Sock Talk

The Sock Talk at the Kawartha Hooks and Needles guild in Peterborough, ON went very well. They are a terrific bunch of knitters and crocheters.

And Jean wore her Summer Braids Cardigan made in Cotton Tweed Emerald. It looked lovely.

And Mildred brought her second Basic pullover from theTop Down For Toddlers book in a variegated yarn. It looked smashing.

Thanks ladies and gent. I hope I have convinced a couple more knitters that knitting socks is not so difficult and really fun to do. And I hope the sock knitters in the guild took away the thought that they too can design their own socks.

Tomorrow I'm teaching a Top Down class at Unwind Yarn House in Newmarket, ON. We're going to knit a teddybear sized top down with all the techniques needed for any size of top down. We'll also be talking about various adjustments for 'fit' you can make when you knit a top down for yourself. I'm looking forward to it.
-Deb

Commenters:  Jo-anne (Jed) and Ann, you guys are having way too good a time with the J.J. Jacket . I'm glad it's on the UFO list but maybe you can get them done before next Fall!!
At our guild in Aurora,ON a UFO list (unfinished objects) circulates through the members. You sign up a list of projects you hope to finish in the year. For every finished object you get a ticket for a draw prize at the beginning of the next year. It's fun to hear members crowing "I finished . . ." to much applause. This will be Jo-anne and Ann soon.

'in progress' socks

The marriage socks went over very well. Apparently they have cold floors and are just starting to feel them with the cooler evenings. Now they have warm wool socks to put on. And Liz (from the comments), I will be thinking of them with warm feet every time I put on socks in my house where I also have very, very cold floors. But enough about cold feet.

I am giving a talk about socks on Thursday evening at the Kawartha Hooks and Needles Guild in Peterborough. I'm going to explain how to make them and how to design your own. To that end I have knit some small 'in progress' socks.

I hope to show them everywhere that you have to shift stitches on the needles in order to make a sock. Also show how I cast on loosely (over two needles), the heel stitch, turning a heel and the Kitchener stitch at the end. I hope I can get all this done in the hour allotted, although they have had me speak before and know I'm a trifle overenthusiastic and tend to go on a bit.

I have a couple more partial socks to knit up. One more sock knit to the finished gusset and another to the end of the toe ready to be Kitchenered. I think that takes care of most of the work of a sock. Then I can get to the good part, working with stitch patterns because that's what makes it fun right? That and all the lovely wool that's available now. Sigh, there just isn't enough knitting time for it all.
-Deb

Commenters:  Thanks Liz for your comment. Did you make any wedding socks yourself yet?
Brenda and Karen at the Grey Heron Shop in Collingwood are going to run a Sock KAL along with us. Yay. I hope Brenda will send photos of work in progress. I love those pictures.
And I can't wait to see the 2 new JJ Jackets that are being knit by Jed and Ann. I hope all that garter stitch is working up splendidly and then when you are through you can do socks. Ha, ha.

Marriage Socks

The marriage socks went off to their recipients today.

I hope they enjoy them as much as I enjoyed making them.

These socks were fun and easy to make. I cast on 64 sts with sock yarn (finer sock yarn for Amy and thicker sock yarn for Aaron). I then divided these stitches into 4 sections and worked the cable panel in each section. It was lots of fun and I'm going to have to think up something really fun for my next pair of 'socks as metaphor'.

-Deb

The Need A Sock book is now out on Ravelry and on Patternfish.com as a pdf download. If you would like hard copy look for it in your local yarn store or order from us directly at info@cabinfever.ca .

The Need A Sock book shows you how to knit a sock without a specific pattern. Brenda was the instigator of this project which is based on knitting socks according to a Sock Percentage System and between us we knit a lot of socks. But now that the book is out in public I have to admit that lots of the socks that I knit had no mates. A sad state of affairs.

Now that it is time to knit the mates I would like to start a KAL. Does that sound like a good idea for sock knitters out there? I will run it on our Cabin Fever group at Ravelry and on a new blog called KAL with Cabin Fever. I'm going to get started in a couple of weeks, this is just a heads up. I hope to see photos of socks in progress and to discuss accommodating fancy sock patterns. I'm knitting lots of socks in the next while and I hope you'll join me.
-Deb

Retreating

I was retreating in Sudbury last weekend and it was wonderful. The Sticks, String and Stewardship Retreat is held the first weekend in October when the leaves are changing and everyone needs a knitting break after getting September over with.

Lots of knitting, lots of chatting and lots of eating of cake. Last year we all did a Moebius class and one of us, and I'm not naming names but you know who you are, became obsessed. This year S. brought a bottomless bag where she kept pulling out moebius scarf after moebius scarf after moebius scarf, like rabbits out of a hat.

And then she made a cake. Not just any cake. This is a Moebius Dickey cake. Just say it over and over, moebius dickey, moebius dickey and you might get the same place that Sharon did which was the Moby Dick cake with whales and spume (is that right?) and a lop-sided cake on purpose to represent the moebius. It was delicious. Yum. Long live the convoluted mind.

See you all next year. It was a terrific weekend and I can't wait to see the cake next year.

-Deb

Andrea (from the comments) was asking about where Sophy's Shawl was available.

It's a shawl based on Evelyn Clark's book Triangle Shawls but with a difference. It's rounded instead of a triangle shape and sits on your shoulders really well. It's a charted pattern only. So if you like charts this is a pattern for you. It's available:  Sophy's Shawl on Patternfish or Sophy's Shawl on Ravelry .

The pattern is clearer against the navy sofa cushion.

Another new pattern has been loaded onto these two pdf.download sites. I resized Morgan's Cardigan from the Teens and Tweens book so that the sizes run from 37" to 50" for the finished sweater.

It's available:  A-Line Cardigan on Patterfish or A-Line Cardigan on ravelry .

I'm working on another cardigan in slightly heavier wool at an Aran/Heavy Worsted weight. It's coming along.

In fact I should get back to it right now.

-Deb

Comments: You might just see me with this sweater on sometime Brenda. I'm in need of a new one and this might be it.
Jed and Ann, go JJ go. I hope you are both progressing on the JJ cardigan. It's a great sweater for this time of year.

And now, back to our regularly scheduled blogging. What do you have on your needles? It's the beginning of a new knitting season. An exciting time.

I'm starting with . . . drum roll please . . . a sweater for myself. Yes, for me, me, me. I usually knit myself a sweater specifically for myself about every 5 years. Boo, hoo, I know, it's sad isn't it? Most of the sweaters I knit go to shows all over North America and I stay home and wear the same sweaters for decades. I'm not looking for sympathy because I of course could wear any of the pile of sweaters we have in the shop but I get stuck on a couple of garments and wear them constantly. It probably makes me easy to pick out in a crowd. Right now I have 3 sweaters that I wear regularly. I have a Take It From The Top which I knit in 2000, a Guenevere sweater I knit in 2005 and a Lakeside Cardigan (Button Up Your Top Down book, centre row, electric blue sweater) I knit in 2007. I think it's about time to mix up my wardrobe a little.

I'm working on another Top Down Cardigan which I will close with a stick (hooray, no buttons to sew on). I have a general idea of what it will look like but it's not 100% decided yet. I think this lack of planning is why I'm not a weaver.

Anyway, I'm happily working.

-Deb

Commenters:  Thanks http://greyheronbits.blogspot.com/ and http://thepurplesock.blogspot.com/ for coming out to the KnitTrade Show. It was great to see you all. And next year I hope you can come http://chezlizzie.blogspot.com/ .  Thanks for your encouragement Ann. Hi anonymous, when we got going the KnitTrade floor was quite a busy little place. We have a site with a lot of room to grow and we're already looking forward to next year. For more information email us at info@cabinfever.ca.