March and April's projects!

I apologize for the lack of posting for the past month! Or two. I did a silly, gettin' old thing. In an effort to streamline my 8 email accounts, I decided to route them all through Outlook and I changed all the passwords (they all were different!) to be the same. Now, I don't need to enter any passwords at all. That's a good thing, right?

However, I totally forgot that I had changed the password for my blog account, and when I tried to go in and do a post, I was blocked. I entered, and re-entered the old password and because I did it so often, I was blocked for 24 hours. And then I would try again. About three weeks later, in the middle of the night, while patting myself on the back for streamlining my email retrieval and reflecting on how much time I save by having it centralized, I gasped. Then, and only then, did I realize what I had done. I had changed the password, and that's why I couldn't get into the blog. Simple. Yet incredibly stupid.

So, some of you have contacted me, and I have sent the March project - lacy fingerless gloves - to them, and several pair have already been completed. For those of you who would like to continue in the challenge, here's the link. And because of my total ridiculous senior's moment, the deadline for March's project is April 30th. If you don't already have a Ravelry account - please take a moment and join. Several of our patterns of the month will be from the free Ravelry downloads. Ravelry.com is a free site. Try it, I'm sure you'll like it!

April's project is here. Cherry Swirl Socks by Fleece Artist. A top down sock - can you believe it? Nancy doing a top down sock. Wonders will never cease. I'm casting mine on this evening. Mr. Knits has a charity event to perform at, so I'll have several hours of quiet quality knitting time.

Did you think I'd forgotten about you?

Nope, just been trying to get February's pattern up on my website. I have spent hours working on it, and I couldn't get the darned thing to download. Then I tried something else - a link to a page on the website where you would have to cut and paste. That worked in the preview option, but not once the site was uploaded. Or so I thought.

The first try was sent to the correct domain name, and I had not put the file in the correct directory. So I corrected that, and the trouble began. Unbeknowst to me, I was uploading all the changes to Mr Knits website. Don't tell him, but for the past week or so, visitors to his website actually were viewing mine. Great studly musician type people were forced to look at yarn. Yikes! I have sorta (that's a real word, trust me) fessed up and told him what happened, leaving out of course how long it had happened. Good thing he doesn't read my blog, isn't it.

So, now that the download function is working, I am pleased to announce the February project for the sock of the month club. It's a side to side sock pattern with 3 variations. Here's the linky loo  This pattern will remain on the website for just the month of February, so make sure you download it if you want to make the socks. If you can't download it, email me and I will send you the pdf.

Some of you have finished the Gaia shoulder hug, and sent me photos.
Candy of  Gananoque sent me this:

Candy used two skeins of Noro Silk Garden Sock, and a part skein of Noro Kureyon Sock for the fringe. Beads were added to the ends of the fringe. This photo does not do the shwal justice - it is truly a beautiful thing.

Jeannette made this:

from a skein of Kertzer's On Your Toes 4 ply. Jeannette tells us she is going to frog this little scarf and use the yarn for its original purpose - socks. We have tried to talk some sense into her as this scarf is just the perfect size for under a jacket or coat to keep your neck warm. About half a skein was used.

I forgot to take a photo of Joan's creation - she's bringing it to knitting this week, and I've asked Jeannette to bring hers back as these photos are terrible and so discoloured.

Lynne from Petawawa emailed to get a different edging option and I gave her a crocheted picot bind off. I still don't know what she has decided - she told me it would be a surprise.

I've heard from several others who are hard at work making their shawls. I'll post the photos as I get them.

If you have any questions about February's project, email me. I'll be away until Tuesday (at the Gift Show in Toronto) and I'll get back to you as soon as I have an internet connection.

Take care!

Triangular garter stitch edging notes

Triangular garter stitch edging.


When you have 145 stitches on each side and 1 centre stitch on your shawl 291 total), break the yarn leaving a 5 – 6 inch tail. Thread about 300 beads onto the remaining yarn. I used a looper thing from my serger – it’s like a giant needle threader. It works well. I can get about 30 beads on the tool and then I pop them onto the yarn.

Try to be random about the order in which you string them – having them in some sort of order doesn’t show when the border is knit. Trust me. You can’t tell I strung the beads as follows: fushia, pink, green, gold, repeat until you go crazy. I even unstrung some when I got the order wrong. And it doesn’t show! I’m digressing again though. ADKD (attention deficit knitting disorder).

So, you have those 300 beautiful beads strung onto your yarn. Now, with the right side facing (but it doesn’t matter), cast on 5 stitches, turn and knit 4 stitches then knit the last stitch on the right needle with the first stitch on the left needle. Turn, knit 5 (or to the end of the needle) turn. If you are beading the edle, slide a bead up close to the needle and:

Row 1: Knit 2, yo, k2, k2tog. Turn.
Row 2: K6, turn. (If beading, slide a bead up close to the needle )
Row 3: K2, yo, k2tog, yo, k1, k2tog, turn
Row 4: K7, turn (Slide a bead up close to the needle )
Row 5: k2, yo, k2tog, yo, k2, k2tog, turn
Row 6: k8, turn (Slide a bead up close to the needle )
Row 7: K2, yo, k5k2tog, turn
Row 8: k9, turn (Slide a bead up close to the needle )
Row 9: Bindoff 4 stitches, k4, k2tog, turn
Row 10: knit 5, turn (Slide a bead up close to the needle )

Repeat these ten rows. If you don’t make any mistakes, the pattern will line up beautifully at the centre point and the right edge.

Just to clarify what is going on here is that you are eating up one shawl edge stitch every other row. I find it much easier to knit with one double pointed needle, and leave the shawl on the circular needle. But, that’s just my preference.

Presenting Gaia

Gaia’s done....now ready for blocking. Here’s a mini tutorial on blocking complete with artsy fartsy photos.

First, mix a little warm water with some Eucalan wool wash – I like the lavender scent – and let the scarf sit in the water for about 15 minutes.

While the scarf is soaking, gather up the materials you need to use for blocking:

A firm, yet pinnable surface (I use foam floor mats), twice as many pins a you think you will need (I used 99), about 8 blocking wires or 36” stainless steel welding rods available at Princess Auto, a metre stick and a spray bottle full of water to keep the cat off the blocking mat.

Take the scarf from the sink of water, and squeeze out as much water as you can, then roll it in a towel to get even more water out. The scarf will be barely damp now and ready to be smooshed around.

Plop it on the mat, and start weaving the blocking wires in from the middle to the outside edge and one blocking wire down through the centre stitch. You will need two for the top.

Secure the scarf to the mat with a few pins in the middle and along the top edge eyeballing each side to approximately the same width. Now measure and adjust so each side is the same width – in this case 30 inches.

Now, start weaving the side edges and you will need two 36 inch wires for each side. Overlap them by about 8 inches where they meet to keep the side stiff.

Once the side has been completely wired (like I am now after 3 cups of coffee) secure it to the mat in about 5 or 6 evenly spaced pins.  (One of the artsy shots - pretty?)

Now begin pulling out and pinning each little triangle of the edging (if you made one) or pin on the outside edge to keep the edge sharp and straight. Part of the side has been pinned; notice how nice the triangles look stretched.)

Repeat this process for the other side, and then secure the wire in the middle. Make any adjustments you need - I had to fix the bottom triangle on the right side - you can see it's crooked in the photo.

Now let the scarf dry for a day or two, undisturbed. Don’t be tempted to remove a few pins to see how the scarf looks. Leave it alone! I speak from experience. Blocking once is fun, twice not so much!
Some more artsy fartsy shots for your entertainment.

Only one pin is in focus in the above shot! I've been trying take blurry closeups for a year now, and finally figured it out!

What's next? That's a surprise for next month....

Welcome, you intrepid knitters!

This blog is for the knitters who are taking on the challenge of reducing their sock yarn stash by creating a different project each month of 2010. Just think - 12 Christmas presents taken care of! Photos of your completed objects will be posted here, as well as the announcement of the monthly winners and new patterns, errata, etc.

The title of the blog comes from a play on words of the word "sockdolager" which according to Websters means a hard hit, a knockout or finishing blow; something exceptional. And you knitters are certainly exceptional!

The first pattern - Gaia is causing a wee bit of concern due to its wording and stitch marker placement. We havve worked around the stitch marker placement as follows: Do NOT use a movable marker that attachs to stitches - just use a round marker that you will place after stitch 2, before the centre stitch and before the last 2 stitches of the row. These markers will be slipped each row.

So, if you're knitting along on the right side - the side that has the Yarn overs - you would:

Knit 2, slip maker (sm) YO, knit to next marker, YO, then slip the marker, K1, YO, knit to next marker, YO, sm, k2. Be sure you keep the markers in their correct spots - always 2 stitches in from the edge, and directly beside the centre stitch.

Another problem a few have had is disappearing YO on the purl rows. Because the yarn is at the front, you need to put it to the back and then purl the stitch - it will create a YO for you. Another fun thing I noticed when making my scarf was on the purl row, you never need to take the yarn back and forth to make the YO. You knit 2, leave the yarn at the back, purl to the next marker, sm, k1, purl to next marker, sm, k2. The markers end up in the correct position, and the yarn overs are created.

I changed up the pattern a bit and added a garter stitch edging with beads. I am praying I have enough yarn to finish it....

And here it is - hanging unceremoniously on a hockey equipment rack. Promise better photos will appear once the shawl is blocked.

I have used around 300 beads, and one skein of Noro Kureyon Sock, colour S95. I love it!

Feel free to leave comments on the blog, your questions and tips may help the other participants.