Possessed to Knit

Norwegian Star Slipper

Here is the completed foot of Joshua's Norwegian Star slipper.  I am using 2.25 mm Addi Turbo 40" needles and my knitting thimble with this Cascade 220 Superwash yarn in the Puget Sound and black colorways.  It is a bit much to be knitting almost worsted weight yarn on sock yarn size needles, but it is necessary to make child size slippers.  I realized after I received the yarn that I could have used sport weight instead, it just did not occur to me when I planned this project. 

I have started the foot part of the second slipper and will then pick out the row of blue yarn between the heel and the foot to knit the leg and cuff sections of each slipper.  The edges on this slipper are a little wavy and some blocking would be in order, but I will likely mail them as soon as I complete them.  I had the foot turned inside out as I knitted to improve the edges, but this might have been a situation where dpns might have worked better.  Justin and Joshua will outgrow these slippers, which will not become heirlooms, and the sooner I finish them the sooner Joshua can wear them.

Justin's Filigree Slippers Completed

Here are the Filigree Slippers I knitted for my nephew, Justin.  The pattern is from the book Scandinavian Slippers and Socks.  I used Cascade 220 Superwash in Maroon and Black and size 2.5 mm Addi Turbo 40" needle for the first slipper foot.  Somehow my tension loosens when I use my knitting thimble for a second sock or mitten so I ended up going down to a 2.25 mm Addi Turbo needle for the second slipper foot.  I knitted Fair Isle with the slipper turned inside out to keep me from pulling the yarn too tightly at the edges.  I had to turn it right side out once I got close to completing the toe.

These slippers are started at the heel and a row of waste yarn is knit into the top of the slipper after the heel.  Once the foot is complete, the waste yarn is removed, the stitches are picked up and the ankle/leg section is knit with twined knitting.  I had never done twined knitting and I found it to be utterly annoying.  With two balls of yarn (as two ends from center pull ball result in a very twisted yarn), one stitch is knit with one ball and then the next stitch is knit with the second ball, and the yarn is crossed over the previous yarn, with each stitch.  The two balls of yarn become very tangled and then have to be untangled.  The result is a stretchy, durable fabric, but still, I had no fun knitting this way.  I went up to size 3.0 mm needles on both slippers for this twisted knitting section as the cuff looked too small when I used the 2.5 mm needles.

I had been planning to make Lawrence and John this Danish hotpad, which is knit with twined knitting, from the Folk Mittens book.  Sorry guys, that's probably not going to happen.  Joshua is waiting for his slippers, but I am taking a little break until I find out how these fit Justin.  They could end up being Joshua's slippers if they are too small for Justin. 

Maria's Deepest Purple Wollmeise Socks Completed

Here are my completed 100% Merino Wollmeise socks in the Maria's Deepest Purple colorway.  I used my 2.25 mm Addi Turbo circular needles for all but the heels and toes where I used my 2.00 Addi Turbo circular needles.  I have had holes develop quickly in my Saami 100% Merino Wollmeise socks, so I added extra plying twist to this yarn with my spinning wheel before I knitted these socks.  I also made them a little shorter as I have noticed my socks stretching out a bit after wearing them.  I hope I do not have to reknit the heels and toes on these uniquely colors socks. 

Merino/Possum Handspun Yarn

Here is the Merino/Possum 2-ply yarn I spun from the lovely roving that Laura gave me for my birthday.  I spindle spun the 4 oz of roving over 8 different spindles.  I had started with lighter spindles, around 1 oz, and realized I liked spinning it better on slightly heavier spindles of about 1.4 oz.  The heavier spindles had more momentum and less backspin.

I then proceeded to spindle ply all 4 ounces of singles into a 2-ply yarn with my All-Day Lollipop spindle.  The large whorl works well for holding so much yarn.  The spindle plying does go slowly, but I was not in a hurry and just did a little plying at a time.  I like being able to keep a close eye on the yarn and add more twist as necessary.  Plying on a wheel is much faster, and though I do check as I ply, sometimes I have to go back and add more twist to the entire skein.

This 4 oz skein of yarn is about 360 yards and 14 to 20 wpi.  The possum adds a nice texture to the yarn and the possum is very soft.  I'm thinking about using this yarn to knit a Thayer scarf of my very own. 

Herbal Scarf Completed

Here is the scarf I knitted for my friend, Karyn, who does the Herbal Highway podcast each week.  She received a skein of yarn from one of her students and I gladly offered to knit it up for her.

The 2-ply skein was a little over 4 oz, about 200 yards and very evenly spun.  She thought it was handspun, but I think it was mill processed from some home-raised sheep.  At any rate, it has a wonderful sheepy scent and is fairly soft.

To get the longest scarf possible, I used my size 10 Addi Lace Click needles and cast on 27 sts.  I started with a few rows of garter stitch and kept 2 stitches of garter stitch on the edges.  I selected this lace pattern from my Japanese 1000 Knitting Patterns book.  I like this pattern because it is the same up and down, so I did not have to knit two pieces then graft them together in the middle.  The scarf is about 7" wide by 48" long after blocking and I had just a few inches of yarn left. 

Thank you to Karyn for her educational podcast and for this lovely knitting challenge.  

Summer Fresh Socks Completed

Here are my completed Summer Fresh socks from the English translation of Stefanie van der Linden's Knit Socks for All Seasons.  I really like this book and want to knit nearly all the patterns in it.  I used Socks That Rock lightweight yarn in the Goody Goody colorway and size 0 (2.00 mm) Addi Lace circular needles for the entire pair of socks.  The crossover cable was a bit tricky, as it involved 6 stitches, but it gives a nice effect. 

I have seen much nicer stitch pattern and variegated yarn combinations on Ann's lovely blog, but this combination worked well enough.  These are very dense socks and each weighs about 60 grams and I am fortunate that my skein of yarn was very generous instead of the usual 100 grams.  These socks turned out to fit my sister, Teresa, perfectly.

Brighton Socks Completed

Here are my latest socks knit with Three Irish Girls Adorn sock yarn in the Brighton colorway.  I used my 2.25 mm Addi Turbo needles for all but the heels and toes where I used my 2.00 mm Addi Turbo needles. 

I worked k2, p2 ribbing for 72 rounds followed by 20 rounds of knitting to a short-row heel down to 12 unwrapped sts.  I then knitted 72 rounds to the toe which I decreased down to 10 sts on each needle.  I passed the edges stitches over the next inner stitches and then grafted the final 8 sts on each needle together.

I almost ran out of yarn and just had a few grams left.  Fortunately Three Irish Girls is generous with their skeins of yarn and gave me more than 100 grams.  Next time I will make the cuffs a little shorter to make certain I have enough yarn.

Turbulence Socks Completed

Here are my completed Turbulence Socks from the April installment of the Cookie A Sock Club.  Cookie includes two patterns along with the yarn, a simpler one and a more complex one.  I find myself choosing the more complex patterns as I really enjoy Cookie A's designs.  I am also introduced to new sock yarns which is a lot of fun as I thought I sampled nearly all of the hand-dyed sock yarns available.

This yarn might be my favorite sock yarn of all time, though I would like to see how well it wears.  It is Socktopus Sokkusu Original sock yarn in the River Styx colorway.  This yarn has a lot of twist and it is springy, so it should hold up well over time.  I'm amazed at how much bounce it had as I have seen springiness disappear when I add extra plying twist to my handspun yarns. 

I made the medium size and used my 2.25 mm Addi Turbo needles for all but the toe where I used my 2.00 mm Addi Turbo needles.  I had enough yarn to knit this intricate design, and I did not have much leftover.  The pattern was entertaining and the yarn was delightful, yet another winning Cookie A Sock Club offering. 

Button-Up Neck Warmer Completed

Here is the completed Button-Up Neck Warmer from Honey's combed fleece that I made for my sister Maria's coworker, Susie.  I used my size 9 Addi Lace Click needles and noticed the  singles catching on the needle joins a bit.  I had decided not to ply the yarn after realizing that I only had a little over two ounces out of the original 8 ounces (which can happen with combing).  Maria cleverly suggested the cute sheep buttons and I found these on the Knit Picks website.  I reinforced the buttonholes by topstitching around them.  The scarf is a little longer than recommended by the pattern, but this way it is long enough for Susie to wear on top of her coat.  This is not the softest yarn I have spun and I am getting better at it as I practice with my processed Icelandic fleece.  I also sent Susie the Handspun Fenimore hat to go along with the scarf to keep her warm in Michigan this winter.

Icelandic Fenimore Hat Completed

Here is the Fenimore hat I knitted with my next handspun Icelandic sample.  I spun this sample with less twist than my previous sample by increasing the Scotch Tension on my wheel.  I also weighted the hank as it dried with a hand towel to help ease out the extra twist.  Plied yarns work best for knitting, however, this Icelandic would be too heavy if it were plied.  I just need to achieve a yarn that is soft and not over-spun, yet not so underspun that it will fall apart.

Some sections of this 4 oz skein were slightly overspun and this interesting pattern hides them well.  I went down a needle size to size 7 for the body of the hat and size 4 for the ribbing to compensate for the thicker yarn I used for this pattern.  I like how the cables show up more prominently versus the knit and purl design from the Amstel hat pattern.  I certainly learned a lot about the qualities of my processed Icelandic fleece and my resulting handspun yarn from this hat project.  Now I can start the spinning for my sweater.