Color inspiration......

Today's blog post is brought to you by the colors teal and orange. These colors have been making there way into many of my knitting projects and knitting inspiration. First up are some basic stockinette socks.

Pattern: Made it up as I went.

Yarn: Destination Yarn

Color: Copenhagen (less than 1 skein)
Size: Cast on 64 stitches
Needles: US Size 1 (2.25mm)
Basic Pattern: Cast on 64 stitches, K1, P1 ribbing for 12 rows.
I used the heel and toe from my Summer Lovin Sock pattern.
Verdict: I love this yarn and definitely need to get more to make a
baby hat and booties or a sweater.

Next up is my latest purchase from Hazel Knits. I was thinking about using the orange yarn (High ocTang) for my little pumpkin socks (Ravelry link) but it looks so great next to the teal (Beach Glass). I'm also working on a new design using these colors. Too bad they don't look good on me.

Tutorial: Picking up a missed YO

Some of you have had problems forgetting a yarn over when knitting my Summer Lovin Sock pattern. Rather than rip back to fix the yarn over I thought I would post a tutorial on how to pick up a missed yarn over.

Just to give you some perspective this missed yarn over is on row 10 of the pattern chart.







Hope this helps. I know I hate ripping back to fix a mistake.

Knit Night

I always forget to bring my camera to our Thursday knit nights but not this time. This picture is a few weeks old and was taken behind one of our LYS (Birds of a Feather).

Starting at the top from left to right (clockwise): Annie, me (bad hair day), Pam, Tina, Michelle, Jeanne, Alison, Jenny and our photographer Andrea. We had a good time and the weather was beautiful. We usually alternate between Java Cafe and Birds. If you live in the Cleveland area or are visiting come and join us. We post where we will be meeting up on Ravelry in the Cleveland Knits West group.

Guess who turned 10? That's right the pup is 10 years old already. I can't believe it. I got him for my birthday from the DH when we bought our first house. He was the best present ever.

Yes I did bake him his very own pumpkin bread. He and the DH enjoyed some. He looks very sad to have to be waiting to get his picture taken. Once he got the OK the cake was gone with one big bite.

I'm going to be having a de-stash sale soon. I just need to get pictures taken of the yarn that will be up for sale and decide on prices. I have lots of gorgeous yarn and bags that I will probably not use and I definitely don't want it to go to waste.

More socks......

I finished another pair of the Summer Lovin Socks (Ravelry link) for my grandmother. I used Pagewood Farms Yukon in the color Bird of Paradise. This is one of my favorite yarns that I use to have to order online until my LYS started carrying it. If you've never used it you have to give it a try.

I also ordered lots more sock yarn as you can see. The yarn below is Destination Yarn and has been dyed by my friend Jeanne. The green, blue and yellow are from her America the Beautiful collection. The multi is Copenhagen and is dyed to match a beautiful picture of Copenhagen Denmark. The next colors that I want to get are called Tuscany and Vienna.

Next, I ordered some yarn from Knitting Notions. My friend Andrea loves their yarn and has used it for several projects. The variegated rust, colored yarn in the back is Tuscan Grove but everything else is Knitting Notions.

Since, I've been knitting up my sock yarn stash I can justify buying more. LOL!!! Below is proof, these are some socks that I'm knitting up for my mom. Red is her favorite color. The yarn is Zauberball in color Reds 1963.

I didn't have a pattern so I cast on 72 stitches and K3, P1 for the cuff and the top of the foot, I used a different color for the heel because I wanted the color to blend down the top of the foot. I did a wedge toe. They are a little snug on me but they should fit my mom. I really like this yarn it was addicting to knit with. The texture of the yarn is simlar to the Noro sock yarn. It's suppose to be machine washable. Let's hope so because I'm sure my mom will throw them in the washer.

Sock KAL

For those of you that are interested in knitting the Summer Lovin Socks join our Summer Lovin Sock KAL on Ravelry.

These are the socks that Pam test knit for me with her beautiful hand-dyed yarn. Can you believe that she used Easter egg dye.

Summer Lovin Socks

Finally the pattern is ready for the Summer Lovin Socks. Thanks Andrea and Pam for test knitting. The pattern is available below or on Ravelry (link). I hope you enjoy.

Gauge: 8 stitches and 11 rounds = 1 inch

Materials: 1 hank Hazel Knits Artisan Sock (color Laguna)

US size 2 (2.25mm) double-pointed needles

Tapestry needle

Skill Level: Intermediate

Abbreviations:

K – knit K2tog – knit 2 together P- purl

P2tog – purl 2 together RS – right side

SSK – slip, slip, knit St(s) –stitch

WS – wrong side YO –yarn over

Cuff:

Cast on 64 stitches dividing them evenly onto 4 needles. (16 stitches on each needle)

Join in the round being careful not to twist the stitches. P1, K1 to the end of the round. Repeat for a total of 12 rows of ribbing.

Leg Pattern: (Chart A)

Begin knitting round 1 of Chart A.

Chart A:

Repeat each round of chart pattern 4 times per round.

Repeat round 1-20 of chart A 3 times for leg of sock.

Setup for Heel Flap:

Turn work so wrong side is facing you. You will be working the stitches that you just knit. Slip 1; purl next 31 stitches on to 1 needle. You should now have all stitches on three needles, 16 stitches on two needles and 32 stitches (heel) on one needle.

Heel Flap:

Row 1: (RS) Slip 1, K1, repeat to end.

Row 2: (WS) Slip 1, P1, repeat to end.

Repeat rows 1 and 2 until your heel flap measures 2 inches, ending with a WS row.

Turn Heel:

Row 1: (RS) Slip 1, knit 18, ssk, k1. Turn.

Row 2: (WS) Slip 1 st, purl 7, p2tog, p1. Turn.

Row 3: Slip 1, knit 8, ssk, k1. Turn.

Row 4: Slip 1, purl 9, p2tog, p1. Turn.

Row 5: Slip 1, knit 10, ssk, k1. Turn.

Row 6: Slip 1, purl 11, p2tog, p1. Turn.

Row 7: Slip 1, knit 12, ssk, k1. Turn.

Row 8: Slip 1, purl 13, p2tog, p1. Turn.

Row 9: Slip 1, knit 14, ssk, k1. Turn.

Row 10: Slip 1, purl 15, p2tog, p1. Turn.

Row 11: Slip 1, knit 16, ssk, k1. Turn.

Row 12: Slip 1, purl 17, p2tog, p1. Turn.

Row 13: Knit row. (20 stitches)

Gusset:

Needle #1 - Slip the last 10 stitches that you worked onto a separate needle. Using the same needle pick up and knit 18 stitches along the edge of the heel flap (28 stitches).

Needle #2 & #3 (instep stitches) Begin row 1 of Chart A.

Needle #4 - Using a new needle pick up and knit 18 stitches along the edge of the heel flap and knit the last 10 stitches of the heel. (28 stitches) This will now mark the end of your round.

You should now be back to 4 needles

Needle #1 – 28 stitches.

Needle #2 – 16 stitches.

Needle #3 – 16 stitches.

Needle #4 – 28 stitches.

Gusset Decreases:

Round 1:

Needle #1 – Knit across to last 3 stitches, k2tog, knit 1.

Needle #2 & #3 – Continue in pattern following Chart A.

Needle #4 – Knit 1, ssk, knit to end.

Round 2: Knit all stitches.

Repeat rounds 1 and 2 until you have 16 stitches on all four needles. (64 stitches)

Foot:

Continue working in stockinette on needles 1 and 4 and in pattern on needles 2 and 3.

Knit until foot is 2 inches less than desired length. Be sure to end with an odd row on your instep or pattern stitches.

Toe Decreases:

Round 1:

Needle 1: Knit to last 3 stitches, k2tog, k1.

Needle 2: K1, ssk, knit to end.

Needle 3: Knit to last 3 stitches, k2tog, k1.

Needle 4: K1, ssk, knit to end.

Round 2 & 3: Knit.

Round 4: Repeat round 1.

Round 5 & 6: Knit.

Round 7: Repeat round 1.

Round 8: Knit

Round 9: Repeat round 1.

Round 10: Knit

Round 11: Repeat round 1.

Round 12: Knit.

Round 13: Repeat round 1.

Round 14: Knit.

Round 15: Repeat round 1.

Round 16: Knit.

Round 17: Repeat round 1.

Round 18: Knit

Round 19, 20 & 21: Repeat round 1.

(20 stitches)

Knit across needle #1 (5 stitches). Your yarn should now be at the side of the sock toe, on the right side. Using a yarn needle Kitchner stitch the sock toe closed. Hide your ends and block socks if desired.

Enjoy your Summer Lovin Socks!!!

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Inspiration....

So last time I posted I was feeling uninspired and couldn't find anything that I just had to cast on. So of course I went hunting around on Ravelry and found one of my favorite designers Marnie MacLean. If you haven't had a chance to check out her designs you should. Her garments are beautifully constructed down to the smallest detail. I feel in love with two of her designs one was published through Twist Collective and is called Bijou (Ravelry link). I'm just waiting for my yarn to arrive in the next couple of days so I can cast on. The second design of Marnie's is her newest and it's a beautiful shawl called La Cumparsita (Ravelry link). I'm not much of a shawl girl but this design is so gorgeous I just have to make it.

I'm thinking of using my dream into color smooshy in Cocoa Kiss to make the shawl. I love the gray and brown combination in this yarn. Since the shawl requires 540 yards I'll probably need to order another skein.

The inspiration didn't stop there. I found two sweater patterns that I fell in love with also. The first one is called Buttercup (Ravelry link) and is a free pattern. I first fell in love with it when I saw Jessica's finished sweater. I love top-down seamless sweaters. Not much into finishing and I love that I can try them on as I go. Also easy to modify the pattern as I go.

The second pattern I had to have is called Moch Cardi (Ravelry link). This one is worked from the bottom up; sleeves are joined and eventually grafted at the underarms. I'm not ready to cast on this one yet but I think this will make a great fall sweater. I just love the yoke.

Now that my queue is full I just need to go through my stash and find the perfect yarn.