Monica Knits

Knitting Compact A couple of days ago I wrote about some small stitch markers that I had recently purchased and commented on the compact container they came in. This got me to thinking about my other knitting case--a repurposed 3-1/4" x 2-3/8" x 1" Altoids peppermint container that holds my essential knitting notions. Its compact size makes it easy to take along, and prevents small notions from being lost, particularly the ones that can't be replaced. Read more... to see what treasures this box holds.

These colorful, straight needles came from my mother-in-law's collection and were in high use for over 50 years. They are British (pre-metric) sizes, so when I use them I have to employ my needle gauge.

Related Articles
Knitting with Circular Needles
My Sock Needle Choices
Knitting Needle Cross-Reference Chart

For information on the needles I use... Read more

Design Features This lace cap is knitted of fingering weight cotton yarn in pearl white with a contrasting peach I-cord tie. Garter stitch details enhance the pearlescent yarn. The body of this cap is knitted flat to the crown, beginning with a garter stitch border, followed by a vintage leaf pattern border and stocking stitch accents. A purl stitch ridge sets off the stocking stitch crown, which is knitted in the round and shaped with 5 symmetrical, spiral decreases. The garter stitch neckband has an integral eyelet row for a ribbon or an I-cord tie.

Design Features: Designed by Susan Lawrence, the gold merino wool/silk blend socks have an overall 3x2 lace rib design for comfort and fit, accented with mock cables for the Moc Croc^a pattern style. The lace rib pattern runs from cuff to start of heel, and then continues the length of the sock, instep only, to the toes. The pattern includes instructions for both an ankle and crew length sock.

A few minor modifications were made to Susan's pattern, but design intent was preserved. I purchased the pattern for its striking stitch pattern; my husband also commented on it when he saw me knitting the socks. The Knit Picks catalog highlighted this design in an issue featuring socks.

Dad's SocksMy grandmother had knitted several pairs of socks for my dad that lasted for 10 years, in part because they were knitted with a double sole, giving them extra durability. I had already knitted socks for all the girls in the family, but had not yet made a pair for my father. When I offered to knit my father a pair of socks in any style and color for father's day, he selected the basic sock pattern, in a dark blue yarn to match his jeans. My father is a tall man with a size 13 foot.

The Kitchener Stitch is an invisible, strong method of closing the toe opening. This method is also called "Weaving the Toe" or "Grafting the Toe." In preparation for joining the top and bottom halves of the toe section, the ten (10) stitches on each of the 2.0 mm circular needles have been transfered to two 1.75 mm dpns, to provide additional ease for guiding the darning needle through the loops. The yarn was cut, leaving a 10" tail (1" per stitch) which is sufficient for completing the Kitchener stitch and weaving the yarn end in.

Start ToesThe toes begin when the the sock is two inches (2") from the tip of your longest toe. Beginning with 32 sts on each circular needle, the sock is tapered with symmetrical decreases on alternate rounds for 2", until ten (10) stitches remain on each needle. Knitting the toes with smaller 2.0 mm diameter needles improves durability.

The sock is knitted in face front orientation (not in profile like the gusset) to simplify knitting instructions. The traditional decrease pattern in face front orientation is easy to remember because decreases occur 1 stitch in from both ends of each needle.

The tools that I use for projects are listed here. Knitting and crochet needles have their own separate blog entries. I will add to this basic list, as I reference tools in projects.

MarkersStitch Markers: I use two types of split ring markers, one type (white in the photo) that I really like but haven't been able to find anymore. The small white, split-ring markers are very useful when knitting and marking fingering and sport weight yarns and when using small diameter needles. The green and orange markers are better for larger diameter needles or when you want to hold a few stitches at a end of the row for completion later, or to temporarily hold a dropped a stitch. The green and orange markers are Clover Locking Stitch Markers (#353).

I like split ring markers because you can add them or remove them without being at the specific stitch. I use split ring markers for quality control, stitch pattern repeats, and as a counting aid while casting on.

My knitting needles range in diameter from 1.5 mm to 12.0 mm, comprising straight needles (Aero, Redditch England) from 2.25 mm through 8 mm, double-pointed needles, DPNs (Aero, Knit Picks and Susan Bates), from 1.5 mm through 7.0 mm and circular needles (Knit Picks) up to size 8.0 mm. (See related article, "My Needle Choices," if you are interested in how I select needles for specific tasks.)

NEEDLE MATERIALS
From size 6.00 mm and larger, the Aero straight needles are made of stiff plastic. All the circular needles I use are nickel-plated steel from Knit Picks (fixed circular for the smaller diameters and interchangeable needle tips for the larger sizes). The only small DPNs (1.5 mm - 2.25 mm) I found were Susan Bates' needles of anodized aluminum. These are conveniently colored to make it easy to distinguish among the small needles. Other than the small diameter needles, any DPNs I have purchased recently to satisfy a project need are nickel-plated steel needles from Knit Picks.

I inherited a set of long, straight, plastic needles in sizes up to 6.0 mm (unknown manufacturer) that I find too flexible (hence too slow) for most knitting purposes, other than for casting on or for holding stitches. These are not included in the attached cross-reference table.