I love the seamless toe that is created by Judy's Magic Cast-on for Toe-Up socks. See the Knitty article about Judy's Magic Cast-On. I find it best to use a circular for the first four rows and then move to four DPN's.
Below is a video showing the cast on with circular and two videos showing DPN's.
A warm place to enjoy a cup of coffee, good conversation with a friend, and a little knitting with whatever is on the needles at the moment (Basketweave scarf), while waiting for Pamela to finish teaching her morning hip-hop dance class.
I was first introduced to Nancy Bush when her book Knitting On The Road caught my eye in the Lunenburg Library just after my birthday in 2012. The sock patterns intrigued me enough to want to learn how to knit.
This week I found her books on Vintage and Folk socks at the library and again she has inspired me to challenge myself with some new patterns and techniques.
The Gentleman's Sock with Railway Stitch and the Gentleman's Plain Winter Sock are interesting places to start.
A cast-on technique that interest me most is the Norwegian Cast-O which gives you a purl stitch as the base, while a Long Tail Cast-on gives you a knit stitch as the base. By alternating the two techniques on the cast-on will make for a cleaner knit / purl ribbing for cuffs.
… I turned 55 and started knitting, because I wanted knitted wool socks. I never realized that knitting would be like sitting meditation with a tangible outcome. My knitting education began on the internet and moved to locals willing to share there time and knowledge. KnittingHelp.com became my first resource and their videos explained in detail every stitch and pattern I needed. I started learning Continental style and Mimi Fautley at The Loop Craft Cafe in Halifax taught me Norwegian style Continental knitting.
Above is my knitting stash. It is always small, because I only buy yarn for specific projects.
With a year of knitting behind me I have finished several projects:
My first project was a pair of fingerless gloves that I felted.
Next was a scarf that I restarted the first three inches over 20 times. By then I had K2 P2 (knit 2, purl 2) ribbing down pat. I finally tired of the boring gray color at about 36”.
So I turned the scarf into a felted hat, I was encouraged by the success of my gloves, but made one mistake. I used hot water cycle on the washer rather than warm as I had before and in no time I had a hat too small for me to wear so I gave it to a dear friend.
It was time for a pair of socks and Heather and Angela from Have a Yarn helped me select a great yarn to start.
The socks continued on for several months, a little more every time we watched a movie. Meanwhile my head was still cold so I started a new hat and wanted to add some colour (rather than black and gray) into my life.
Then I was introduced to Sharon Orpin and invited to join her and the ladies at the Friday knit and spin at Sharon’s Studio. I wanted to learn to drop spindle and Sharon got me started immediately.
Went to the Maritime Fiber Arts Retreat at Oak Island Resort with 250 other fibre people and had a great time spinning.
Even left with a small skein of yarn.
The IWK asked all knitters in the province to knit some Purple Hats for the neonatal unit. So I participated.
The Lunenburg Library sponsored a knitting day and a number of us participated in knitting over 70 hats to send to the IWK.
One hat is never enough, so I knitted a second for myself.
And then a third.
I started knitting a new pair of socks for me.
Pamela wanted socks for Christmas, so I finished her a pair.
She really likes them. Now wants another pair.
Then I made a pair of fingerless gloves from the leftover yarn from my red hat.
Now I finally finished one of my red socks and am finishing the other sock.
My big project for the spring is the Double Knit Paint Box scarf by Lucy Neatby. I attended a workshop with her at Have a Yarn and decided it would be my next challenge.
It requires concentration so works best when I have an Audible book to listen to and just sit down and knit.
Completed it will look something like this…long and colourful.
There are so many fine knitters who have helped me throughout the year. Elly showed me how to make double knit needle holders.
Michelle and the knitters at the Makery welcomed me into their circle. The Biscuit Eater and Sweet Indulgence were great places to sit and enjoy a cup of tea and knit.
I wish I could remember all the names of the knitters and spinners I met this year, but I cannot thank them all other than to say, Big Hug to all.
I changed the gloved from individual finger to a single opening. I did not like all the extra yarn between my fingers and the 16 stitch rounds were driving me crazy. I love my new gloves. Now on to finishing my socks and then to the beautiful Double knit Paintbox scarf designed by Lucy Neatby. See photo below.
Fingerless Gloves in progress. Made by combining a Worsted gray and finger weight red from stash.
Matching new hat from the same two yarns.
Earlier experiment to change the look of the round top.
Socks knit as a gift for Pamela.
Start of a pair of sock for myself. I love the sport weight yarn. It is not as tedious as the finger weight yarn and I am able to work it faster and with less mistakes. First pair was chunky, this pair sport weight, maybe next pair will be finger weight…maybe.
We sat on the rocks in front of the house the other night for some wine and cheese as the sun set. The next day a rock with a knitted cap marked the spot. The mystery is we do not who placed it there. We asked several suspects and they were clueless. If you can solve the mystery please let us know. It may be a random act of creativity and kindness. Either way it brightens our day each time we walk, bike, or drive by this colorful reminder. Thanks to whoever.