Nearly Identical Twins…

December 15, 2009| Lindy| 0 Comments | 1:52 pm

Categories:

Last month, the Yarn Harlot posted an article on a pair of identical twin socks that she had made. As those of us who knit with self-striping/self-patterning yarns know, getting a pair of socks that are totally identical is nearly impossible — but this pair turned out to be completely identical. (I was impressed…)

This morning I was putting away my pair of striped socks that I had knit with Paton’s Kroy self-striping sock yarn — and noticed that while I had not gotten a completely identical pair of socks — they were nearly identical — being off only a few rows of striping. So I took a couple of pictures:
StripedSocks_Twins1 StripedSocks_Twins2

How’s that for a pair of twins?

1 thought on “Nearly Identical Twins…”

Amanda says:

December 15, 2009 at 3:09 pm

That is pretty awesome. I don’t usually like pink, but for some reason I love those socks!

Comments are closed.

Returning to Blog and FO: Clapotis ShawlReturning to Blog and FO: Clapotis Shawl

I have been away from blogging for about five months. There were a number of reasons for this. First, I just got busy with other things and didn’t seem to be able to find time to sit down and write any posts. And then, my knitting projects just didn’t seem to be getting finished — even though I was knitting. And then, my husband started on our remodeling project — which was/is my office. The remodeling will be worth it when it is done — but when it will be done doesn’t seem to be anytime soon. I now have my computer set up in the spare bedroom and I have retrieved a few skeins of yarn and patterns from the boxes I packed up several weeks ago — so I can knit. But heaven help me if I need to find any of my knitting books or any of my yarn stash! It’s all in boxes and plastic containers, stacked three deep and nearly to the ceiling in the garage. (So any future knitting projects are an excuse to go yarn shopping…) I’ll update you on the remodeling progress — here’s to hoping it’s done by the time I need to decorate for the Christmas holiday.

I do have a finished object! I have finished my Clapotis shawl.

I haven’t blocked it yet. Blocking will have to wait until I have free floor space again (remodeling). Here are the details:

Pattern: Clapotis – free on Knitty.com
Yarn: Jaggerspun Zephyr (50% wool, 50% silk) Colorway: Teal Needles: U.S. 4 (3.5 mm)
Since this is a laceweight yarn, I knit 18 repeats of the straight rows to get the length I wanted.
Unblocked the shawl measures 17 inches wide by 62 inches long. It will be wider and longer after blocking.

It’s a lovely, soft shawl and I am very happy with the way it turned out. I liked the finished shawl so much, I cast-on another using Knit Picks Gloss from my stash. More about this WIP another time.

About Knitting SocksAbout Knitting Socks

It’s been awhile since I’ve had time to blog — the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas is so hectic!

Since finishing the Secret of the Stole, I have been spending time working on two lace projects. One is another shawl and I’ll blog about that later. The other is a pair of socks in Regia Silk yarn that I am knitting on two circular needles. This my first project knitting two socks at the same time using two circulars.

Some thoughts about knitting socks. There are basically two schools of thought when it comes to hand-knitting socks. The one school simply doesn’t see any reason for doing this and the other is completely taken with the idea of being able to hand-knit socks. BTW — if you knit socks, you know which group you are in. 🙂 Unfortunately, my DH belongs in the first group — and after spending the time making him a pair of socks that he made fun of — I have informed him that he has received his first and ONLY pair of hand-knit socks from me.

Now — I like to knit socks because I enjoy having a small portable project on needles that I can take with me whenever I travel or am going to be somewhere where I will need something to keep me busy. There are many sock knitters who are completely absorbed with knitting socks and they make lots and lots of socks and are very involved in finding new yarns and patterns for knitting socks. I think the popularity of knitting socks has really brought about a great deal of innovation and creativity. Just take a look at all the options we have for sock yarns today — I don’t remember seeing such variety ten years ago. Now you can find sock yarns in many fibers from wool to bamboo — and Oh, my! the colors and the self-striping or self-patterning yarns! Yes, this could develop into an obsession….

Back to my lace socks. In this project I am combining my current interest in lace knitting with the fun of knitting two socks on two circulars. So far, I am still working on the leg or cuff of the socks — but they are turning out nicely.

I am not one who uses patterns much anymore. What I have learned about knitting socks is that there are basic technics involved — knitting in the round, knitting and turning the heel and then picking up stitches and knitting the gusset of the sock and then knitting the toe and finishing with grafting the last few stitches of the toe. When it comes to patterns — I like to experiment with different patterns from a stitch pattern library rather than buy or download a specific pattern — so I tend to create my own. For this project, I borrowed the lace pattern from a sock pattern in “A Gathering of Lace” and determined the number of stitches based upon my guage with the yarn and the size of my foot. (These socks are for me!)

Some other thoughts about knitting socks. I recommend that new knitters take on the task of learning to knit in the round using double point needles. There are times when knowing how to use dpns is of value for any knitter — especially for very small diameters. Try a simple hat pattern and a worsted weight yarn to begin. After you have mastered the dpns, try using two circulars. There are many good resources on this technic and it is my favorite way to knit socks. I started by knitting one sock at a time on two circulars — I think it is best to get the hang of the technic before trying to do two socks at the same time. But — once you know how to use the two circulars to knit one sock — it doesn’t take much to learn to add that second sock to the needles and begin knitting a pair of socks. There is another technic called the “magic loop” where you knit socks on one longer circular needles. This will probably be my next learning challenge, but I’m fairly content with the two circular needle technic for now….

Here are some pictures of my socks in progress:

Three Stretchy Bind-off’sThree Stretchy Bind-off’s

All of us know the standard bind-off (K2, pass first stitch over, *K1, psso, repeat from * until all stitches are bound off). This is a useful bind-off and it works well for any number of knitting projects where you need a nice firm edge. You can occasionally have trouble with it, however, if you do it too tightly and most of us have experienced the frustration of a too tight bound off edge. Most often to correct this you simply need to bind-off more loosely by pulling your stitches out a little more when doing the passing over of the stitch.

Then, there are those projects where you simply need a much more elastic – or stretchy – bind-off. I discovered a couple of these stretchier bind-offs as I was looking for a different bind-off for my Crazy Zauberball Shawl. And I thought I’d post them here for future reference with some of my notes.
You see, I tried them all in the process of finishing the shawl and ended up doing the standard bind-off anyway because I was at the very end of my yarn and all three of the bind-offs used up more yarn. So, one thing to keep in mind with these more elastic bind-offs is that they are stretchy because they use more yarn.

The Elastic Bind-off
This is a very nice, stretchy bind-off. I will probably use it for toe-up socks and ribbed necklines.

To do the Elastic Bind-off:
Knit first two stitches, then * slip them back onto the left needle.
Then knit these two stitches together through the back loop.
Knit the next stitch and repeat from * until bind off is complete.

Here is a You-Tube video of this bind-off:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Da40Z_YVr0Q&feature=related

The Lace Bind-off
This bind-off is also known as the Decrease Bind-off. It produces a very nice elastic edge that really looked nice on the edge of my shawl, but it takes about 2-3 times more yarn to complete than the standard bind-off. I would use this bind-off with any lace shawls or scarves.

To do the Lace Bind-off:
Knit together the first two stitches on the left needle, through the back loop.
Then slip the stitch now on the right needle back onto the left needle.
Repeat these two steps until the bind-off is complete.

Good pictures and explanation at Knitty.com. Here’s the link:
http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEsummer06/FEATsum06TT.html

Jeny’s Surprisingly Stretchy Bind-off
Many sock knitters swear by this bind-off. It does produce a super elastic edge, but I don’t think I would use it on a lace shawl.

This bind-off is nicely explained and demonstrated in an article on Knitty.com. Here’s the link:
http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEfall09/FEATjssbo.php

If you haven’t tried any of these bind-offs, I recommend that you do. It’s always nice to have more than one method of finishing off your lovely knitted item. I’d love to hear from any of my readers about any other bind-offs they like/love to use. Just leave me a comment (and a link if you have one). Thanks!

Happy Knitting.