I’m a sock addiction enabler, a pusher if you will. If someone indicates to me in even a very small way that they would like to learn to knit socks, I slip them that little taste that might get them hooked. I’m evil, I admit it.

Mom just e-mailed me and said she wished I live closer (than 25,000 miles away) so I could help her learn to knit socks. I recommended my favorite book on that very subject, Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch, then went on an Internet quest for a good beginner pattern or tutorial. I found one that is so fabulous I had to share.

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Silver’s free sock classes are fabulous, as is her enitre site, check it out and happy sock knitting!

Deb H

It seems like I have not done anything but knit socks since Christmas. On my long list of things to get done in January, only the hall got painted, and one class got written… OK, I did more than that, I polished my Etsy and added some more yarns. I also learned a little about using Flickr and Ravelry but that is a huge learning curve at this point (well, for me).

I’ve been knitting socks.

Well, I did knit about 100 (slight exaggeration) sock toes as I was writing a class on alternative toes for socks to teach at Knit Michigan, which was a blast! Here are some of the round toes that survived the Grim Frogger (being ripped out).

But I had finished the grey silk socks and then began the December Tofutsie Club socks; Winterberry (top two photos) when my DH decided he needed heavy socks for his winter boots. His house socks I knit him last year (I hand dyed Cascade 220 Superwash for these and knit them on size 3 (US) needles) were perfect so could I just do another pair like that? But longer?

I love dyeing sock yarn, didn’t the colors come out nice and manly?

So two more balls of Cascade later (I did not dye these, he wanted them this winter) and I got them finished.

Not very exciting as far as color or pattern but somehow satisfying to work on. Even if they did take a very long time for such a big gauge - his has big feet! And the lovely green heather was soothing to work on. These were a basic pattern done toe-up, two-at-a-time, my favorite sock knitting method.

So, what is ABD? And, what does it have to do with sock knitting?

Avoidance Behavior Disorder. Before you run to your shrink for medication, I think I may have made this one up. Of course, that’s what they (the Dr.’s and the pharmaceuticals) do too, isn’t it? ABD is what you do when you really should be doing something else but are avoiding it… like cleaning up the studio.

Sigh,

Deb H

I mentioned in an earlier post that my DH (Dear Hubby) made me two beautiful necklaces for Christmas, the silver PMC (Precious Metal Clay) necklace (shown here) and this post’s star – a fused glass and silver clay pendant (click on the picture for a larger view). The glass was a sheet of swirling aqua and teal with the barest hint of glitz, the silver clay (PMC) detail was formed by painting the clay on a tiny wood branch. One interesting effect was, since the glass and the PMC was all fired at the same time, the glass acquired a silver halo where it is next to the silver clay. This was not expected and very much contributed to the appeal of the fused glass. Because we both like this effect so much I hope he can duplicate it. I wonder what caused it, the glass absorbing a gassing off effect from the silver? Humm….. The whole pendant is about two inches high by 1 inch wide. Isn’t he just the cleverest thing?

Speaking of my Honey, here are the hand warmers I knit him for Christmas. Made from SWTC Karaoke in color Tobacco. This is a lovely single ply, heavy worsted weight in a wool and Soy Silk blend. They knit up quick and handsome.

I made a pair just like them in deep navy, almost black(not pictured) for my brother. Never again! The color was so dark, it was very difficult to see except in the middle of the day. You know I love you Mike, but your next pair will be a light color My only concern for these two pair are the fact that since they are not all wool, they don’t have the “memory” to spring back after wearing and tend to stretch out a little. Washing resolves this but 100% wool would have avoided it.

I have the same concern for the hand warmers I knit for my SIL. Lynda’s were made from Noro’s Cotton Iroha that is 70% cotton, , 20% cashmere, and 10% nylon. The same gauge as the Karaoke, and with the same memory problems.

The nice thing about this yarn is that it is so soft. Not something you usually think of in the same sentence as Noro, although I love their Silk Garden and have made a few things from that. Lynda’s hand warmers are knit in a spiraling rib; the better to show off the color changes.

Last of my Holiday hand warmer knitting was the pair I did for my step daughter and her husband. Penny’s are the prettiest yet - I did them almost last so I was in the zone

Made from GGH Samson; 100% washable merino in a lovely dusty purple. This yarn was soooo nice to work with; soft and with such wonderful stitch definition (the cable showed up very well) that I have resolved to use it again for something – yum! I used the same pattern for hers and Todd’s (he’s a policeman so I thought plain grey in Cascade 220 Superwash a good choice) as I did for Jack’s and Mike’s above. It’s a variation of Knitting at Knoon’s Hand Warmer Pattern that is available free on the Internet. I adjusted for gauge and size and replaced the stockinette with a 2×2 rib and added the braided cable from November 19th of my perpetual calendar; 365 Knitting Stitches a Year.

I still have three pair of socks on the needles and my sewing machine is calling me – really loudly! But, my sewing studio is such a mess I have to clean it before I can even find the machine – sigh……

Time to consider doing something about it.

Deb H

Here are some photos of the hand warmers (and one pair of slippers) I knit for Christmas presents and some of their recipients. My family on Christmas morning; they seemed to be pretty appreciative of the extra warmth. Could it be because it actually snowed on Christmas day in Portland, Oregon this year? The slippers, lower left, were for my Mom who got hand warmers last January for her birthday. And if you look at the lower right corner you will see… yes, a pair still on the needles. My poor hubby, it seems he always gets his projects in-work. I’m happy to report, I had them finished before the day was over

Here are some details. The fuzzy bunch… Its amazing to me how fast it is to knit with one strand of worsted weight wool and one strand of novelty yarn on a pair of size 9 needles! Since I usually knit with sock weight yarn on size 1’s or size 0’s, that’s quite a difference. These were all done in 2×2 rib with thumb shaping like a glove but I did not pick up and knit farther up the thumb. Make sense? Sorry, I didn’t have a pattern.

Left: Black fuzzy yarn (brand?) with some blue iridescent beads spun into it, combined with one strand of Heirloom’s Easycare 8 (DK weight) in denim blue. I made two pair of these, one for my daughter and one for my older niece.

Notice I discovered a new trick - One of my options when I post a photo is “FILE”, if I check this, you can click on the photo and it will take you to a larger version of that picture (assuming I have one). If the photo has a border it means you can see a larger picture. Cool beans, huh? Yes, I’m much better at color than computers, sigh….

Right: The same as above but in a cool Merlot, isn’t that just a great color name? Again, I made two pair, one for my younger niece and one for the gift exchange at work.

Left: These were a bit fuzzier, one strand of gray Cascade 220 SW and one strand of SWTC’s Fur Real in Silver Fox. They are sooooooo soft and machine washable, I made four pair of these and I kept one for me!

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Right: There are more (pictured right about mid December), but I’ll have to show you them on another day. It’s snowing here again, I’m off to put on something warm!

Stuff I’m doing besides art (but still creative - I keep telling myself);

Painting the hall way; mint green with olive trim.

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Deb H

Knitting in the News; the Wall Street Journal had an article in today’s paper on how deadly serious knitters can get. I thought it was a hoot and it even sounded like wicked fun It was all about a game of Assassin with hand knit socks - a sock knitting race/competition, if you will. I sooooo loved this! Read all about it at Sock It to Me.

And the Coping with Winter thing has started. We had 4 or 5 inches of snow yesterday in the SE corner of Michigan. Other parts got it worse. Personally, I can live without ever seeing another snow flake the whole rest of my life. I guess I wouldn’t mind so much if the brutal cold did not go with it. Can’t someone invent warm snow? Oh, wait! Mother Nature has already done that, it’s called rain

But, on the bright side (there is always a bright side, sometimes its just good at hiding), cold weather means you can wear all that wonderful knitting and weaving and quilting you’ve been doing. From about Halloween through April, my hands are cold. It interferes with all of my hand-ish chores. My solution is (of course) knitted hand warmers. Most of mine are very practical and almost all of them are made of odd bits of left over yarns. I did do one pair from a lovely cashmere and silk blend that I dyed just for the purpose. The problem arose when my dye job - an adventure, as always - produce two balls of very different colors. I had been teaching a class in adventurous dyeing (the only style I know) and grabbed two balls of this lovely expensive yarn off the shelf and didn’t even skien it up, much less scour it. I just took a syringe and squirted green and blue dye into the center and around the outside of each ball, set the dye and rinsed. I skeined it and was surprised at the results (so, what is new about that)? Both skeins had both colors but one was very blue and one was very green. This was about three 0r four years ago and I had been meaning to write a short article for my web site on knitting with hand dyed yarns. This presented the perfect opportunity. To make a long story short, the finished hand warmers matched perfectly! Here is the tutorial I wrote so long ago on knitting with hand dyed yarns when all the skeins don’t exactly match.

But, back to using up all those odd bits. My favorite pair of hand warmers, and the ones that get me the most attention are my Ruffled Rags. Pictured above and below, they were a combination of two patterns, the basic fit is a pattern I bought; Arthritis/Carpal Tunnel Hand Warmers, by Joan Sheridan Hoover at Heritage Spinning and Weaving and a free pattern; Mrs. Beeton’s Wrist Warmers, by Brenda Dayne from Knitty.com. I did some adjusting of gauge and number of stitches cast-on and in the thumb. The Heritage pattern was written for sock weight yarn and I used worsted weight. Bit of a difference there. Then I used sport weight on my ruffles and changed them a bit too. But they were the inspiration and the launch pads for my favorite warmers OK, small confession here; the ruffles are a bit big and often get in the way. But its a small price to pay for knitting couture

OK, I’ve procrastinated the things I should be doing to get ready for Christmas long enough. I think I’ll try to avoid the distractions that keep jumping in front of me and focus (a novel concept). Have a terrific Holiday to everyone and see you after Christmas!!

Deb H