A Summer of Socks

My sock WIPs have multiplied this summer, like bunnies!  It began as one pair, as a distraction from the cardigan I’m knitting, but then they quickly took over

Many sock knitters will likely have a drawer full of hand knit socks, and I am no exception, although I almost exclusively knit socks in DK to super bulky weight, instead of fingering or sport weight, and prefer non-superwash wool yarns, which I find to be warmer.  I’ve knit hubby several pairs of fingering and sport weight socks, but as he tends to be warmer than me, his socks last much longer, simply from lack of use!

I wear hand knit wool socks all year long – nothing is as comfortable and breathable, but I don’t have to tell sock knitters that!

The wide range of yarn weights I use covers all the seasons, with the bulky to super bulky socks knit larger, to be worn over a thinner pair, in the winter.  

One of my favorite yarns for socks (and sweaters and afghans) is Lamb’s Pride, worsted and bulky weights.  The mohair in the blend adds to warmth and wear, even though they’re single ply yarns, and they just feel cozy!  

I’ve loved other wools for socks, like Lopi, the defunct Woolpak Perendale, yarn I spun from a blend of 44% Mohair, 28% Romney, and 28% Leicester wools, which is also no longer available, but which lasted several years and were so warm, and the single skein of British BFL (Bluefaced Leicester, for non-knitters) I bought from Iriss of Penzance in Cornwall, England many years ago. 

Oh how I wish I could have bought a kilo (or 2, or 10!) of that beautiful yarn – it was heaven to knit and wear.  British BFL yarns these days all seem to be superwashed, unfortunately.  To my mind, and after many years of wearing wool socks, nothing beats long wools for socks.

These 2 most recent pairs are in a simple pattern, which has quickly become a favorite!  They fill a thickness gap in my sock drawer between the plain all stockinette LPW socks and the bulky wt. socks, as the pattern has two rounds of stockinette followed by one round of stranded color work, so it’s not as thick as an all color work pattern, but thicker than all stockinette. 

I mistakenly worked the first pair with the same 42 sts I would normally use for stockinette LPW socks.  They fit, but they are a bit snug, so I used 46 sts for the 2nd pair.  Stranding, even on occasional rounds, does take the fabric in a bit more than stockinette.  The summer heat must have made me forget this fact! 

Here is the 42-st pair, with slightly shorter leg than I usually knit. After knitting them, I decided the heel flap didn't look organic.  It didn't *flow* from the sock patterning, so I changed it in the 2nd pair, below.

     

 

This 2nd pair is on 46 sts, and I worked a few more rounds in the leg, so that when working the heel flap in the darkest color, the color flowed from the center of the stripe panel. A 1/2 repeat was needed just before the toe shaping, to give the desired foot length. This, too, flows into the dark toe color, and will be how I knit this pattern hereon in!

It’s a simple 2 stitch by 12 round pattern, which works well with hue/shade changes within a color family.  A 2 stitch repeat means the design can be easily adjusted smaller or larger as needed, and will work with any weight of yarn. 

Such designs are also ideal for using up bits of stash.  I used just 5 colors, but each color panel could be knit using a different set of colors, depending on your stash, or each panel could use the same 2 colors with a 3rd color as the background.

The other socks I’ve knit this summer (shown in the 1st photo above) are:
a 2-ply handspun Romney worsted wt. pair,
a super bulky handspun Romney pair (still in progress),
a Lamb’s Pride Bulky pair,
a re-knitting of the heels and feet of both a LPW pair and a Cascade 220 pair, and
a palindrome striped pair just begun.

I’ve knit many hundreds of socks since the very early ’90’s, and they’re still one of my favorite things to knit.

I love how they’re lightweight in the hands, so they don’t tend to stress joints, they’re small and portable, so they’re finished must faster than a sweater, they don’t use much yarn, and one can play with all manner of patterning or just enjoy plain knitting around. And who doesn’t like warm feet!

Onward!
Dawn

The Completed Interlocking Ribs Counterpane!

The Specs

Finished Size: 60” x 77“

Which needed 8.5 lbs. of hand spun Falkland bulky weight singles and took more hours than I bothered to count!

My last post covered sewing up the center blanket units and knitting up the 4 cable and seed stitch borders.  Since then, I’ve sewn the borders on and edged the entire thing in Applied I-cord.

Here’s pics of how I decided to deal with the disparity between the seed stitch cable edges and the main body edges, which varies from knit and purl rib sections to BO knit stitch sections.

These photos were taken on my bed, atop a hand spun, indigo dyed, and handwoven blanket, and my “Golden Ferns Counterpane” design, which was in “101 Knitting-To-Go Projects”, 2001.

Now, I could have counted exactly how many stitches were along the main body sides and the lengths of cable edging, so to determine an exact ratio between the two, for sewing up, but I’m not that retentive!  

 Instead, I tried to divide the number of cable crossings into more or less even sections, and basted the 2 pieces together using a tapestry needle and a smooth (non-wool) yarn.  I found I needed to stretch the denser seed stitch edge when basting across the wide BO knit sections, but stretch the knit and purl rib sections, when basting along them.

This worked well enough.  As I pulled out the basting for each small section, I counted how many seed stitches there were and how many body stitches they would be sewn to, then adjusted the sewing-up ratio to suit.

The Applied I-cord was one of the easier parts of the entire process.  As I was using the same yarn for the I-cord as for the afghan, I didn’t need to add a yarn over on each row, which is done, when using a different color, so to avoid a color blip showing.

In all, the entire afghan was easy to work, so not only does it look modern, but once you work one repeat of the main afghan unit, you don’t need to refer to the book again.  Same goes for the cable borders, which are easy peasy.

As it’s heavy (8.5 lbs.), to block it, I laid an extra blanket on the queen bed, laid out the afghan and spritzed it with water, to dampen, but not soak it, then pulled here and there, to make the afghan square up as best it could, considering that the body patterns do ebb and flow.  

The last touch was the duplicate stitching on the 4 corner stockinette squares.  I used Lamb’s pride Worsted, held double, in Oatmeal, so that the stitching would be seen but not overwhelm.  Bride and groom’s initials on the upper 2 corners, a heart, and the year on the lower 2 corners.

I need to find a very large gift box.  Large shipping boxes we have, as I save the boxes that anything large comes in, knowing they will be useful one day.  

I *may* take a brief respite from knitting.  Then again, I may not!  More sewing for the house needs doing, and my floor loom has been sitting empty for well over a year, and I want to get this stash of t-shirt yarn woven up into small area rugs.  

Hand spinning is also an ongoing activity, at least until I send my flyer out to a woodworker sometime this summer to get it fitted with a higher speed whorl.  My wheel is a Country Craftsman, vintage, and no longer made.  It’s a wonderful wheel, but only has 10:1 and 13:1 ratios, which isn’t nearly fast enough to spin the singles for a 2-ply worsted to aran wt. yarn, without treading like the dickens for an hour, then a half hour to ply it.  It’s way too tiring!

More closeups!

Onward!

Dawn

The counterpane project continues!

My first post about the Counterpane Project is here, in case you haven't read it yet.  This first photo shows the main, central part of the pattern seamed up.  I love how the light catches on the vertical rib placement!

If you’re not familiar with this book, it’s filled with great patterns for traditional counterpane blankets.  I used the Alsacian Scallops stitch pattern in a scarf and mitten design many years ago, as the curviness of the scallops lend themselves to be used as an edging, which became the gauntlet on the mittens.

Now, when I say “patterns” I mean stitch patterns.  Each blanket design has several elements, usually a center motif, with several border motifs.  Each element has line-by-line instructions, but there’s no instructions included for how large, long, or wide to work the elements, nor how many are needed.

So, one needs to CO with the yarn of choice and appropriate size needles, and work a couple repeats of the main element, then do the math to figure out how many are needed, and approximately how much yarn will be needed.

Most of the patterns are worked in fine cottons on small needles, which I would never be inclined to use!  Instead, I spun about 6 or 7 lbs. of bulky weight Falkland wool singles, knit with US size 10 (6 mm) Addi Turbo circulars, working flat.  (I have yet to weigh all the parts to see the final weight.)

I knit 80 main motifs, knitting 4 together in each *square* grouping, then made 20 groups.  I laid them out 4 groups across and 5 groups down, which gives a 56” wide x 68” long large afghan.

This ribbed counterpane pattern has 2 borders – a cable and seed stitch border, then an interlocking ribs border.

I decided to leave off the last border, as the afghan would be large enough (and heavy enough) without it.  Instead, as the main ribbed pattern is more modern-looking than the other counterpane patterns in the book, I decided that the final edging would be Applied I-cord.

I also decided not to lay out the motif groups on their axis, as shown in the above photo, as that would have required the knitting of all those small triangles to create straight  top and side edges to the afghan.

The book mentions an option to leave a corner in plain stockinette, so to stitch on the year the afghan was made.  I decided to go one step further and have a plain corner on all 4 corners.  This way, one corner will have the year, one corner will have the bride’s initials, one will have the groom’s initials, and the last corner will have a heart.

To keep the stockinette on all 4 plain corners going in the same direction, I knit 2 lengths of just the cable and seed stitch patterns for the top and bottom edges.  The side edges begin and end with the stockinette sections.

I need to dig through stash for a tan or camel color, for the corner stitching, as I want it to be seen, but not stand out like a sore thumb against the white wool.

The cable borders are 3.5” wide, which will make the afghan 63” wide x 75”.  The I-cord may add 1/4 - 1/2” around.  It’s a generous size for snuggling up together on the sofa, or can be used either lengthwise or crosswise on a queen size bed.

One last blanket post will be forthcoming, showing how I’m attaching the cable border to the wavy body piece, then working the Applied I-cord, and showing the finished afghan.

Onward!
Dawn

The Counterpane Project

I have long wanted to knit a wool counterpane, for our bed. I can't remember exactly when I decided I wanted to make one, but, it could have been after acquiring Mary Walker Phillips' "Knitting Counterpanes", in the '90s.

Or, perhaps even a decade earlier than that, as I had clipped this pattern out of a women's magazine, likely in the very early 80’s, sampled in Bernat Berella “4”.

My Google searches have found some sites selling pdf's of this pattern, dating it to the '60s and '70s.  I was in high school in the 70’s, so the clipping isn’t that old!  The magazine us likely from the early '80s, although memory can be a funny thing.  Alas, the mag's name isn't printed at the bottom of each page, as I cannot find an online reference to the original magazine.

The idea ended up pushed into the back of my mind, and stayed there, for many years, as I got on with life's demands.

Sometimes, when I sit to spin, I would remember the counterpane.  Dreams shouldn't languish, unfulfilled. There's enough of that going around.  This idea will become Real.

And now I finally have an excuse to commit myself to the project – one of my nieces will be getting married in November.  She and her fiancé live in WI, so a warm wool blanket will surely get put to use!  And by starting now, in February, I am allowing for the inevitable Life Interruptions!

The Yarn
bulky wt. singles

The Fiber
Falkland wool top, 27 microns, 56 count (though it feels more like a 58), 3-5” staple length, natural white.

I had considered not spinning the yarn, and, instead, buying a commercial domestic yarn, like Lamb's Pride Bulky, as I do like the fabric LP makes, especially in afghans, but, I figured why not go all out, and make as close to a truly handmade heirloom, as I can, without actually starting from fleece.

Not that I have any qualms about processing raw wool!  Back in the late 80's, I washed, picked, carded, spun and naturally dyed a lot of Romney, Lincoln and yearling mohair – and I have the hand woven and hand hooked rugs to prove it! (If you'd like to see photos, I can put them into a new post.)

But, that great picker and carder, which hubby motorized for me, were sold off decades ago, as we prepared to sell our first house, buy our 2nd house, then restore it to run a B&B.  

The second factor, naturally then, is cost, which will be minimal, as the bump of wool top is already paid for.  The project is all labor, which is why they call these things Labors of Love.  I love wool.  I love to spin.  I love to knit.

Spinning the yarn will also be a great experiment in consistency, and, hence, my skill.  This project will require about 8-10 lbs of yarn, which shouldn't vary by more than a few yds in each 3.5 oz/100 gm skein.

I do find that by spinning just one weight of yarn, almost every day, most of the skeins will have the necessary yardage.  The rest will get added to my bulky wt. Falkland handspun listing on Etsy.

The Wheel
A 1987 Country Craftsman double drive (DD) wheel, using the 10:1 ratio drive whorl. I have always used a thick poly cord on my CC wheels, and this wheel functions perfectly with it, both in the spinning and the plying.

Yes, I know DD wheels are supposed to only use a cotton or linen drive cord.  I suppose if I wanted to sand down the poly finish on the wheel's 2 grooves and the grooves on all the bobbins and drive whorls, then, perhaps a cotton cord would drive the wheel just duckily.  LOL, but, not while there's finish in all the grooves, and I have tried many times.

The Pattern
“Interlocking Ribs” counterpane pattern (KC, pg. 136), with the cable and interlocking ribs borders.

Although I love the “Larnach Castle” and “Grandmother Anderson’s” patterns (also in “Knitting Counterpanes”), the new couple are young, so I thought better of knitting a traditional, perhaps too ‘old-fashioned’ pattern.  The “Interlocking Ribs” pattern should be modern enough.

I began by working the individual rectangles separately, as in the pattern, but soon realized I could work the rectangles in units of 4, as I did in my “Quilt Blocks Cloths” design, so to reduce the amount of sewing up needed.  I just picked up the sts for the next rectangle off the left side of the finished rectangle, until 4 rectangles are knit.  Each unit then just need one short seam sewn.

I don’t yet know how large I will make the blanket, but I’ll post photos when the counterpane is finished!

Onward,
Dawn

Woolly DIY

 (Originally psoted on WP 11/5/21.)

In my latest attempt to expand the sizes of hand spun yarn I offer, I hand twisted 8, 100 gram hanks of the new-to-me US Rambouillet (French Merino) wool top. I hand felted 2 hanks, then thought that using the delicates cycle in the machine on the last 6 hanks would make the hanks look as good as Kate’s from Ashford, after they came out of the wool cycle on her machine.

But I was wrong. The hanks felted oddly, very well in some places, hardly at all in others.  So, once they were dry, I balled them up, and put them into a plastic lidded bucket (as all my fibers and handspun are stored), awaiting some inspiration for what to do with them.

Now, I’ve been aware of wool-filled bed pillows for awhile, as well as wool-filled comforters and here, but buying almost all these ready-made alternative/eco/non-mainstream products is outside the budget, so the idea goes into the DIY box.

Wool quilts are an easy thing to DIY, if one weaves or knits. I prefer wool blankets to quilts, anyway.

BTW, if you love all things wooly, do check out Clara Parkes’ new ‘The Wool Channel’. Here’s her post in June of 2021 on wool bedding.

Clara’s posts are making me think outside the usual wool boxes - as with the wool sponges  and wool PJ’s.

These wool sponges are made from felted wool batting, but I wonder how necessary that step is – am thinking of just garter stitch knitting a square with wool roving yarn, then throwing it into the washer and dryer – it would be a quick and easy experiment, to see if/how they worked. So, it’s on the To-Do List.

Now, those PJ’s are tugging at my purse strings – the fabric, warmth, comfort are all calling to me!

I’m no fan of flannel PJ’s - as the woven structure does not stretch. *Fleece* PJ”s are only warm in that they trap body heat and moisture, so after a while one becomes sweatily too warm.  Cotton stretch knit PJ’s are then what I’ve been wearing for many years - OK for summer, but not ideal for the colder seasons. LOL, but I am no impulse buyer. These wool PJ’s can tug at my purse all they want to, I can’t budge, and am not sure if i could even DIY this project for less cost (not likely).

But bed pillows are easy. They’re always getting worn out, then one is stuck with disposing of (or repurposing) the polyfill or memory foam bed pillow.

I have found that down pillows can last for decades (and I always wash and dry them in the machines), and when the feathers finally give up most of their fluffiness, I still repurpose them into throw pillows.

So, here I am with 2 memory foam bed pillows, one older than the other,

both have been surgically readjusted, but are now getting to that point of needing the seams opened up again and the filling repositioned. If you’ve done this as well, you know how memory foam bits stick to each other. It’s not just a matter of shaking the pillow around so the bits can resettle evenly - ha!

It’s too bad I never took pictures of what I had to originally DO to one of the pillows, before I could even use it. I had purchased it, lightly used, on Ebay, but everyone is scent-crazy these days, and we don’t tolerate scents. I sprayed it with unscented Febreeze, I aired it out on the line for weeks, nothing helped. I ended up opening one seam, pulling all of the memory foam bits out, soaking them in unscented detergent and vinegar, then maybe also a baking soda/water rinse, can’t remember – scent requires A LOT of effort to get removed. HINT: Please don’t use scented detergents, softeners, or fabric spray on clothing and linens!

These bits were then lain across a large old bed sheet on the basement floor, to dry, before becoming a pillow, again.

Although I will get to this chore, I detoured myself with the idea of turning my oddly-felted Rambouillet roving yarn into pillow filling.

The easiest way to do this seems to be by just cutting the yarn into 1-2” long snippets, then hand teasing the yarn into a loose mass. This last bit is not difficult, as the yarn wasn’t felted solid, whether done by machine or by hand – the fibers were just fulled enough to tighten the yarn structure.

This bowl is my largest, for making the Thanksgiving sage stuffing, which has been hubby’s favorite.

NOTE TO SELF: It’s been just the two of us for about 18 years – I really gotta retire this bowl. We don’t need two large trays of stuffing (as per the recipe).

It’s also the one I use for large batches of Martha’s stollen or Christmas cookies. So far, it is holding 100 grams of loosened up  Rambouillet fiber. I think I will prep 2 more balls of yarn into fluff, then stuff and seam up an old pillowcase, once I get the loft worked out.

Do check back to see how, or even IF! this Wooly DIY works out well.

Happy are those who play with wool,
Dawn