Sock Knitting – After thought heel

I got a new sock knitting book! Here it is:

This book had an interesting idea called an “After thought heel.” The idea is that you knit a tube but use a piece of waste yarn where the heels goes and then come back and knit the heel later. I like this idea. I would like to try a sock with a pattern and I think it would be easier to do if I only had to think about the pattern and not the heel at the same time. So I decided to try this out. This is what it looks like when you knit across the number of stitches you need for your heel with saste yarn and then knit across these same stitches with the regular yarn to make your tube:

 

Then you insert your needle in the stitches on one side like this:

Next you begin to pull out the waste yarn (red) and pick up stitches on another needle like this:

When you have pulled out all the waste yarn and picked up the live stitches, you can knit in the heel and end up with something like this (depending of course on how you knit your heels):

I need more practice on this. The heel I did required the dreaded Kitchener stitch that I also need to practice. I think I like this plan though. It is definitely worth working on. It would allow me to work mindless rounds anywhere and focus on the harder parts when I am home and can concentrate.

JoAnn’s had a great sale on sock yarn and then I got an extra 20% off coupon. So this is actually the FIRST time I bought actual sock yarn for knitting socks! I was always freaked out about using wool but thanks to some encouragement from Melody at Fibermania, I decided to take the plunge!

Thanks Mel! Here is the first pair I started using Deborah Norville’s Serenity which is a blend of merino wool, bamboo, and nylon:

As you can see I have a very long way to go! It takes a while on size 2 dpns! Whew! I think that is about enough for one post! Until next time….

Hello World!

I am still alive! I have been substitute teaching quite a lot though and haven’t done much of any sewing. Here are a few pics of my daughter’s new room that we redecorated for her after her brother left home:

The fabrics are from IKEA as well as most of the furniture. We bought the bulletin board at a garage sale and recovered it. She also has a book shelf for her books and we are thinking of decoupaging old maps all over it.

I have done some knitting, a few pair of mittens and several sets of baby booties and a pair of socks for myself. I forgot to take picutes of the knitting bags I made for my nieces before I sent them off!

I am back to cleaning out the sewing room in between working and preparing for daughter #2’s graduation in a little over a week. 

If you need any vintage Singer Sewing Machine manuals, check out my for sale page. If you don’t see what you need, ask. I have a lot more manuals than I have listed right now. I would love to find good homes for all of them!

Finally back to the blog!

My son has left the nest! It was a lot of work getting him ready to go. As soon as he drove away, my youngest daughter was ready to redecorate and take over his room! So the week my DH was gone driving out to AZ and getting our son settled into his first apartment, I was playing interior decorator. Who knew that tan walls would take FIVE coats of paint to cover???? What is up with that??? Craziness. Plain and simple. Needless to say, the project took far longer than I planned and I never did get any art done that week. The room looks great and there is greater peace in the house now that all three girls have their own rooms .

Time to sew, right? Not quite. My sub teaching papers finally went through and it is time to go back to work. At least part time. My first day back in the classroom was last Friday. It went pretty well. I have my sketchbook packed in case I get time to doodle next time I get called.

I did get a little knitting in. My first baby sweater:

All I need to do is add some tiny buttons. I am wondering if I have enough pink yarn left to make a matching bonnet or booties. I have a couple friends who are expecting so hopefully someone will have a girl!  I also made a couple kniting bags for my nieces that have learned to knit. I will post pics tomorrow of those. I think they turned out well.

I also managed to enter thre pieces in our local State of the Arts Show in my town. It is juried. The last two times I entered, two of my three pieces were accepted and each time I took home an award. Here’s hoping I can make it three in a row! I will find out next week.

Until next time …. which will be sooner rather than later!

Where have I been?

My poor blog has been so neglected! I have been busy getting my oldest ready to move out of the nest. He leaves for Arizona in two weeks to start school at UTI in Avondale. He will be gone for at least a year and it is highly likely that he won’t move back home when he is done with school.  He had been working full time until the end of Feburary and since then we have been getting everything in order for him to go. His youngest sister is already redecorating his room….at least in her mind!  He has most of his stuff packed away and no doubt little sister will have a paintbrush in her hand before he reaches the end of the driveway!

The only thing fiber related thing I have  accomplished lately is the pair of socks I finished knitting:

See that little ball of yarn in the picture? That is all I had left when I finished the second sock. Whew! That was close! If it appears that one sock is bigger than the other, you are very observant…..grrrr. This hasn’t happened since the first few pair I made. I don’t know where I miscounted but I must have gone to many rounds on the foot of the second one. They also look a bit out of proportion. That is because I make short cuffs on my socks. For some reason, I don’t like knitting the cuff so I tend to make them short. I also tend to make my socks too big no matter how hard I try to get it right.

I have decided I need to learn “toe up” sock knitting. I have been watching some youtube videos to see how this is done. I made a practice toe tonight. Not bad.  The best part seems to be that I don’t have to do that pesky Kitchener thing. I will have to work more on this.

I can’t handle wool next to my skin so I always make cotton socks. Anyone know of any great cotton sock yarns?

Until next time.

What’s on Your Design Wall?

This is the question I intend to pose to the Quilt Art List! And I will go first. This is what is up right now:

And this:

And just for fun, this is what is on my main work table:

And this is my latest knitting project, another pair of socks:

These are size 4 needles. The pink is much brighter than this picture shows. I just love varigated yarn! This is Sinfonia, a 100% cotton yarn that I bought at Hobby Lobby. I have never worked with this before but so far so good. I am not  the greatest knitter in the world but I love making socks. The only thing I DON’T like is not really knowing if they  will fit until I have put  a bazillion hours into them. Hopefully I will have the first one of the pair done this weekend.

Until later….what are you working on?