So Much Knitting News!

Good Afternoon,

The first week of "EZ's" A-B-C-SJ, went quite well.  Still have more sign ups to accommodate.  The yarn choices were wonderful, colorful, and a host of other "ful ending words".  There were 2 students last Wednesday and 4 on Saturday. 

Now for the other exciting news!  I just came back from the Post Office and mailed off my submission to Interweave Knits Sockupied 2013.   I spent an hour or so getting together the paper work, filling out the form, and typing up the submission.  I did knit a full size sock instead of just a swatch. 

The sock design is a sport type sock (short) like you would wear with gym or running shoes.  The sock features 2 X 2 ribs, a small short row section after the ribbing that elevates the back of the heel slightly which helps prevent that "slide down into your shoe syndrome".  The heel shaping is short rows as well.  Then, down the foot to the beginning of the toe box.  I like to leave this a little wider than many socks allow for.  The reason being, there is plenty of room to wiggle those piggies inside your shoe.

The best part is the yarn.  I used Cascade "Fixation" which is 98.3% Cotton and 1.7% Elastic.  This is a wonderful material to use especially for my targeted market for Interweave.  The submission is for the Diabetic community as well as for those who have difficulty with edema in the lower extremities.  The yarn having elastic, will stretch without cutting into the circulatory system of the lower legs.  The wider toe box, as mentioned above, is roomy and will not pinch or irritate sensitive toes.  And as all you knitters know, the toes are completed with Kitchener Stitch.  No seams.  When I was wearing commercial socks, I would have to turn them inside out to put the seam on the outside and away from  my skin.  This seaming technique does away with this problem. 

I had to do a sketch.  I do not sketch....very bad.  So I did my best and then wrote all the dimensions for the finished sock.  I wish that I could draw better, but one of my daughters has that talent, not me.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it isn't an automatic disqualify. 

Sorry I didn't have a blog post yesterday, but was just to tired and  I was afraid it would be gibberish.  I only had an hour of sleep Sunday before going to work at 12:00 am Monday morning.  I beg forgiveness.

I had to watch the boys this morning, and my daughter was telling me that they had their first "slap boxing episode" recently. They stood facing each other and in little boy aggression, they were open hand slapping at each other (32 months and 15 months).  I had all I could do to not chuckle the visual in my mind's eye was so funny.  Tis only the beginning.

Have a wonderful rest of the day and Happy Knitting!

P.S.  My You And Me Knit Fan Page is up, though not completed.  Take a moment to stop by and "Like" my page.  Thanks!

Lesson Learned

Good Afternoon,

During knitting class yesterday, someone said there are two seasons in New York.  Winter and Construction.  Which, brings me to my topic today. 

During "Construction" season it's a good idea to keep small projects handy when traveling.  You don't even have to go far.  On my way to class yesterday, the main route into Saugerties is being prepared for paving.  As you can imagine, moving at a snails pace, and then.....stopped.  It felt like 30 minutes when in reality was only 10 minutes.

My reality is that the knitting was packed  up and unreachable.  So annoying.  I have always thought of moments such as these as free knitting time.  You don't have to budget your time, write it in your planner, wait til whenever, it's just plain and simple free knitting time.

About ten years ago, the routes that I was traveling to and from work caused me to cross the railroad tracks every day.  This line is notorious for back ups, stops and two trains, one in either direction.  and of course, on train is usually one stopped while the other continues.  I knit a 60" chenille scarf complete with fringe, in a 2 X 2 rib, on size US 1 needles.  It took me months of train stops, but the point is, any small uncomplicated project can be set aside for just those occasions.

When I go for a walk, if it isn't too hot, I will bring my knitting along.  Today was OK to do that except when the sun came out, then it was too hot and my hands started to sweat.  But living near the Hudson River, it only takes a few minutes of that incoming tidal breeze to cool off again.


I knit in the grocery store.  At some point, I have to stand in a long slow moving or non moving line.  Mittens, socks or some such small thing can be thrown in your bag to be pulled out to save the sanity.  Not only that, if you are Knit Shop owner, or Knitting Teacher, such as I, it is a great way to advertise with out paying for the ads.  It's just your regular trip to the food store, bank, or wherever.

Have a great rest of your day and take your knitting along!

P.S.  Most of those free knitting places are air conditioned too, so being hot outside doesn't count except if you are walking!

Kitchener Stitch Revisited

Good Morning!

Cloudy and rainy here in NY again...with Hurricane Deb pounding up the coast.  I hope she calms down a bit by the time she reaches New York.  We will just have to wait and see.

I had a great class on Saturday.  It is a drop in class that Mary, the shop owner of yarnandteashop.com, calls my Drop-In Knit Fix class.  Two students came who needed help with Kitchener Stitch for their socks.  Both had attempted to work Kitchener on their own and became lost, with the toes of their socks looking rather sad. 

With a darning needle, I picked apart all the stitches that had been worked.  This was a somewhat lengthy process as the yarn tails had been worked in already.  Once the yarn was unraveled and the stitches released, I placed them on double point needles.  My student and I spent some time making sure the stitches were straight and not twisted and then carefully checked  to see that there were no dropped stitches.

Using a new piece of wool, the yarn tail there was pretty worn, we began to stitch.  There is a mantra that I teach my students that makes it really easy to execute the Kitchener Stitch:

Front Needle: Slip the first stitch as if to knit, take it off (the needle)
                       Slip the second stitch as if to purl, and leave it on (the needle)

Back Needle: Slip the first stitch as if to purl, take it off (the needle)
                       Slip the second stitch as if to knit and leave it on (the needle)

I worked the first sock and my student the other and she was amazed that with just a quick instruction on how to move back and forth between the front and back needles, she was able to complete the second sock. 

Kitchener Stitch has so many uses besides weaving sock toes.  There are sweater/vest shoulders, hats, sock feet to legs (as in my daughter's knee socks.) just to name a couple.  In the case of my daughter's
knee socks she wanted to knit, she had a deadline for them to be finished.  However, she had never knit socks before.  So I designed the top of her socks, ankle up, and I knit the feet.  When all the knitting was finished, I Kitchenered the feet to the legs...no one would ever be able to tell, after all, the join was at her ankles.

If you area still having some difficulty, please go to my website, youandmeknit.com, and click on the YouTube button.  It will take you directly to my videos (one so far) the first one being on Kitchener Stitch.  Leave a comment below or click on the ball of yarn on my Home Page and send me an email and let me know how the instructions worked for you.

Have a great day and Happy Knitting!

Calling All New Sock Knitters

Good Morning!

Hot and steamy again, with heat advisory precautions on the news.  Here is a perfect way to stay hydrated:  knit a row/round, take a drink of water.  Knit a row/round, take a drink of water.  The hydration question is now covered.

Kidding aside, thought I would talk about socks.  If you have never worn hand knit socks, please give it a try.  The heels and toes are not as scary as you would think.  If you break those areas down round by round, and only focus on that round, it just isn't over whelming

I started knitting my own socks when my toes became sensitive to those machine stitched seams that would cause blisters.  For awhile, I wore the socks inside out with the seam away from my skin.  That did work, but when I took a sock class I haven't worn ready made socks since. 

My favorites in the warm weather are sport socks, you know, the ones that the cuff comes just below the ankle and then a short row heel.  I have made so many, that when I need new ones, I just cast on and go.  My needle preference is for a 12" long circular needle, available from Addi Turbo.  I have used all the methods, and like this one the best.  Try all of them, double points, two socks at a time, two circular needles or one long, long circular needle.

The other thing that has to be decided is cuff down or toe up.  Each has its particular advantages.  Try them both.  Then there is the heel choices:  heel flap, short rows, after thought and more.  Decisions, decisions.  But with all the choices, you are able to make a perfectly customized sock just for you.  Oh, don't forget the tops or cuffs if you want a longer cuff.  They come in plain ribs, twisted ribs, cables, lace, knee high, mid calf, ankle...you name it! 

When teaching a sock class, I like top or cuff down.  The students make both cuffs and then we go into the heel shaping on both socks.  That way there is more concentrated practice than doing one complete sock at a time.  Then they knit merrily on down to the toe shaping on both socks before working the decreases.  Again, this is so they are done together, increasing proficiency.  Lastly, there is the Kitchener Stitch closing of the toe.  No seams here to cause blisters or discomfort. 

What a great project for the warm weather months.  There is no hot pile of knitting on your lap, and the yarn is usually a fingering weight, so it is easy to manage.  Check out a sock class at your LYS today or if you are accomplished "book learner"  there are so many great books out there to choose from.

Here's a secret that I will share with you.  Most all socks are based on the cast on number of stitches.  The heel is worked over one half of the total cast on, so place your marker and keep it on the needle with its placement at either the toe or heel which ever way you choose to start.  I like to designate this placement as the bottom of the foot.  If it remains a constant in that place, you will always know your parts of the whole; heel, foot, and toe.

Grab your needles, yarn and get started today!  Happy Knitting!

Leave a comment if you need some assistance, I would love to help you get started.