Trish Knits.com

Category: Knitting

  • The Sock Box Rocks!

    Toe Up Socks in a Box
    Toe Up Socks in a Box
    Today I received something in the mail that I think is so cool, that now I wish all knitting books would be that way. It’s the hot-off-the-press, “Toe-Up Socks in a Box: Essential Sock Techniques and 20 Toe-Up Patterns from Wendy Knits”. I’m already in love.

    Yeah, ok… it seems like a rehashing of Wendy’s popular book, “Socks from the Toe Up: Essential Techniques and Patterns from Wendy Knits,” but the format is ingenious! It’s a box of index cards, with a card for each pattern, and tips for things like heels on one, and toes on another, etc. I think this solves the one thing I hate about knitting books… lugging them around. Now all the patterns are on individual cards and they’re so easy to throw in the knitting bag and don’t weigh it down. This is especially important for sock knitters, who, as knitters go, travel light. They know that one of the major attractions to sock knitting is that socks are small and can be worked on anywhere, and packed in almost anything without taking up any major amount of space. Knitting books, by their very nature, cancel out this benefit, unless you have access to a personal copier and remember to copy all your patterns before you leave the house. (My office would frown on me using their copier to make copies of my knitting patterns for sure.)

    So, this is great! I am certain that when I become a sock knitter (and, I have a feeling that I am now on my way), I’ll turn to these patterns often, just because it’s been made so easy for me to do so. I already own the book, but these patterns in this little box are the ones that I’m sure will get the most use.

    I wish more patterns would come this way! If you like Wendy’s socks, you might want to give these cards a try. And then hop on over to Wendy’s Blog and tell her how much you like them. I’m headed there now. 🙂

  • Practicing

    Sock beginnings
    Sock beginnings
    In two weeks, I’m taking a sock class. With Lucy Neatby. THE Lucy Neatby. I have a lot of her DVDs and I adore them. The class is a sock techniques class. I’m not much of a sock knitter, really… but of the subjects that were available that she was teaching that weekend, the sock class appealed to me most.

    The only prerequisite for the class, really, is knowing how to knit a sock. This I can say that I know, despite the fact that I am not a sock knitter. I have done one pair of socks completed, just so I could learn how to do them, but it was several years ago. I have started several others since then, but have always lost interest. And I have no idea why. Truly I have always wanted to be interested, and I am hoping that this class will give me enough tricks up my sleeve to hold my interest as a future sock knitter.

    So, I’m practicing. I am knitting a funky rainbow-striped sock, just a plain sock, toe-up with a short row heel. This is how I like them. I remember ordering the yarn from Scotland several years ago after seeing the yarn on the Yarn Harlot’s blog. (There is actually a phenomena known as the “Harlot Effect” where if she mentions a yarn or a project on her blog it causes a run on that item. I don’t usually fall for it, but this one time, I did. I love me some rainbows!) It’s Regia Nation Color, #5399.

    One thing I’ve always wondered is how to figure out how many stitches to wrap when doing a short row heel. Then, yesterday, I found this handy-dandy worksheet:

    Short Row Heel Formula by Terry Ross

    I’ve added it to my links page so I’ll always have it handy. Something tells me I will refer to it often!

    I adore this yarn, and it appears that it may be discontinued, so cross your fingers for me that I actually decide to finish these socks! I’d like to have one mostly done before class in two weeks so my sock issues will be fresh in my mind. Plus, I’ve always just wanted a pair of funky, rainbow-y socks. Why hasn’t that been enough motivation to knit them before?

    I hope a change is afoot.

  • The Wheels of Progress…

    It seems like forever since I’ve done a “normal” blog post. So, I’m gonna try.

    I’ve discovered that one of the hard parts about doing a long-term, never-ending project like the one I’m working on now is that it gets monotonous to talk about and blog about over and over. And then it gets monotonous to work on. So, as much as I love this project, my enthusiasm for it, alas, is waning. I am still, however, determined to get it done.

    Here is tonight’s photo update:

    Blanket in progress
    Blanket in progress

    By now I guess I can say that it is a baby blanket, for a special boy who has now been born. It seems at this pace that it will be a while before he receives it, but then I guess that means it’s a good thing that it’s something of a large blanket, because maybe he’ll be a grown man before it is done! I certainly hope not, though, because even though I love this project and will probably produce a pattern on it someday, there are many times I wish to be knitting something else! The cowl bug is biting me, hard, and the shawl bug, and the hat bug. And I still have my February Lady Sweater to finish, that was halted to accommodate this project, and I’d like to try my hand at other sweaters as well.

    The other day on my Knit Talk group we were discussing various patterns that different people like to knit over and over. My good friend Joanie mentioned that she loved to knit basic raglan sweaters from an old Leisure Arts booklet that was first released in the 1970s. “The Complete Book of Raglan Sweaters,” contains several variations on a basic design in just about every size. Of course, my curiosity was piqued and so I ordered a copy for myself. It’s a great little book, if you like raglans, of course. In general raglans look just about as awful on me as they do the next fat girl but I kinda like their relaxed, “wear it on Sunday” appeal. So, I think I may try one. Maybe I’ll do one for my son first, since he’s the smallest person here, just to see how it goes. If that goes well then maybe I’ll be on a roll and be brave enough to try other kinds of sweaters. I keep hoping for that magic design that will prove to me how easy making garments that fit can be, so I can get over my fear of them and just start making — and finishing — actual sweaters. Then I’d feel like a real knitter.

    Yep, I’ve been knitting for six years now and I feel like a poser. Still. I think that’s why I don’t finish very many things. I don’t feel like an accomplished knitter most of the time, so I don’t allow myself to accomplish many things. Does that make sense? Why, oh why do I hold myself back?

    I suppose that’s a discussion to be continued on another day. I think I’m getting too philosophical for this late hour. Bedtime beckons. And, for once, I’m listening. See you soon.

  • Book Review: Sock Yarn One-Skein Wonders

    Tonight I decided to try something new before blogging. We’ll see if it helps me get back on track. I realized today that one of my stumbling blocks (and there are many) is that there is now shared demand for my computer, what with the now-high-school-aged daughter having hours of homework and an appetite for Facebook. So I decided that I would sit down with an old-fashioned pen and a blank journal book, where I will begin to record and collect “blog notes” that can then be turned into posts when I’m ready. For tonight, anyway, while the daughter was struggling with what seemed like hours of history homework, this blog post got sketched out, after me trying and failing for nearly a week to write it.

    So, with thanks to the old-school approach, here is my review of “Sock Yarn One-Skein Wonders: 101 Patterns That Go Way Beyond Socks!,” edited by Judith Durant. I admit I waited for this book for a long time. I am a professed Not-Sock-Knitter, and yet, I have bins of beautiful sock yarns with nowhere to go. I like a beautiful yarn as much as the next knitter, and so many of them these days are sock yarns. I have amassed many skeins, and have a total of ONE pair of socks in my Finished Object collection.

    (Why, then am I taking an all-day sock workshop with Lucy Neatby in just three weeks? Ok, I know HOW to make socks, but have never been excited by them. I am, however, very excited by the prospect of learning from Lucy Neatby, and who knows? Maybe after spending a day in her company I WILL get excited about socks, and then… well…)

    So. In the meantime, there’s this fabulous little book. I have the other books in the series, and by far, a thousand times over, this one is my favorite. There are so many patterns to choose from, as with the other books, but for some reason, the quality of the patterns seems such that I would be apt to make many more of these than many of the designs in the other books. I can’t say why. Just a gut feeling.

    The book opens with a chapter on hats, mitts and socks. Several of the hat designs are ones I would make, and the mitts, mittens and gloves are almost all interesting. I do have to admit that I wasn’t expecting sock patterns in this book at all, given that there are so many sock pattern books, but there aren’t many, and well, I guess I should expect at least a few sock patterns from a book all about sock yarns. So I’m not complaining.

    The scarves, wraps and shawls chapter has so many lovely patterns that if I only ever knit from this book it would probably take me three years or more to get through the ones I want to make.

    The chapter on baby, toddler and doll clothes has so many adorable options including dresses, hat and bootie sets and adorable little sweaters.

    Then there’s a chapter called, “Bag It and More,” for which I found the “more” part to be quite interesting. everything from a lampshade to a netbook cozy, to beautiful Christmas ornaments, to a filet crochet window curtain. I loved them all.

    This book is definitely worth the Amazon price of $10.99. In my opinion, it’s a steal at that price. Get together with all of your knitting friends and order a bunch of copies among you to get free shipping. I believe this is the must-have book of the season.

  • Weekend Knitting

    Another weekend where I had hoped to get a ton of knitting done, and yet, there has been only a small amount of progress. I’m still working on this:

    E.B. in progress
    E.B. in progress

    which, I am convinced, has now been in progress since at least the dawn of time and is, as far as I can tell, about a month and a half behind schedule. I am about to change colors yet again… to do another small stripe of the brown and then back to the cream color. I do enjoy knitting it, but its one main fault is that I cast on to make it TOO BIG, too wide, exactly, so it takes far longer to complete a row than I wish it would. On the other hand, by virtue of its enormousness, it will not be quickly outgrown, and, I hope, will become a much-loved thing. At least I can hope, right? I know it is the dream of every knitter that his or her knitted object would be the one thing that the recipient uses most often and cannot live without, when in fact, the opposite is most likely true. Most recipients wind up under-using their gift for fear of “ruining” such a special thing. If you’re reading this, and you’ve been gifted with a handmade thing? USE IT! The person who made it for you will want to know that you love it and use it well. And, if it gets worn out? So what? A good excuse to ask for another knitted thing.

    So, I do not know what will become of this project when it is gifted. I hope that it will be used and loved, but I am resigned to the fact that I have no control over what becomes of it. So, for me, it is the loving of the making that motivates me, not what the recipient will do. It has to be that way. Or, let’s face it. I’d lose what’s left of my mind.

    In the “Knitting Day is a Good Day” category, yesterday at knit group, everyone was excited about a new (to us) knit book. And here’s why we were excited:

    This knitting book was on sale for $2.99!
    This knitting book was on sale for $2.99!
    Get a load of that price tag! I must admit that I never met a knitting book in the bargain bin before. For the right price, I’ll buy anything! Haha. I think thanks to our group, there was not one copy left behind yesterday. And, well, upon getting it home, I think I can see why it was in the bargain bin. This book is no Handknit Holidays, which, I thought, was an exquisite collection of patterns.

    I do like that the book offers some “quick knit” type gifts, and I guess they are well suited to a beginner (mostly). The thing is? They look like it. Is there such a thing as a simple knit that doesn’t look like it was a simple knit? I can’t put my finger on it, but a lot of the things in this book just looked, well, sloppy. Oddly-shaped Christmas stockings (more than one!) and a sweater that I wouldn’t be caught dead doing anything other than housework in. Then there’s the just plain odd: a baby hat with a pocket, yes a pocket, they say, for tucking a small toy in. A toy in a pocket on your head. Ok, what baby isn’t going to find that annoying?

    Perhaps I’m being far too critical. I’m usually not like this; I always find something to like about every book I buy. But this one? So far the only thing I loved about it was–the price. Dear bookstore, please keep putting your overstocked knitting books in the bargain bin and yes, even if they’re weird, you know I’ll buy them There’s a sucker born every minute.

  • Not Exactly Like Riding a Bike

    Long before I was a knitter, I was a crocheter. I think I have always loved yarn. But, back in 2003, when my niece was born, I crocheted an afghan for her and was in so much pain when I was done, that I pretty much decided that my crocheting days were over. Except maybe for a little bit of trim here and there, maybe, I was done.

    Of course it didn’t take me long to figure out that I missed playing with yarn. So I became determined to learn to knit, and by 2004 I was already starting to blog about it.

    But then last week, someone asked me to contribute a couple of afghan squares to a project. I could, of course, have knitted them, but the squares are in memory of an avid crocheter. So, in this case, it didn’t seem right to knit.

    I had recently purchased the Soft Touch Crochet Hook Gift Set from Knit Picks, because I figured that of all the crochet hooks in the world, these would be easiest for me to handle. I’m still not planning to ever crochet an entire bedspread or cabled and bobbled baby blanket, but every knitter needs a set of crochet hooks handy, right?

    So, I thought, squares are small enough, I can probably do them without causing too much stress on the hand. So, I picked up a hook and some yarn, made a slip knot, and chained and joined to make a circle, then began. I got to the end of the first round, and froze. I couldn’t remember how to join and keep going, in a way that wasn’t making my square look lop-sided. Luckily, I found this video:

    And even with this, I had to watch three times, and then bring my yarn to the computer and crochet along with the demonstration to get it right. But, I think I finally did! And look:

    my little crocheted square
    my little crocheted square

    I think I’m going to insert occasional rounds of a contrasting color in single crochet, just so it’s not too boring, and then the other one will be more girlie, and maybe I’ll even knit that one, or at least partially. I’m thinking of trying my hand with double knitting, and doing hearts. Or maybe I’ll make a quick heart a la Elizabeth Zimmermann and apply it to a square. I don’t know yet. Wish me luck with the deciding!

    Ciao for now… and let’s hope this is finally a return to more regular blogging.

    (Happy Birthday, Dad. I miss you.)

    Of course, I have another project in progress, the “secret project,” which is still progressing, albeit slowly. I promise a photo of that later this week. For now, I have a couple of squares to finish. Wish me luck.