A Bluestocking Knits

A "Sophie" Scarf

Elizabeth H. send me a photo of her "Sophie" scarf, which she worked in Malabrigo Silky Merino.  It looks lovely!  Thanks, Elizabeth!

She found an omission in the pattern, which is now corrected and can be found here.

Thoughts on the Invercargill Scarf

I'm sensing a trend here, of scarves knitted in sock yarn!  I picked up this Comfort Sock in the shop rather tentatively, not sure about the squishy acrylic feel -- very soft, but perhaps unnaturally so -- but liking the muted, rather landscapey-ness of this "Invercargill" colorway.  I wasn't sure at all about using it for socks, as I've heard that acrylic socks don't breathe much, and so it has been sitting in my yarn drawer for over a year.  After reading somewhere recently that socks made from it don't seem to hold their shape very well, but that it makes excellent scarves, I thought, "Right!"

The long-tail cast-on and the sewn bind-off match beautifully (the extra K row worked at the end of the scarf makes up for the bind-off's lack of height in comparison to the cast-on).  I rather like the bumpy edge of garter stitch, but you could instead slip the first stitch of each row purl-ise (wyif) to make a firm chain-like edge.

The lace pattern has a multiple of 6 sts, so it is quite simple to make the scarf wider or narrower as desired.

Invercargill Scarf

Materials: 1 skein Berocco Comfort Sock (50% superfine nylon, 50% superfine acrylic) 447 yds/412 m  per 100g ball, in color 1810 "Invercargill"; US 3 needles; 2 markers.

Finished dimensions: Approx. 7 x 51 inches (18 x 130 cm).

Note: It can be helpful to place a stitch marker between the garter st border and the lace pattern, to keep your place more easily. They should set off 5 sts on either edge.

Directions:

Cast on 53 sts using long-tail cast-on.

Work 8 rows in garter st.

Begin lace section:

Row 1: K5, *SSK, K2, yo, K2, rep from * to last 6 sts, K6.
Row 2: K5, P to last 5 sts, K5.
Rows 3-6: Rep rows 1-2 twice.
Row 7: K8, *yo, K2, K2tog, K2, rep from * to last 9 sts, K2, K2tog, K5.
Row 8: K5, P to last 5 sts, K5.
Rows 9-12: Rep rows 7-8 twice.

Rep these 12 rows until work measures 51 in./ 129 cm or desired length, ending with Row 5 or Row 9 of pattern.

Work 9 rows in garter st. Bind off using sewn bind-off.

Thoughts on some Scandinavian Mitts

Laura looked at the first of these mitts when I was trying it on, and said, "That's really nice, mom.  Norwegian?"

I impulsively decided to make a pair of mitts a few months ago while riffing on some Scandinavian patterns, but was about two-thirds of the way through the first one and either got distracted or wasn't completely satisfied, I can't even remember.  But I sat down with them in a bit of a trance, I guess, the other day, and whoosh! they are done.

The yarns are both Regia sock yarns, less than half of a skein of Cotton in black, and 4 grams of 4-fädig in grey left over from my Spey Valley socks, because they were both in my sock-yarn drawer at the same time, and they looked good together.  (I said it was impulsive!)  I can't fully recommend the Cotton as a component of two-color knitting, as it's a bit splitty and I had a hard time with it in places.  It is also slightly larger in gauge than the 4-fädig, so I was concerned that it would be a bit overwhelming, but actually now that I look at the finished pieces, the wobbly bits are entirely mine.  But as an experiment, it all comes off, I think.

I was not entirely pleased with the thumb either time -- would possibly space the gusset increases farther apart, to make it a bit longer (taller, as it were), as it's a bit snug.  I did learn that while carrying floats behind a 2x2 rib (here across the base of the thumb), you need to attach them between two knit stitches, otherwise it pulls the rib out of shape rather unattractively.  I had assumed that as you do on the pattern sections, you don't want to "stack" the floats -- that is, have them twisted in at the same spot on two consecutive rows -- because it tends to pull at that spot and show from the right side.  It actually doesn't show much at all on the second thumb -- only when it's either stretched mercilessly or folded, neither of which it is when worn, so that's all right.

The shape of the mitt is based on Ann Budd's generic mitten in The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns, and the star is adapted from my Dale cardigan with little diamonds and arrows improvised at the compass points. I had originally thought I wanted something quite subtle on the back of the hand, and tried an all-over sort of argyle-ish pattern from Sheila McGregor's book, but it was in fact far too subtle, and I'm thoroughly delighted with the star.

Just in time for our ice-skating party next week!

Thoughts on the Garter Rib Knee Socks

Inspiration, as so often happens, comes from many sources, the Araucania mittens being the first.  Looking at the stocking stitch, I realized that the wool would make a lovely, thick sock.  I had also been pondering the garter rib in Charlene Schurch's Sensational Knitted Socks for some time, and Googling "araucania nature wool socks" led me to the discovery that since the Nature Wool felts so readily, socks made from it would felt and conform to the wearer's feet -- a fascinating idea.  I'm glad I didn't see these,

Cornelia Tuttle Hamilton's Taltutten socks from her "Transitions" Nature Wool Collection, until after I'd finished writing up my own pattern.  I'm not the only one thinking about knee socks these days -- see Gabriella Chiarenza's gorgeous Clessidra knee socks in the Spring '07 Knitty, too!

The Nature Wool is lovely to work with, thick and wooly but still soft with a pleasant rusticness.  I love the way that the kettle-dyed colors shift here and there, sometimes markedly but very subtly here, in this dyelot.

There are a fairly endless number of ways for incorporating leg shaping into a pattern.  They don't always turn out they way they look on paper, though -- this, for example,

turned out like this,

which is okay, but not what I had in mind.  In the end, I opted for a simple V-shaped gusset,

which is easily adaptable to different calf sizes.  You don't really realize how long your legs are until you knit yourself a pair of knee socks -- I ended up adding two full inches more because of the horizontal stretch of the fabric once it was on my leg!

And it's a bonus that they look really good with my new shoes!

Thoughts on Dad's Favorite Slipover

My dear husband, who has an internal thermostat roughly equivalent to the Sahara Desert, was puttering out in the garage one late night last winter when he came in slapping his arms and saying, "Honey, I need a sweater!"  This took me so much by surprise that it was some time before I could actually pick up some needles, but here it is at last.  It was meant to be a Christmas gift, although the bronchitis that we all came down with after Thanksgiving delayed the finishing by a couple of weeks -- it wasn't so much that I didn't feel like knitting (although there was that at times), it was that David was sick too, and therefore home and underfoot, and it was meant to be something of a surprise.

He wanted something warm, but not as warm as a full sweater; his only requests last winter were that it be "plain" and "blue".  Regretfully, I had to set aside my dreams of cables or even relatively sober Fair Isles, but these I hope to carefully insinuate into his wardrobe in time, and I was still happy to spend some hours poring over vintage British patterns, delighted by their equally vintage captions.

"Trim and smart because of its extreme simplicity."

"For golfing, gardening or just 'pottering around.'"

As Yorkshire Tweed is, alas, discontinued, Rowan recommends Rowanspun 4-Ply or Scottish/Harris Tweed 4-Ply as substitutions.  Rowanspun 4-Ply, Yorkshire Tweed's previous incarnation, can still be found in some quantities.

"Every man needs a slipover!"

The shaping of this slipover is based on the vest chart given in Ann Budd's extraordinarily useful Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns and on a number of vintage patterns.  Dad's Favorite Slipover, which will shortly be available in the Original Patterns album in the sidebar, is a men's V-neck sleeveless slipover with traditional shaping, sized to fit a 37 (42, 46, 51) in. / 94 (106.5, 117, 129.5) cm chest.

Thoughts on the Fancy Socks

Some time ago, I promised Laura a pair of knitted socks, and when I saw this purple Supersock from Cherry Tree Hill, it was Fate.

I originally wanted to make socks with a ruffle around the cuff, and set my heart on the one from a Jaeger book a few years ago, which in small doses in the Supersock looked lovely, but in a long-enough length to fit around even Laura's slender ankle drooped most unbecomingly.  I fiddled, tried a few other edgings, and then thought of this one from an old Debbie Bliss sailor jacket, turning it sideways.  Picking up the stitches in the middle of the edging is in fact an dodge to head off that droopiness that comes with an unsupported edging, but after a while I got interested in the sideways-ness as a design element in itself.

Afterwards, Laura confessed that she actually liked this sock better than the ruffled one, anyway.

The pattern, which is available in the Original Patterns album in the sidebar, is sized to fit girl's small, medium, and large, or approximately 5 1/2 in. /14 cm (6 1/2 in. /16.5 cm, 7 1/2 in. /19 cm) foot circumference.  If you use Cherry Tree Hill Supersock, I would recommend not drying these socks by machine, as the slight haze that will result would obscure the lace of the cuff.

Thoughts on the Random Rib Socks

My eccentricities, as I've implied recently, tend to whisper rather than shout.  I love the idea of those little details that you don't see right away, like an interesting curtain bracket above a window or the glimpse of a Fair-Isle sock cuff just under a skirt hem.  Some time ago, when I saw a ribbed sweater of Teva Durham's and the Random Stripe Generator within an hour or so of each other, my subconscious rather liked the two ideas together.  Thus, the Random Rib Sock,

 

at first glance with an ordinary rib, but in fact a randomly-generated series of ribs, different on either sock.  The pattern has been written up in a wide variety of sizes, from woman's small to man's extra-large, and includes a unique rib for each sock.  The shaping itself is quite straightforward; the rib requires a fair amount of attention, as it does not of course settle into a repetitive rhythm, but it is not difficult once the sequence has been established.

I modified the pattern slightly from the written-up version for the socks in the photos because David has a high instep, and this made the generic sock sit very low over his ankle -- it was a simple matter of lengthening the heel flap to his heel measurement, and then continuing the gusset decreases down to the indicated number of stitches.

I don't (yet!) have a PDF writer, and so I've merely added the instructions to the photo description, in the new Patterns album in the sidebar.