Shades of Grey - Toe Up

There are two directions you can knit socks. One way is from the cuff down to the toes. My first socks (Ripple Stitch socks and Beaded Eyelet Rib socks) were knit this way. The other direction is from the toe to the cuff. There are two big advantages for working socks starting from the toe: 1) If you are knitting a pattern with a charted design then the chart is read in the usual manner of bottom to top (working from the cuff down you the chart is read backwards) but the biggest advantage for most knitters is that 2) after dividing the yarn in half and knitting the feet and heels the remaining yarn can be used for additional length in the body and cuff. Socks knit from the toe to cuff heel usually work a short row heel (a heel flap can be done but it takes a little finagling) so sock knitters who prefer a heel flap or those who are avoiding the short row heel usually knit from the cuff to toe.

My last project for this independent study was to knit a pair of socks from the toe to the cuff. I used the two shades of Pearl Grey yarn (see Dying Some More Yarn.) My main reference book was Toe-up Techniques for Hand-knit Socks by Janet Rehfeldt

Here are the details for the Shades of Grey socks:

Yarn: Fingering weight superwash merino/nylon blend from KnitPicks.com.
--I like the softness and shine of the merino/tencel blend used in the Beaded Eyelet Rib and Ripple Stitch socks better than this yarn. It figures, because the merino/tencel is twice as much ($6 a skein vs. $12)! << Sigh >> I always like the expensive stuff better.

Colorway: Rit Liquid Dye - Pearl Grey
--The toe, heel and cuff were knit in dark grey. The foot and body were knit in light grey.

Gauge and needle sizes: I used size 2 needles for everything except the top 4" of the body where I used size 3 needles to increase the gauge (to fit my calf) without having to increase the # of stitches. My gauge on size 2 needles was 8 stitches per inch.

Direction knit: Toe up.
--It took a few attempts to get the toe started properly and I don't think I really did it the way shown in the book but the end result looks fine! I cast on 10 stitches and I applied the same technique I frequently use to start a circular crochet project -- I picked up 10 stitches in the bottom of the cast on and then began increasing every other row . I used the M1R and M1L increase method from the book and my first impression is that a standard toe shaped with increases is better looking than one shaped with decreases.

Cuff pattern: K2, P2 for 2"

Body pattern: Stockinette stitch for 8". The bottom 4" of the body were worked on #2 needles and the top 4" of the body were worked on #3 needles.

Heel pattern: The Sherman Heel (see Ripple Stitch socks for details.)

Foot pattern: Stockinette stitch.

Bind-off: The bind-off was the only part of this sock that I struggled with. I worked three different bind-offs before I found one that I liked. I felt like Goldilocks:

This one was too tight (even using the trick of binding off with a larger needle size): Simple Rib Bind Off

This one was too loose: Russian bind-off variation by Wendy Knits

This one was complicated (it takes time and is very difficult to take apart): Elizabeth Zimmermann’s Stretchy Sewn Cast-off

This one was just right!: "Work 2 sts in pattern (either knit or purl). Move yarn to back (if the last worked st was a knit, this is already the case). * Transfer the 2 worked sts to the LH needle, and k2togTBL. Work 1 st in pattern (move yarn to back if it was a purl), * repeat between *." and I found it here.

I don't know yet which direction of sock knitting I prefer. I'll just have to keep knitting more socks until I figure it out!

Spiral Rib Hat

This hat was knit with the plied Shetland handspun (see spinning) and worked on size 10 circular needles. The stitch pattern is K2,P2 ribbing for 4 rows and then the pattern shifts by ending the 4th row with a K2,P1 (stopping one stitch short.) Reset the row marker and start the next row with that last stitch (in other words, the stitch which should have been purled at the end of the 4th row is now the start of the K2,P2 ribbing for the next 4 rows). The complete hat pattern is copyrighted so I can't give more details but it's not any more difficult than working the stitch pattern for the desired length and following the usual decreasing instructions for the crown of a hat (google the keywords -- knit, hat, decrease, crown).

Pidge - 99% natural & 100% handmade

A pidge is a short scarf closed with two buttons and it was the perfect project for my handspun corriedale. (see Spinning). I wanted to use a natural dye for this project so I tea dyed 203 yards with an entire box of Twinings Blackcurrent tea.





I was also trying to make all the components of the pidge natural and handmade, including the buttons and I was inspired by this idea for handmade wooden buttons. We have 3 oak trees and 2 maples on our little suburban yard so finding branches to experiment with wasn't difficult. Hubby helped by cutting the branches and played around with sawing them at varying angles. I didn't like the idea of using oil on an object that is going to be used on a garment so I deviated at this point from the original tutorial. To finish the buttons I applied stain and polyurethane. My daughter Sarah pointed out that I lost the ability to call it 100% "natural" when I used the polyurethane. She's right. I should have used shellac. Oh well, it'll have to be 99% natural and 100% handmade!






To begin the scarf, the number of stitches to cast-on must be a multiple of 4 plus 1 and the pattern for each row is a simple *K2,P2*, repeating *to* and ending with a K1. Knit until you reach approximately 2" from the desired length. Make 2 buttonholes of appropriate size for your chosen buttons and knit an additional 2".

My inconsistently handspun yarn, filled with slubs and many thick and thin areas knit easily and beautifully into a pidge!

Notes:

Size 6 needles and 29 stitches.

The finished scarf measures 24½" long and 4½" wide.

For a nice finished edge I slipped the last stitch of each row purlwise.

Beaded Eyelet Rib Socks

I love these socks. They came out better than I envisioned (and that doesn't happen often!) and they look and fit fantastic.

I dyed the yarn with wine colored Rit dye and tried to achieve a Faux Ikat (see previous blog entry). I mismanaged the timing of the dye bath and the result was yarn that was basically a solid color. There were a few small light areas which gave a slight heather effect in the stockinette stitch of the sock foot but doesn't show at all in the eyelet pattern of the sock body.

Yarn: Fingering weight superwash merino/tencel blend from Mind's Eye Yarns

Colorway:Rit Liquid Dye - Wine

Gauge and needle sizes: I used size 3 needles for the cuff and 7 pattern repeats for the body and size 2 needles for the remainder. My gauge was 8 stitches per inch on #2 needles.

Direction knit: Cuff down.

Cuff pattern: P2, k2, p1, K2 for 1"

Body pattern:

Slip bead: Move yarn to the front (as if to purl) and slip bead down, slip next stitch purlwise and move yarn to the back.

Stitch pattern in multiples of 7
Row 1: *P2, k2 tog, yo, k1, yo, ssk; repeat from * to end of row.
Row 2: *P2, k5; repeat from * to end of row.
Row 3: *P2, k2, slip bead, k2; repeat from * to end of row.
Row 4: *P2, k5; repeat from * to end of row.

The total length of the body (including cuff) is 8" ending with row 4.

Heel pattern: The Sherman Heel (see Ripple Stitch socks for details.)

Foot pattern: The foot was knit in stockinette st.

Toe pattern: The Round Toe from the book Folk Socks by Nancy Bush.

Notes:

The cuff could also a pattern of K5, P2

The standard way to do a ssk is: slip 2 stitches as if to knit then k2 tog through the back loops. An alternate way to work the ssk is to slip 1 knitwise, slip 1 purlwise then k2 tog through the back loops. The claim is that the alternate way lays flatter. For this sock I worked the standard ssk and the way the stitch lay didn't strike me as an issue, but it's something to keep in mind for future patterns.

Dying some more yarn

Bouyed by my success of dying with Kool-Aid I decided to experiment with some dying techniques using Rit dye. I attempted the Faux Ikat Dyeing Technique described in the book The Yarn Lover's Guide to Hand Dyeing by Linda LaBelle.

Because Kool-Aid is food safe I was able to work with my kitchen pots and pans but with Rit dye I moved to the basement and used pots that aren't used to cook food. I rigged this table to make a longer skein (don't you just love duct tape?!)


Unfortunately, I didn't time things right and I couldn't achieve the desired results but I did get a very pretty wine colored yarn which made a gorgeous pair of socks (details next blog entry!)

After this dying experiment I discovered a personal dilemma. The amount of water used to wash the dye out of the yarn was enormous. Rit dye works on both cotton and wool and because I was dying 100% wool yarn, the unused additives and dyes intended for cotton were being flushed into the water supply. Dying your own yarn is NOT eco friendly. What to do? I had two packets of Rit dye and 7 skeins of bare yarn! I decided to use the dye on a few of the skeins but I resolved to use only natural dye techniques for any future projects.


Daughter Laura was home for fall break and willing to help!

Rit colors Pearl Grey and Scarlet. I achieved the variations in grey by simply leaving the skeins in the dye baths for varying amounts of time. The bonnet is for Laura's Halloween costume (the Sunmaid Raisin girl!) Unfortunately, the fabric must be a cotton/poly blend (there was no label) because the bonnet did not come out the beautiful red that the yarn did.

Spinning

I'll admit it -- my spinning, using both the spindle and the wheel, never really got out of the park and draft mode. However, at some point I felt I acquired a decent sense of handling the drafting triangle and was beginning to spin a more consistent yarn.
After my first spinning attempts I spun 8oz of corriedale cream top purchased from Alpaca Direct. This produced 279 yards of single spun yarn. I tea dyed 203 yards and kept 76 yards in the original color.

I also spun 4oz of shetland roving purchased from Iron Horse Farm. I did ply this yarn but the ply came out so loose that I don't think I did it properly. The skeined yarn hung remarkable balanced both before and after setting the twist but it looks just barely plyed -- more like just holding two single strands together. This produced 111 yards of 2 ply yarn.


I did like learning to spin but I never took to it. I love touching and handling yarn but that tactile enjoyment did not transfer over to roving.

Ripple Stitch socks

The wonderful thing about knitting socks is the ability to design them yourself. The dozens of ways that the cuff, heel and toe can each be knit combined with thousands of stitch pattern choices means that the possibility of designing a one-of-a-kind pair of socks are pretty darn good!

So here are the details for my Kool-aid dyed yarn and my first attempt at sock designing:

Yarn: Fingering weight superwash merino/tencel blend from Mind's Eye Yarns

Colorway: Ice Blue Raspberry Lemonade Kool-aid dyed in a gradated pattern (see Kool-Aid dyed yarn post)

Gauge and needle sizes: I used size 4 needles for the first 4 inches of the cuff and body and size 3 needles for the remainder. My gauge was 7 stitches per inch.

Direction knit: Cuff down.

Cuff pattern: K1,P1 for 1"

Body pattern: Ripple Stitch from Vogue Dictionary of Knitting Stitches by Anne Matthews (1984). The total length of the body (including cuff) is 8".

Heel pattern: The Sherman Heel. The Sherman Heel is a short row pattern but does not use the wrap technique. Instead slip stitches and the techniques of knit and purl encroachment are used. My references for this heel pattern and how to work the stitches are:

A toe up sock pattern by Mary Lycan.
Knit Encroachment (k enc)
Purl Encroachment (p enc)

Foot pattern: The instep/top of foot (1/2 of the total stitches) follows the pattern for the body. The bottom half is stockinette stitch.

Toe pattern: I couldn't find a name for this --it just seems to be the standard pattern for toe decreases when working a sock from the cuff down.

The stitches are distributed as follows:
1/4 of the stitches are on needle #1 (the center back of the heel), 1/2 of the stitches on needle #2 (these stitches are the top of the foot), and the remaining 1/4 on needle #3.

Needle #1: knit to last 3 stitches, k2tog, k1.
Needle #2: k1, ssk, knit to last 3 stitches, k2tog, k1.
Needle #3: k1, ssk, knit to end of needle.
Work an even round.
Alternate decrease rounds and even rounds until 8 stitches remain.

Notes and observations:

It took a couple of swatch samples to select the right pattern for the self-striping effect of the yarn. The stitch pattern was written to be worked flat using two needles but was easily converted for circular knitting.

I decreased the toe down to the recommended 8 stitches but I think I like a wider toe and will try 10.