Knit Along Progress

Here is the first cuff from one of our sock knitters. It's knitted by Kathleen of A Bag of Olives. You go girl! Chances are good that the yarn she's using is hand spun and completely her own, unlike mine, which was Paton's Wool. This qualifies this up and coming pair of socks for a "home spun hand knit" award when they're finished!!




Here is the latest in the ongoing cupcake projects. There was a girl's slumber party here this past weekend and these are Abby's offering for the refreshments. Aren't they adorable?

Sock KAL-The Toe and Kitchener Stitch

The last task to complete your fabulous socks is upon us. It's time to finish the toe and weave it together for a seamless and perfect ending. You've knitted down the foot until about 2" of length remain. We'll be doing a striped toe in colors B and C, so if you like more color and a longer toe, you can start the stripes well before we begin to decrease. The color stripes pattern is where the clock pattern ends so you can remove your markers.

We're going to change colors at the bottom of the foot where it won't show as much. After you knit one round in the new color, there will be a jog where the first round ends and the second round begins. To minimize this, we're going to reach down into the previous color row and pull a stitch up one row and knit it together with the first stitch of the round. It will look like a slip stitch when finished, being two rows tall. This floating stitch only occurs on the second round after the color change.

Change to color B and knit around.



At the beginning of needle #1, reach down with the tip of your right needle and pick up the right side of the stitch directly below (it will be in color A)...









and put it on your left needle without twisting it.













Knit this stitch and the first st. on #1 together. Knit around.










Change to color C and knit around. Repeat the second round as above, picking up the stitch below in the previous color and knitting it together with the first stitch on needle #1.

The stripe pattern is two rounds wide in each color, unless you want something thinner or wider. Substitute however you like. Floating the first stitch from below always happens on second round (and only the 2nd round) after the color change. If you don't care whether you have a jog in your stripes or not, knit happily around and disregard the directions for addressing this jog.

Next round: Change to color B and knit around.
Next round: Knit (floating the colors st. if you like) and decrease as follows:
#1: k to last 3 sts., k2tog, k1
#2: k1, ssk, k to last 3 sts., k2tog, k1
#3: k1, ssk, k to end.

If the toe were laying flat on the table, the decreases take place one stitch in from the edge on both sides of the toe, top and bottom, so there will be four decreases each round. It helps me to get a visual for this so I don't have to keep looking at the directions.




Next round: Change to color C and knit around.
Next round: Knit a decrease round as above, (floating the color st. if you like)

Continue striping and decreasing on every other round as above until 32 sts. remain, 8 on #1 and #3 each.
Work a decrease round on every round until 16 sts. remain.
Using needle #3, knit across the sts. on needle #1 so that the remaining sts. are held on 2 needles only with 8 on each.
The join with the floated stitch is visible in the photo above, but once it's blocked, it will be much less visible.

Kitchener Stitch

We'll finish the toe by weaving the stitches together using a technique called Kitchener Stitch. I don't know how it got it's title. Basically, Kitchener Stitch reproduces the knit stitches, creating what looks like a continuous knit fabric. There are no seams and it looks for all the world like the knitter knit the toe from back to front without stopping. It's brilliant and very useful in all kinds of garments. Here's how it works:




Cut the working yarn into a long tail (18 in. or more) and thread it onto a tapestry needle. With all of the stitches held on two needles, hold the needles together, one in the front and one in the back with the working yarn tail coming from the back needle.








Set up row: Using the tapestry needle run the yarn through the first stitch in the front as if to purl. Then run the yarn through the first stitch on the back needle as if to knit. Pull snug.






















Row one: Slip the first st. of the front needle onto the tapestry needle as if to knit, enter the 2nd st on front needle as if to purl, leaving it one the knitting nee both dle. Pull the yarn through stitches. Snug up yarn, but not tightly.

















Slip the first st. on back needle as if to purl. Enter the 2nd st. on back needle as if to knit. Pull yarn through both sts. and snug up the yarn, but not tightly.






Row two up to last row: Repeat as above. There will be one less st. on each needle each repeat until only 2 sts. are left.

Last row: Slip front st. as to knit, slip back st. as to purl. Snug up yarn, weave in end.



Knit, purl, purl, knit. That's how I remember the order. Always slip the first st. off the needle, thread through the second, front and then back. slip knit, purl front. Slip purl, knit back. Once you get the first couple of repeats finished, it all falls into a rhythm.

Woo Hoo! the toe is finished. It may look a little rough in the picture but after blocking, it will look perfect. Now we have to go back to the cuff, sew the edges of the twisted edging together and weave in all of the ends. After that, it's done!!

Try on your sock.

Admire your handiwork.

Start on the second one if you haven't already.

Send me the pictures at woolyworks@odysseyrockranch.com along with your own story and comments or your own blog or web address. If you've got something to share, please send it along and I'll post if for you here and on our website and/or link to your site.

Finally, wear your socks proudly, present them as gifts to only the most important people in your life, or sell them on Etsy.com .

Write your own patterns and dream up your own designs.

Design new and better ways to accomplish knitting tasks.

Write a book.

Become famous!!

What a difference a Sock KAL can make!

Jack's Rowdy Cowboy and Company

Well, the jury is in on the baby's name. We've decided on.....



Jack's Rowdy Cowboy.











Thanks for all the input. We labored over the name and I hope this is the one that sticks. We've been known to change names all the way up to sending in the registration papers. He's such a character and such a trouble maker that we had to choose something to reflect that. Rebel was very tempting and Lone Star was discussed for quite a while. In fact, every name that was suggested painted a different image for us to consider. It's so much appreciated. There are 9 more babies due in the fall, so we'll need lots more help.

I thought you should have the chance to meet the jury:
























































Aren't they an intelligent and attentive looking group?

Sock KAL-Turn the Heel, Work the Gusset OR Knit a Massive Bump on Purpose

Welcome back for more of the Wooly Works Sock Knit Along. Have you finished your cuffs? Are you ready to knit down the leg and--gasp!--turn the heel? This time we're going to really kick things into high gear, so here we go, ready or not. We left off at the end of 8 round of ribbing.

You know, if you don't like the color pattern or didn't feel up to tackling it, you could work 12-16 rounds of ribbing and call it good. You'll have a fabulously luxurious sock when you're done no matter what you do.

The next step is to knit the leg portion. This is where the bulk of the knitting happens and to make it just a little more interesting and to add some class, we're going to work a clock pattern. A clock is a small insertion that runs the length of the leg and foot and is worked at both ends of needle#2. It's usually 3-5 sts. wide and can be as simple as 3 purl sts. to break up the stocking stitch or as complex as a cable or simple lace insertion. For ours, we will do a mock cable twist with a purl stitch on each side.

To set up, knit across the sts. on needle #1. On needle #2, p1, k2, p1 and place a marker. Knit across to the last four sts., place a marker, p1, k2, p1. Knit across the sts. on needle #3.

This is the pattern for the clock:

Row 1: p1, k2, p1
Rows 2-3: Repeat row 1
Row 4: p1, k2tog but do not slip off of needle. Insert right needle tip between the 2 sts. and knit the first st. again. Slip both off of needle together. P1.
Repeat these four rows at both end of needle #2 for the length of the sock. The markers will remind you to work the pattern.

Knit on down the leg until it's the length you want it to be.

I made mine 4 inches from the bottom of the ribbing for a total length of 8" from cuff to beginning of heel flap. If you want to make knee socks, there is some shaping for the calf that needs to happen. Let me know if you need help with this.

Now you're ready to knit the heel flap. This is done back and forth on two needles and knit over 1/2 the total sts. So, knit across the sts. on needle #1 so that they're all on one needle.

Put a point protector on the ends of needle #2 or wrap a rubber band around the ends so you don't lose your sts. while you turn the heel.

Turn the work, change to color B and purl back. Turn.
Next row, sl1 as if to purl, k1, sl1, k1 across. Turn.
Change to color C and purl back. Turn.
Next row, sl1, k1 across.

Repeat these 4 rows, changing colors every two rows, or as you choose, until the heel flap measures about 3 inches and ending in color C.



Now you're ready to...ta dah!...TURN THE HEEL!


We'll be using the short row technique, which is how most Americans I know learned to turn their first heel. Relax, it's easy. I'll give you a recipe just in case you've been dreading this part.
Change to color B and purl across 14 sts. p2tog, p1, turn. You'll be turning the work before you reach the end, leaving some sts. unworked--7 of them to be exact.

Sl1, k5, ssk, k1, turn. If it's easier, you can k2tog, instead of the ssk. No one but you will know the difference, I promise.

There will now be a gap between where you turned the knitting and the unworked sts. on both ends. You'll knit up to the gap, work the sts on either side of the gap together (p2tog, ssk, or k2tog), work one more st. and turn. It's easier for me to turn a heel with this in mind than having to count every time. The number of unworked sts. should decrease with every row until you run out of sts. to work. When you run out, you're done.

Sl1, p6, p2tog, p1, turn.
Sl1, k7, ssk, k1, turn.
Sl1, p8, p2tog, p1, turn.
Sl1, k9, ssk, k1, turn.
Sl1, p10, p2tog, p1, turn.
Sl1, k11, ssk, k1, turn.
Sl1, p12, p2tog, turn
Sl1, k12, ssk, turn (14 sts left on needle)







Heel turned! Congratulations!



Now rejoin color A and pick up 13 sts. along the left side of the heel flap. The right side should be facing you when you pick them up. If you aren't sure how to pick up sts. let me know and I'll send you some help. Now knit across the sts. on needle #2--remember needle #2? Don't forget to work your clock pattern. After you're finished with needle #2, pick up 13 sts. along the opposite side of the heel flap.

These picked up sts. will run vertically along the sides of the heel flap and perpendicular to the heel flap sts., so you don't want gaping holes in the knitting. Thirteen stitches is not a magic number, and it may not be enough for your heel flap. Be sure to pick up enough sts. to close any gaps and make sure you pick up the same number of sts. on both sides. I actually picked up 17 sts. on each side.




All of your needles are now back in use, but you have a rectangle with one needle holding the heel flap, one needle on each side holding the picked up sts., and needle #2 intact with its original 24 sts. With the working yarn on needle #3, knit across 7 of the sts. on the needles holding the heel flap sts. Slip the remaining 7 sts. onto needle #1.






You're back to your knitting triangle and at the starting point at the back of the heel. It's time to work the gusset.

The gusset is when you decrease your sts. back to your original count so the sock fits the contours of the foot and you can knit on down the foot.

Begin by knitting the sts. on needle #1 up to the last 3 sts. K2tog, k1.
Knit across the sts. on needle #2, remembering work the clock pattern.
On needle #3, k1, ssk, knit to end of needle. One round completed.
Knit one round plain--don't forget your clock pattern on #2.

Repeat these two rounds, continuing to decrease at the end of #1 and the beginning of #3 on every other round, until 24 total sts. remain--12 sts. on needles #1 and #3, and 24 sts. on needle #2. When you're done, you'll see that you've inserted an enormous bump in an otherwise neat and tidy tube. Don't forget to work the clock pattern throughout.

So, is it obvious that I've forgotten to work my clock pattern more than once? If you forget and end up with the clock stopping at the ankle, who's going to tell you that you didn't plan it that way? If you make a mistake once, you fix it. If you make it twice, you say a few nasty words while you fix it. If you make the same mistake three times, it becomes a design element. AND, if you make a mistake and don't know it until after you've knitted 12 rounds, it STILL becomes a design element. I'm the lord of my knitting, right?

Well, it's all down hill now. Knit down the foot (remembering the clock pattern, of course) until you're 2 inches short of the desired foot length.

We'll finish the toe next time!! Maybe you'll leave the toes off so you can wear your flip flops with them, eh? As always, if you're fast, you can always work on that second sock. They match better when they're worked as close to the same time as possible. The techniques for using long circular needles to do two socks at once are brilliant and make nearly perfectly matching socks. I just prefer the old fashioned way, I guess. See you in a few days!!

Sock KAL

It's time for the Wooly Works sock knit along! I have one knitter knitting along with me so if you'd like to join us, grab your needles and yarns and let's go. I'll be posting the pattern a little at a time here, but if you'd like to have it all at one shot, check our website at http://odysseyrockranch.com . It's posted there under Free Patterns.

We're starting with something simple but fun and I think you'll be pleased with the results. No comments please about my color choices or lack of color coordination. I'm using some wool with contrasting colors so you can see the work progress. My skill at taking pictures is limited so I need all the help I can get. Besides, I want your socks to be the highlight of our KAL, not mine.

You'll need US #3 (3.25 mm, UK #10) straight needles and #3 dpn's. You'll also need three colors of yarn, with the main color A, and the others designated as B and C. Cast on 48 stitches onto the straight needles and knit 2 rows in color A. Join color B and knit 2 rows. Join color C and knit 2 rows.


OK, I couldn't find my #3 straights, so I used #2 (2.75 mm, UK #12) straights. I already broke my own rules--just so you know. I'll still use #3 dpn's.

Rejoin color A, knit 1 row and then work a twisted edge as follows:

K4, rotate the right needle 360 degrees, K4, rotate, K4 and continue across to the end.















At the end of this row, transfer all sts. to dpn's and join into round by working K2 P2 ribbing (2x2 ribbing).










Work 8 rounds of ribbing. Purl two rounds and knit one round plain.










The next step is to work the color pattern. Work it as follows:

K2 in color A, k2 in color B. Repeat around three times.
K2 in color B, k2 in color A. Repeat around three times.
Repeat first three rounds.

This is how I knit the pattern, but the posted pattern says to work vertical stripes. I broke my own rules again, but isn't knitting about being creative? Isn't it about creating a work of wearable art that suits the maker? In my world, a pattern is just a blueprint, a suggestive guide and an idea builder. I don't write or use patterns as if they're a recipe or a code of conduct. They're always a work in progress and the knitter gets to decide what the progress looks like and where it ultimately goes. I hope your socks look completely different from mine!!

Knit one round plain in color A.
Purl two rounds in color A.
Work 8 more rounds of 2x2 ribbing.

OK, that's it for now. Go and work on that much and come back in a couple of days for the rest or go to our website for the complete pattern and work on ahead. You can put your cuff stitches on a string and start the second sock, which isn't a bad idea if you want to have both socks be an exact match. See you in a couple of days!!

P.S., just in case you're curious about the shawl progress, here it is on a string so I could check the pattern. So far so good. It will still take me the rest of the summer. I'm at 576 stitches now and it's getting good!! I'm still promising to get better directions and pictures up soon for those who want to knit along but couldn't follow my sketchy directions!

More Stuff From a Very Hot Farm

It's 102F today. Whew! We got the chores done early and ran to the house where we've been hunkered down in the air conditioning. The irrigation water will run all on its own until it cools off this evening and the animals all have plenty of shade and water, so we're fiddling with our own little projects.

Yesterday, a nice thunderstorm rolled in around 3:00. We're hoping for the same today.

Did I mention that I'm spinning dog hair for a woman from the Boulder area? She's saved the hair from her four dogs for 13 years. I'm working on just over 8 ounces of Golden Retriever undercoat and will start on a blend of black standard poodle and black alpaca next week. There is also a white poodle and something called a labradoodle (?). Interesting stuff. It's coming along well, but the stink--even after washing--is something else. It all smells like old dog, which will probably be a great comfort to the owner, but is just stinky to me. The black poodle died just after I collected the hair from the owner, so she's looking forward to having something from that animal. I don't blame her. I'm pretty attached to my animals as well.

My Abby is again creating cupcakes and cookies with her decorating skills and once again I'm impressed with this youngster's ability and eye. She worked with a recipe this time instead of just a boxed mix, so they taste good this time.



This is the latest bear in our growing collection. It's turned out to be a girl. Since I haven't gotten around to knitting any clothes for it, we used my daughter's doll clothes to cover the "bearness". No name for it yet, as it's gender could change with a simple change of garb. This one is made of handspun alpaca mohair blend, silver gray alpaca, and some bits of gray angora bunny. The ears and paws should fuzz up significantly with time and handling. However, I think it's time for something a little more traditional in the bear department. Jean Greenhowe has some very nice bear patterns and so does Debbie Bliss. I'll start there.





The summer cold finally caught me. The rest of the family had it last week as I gloated over being more hardy and vigorous than they. I've been fighting with a sore throat for three days, although I wouldn't admit it was actually sore--just a little tight is all--and today I have the running nose, slight fever and puffy eyes. Yuck. I hate that feeling when you're not sleepy, but your eyes and head say to lay down and sleep. As I lay there, my mind says, "The windows need washed. The weeds need sprayed. The website needs updated. The floors need scrubbing. What about the painting project? When are you going to clean the carpets? Weren't you going to sort through the storage shed?" Oh my. Why can't I remember all those things when I'm feeling good?

It's a good thing it's HOT today and I have a good excuse to give myself to neglecting all of those things, eh?

First Baby of the Summer

Our first baby alpaca (cria) of the season was born this week. He's beautiful and oh so energetic. He likes chest butting his mother and jumping on her back when she's laying down. He's quite the trouble maker in the female herd. Without any other babies arriving until fall, I'm afraid he'll find lots of ways to play and amuse himself that won't exactly endear him to the big girls.

He needs a name! His sire's name is Jumpin' Jack Flash and his mother is Odyssey's Morning Star. We've been calling him Cowboy since he sports a nice saddle on his back and we have to call him something, but we need some help! The last time we just called an animal something out of necessity, we ended up calling her Little Sister and it's stuck! Not quite an elegant or memorable name for registered breeding stock.

Suggestions? Should we have a contest?

Circular Shawl Knit Along and News From the Farm

I've been working on a circular shawl this summer. To be honest, I just started last week, but it's coming along nicely and will be done by the end of the summer. I attended a conference for 4 days and had lots and lots of time to work on it during the break out sessions, so it's further along than I anticipated. I did my first one three years ago and it's by far my favorite knitting project. I knit a lot in the car, at swim meets, and such, and a circular shawl is so convenient to take along. You can't lose your a needle because you use a circular needle for most of the work, the knitting forms a nice little sack for the ball of yarn and the project offers a nice balance between mindless knitting and mild challenge. I learned this pattern from Elizabeth Zimmermann's book, A Knitter's Almanac. For anyone who would like to knit along, I'll give some detail of how it progresses.

The pattern is based on the principle that the diameter of a circle doubles as the circumference doubles. If you're not mathematically inclined, don't be intimidated. It's very simple once you've been through the first few increases. In fact, it's so simple that I think it's a much better beginner's project than the scores of cell phone covers and fingerless mitts that are seen in the beginner's pattern books.

You'll need a set of 5 dpn's, although you'll start on 4, increase to 5 dpn's and then transfer to a circular. It sounds complicated, but it's really not at all.

I cast on 9 sts. and joined them on 3 dp needles, 3 sts. on each needle. Be careful not to twist the sts. Knit one round. This first round is frustrating, what with the needles sliding around and only a few stitches. It can be the undoing of a new or easily frustrated knitter, but stick with it and the rewards will be worth it. I had to start over twice myself. Just be sure to rest the needles on your lap while you get through this first round so your needles don't drop to the floor and roll under the table or slide down the couch cushions. (The voice of experience...)

After knitting the first round, the stitches should be firmer on the needles. Double your sts. by (yo, k1) around - 18 sts., 6 on each needle. Don't forget that yo at the beginning of each dpn. It's easy to forget, so keep that in your mind as you increase. That's the first increase round and this is where we begin the geometry of the thing.

Knit 3 rounds straight and then double your sts. again by (yo, k1) around - 36 sts. Arrange the sts. on 4 dpn's so that you have 9 sts. on each needle. Knit 6 rounds straight and double your sts. again to 72 sts. Do you see the increasing pattern? Double your sts. and double the number of knit rounds. You'll go on to double your sts. to 144 and knit 12 rounds, 288 sts. and 24 rounds, and 576 sts. and 48 rounds. You shouldn't need to knit more than these 48 rounds, which would mean increasing to 1152 sts. and 96 rounds, but I suppose it's possible. You're creating a perfect circle and I suppose the size of that circle is only limited by the supply of yarn and patience. When the shawl is the size you want it to be, stop.

Transfer your work to a circular needle whenever it gets big enough. I transferred mine onto a 12 inch circular at 72 sts.

About the time you are knitting the 12 rounds you'll be thinking how plain the knitting looks, unless you've chosen an interesting novelty or painted yarn, of course. This is the time to start a stitch pattern. Any stitch pattern that is divisible by 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 12, 18 or 24 will do. Look in your stitch pattern books or look online at some of the stitch libraries. Most will give directions for flat knitting and will say that a pattern is worked over a certain number of stitches + 1, or +2. When knitting in the round, you can eliminate those extra stitches (+1, +2) and just concentrate on the main pattern. The repeats will follow one another very neatly as you go around. As a challenge, choose more than one pattern and place a different pattern in each space between the increase rows.

You may also choose to play with color during the knitting. Again, look at some resources or come up with your own patterns and choose something that will fit into the stitch count with no stitches left over.

If you like, choose no patterns at all and knit calmly along in stocking st. until the very end. You will have a lovely piece when you finish with concentric circles of yo's that will make it look lacy and beautiful. If you don't like the look of yo's, you can double your stitches by (m1, k1) or by (kfb, k1). However you choose to do it, just remember to double your sts. and then double the rounds beginning on the very next round.

For my piece I chose a raspberry alpaca in sport weight. I tried a lace weight, but it was much too flimsy for me, as I'm a little heavy handed. Best to know your limitations, I think. I'm using size 6 needles and a 12 inch circular. I'll have to move up to a 16 inch circular as the thing grows, but I don't think I'll need more than that. You may want to use a longer circular so you can see your pattern more clearly as it grows. I'm estimating that I'll use between 1000 and 1250 yards of yarn so I have five 250 yd. balls of the same dye lot.

After I had 36 sts., 9 on each dp, I started a variation of a simple razor shell lace pattern. I adjusted the pattern to fit one repeat on each needle. [ k3, yo, slip 1, k2tog, psso, yo, k3] This gives 6 sts. of plain stocking stitch between the yo's, which is not ideal, but it worked for me. It's a 2 round repeat, with the second round being plain knit. I continued the same pattern after the next increase round and the transfer to the circular needle. I adjusted the placement of the pattern to line up with the previous yo's. You don't have to do that. You can just begin knitting the pattern as you did before the increase round, but know that the yo's will be offset, rather than in a neat column.

After the increase to 144 sts., I started the Old Shale pattern. Since it's an 18 st. and 4 round repeat, it fit in perfectly. Keep in mind that if a pattern doesn't fit you can adjust it to fit or increase one or two sts. in each pattern repeat to accommodate it and no one's the wiser. This shawl pattern is very forgiving and blocking works absolute wonders in the end.

So here I am, at the end of my 24 rounds and right at the point of increasing to 288 stitches. And here it is again after the increase to 576 stitches and things are moving along really well.

After the final rounds, we'll be putting on a sideways edge so that we don't have to cast off all of those stitches. I'll wait to post about that as we get to that point. So get busy on that circular shawl and we'll compare notes soon. You have some sticky bits to get through and then the knitting just sails along.

As a side note, Bethy is working on her next doll. She chose Jean Greenhowe's most famous doll, Sam Scarecrow, to go with her baby scarecrow. I'm also working on writing down my pattern for the amigurumi alpaca. There've been lots of requests for that.

I've just acquired a new book featuring toy designer Alan Dart. I stumbled across the one and only copy at the local Borders store by accident. I'd never heard of him before, but his knitted toys are to die for. It's such a great book that I searched the internet for another to give as a gift, and it's quite hard to get a copy of. Hopefully, we'll be turning out some of his designs soon.

Finally, this is my latest teddy bear. He's kind of a "bear in the buff" for now, as I've not gotten around knitting him, or her, some clothes. Good thing it's summer. We've been planning a teddy bear knit along and I think we'll do one of these little guys.


















Finally, more cupcakes are appearing almost daily. Abigail made these little gems in honor of her sister's return from a week at camp. I think she missed her just a little bit...