Thursday, February 23, 2006

Attn Sockapalooozers

I need your help! I have all the tools I need for starting my sock. Look closely that's some lanett super wash 100% merino wool. It's sow soft if I didn't despise the color so much I'd be tempted to keep it. Good think I'm not a fan of that color.. I hope it's close to the color my sock pal likes. I was checking out her blog and emailed her and she said she liked this color. Of course being the normal type of worrier I am ...I worry. Anyways I've also got my email with all my Sock Pal's info in it. And also my fave Addi DPNs that I picked up in Germany... They're sooo beat up I'd like to get another pair but I won't b/c they're 2 times as much here in the states. Anyways different topic back to my sock pal... I've also got the pattern Fiber Trends Leaf Lace. sooo pretty, (and I'm not a huge lace fan. At least not the spider webby looking stuff) this pattern isn't like that so I like it. Ask me though after I start knitting then I'll let you know if I like it. So the pattern is written to be knit from the cuff down... My problem...I tried Kitchner stitch again today and it turned out horrible and so I pulled it out and finished the baby sweater differently. But again that's a different story. So what do you think should I do them cuff down? Or my preferred way Toe up? My only problem with knitting toe up I'm not sure of the cast off. It's always a little tight. I even try a bigger needle to bind off. Any suggestions? Links would be awesome. Also I find that they're tight over the heel.... Any suggestions on that? Should I do a few less wrap and turns? Should I pick up a few extra stitches before the heel? EEEK sooo many problems. Here let me distract myself and you with another pix....

So I said I had a run in with kitchner stitch today. And it didn't turn out well for the kitchner stitch. See I finished my baby sweater... Look isn't it pretty? It's from the book last min knitted gifts. It knit up pretty well. Here's a close up of the beads I used for buttons. Just plain green. sooo cute. It's blocking now. So anyways back to the dreaded kitchner stitch. I had to do the under arms and that didn't go well. I did it and then looked at it and was like this is horrible I can't give this away. So I ripped it out turned the sweater inside out and did a 3 needle bind off and it looks much better. I wonder if that would work for socks? HMM ponder ponder. So again I wonder if my friend will like this baby sweater I knit for her new baby. (due in spring) Hey do you think it looks boyish? It's for a boy that's why I picked green. The pastel blue is kinda over played sooo I went with green it's more of a lime green than baby green b/c I don't like baby green b/c that's too close to teal and that's just disgusting... Anyways enough of my rambling... I'll let you go.

12 comments:

Sarah said...

I love the sweater and yes, it looks like a little boy!

Kitchener stitch...I always end up doing it at least twice, every time.

I like the color of the sock yarn...one of my faves! ;)

Kelly said...

Allena that sweater is gorgeous and I am sure our friend will love it! I can't believe just saturday you were starting on the sleeve and now it's done! And the sock yarn look cool, although I wouldn't PERSONALLY want sox in that color! LOL love you

Megan said...

I totally love the sweater! :)

jessica said...

The sweater Looks great! How long did that take you?! your so quick!

I like the kitchener stitch... I always have to pull on the yarn to make it the same tension. It takes a while but you can make it look pretty good.

There is something called the tubular bind off... I haven't done it but I've heard that it is really nice. Maybe try google... see if that helps at all.

Good luck!

Shelley L. MacKenzie said...

Someone gave me a link for doing kitchener stitch and I can't recall now who it was...but anyway, I found it was great and haven't had any problems thus far with it. Here's the link:

http://www.socknitters.com/lessons/lessons.html

You have to scroll down a little bit for the lesson on kitchener stitch.

Jenni said...

I love the sweater--beautiful color!

Pamela Foreman said...

The sweater turned out great! Wow!!! I'm jealous! I think our friend will L-O-V-E it! I have no advice on the socks, as you know, I have yet to make any! Miss you!

Dani said...

Your friend should love that sweater - it's adorable! And the green is a nice color!

Kitchener stitch, for me, is one that takes awhile, but once Im in the swong, it's so great! My best advice is go slow and adjust tension every few stitches - I know they say to wait till the end but for me it was better to do it as I went.

I'm sure which ever way you decide to go they will be awesome!

-=Dani

Amy Lu said...

Work on your Kitchener, you'll love it when you get it down pat. I like the illustrations in the Simple Socks: Plain and Fancy book for a how-to.

Don't do a three needle bind-off for the toe, it will be very noticeable. Even on shoulder seams, I purl the 3 needle bind-off instead of knitting it. It's flatter that way. But I think it's still too bulky for a sock toe.

If you want a really stretchy bind-off, check out the book Knitting Without Tears by the great Elizabeth Zimmerman. In it you will find the Cast-off in Outline Stitch. This looks exactly like a Long-tail Cast on edge. And it's as stretchy as your knitting. I used it on my cuffs and neckline for my Olympic sweater. I have some close ups on my blog.

Your library might have those two books if you don't.

Good luck! You're an excellent knitter, whatever you do will be perfectly perfect!

Catherine Kerth said...

wow! look at that awesome sweater! your right i am not abig fan of that color either, but as long as your pal likes it :) i think you should cuff down if your not too sure about the bind off. who wants to work that hard on a sock and bleep up at the very end! :)

Muriel said...

The sweater is adorable!!!! Can you make one in adult size???!! :-)

soapy said...

http://www.knittingatknoon.com/kitchener.mpg

here's a great short video to sit and work along with for the kitchener stitch. Godo Luck!