Monica Knits

These cuff-down, knitted ribbed tube socks, evocative of refreshing rocket popsicles, incorporate, a round toe and melon colors. Shown in size 6-12 months. The pattern provides instructions for sizes 0-6 months and 12-24 months as well and includes an optional waste yarn (peasant) heel and Kitchener toe. If you've never knitted socks before, tube socks are the quickest to knit and baby socks less intimidating than adult socks.

Pattern Information: Two Toes Tubes Baby Socks
Knit Picks http://www.knitpicks.com/patterns/Two_Toes_Tubes_Baby_Socks__D10417220.html This pattern lets you choose from 2 toes, 2 heels, 3 patterns and 3 sizes using Comfy Fingering^TM cotton or or Palette^TM Peruvian Highland wool yarns--over 12 sock combinations.

For the past week or so I have been experimenting with knitted embellishments for 3 purses I am making. One of my ideas was a four leaf clover, a symbol of good fortune, but I hadn't seen one in over a decade, until today. And it was Shaq, our GSP, who pointed it out, literally, during a pause in our jog. Lucky for me, and likely as well for the clover which Shaq watered and fertilized. This is providence; one purse was destined to have a shamrock design element.

The best way I found of creating knots is to use t-pins at the points. Once you start pinning a knot, like this example with 10 points, it becomes easy to lose track of which is which otherwise. I divided the circle into the number of points and drew diameters through the center, extending past the circumference. Then I numbered the points on the paper to keep track of the loops and the order in which they are twisted together. The paper is pinned to a blocking mat. Read more ... for related links

To help manage the yarn tails associated with horizontal stripes and color changes I tie a small, temporary square knot. This quick measure prevents gaps from occurring in the knitting and allows me to continue knitting past the color changes until I'm ready to weave in the yarn tails. The yellow arrows point to three of the four color transitions. Read more ....

The two socks differ in the number of loops of each stitch within the chain stitch selvedge that were picked up from the side of the heel flap. On the left, both loops of each chain stitch were picked up. On the right, just the back loops. The arrow points to the center of a column of knit stitches. On the left, you see the last column is complete. On the right, by picking up just the back loops, a ridge (1/2 a knit stitch) is formed.

Having designed and written about the Ridgeline Turning Heel , a crisp, professional looking horizontal heel edge, I thought I'ld discuss a contrasting turning heel pattern. I call this softer, blended heel a basic turning heel. Although both turning heels are discussed in the context of a French heel, they can be used for other heel types as well. The basic heel, like the Ridgeline turning heel, is formed with short rows comprising paired decreases on either side of the heel center. Read more...
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The slip, purl, PSSO decrease slants to the right on the stocking stitch side of the fabric and is paired with the SSK (slip, slip, knit) decrease which slants to the left on the stocking stitch side. Using this pair of stitches in the Ridgeline Turning Heel creates a crisp, professional looking horizontal edge at the base of the turning heel.
Read more .... for stepwise instructions.
Related Posts: "Dad's Socks", SSK, Stitch Patterns , Turning Heel - SSK Appearance.
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A few days ago I wrote about the professional, polished ridgeline finish that can be achieved on a turning heel with the SSK stitch. Then I looked at a few of my sock books and patterns and noticed that the patterns didn't have a matching stitch for the opposite side of the sock. I found that odd and did a bit of research, including World War 2 vintage patterns, and didn't find a sock pattern with a matching stitch for the opposite side of the foot. One common pairing of decreases was the SSK with a P2tog. So I sat down and experimented until I found a closer match. Read more ...

Traditionally, fingerless gloves were used by fishermen to provide dexterity for removing fish hooks, while providing warmth to the rest of the hand. Nowadays they are welcomed by keyboard users--allowing fingertip control, coupled with warmth. Just last weekend, I noticed that our favorite teller at the grocery store was wearing a beautiful pair of black and pink fingerless Valentine's day gloves. When I commented on them, she said that she needed them to keep her hands warm. Read more ... for fingerless glove knitting instructions.

This two color cuff was knitted in 2 x 2 ribbing with the knit stitches in charcoal grey and the purl stitches in light grey. This cuff has 52 stitches and is 2-1/2" long. A stranding technique, with a float of 2 stitches was used and a fingertip yarn guide was used to manage the 2 colors of yarn. Read more... for additional information.

Watch a video on knitting with 2 colors: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-0ApmvvhTA