Post #15: Circular Sock Knitting Methods

The first pair of socks I ever knit was back in 2005 when I was a very new and inexperienced knitter. At the time, I was living out in the country and the nearest knitting stores were at least an hour's drive away, so I relied heavily on a book to help me.That book is called "Socks Soar on Two Circular Needles" by Cat Bordhi and I have been a fan of hers ever since. She is well-known for her design of sock architecture and also for creating true knit moebius, (I guess plural would be moebii)? You can find her at www.catbordhi.com. In a future post I'll show some of the moebius bowls I knitted from another one of her books.
     Here are pictures of that first pair of socks while in process that I knitted a long time ago. I did actually finish both socks and they came out quite nicely, but I used a heavier yarn and would prefer something lighter. Dear hubby took them, even though they're a little short for him, (well, not anymore, because they are stretched out to his size now), but at least they're being used and loved.

 

     The method taught in the book, which I believe Cat Bordhi pioneered, was knitting one sock at a time in the round on two circular needles, instead of using double pointed needles. It was definitely a challenging project for a beginner. Since that time someone else came up with the magic loop method, which uses one longer circular needle instead of two. If you are a knitter I recommend you try all three methods and decide for yourself which you prefer. I actually like all three. Sometimes I find that double points are easy, but I don't like having to keep track of the extra needle, which I sometimes drop, and the way the stitches can sometimes fall off if you're not careful handling it while putting it in and out of your knitting bag. Two circulars was my preferred method for a long time, because that is what I was first introduced to, but sometimes it seems a bit too fiddly, having to keep rotating the needle around as you complete each half round. I find the same thing with magic loop, but it seems a little less fiddly as there are only two needle ends to deal with. 



     I had lots of fun knitting them. I never did knit another pair of socks until this fall, when I signed up for a sock knit-a-long on Ravelry, but I'll save that for another day.

Finding peace in creativity,

Meryl

Post #14: What has the DMV got to do with crafting?

     Now I ask you, what has the DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) got to do with crafting? Maybe for you, nothing. But in my world, that's not the case! I got the renewal form for our auto tags in plenty of time for me to renew online. I guess I got so involved in my "projects" that for one reason or another I never got around to renewing. By the time I noticed it, the only way to not have expired auto tags was for me to go down to the dreaded motor vehicle bureau in person. Only for me, it is not something to dread, as I am always prepared. I never, ever, go anywhere without something in my purse to keep me occupied, whether it is a book to read in the Kindle app on my phone or a craft project I can work on while I am waiting, I am never bored or impatient. (Well, almost never...I'm certainly not perfect)!
     On this particular day I grabbed a book I had gotten from the library, Nicky Epstein's “Crocheted Flowers,” I made sure to have some small balls of cotton yarn and a crochet hook in my purse, and off I went to the DMV. When I got there at 11A.M. it was quite crowded; there was even a line to get a number. Mine was C305. When I sat down I looked up at the board and saw they were up to C272. Instead of being dismayed by this, I thought, “Oh, good, it’s time to crochet and relax.” Yes, I know I'm weird. Just ask any of my friends, they'll agree!
     

This is how I occupied my time (almost 2 hours) at the DMV. 

    Later I switched to another type of small flower I found in the book. I ended up making five or six of them in various colors, and then I made some more the next day. This morning I thought they might look nice on a collar for Alice, so I took some more discarded denim along with collar hardware from another old worn-out collar of Fido's, and this is what I came up with:

I added a fringe flower center made from the leftover yarn scraps.

This is one happy dog!

Alice loves to pose for the camera.

 

Please be patient with my photography skills. I'm using my

iPhone and really need to work on taking better pictures.

 

 Until next time...

 

Finding peace in creativity,

 

Meryl

   

Post #13: Knitted Dodecahedron Ball

     I've mentioned the website Ravelry in a previous post. Fairly soon after I learned to knit I saw a pattern on there called "Celestine" which is a knitted dodecahedron (10-sided object) that was done all in white. It would have made a fantastic Christmas ornament. It looked so complicated to me I thought I would never in a million years be able to make something like that, but I saved the pattern to my favorites on Ravelry anyway. I think it was the very first pattern I ever saved there, it was so long ago.
     A lot of time has passed, and an awful lot of yarn has made its way into my shopping cart, my knitting bag, and wound itself around my needles since then. Earlier this summer I came across the same pattern on Ravelry, but this one was done using a self-striping sock yarn, and was called "Celestine Sox" (Sox is the name of the Berroco Brand yarn that was used in the sample). I thought, "I've always wanted to make that, maybe now I should give it a try."
     I have no idea which brand of sock yarn I used to make the one you see below. I know I purchased it in Tennessee about 7 or 8 years ago and when I decided to finally make this project, this ball of yarn was sitting in my night table drawer. We have moved a lot since returning to Florida and each time that silly ball of sock yarn stayed by my side, never geting lost in the shuffle of moving and rearranging, maybe for just this purpose.

 

 

     I had lots of fun working on this project. The first section and beginning the second section was the hardest, but a dear friend helped me out when I got stuck. Once I got it figured out I realized that it was actually quite simple. It's one of those things that looks much harder than it actually is.

     It is about 5-1/2" across, and if I had thought of it sooner I might have added a squeaky or some bells inside, so it could be a pet toy. There I go again, thinking up more projects; imagine that!

 

Finding peace in creativity,

 

Meryl