now than when you started the heel shaping. You should have 20 heel stitches.

The heel shaping isn’t quite complete. We still need to incorporate some of the stitches from the instep needle(s). Shift 6 stitches (3 from each side of the instep stitches) from the instep needle(s) to the sole needle(s). You will now have 34 stitches on the instep needle(s) if you are on rows 75 - 79, 35 stitches for rows 81 - 95.

Start with the first heel stitch (yes, you do need to slip some of the stitches you just shifted to get to the heel stitches).
(WS) slip 1 purlwise, p18, p2tog (incorporates one stitch), turn work.
(RS) slip 1 knitwise, k18, ssk (incorporates one stitch), turn work.
Repeat both rows one more time. There will be a gap between the remaining unworked stitch and the heel stitches, make 1, this will tighten up that spot.

You should now have 24 sole stitches and 34 or 35 instep stitches. If you are using double pointed needles, go back to 2 needles for the sole stitches. You will resume knitting in the round.

Start the Leg
Continue working the chart as shown. It will be the same as on the foot with one exception. The patterning will not end at the edge of the instep stitches. Now you will shift the patterning around to the back of the leg and toward the centerline of the back of the leg.

ETA: a chart that shows what happens at the back of the leg.  As Always, click for a larger picture.

We are almost done! The last part will finish the sock.

Notes on the chart. I trimmed off most of the foot to make it a manageable size. the horizontal line indicates where the last chart left off. The variable stitch count depends on where you start the heel. Before the heel turn it is the larger number, after the heel turn it is the smaller number.

Mystery Sock part 2

It is so fun to see mystery toes showing up.  Thank you to everyone who is playing along!

Part 2 works the foot up to the heel turn.  The chart is starting to look strange.  There are increases that shift the pattern on the chart to make it look like it doesn't line up.  I should line up on the sock itself.

Click on the image for a full size image. 

The print is fairly small on an 8.5 x 11 inch sheet so here is a chart of just the instep stitches.  You'll still need the image with the sole stitches to know where the sole decreases occur.

I will be at the California Wool & Fiber Festival until late Sunday.  If I don't have internet access there I'll answer any questions on Monday.

Did I mention that in the middle of a massive dyeing push Sammie dug his way out of our back yard to follow a skunk?  Oh yes.  He was hit right between the eyes with a big blast of skunk stink.  I think I will enjoy being away from the house for a few days.

Here is Sammie in his new favorite spot.

It is a pot in the courtyard that doesn't have a plant in it at the moment.  What a goofball!

Mystery Socks

I have a mystery sock to share with you.  It is a sock designed by me and given out in 4 parts.  There are no pictures, hence the mystery.  If you are on Ravelry, you can play along in the Sock Knitters Anonymous group.

Scherherazade's Slippers                                        

This pattern worked toe-up and is a little different in its construction. I recommend that you be an intermediate to advanced knitter. It starts with a bit of cabling and moves into a bit of lace.

Yarn: I recommend a solid or slightly variegated yarn. Pick a yarn that will have a firm gauge. The gauge varies depending on the size of sock you are making (see below).                                        

Sizes: one chart works for three sizes:
Women's Large (US shoe size 9-11): use a gauge of 6.5 sts/in.
Women's Medium (US shoe size 6-8): use a gauge of 7 sts/in.
Women's Small (US shoe size 3-5): use a gauge of 7.5 sts/in.

Abbreviations:
RC4 Right Cross Cable, place 2 stitches on a cable needle and hold at the front of the work, k2, k2 from cable needle.
LC4 Left Cross Cable, place 2 stitches on a cable needle and hold at the back of the work, k2, k2 from cable needle.
Make 1 increase Lift the bar between the stitch just worked and the next stitch, knit it through the back of the loop.
Make 1 purl increase Lift the bar between the stitch just worked and the next stitch, purl it through the back of the loop.
Purl into the back of the stitch This increase happens where two increases are next to each other and two Make 1 increases can't be worked. Work the increase by knitting into the back of the loop of the stitch just knit (the last stitch of a cable).
k2tog knit two stitches together knitwise by putting the needle into the second stitch, followed by the first stitch on the left needle and knitting them as one. ssk slip 1 knitwise, slip1 knitwise, place both slipped stitches back on the left needle and knit them through the back of the loop.

Cast on 28 stitches.  I use Judy's Magic Cast-On.  Turkish Cast-On will also work.  Follow the chart.

Click on the chart to see a larger version of the chart.

Even rows: knit the knit stitches and purl the purl stitches.

Let me know if you have any questions or if something doesn't make sense.

Next week we will work the foot.

Errata: September 4, 2007.  The chart has been updated due to a small error on line 25.  You should knit 1 instead of k2tog on the instep between the cables.  Thank you Pat for catching that.

I am also working on another sock. 

I am calling this one Everlasting.  The colors aren't quite right (I was being a lazy picture taker).  The yarn is from Knitted Wit in the Going To The Mall colorway.  I bought it at Twisted on my Portland yarn crawl last weekend. 

Here is a picture of the yarn where the colors are more accurate:

I like the yarn a lot.  It has more texture than I'd like, but I love the splatter dye with the short color bursts.  No pooling here!