Category: Knitting

Knitting projects

Turkey Tracks: Tami’s Birthday Socks

Turkey Tracks:  December 13, 2010

Tami’s Birthday Socks

Tami’s birthday is in February.

Here are the socks I was making for her.  They are a cotton-wool-nylon blend as all wool is too hot for Charleston, SC.  I finished them in while we were in Charleston over Thanksgiving.

They are the 4-stitch, double moss pattern from Charlene Schurch’s SENSATIONAL KNITTED SOCKS.  I really like the rough nature of this particular double-moss pattern.

But, I’ve been stuck on the 4-stitch variations for over a year now.  I’m definitely going to try one of the 5-stitch variations next.  One reason I really like the 4-stitch version is the elegant heel treatment with the row of garter stitches along each side of the heel.  Here’s a blow-up picture of what I mean:

Of course I could not resist giving them to her.  And, you can see that the socks fit Tami’s elegant long feet perfectly!  Feet that go with her elegant tall body!

You were right, Barb Melchiskey.  I did have enough yarn.  I had about 20 inches remaining when I was done.  So comforting in the end!!!!

Turkey Tracks: Giovanna’s Shawl

Turkey Tracks:  December 13, 2010

Giovanna’s Shawl

This fall I had the great good fortune to meet Giovanna McCarthy.

Giovanna’s husband, Tom, went to high school with John in Sommerville, MA.  Sometime last year, Tom and John reconnected, and Tom and Giovanna rented a house here in Camden, Maine, for the fall.  They wanted to explore living here, and they bought a home the first week they arrived.   They will move here for good in January 2011, and we are excited about them coming here.  Giovanna has already come to two of Coastal Quilters’ monthly meetings.

Giovanna came to America from Chile as a young woman.  And, Giovanna is a master knitter.  Her hands are always busy with handwork.

Look what she gave me not long ago:

 Here’s a close-up:

 Giovanna used one of the Noro yarns from Japan.  These yarns have the most beautiful colors and fibers.  Noro yarns can be pure wool or blends.  Noros often use a lot of silk and some of the softer animal fibers, like angora.  And, the yars come in various weights.  I made a scarf and matching hat from a silk and wool Noro when I started knitting again here in Maine.   It’s wearing beautifully.  I did a pair of socks, though, that I detest.  I couldn’t match the colors from one sock to the other, and to my eye, they don’t look pretty.  (Friend Amy Fischer loves them though.)  Giovanna, clearly, knows how to use these yarns.  She says this pattern is easy.  Ha!  And, that one works a hole when there is a color change so the colors are even.

I recently bought a book on knitting with Noro yarns that excites me.  There’s a chunky cardigan in it that has my name on it.

This blog will have more on Noro knitting down the road, I’m sure.  And I’m sure there will also be more on Giovanna and her work.

Turkey Tracks: Hand Projects: Socks and a Rug

Turkey Tracks:  October 12, 2010

Hand Projects:  Socks and a Rug

I quilt mostly during the day.  I knit at night while watching movies.  It’s enormously relaxing.

Socks:

I completed a pair of socks recently.  I used a light yarn with a bamboo component.  They came out really lovely, though the color is much more silvery than this picture shows.

The pattern comes from Charlene Schurch’s book SENSATIONAL KNITTED SOCKS:  http://knitting.about.com/od/reviews/fr/sesational-sock.htm.  This pattern is in her 4-stitch pattern section; it’s a “baby cable.”  I have had such success with her 4-knit patterns that I have not ventured into 5-stitch or upwards.  And, these socks fit beautifully as well.

The only trouble I did have was with the bamboo blend yarn.  It turns out that bamboo is heavier than wool, and there were enough grams in the ball to produce a pair of women’s socks.  These are a women’s size 8 or so.  But, there was not enough length of the yarn.  I was missing enough yarn for the two toes.   So, I had to buy another ball, and I was lucky to get the same dye lot.  I’ve written the sellers of the yarn, and, hopefully, they will do something about this problem since right now these socks are double the cost they should be.

One of my grandchildren will be happy, however, as I will have about enough left-over yarn to make one of them a pair of socks.

Rug:

I’m also working on a knitted rug from the MASON-DIXON KNITTING book by Kay Gardiner and Ann Meador Shayne.   These gals also have a terrific blog:   http://www.masondixonknitting.com/.

Here is a picture of one of these rugs I did a few years back.  It’s been washed numerous times, and it still looks great and still feels yummy great to the feet!  It was meant for the kitchen in front of the sink, but looked like it had been made for the lower bathroom, so there it went.

Here is a bigger, close-up picture–one that is (yikes!) showing it needs a trip to the washing machine:

The yarn is a double strand of a double worsted Peaches and Cream cotton.  (Yes, two cones are used at once.)  The fabric knitted/crocheted into the pattern is from my quilt stash, cut into strips.  I love this rug.  It has just the sort of rough, handmade look that I love in a project like this one.

Over a year ago, a friend asked me to help her cut down a king-size duvet cover, and I cut the leftovers into fabric strips.  I wound up with a fairly good-sized ball.  The colors of this fabric are brighter and clearer than this first rug.  I’ve been plotting another rug ever since.   I will confess I did have to add a few more fabrics than I had in my stash.  But, I have two panels done now, so the rug will be on the kitchen floor soon now.  I’ll take a picture when it’s done.

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