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My doctor mentioned compression socks at our last (online) appointment, to help with my slight edema, so I don’t need to take even more diuretics (Which are horrible. Don’t get me started). Bought a couple of pairs. Oh man. They are LIFE CHANGING! My feet have hurt for my whole life. Wearing my magical compression socks I can stand in the kitchen and cook a meal without foot pain! I’m not hefty, only 125 lbs, but perhaps the blood has always pooled in my feet? I never noticed swelling until recently. But with my heart problems maybe there were circulation issues as well.

The first pair I bought from https://www.comradsocks.com/ have a compression rating of 15-25 mmHg which is not super strong. I liked them so much I bought a second pair from https://nabeesocks.com/ which are slightly stronger at 20-30 mmHg. I can feel that they have a little more squeeze, which feels great, but I’d say they are perhaps a slightly (very slightly) lower quality than the Comrad socks. In any case, I love both pairs and wear them all day. I’m surprised that the man-made fibers don’t bother me or make my feet sweaty, but they’re mostly nylon, not polyester, so maybe that’s more tolerable for me.

I recommend compression socks, even if you don’t have any dreadful health issues!

Finished! I did a good job matching up the stripes, eh? That’s not so easy with a multicolored yarn.

All details on my Ravelry page (no log-in required):
http://www.ravelry.com/projects/kayray/little-prince-socks

Just finished that pair of beautiful striped socks for Dan:

The yarn is leftover scraps of light and dark blue Knitpicks’ Risata, and a bit of Regia Bamboo. I split all three balls of yarn exactly in half (yay for Dan’s gram scale) so I could make sure the socks matched exactly. I really didn’t think I had enough yarn, and thought I’d have to finish the feet in yet another color, but I had enough and a little to spare of all three yarns.

They’re worked on 60 stitches on size 0 needles, knit firmly. They are quite snug on Dan’s feet; he says they are fine, but next time I would work them on 64 stitches for just a little more room. I worked in the tails at the color changes as I went, thanks to the Techknitter’s marvelous “overcast” method: http://techknitting.blogspot.com/2007/07/overcast-method-part-3-of-tails-and.html, so I didn’t have to do any tedious finishing. The stripes are six rows of light blue, three of dark blue, three of bamboo, three of dark blue, repeat.

I wasn’t sure they’d fit Dan, and I must confess I wouldn’t have minded taking such a lovely pair of socks for myself :) But I’m glad they fit because he really needs more thin socks for summer.

I finished the Baroque Socks, finally! Now, I have nothing against the pattern. It’s well-written and certainly very pretty. And the finished socks are lovely. But oh my, they were not actually that much fun to knit. Terribly fiddly, so no good for casual tv-knitting, and I couldn’t seem to memorize the chart. If I hadn’t promised them to Mom for her birthday, I would have ripped out the first one when I was halfway through. :)

Needles: size 0
Yarn: Knitpicks’ Risata

I just finished Dan’s second pair of birthday socks!

(Yeah, I ran out of green at the second toe :)

I actually knit two whole pairs in time for his birthday (back in May) but they didn’t fit so I ripped them out and started again. And then I had to finish the little quilt by fair delivery day, so the socks had to wait a bit. But now they’re all done! Here’s the first pair:

(Forgot to knit the ribbing on smaller needles)

Excuse me while I rave about this yarn again — it’s Briggs and Little’s “Tuffy”. It knits up into thick, tough, strong socks that wear like iron. Our Tuffy socks are our absolute favorites. I have two pairs, and Dan now has four! You can buy it from several online stores, but I like to get it from Halcyon. They ship *fast*. They sell it as “Canadian Sock Yarn“. You can squeeze a pair of socks from a single ball of yarn if you make shortish cuffs.

Here are my notes on how I made them:

cast on 40

(Size 1 needles) k2p2 for 8 rounds

(Size 2 needles) 18 rounds stockinet

green stripe pattern (1 green, 1 grey, 3 green, 1 grey, 1 green) then 3 rounds grey

heel flap on 20 for 12 ridges:

Here’s my new favorite heel:

knit across half the stitches from the heel flap. Knit one additional stitch, ssk, knit 1, and turn the work. On the next (wrong side) row, slip 1, purl 3, purl 2 together, purl 1, turn. On the following row, work to within one stitch of the turning point from the previous row, ssk, knit 1, turn; slip one, purl to within one stitch of the turning point from the previous row, purl 2 together, purl 1, turn.

4 more green stripes, three rounds grey, then toe.

I made cinnamon rolls on Friday:

Lordy, they were good, and gone by Saturday afternoon. (Twelve rolls is only 4 apiece!) Here’s the recipe: Ninety-Minute Cinnamon Rolls. I always use butter instead of margarine.

On Friday night the Teen Club from Dehesa, Henry’s new charter school (which we LOVE), met at the mall to go ice skating. Henry had the Best. Time. Ever. and I worked on my Thick Warm Socks:

(these socks on Ravelry)

They’re made of Briggs and Little’s “Tuffy”, an aran-weight 80% wool/20% nylon blend. I love this yarn. It’s a bit rough, still has lanolin and bits of hay in it, and smells of sheep. It seems like it will wear very well.

Sunday night, Bob and Chloe came over and we talked and knitted and watched TV and had a wonderful time. You should see Chloe’s socks — I think they’re even prettier than mine: http://www.ravelry.com/projects/xsolv/warm-winter-socks. Same yarn, different colors.

This eyelet pattern reminds me of the Sweet Alyssum flowers that grew in our yarn when I was a kid. If I remember correctly, there were white ones and purpleish ones, so if I make these socks again I’ll choose purple instead of orange.

I wrote up this pattern in a way that makes sense to me, but if you find it confusing please let me know and I’ll try to clarify :)

This sock fits my skinny size 7.5 foot with room to spare. The eyelet pattern and the Risata are both nice and stretchy.

One ball Knitpicks’ Risata in Clementine (use Fairy Tale or Marionberry for more botanically accurate socks)
One ball Knitpicks’ Risata in Buttermilk

Needles size 0 (I knit very loosely — you may need to use needles several sizes larger to get gauge)

Gauge in Stockinette: 6.5 st/inch

Eyelet chart:

Cast on 48 stitches. I used both colors and this lovely, two-needle, stretchy cast on: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXDMsy949yw. That’s my favorite cast-on for cuff-down socks and mitten cuffs.

Work 11 rounds k2 p1 ribbing in Buttermilk.

Switch to Clementine, and begin eyelet chart.

After 8 rounds of Clementine, switch back to Buttermilk and work next section of eyelet chart. Move round marker forward one stitch so that the eyelet pattern fits within the round. As you knit around, you may need to shift stitches from one needle to another to avoid having to work eyelet motifs between needles. Do whatever makes it easy. Buttermilk eyelet motifs will be centered between the Clementine ones. I carried the yarn loosely up the back of the sock between color rounds so I didn’t have a million ends to weave in.

Continue switching colors every 8 rounds and shifting round marker one stitch forward or back until you have four Clementine stripes.
Work heel flap in Clementine on 25 stitches. Be sure that your heel flap is centered relative to the lace pattern! I like a long heel flap so I worked 30 rows, I think. I used the basic Heel Stitch. Turn the heel according to your favorite method. I prefer a German heel.

Switch to Buttermilk and pick up gusset stitches. Here’s a good way to avoid holes at the corners of your gusset: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOI_oXPm1iA.

Arrange stitches so you have your 24 instep stitches on one needle, and continue eyelet pattern across that needle as established. Keep the sole of the foot and gussets in stockinette and decrease away your gusset stitches every other round, with k2tog just before you knit the instep stitches and ssk right after, until you are back at 48 stitches.

Knit in pattern until you have 5 Buttermilk stripes on foot. Switch to Clementine for toe. (If you have a shorter foot, knit until you have 4 Clementine stripes on foot and make toe with Buttermilk)

Pretty Little Toe (my hybrid of Round Toe and Flat Toe):
k 1 round Clementine
Decrease round: k6, k2tog around (42 st)
k 5 rounds plain
Dec round: k5, k2tog around (36 st)
k 4 rounds plain
Dec round: k4, k2 tog around (30 st)
k 3 rounds plain
Dec round: k3, k2tog around (24 st)
k 2 rounds plain
Dec round: k2, k2tog around (18 st)
k 1 round plain

Arrange stitches on two needles so you have 9 instep stitches on top needle and 9 sole stitches on bottom needle. KNit a few stitches as necessary to get yarn to side of toe. Graft stitches together (tutorial here).

Block to open up eyelets, and wear!

****************

Detail of the Pretty Little Toe:

Genuine Sweet Alyssum flowers. Look, each tiny flower really does have four petals!

Henry’s Happy Striped Socks are done!

Yarn: Knitpicks’ Risata — one entire skein of blue, with only a couple yards left over, and less than half of a skein of buttermilk.

Needles: Knitpicks’ Harmony 32″ wooden circs, size 0

Vague Details:

CO 16 st using Judy’s Magic Cast-on. Make toe till you have 52 st total. Move one st from sole to top (25/27). Top is k3,p1. (End k3) Work two rounds white, 5 rounds blue till you have 9 white stripes. Make ordinary Dutch heel on 25 st (heel flap will be under the heel) for 14 ridges. Turn heel on 8+9+8. Pick up all those side stitches. Decrease away gusset stitches every third round. Continue ribbing pattern for 5 more white stripes. Switch to k1p1 ribbing in blue for 12 rounds, then 4 rounds double knitting to prep for grafting (14 rounds total), then graft. Done!

Kung Fu Socks!

In progress:

I love the Magic Loop method! I’d never knit socks that way before. It made them go really fast, because you only have to fiddle with your needles twice every round, instead of four times! Also it made them way more portable, and easier to try on at any time. I’ve started another pair just like these but in green and brown — Henry’s choice. I also discovered that i don’t hate toe-up socks if I don’t try to make a fancy backwards heel. A regular old Dutch heel is just fine.

I did not feel miserably tired today! Yay! I did a bunch of recording while Henry was at his classes this morning. Let’s see… I edited the three chapters I did yesterday, and recorded three new ones, too! So that made me feel really happy.

And I started a new pair of socks for Henry, using my lovely new knitpicks Risata yarn — a cotton/superwash wool/elastic blend that is fantastic to work with. I’m using the “dusk” color which is a nice denim blue.

Socks are 44 stitches on size 0 Brittany Birch needles. I’m using June Oshiro’s Double-Helix (DNA) cable pattern for the front panel of the socks (Panel is 20 st, plus 2k at each side — 24st total), and plain stockinette on the back (20st), with 10 rounds of 1×1 rib at the top.

Sorry, that really only shows a bit of the rib, but I’m well into the cable section already so better photos soon.

Also finally took a photo of Dan’s 3/4 finished Nine-to Five socks:

This evening Henry and I went to our local game store for Board Game night, and nice older gentleman named Kent taught us On The Underground, a very entertaining and well-balanced game. Similar to Settlers, there are several ways to score points, and you can go for short-term bird-in-the-hand points, or more risky long-term points. Another guy showed up, a young military-looking fellow, and he played with us too. Quite a funny group, we were. Henry and I had a great time and are looking forward to the next board game night!

I turned the heel on one of the Penny Socks tonight. Ugh. Not a good heel for my foot. So I’ve ripped them out. I really loved the cable pattern, though, so I’ll probably start a top-down pair using those cables and a good Dutch heel :)

I realized that I have plenty of Brittany Birch needles size 0, so I decided to make the Penny Socks in parallel. I figured out how to do both cable crossings, regular and coin, without a cable needle!

Finished! I love these socks. They were extremely fun to knit, and the finished socks are beautiful. I loved the spiral rib pattern! It’s a four-row pattern, easy to memorize, and it’s also easy to tell which row comes next so you never never get confused. It made the knitting seem to speed along. The pattern is free, and very well written. highly recommended! Thanks, Nicole! Nine-to-Five Socks, by Nicole

Because of my skinny feet, I worked them on 60 stitches instead of 72 (ten spiral ribs instead of twelve). The heel was on 30 st, plus the m1 to make the pattern balance — such a nice touch! In order to make the heel turning work out, I started as follows:
k16, ssk, k1, turn
p4 (not 5!), p2tog, turn

And my heel ended up nicely centered. Took me forever to figure this out :)

More photos!

Henry and I went to the Fair tonight. Got there about 7, stayed till 9:30, had a GREAT time. My Child’s First Socks in Shell Pattern won first prize! I didn’t have my camera but we’re going again tomorrow and I’ll get a photo then.

I whipped up another pair of socks from the rest of the Marra. Four-round stripes, the misocrafty short-row heel, and, as an experiment, 8 stitches added evenly in one round before the heel and then taken away after:

I think they’re very cute with my Crocs:

And last night I started my Wavy Triangles Scarf while we were watching Rome:

I charted the pattern first:

It made me really happy to start working on this scarf because it reminded me of going with Christine to the Yarn store in Montreal! I skipped the fancy tubular cast-on because I tried it out and it’s icky, it stretches out but doesn’t stretch back which is bad thing for a scarf if you don’t want splayed ends.

Wishbone Socks, by Kara
Yarn: Regia Cotton (wool/cotton/nylon) (Two balls)
Needles: Brittany Birch 2.0mm

Gauge: 8st/inch in stockinette

To fit a very slender foot and leg. (If you need to make them bigger, buy another ball of yarn. For an extra inch of width, increase toe to 64 stitches, then remember that you’ve got 4 extra stitches on bottom of foot; the other 4 on the top of foot, one in each purl column, so purl columns are 4, 3, 3, 4. You might also want to inc 8 stitches at calf instead of 4. Distribute stitches logically.)

Cast on 16 st. using Judy’s Magic Cast-on. (8 st. on each needle)

Make a toe.

(if you need more specific instructions:
Divide evenly onto four needles.
Needle 1: k1, m1, k to end of needle.
Needle 2: k to last st, m1, k1.
Needle 3: k1, m1, k to end.
Needle 4: k to last st, m1, k1.)

Continue increasing every round until you have 32 stitches, then alternate plain rounds and inc. rounds until you have 56 st.

Rounds begin at needle 1 (side leg).

Needles 1 & 2 (28 st. total): p1, work 3 reps Wishbone Cable, p3
Needles 3 & 4 (28 st. total): k across.

(Blodges represent purl sts, blank squares are knit. Cable crossing occurs on row four — diagram should make it obvious what to do)

18 reps of cable pattern, then make short-row heel. For the first sock, I used the short-row heel from Summer 2007 Interweave Knits, but I’m not very happy with it. I think the No-Holes one might be better: No-Holes Short Row Heels

When you’re working in the round again, add a single rep of the cable pattern on the back of the leg.
So 56 st. total on four needles:
Front of leg: Needles 1 & 2: p1, 3 reps cable pattern, p3 (divide somewhere convenient)(28st)
Back of leg: Needles 3 & 4: k9, cable pattern, p2, k9 (divide somewhere convenient)(28st)

Work 9 reps of cable pattern.

******
Calf increase:

M1 on either side of both 9-st columns of stockinette as follows: When you reach the first 9-st column of stockinette, k1, m1, k7, m1, k1. Repeat when you reach the second 9-stitch column of stockinette. (4 new st – 60st total)
******

Work 9 more reps of cable pattern, then work 18 rounds k1p1 ribbing and finish off with a stretchy cast-off. I used a grafted cast-off.

“Child’s First Sock in Shell Pattern” from Knitting Vintage Socks, by Nancy Bush. Jawoll sock yarn, skinny little needles (maybe 1.25mm?), 64st around, my size. I’m going to enter these in the Fair this summer. I finished the knitting months ago and hid them away in my drawer so they’d still be in good condition for the Fair. Finally blocked them yesterday :) When the Fair is over (July 5) I’ll finally get to wear them.

I’m really tired so I’m lying around, waiting for it to be time to go to Henry’s show, and thinking about my next pair of socks. Going to knit some nice thick ones for Henry to wear in Canada. I want to knit them toe-up, I think, and I really liked the Round Toes on my dark green pair. I actually knit those toes in the ordinary direction, but started with a provisional cast-on, then picked up those stitches and knit the rest of the foot in the toe-up direction. But it will be easy to make those toes backwards — I’ll just do the tiny-circle cast-on of 8 stitches (like the center of a shawl) and work increases at the proper intervals instead of decreases. And then I’ll do a Dutch heel — not reversed, just normal, with the heel flap on the bottom of the foot. I don’t like short-row heels, and it wasn’t much fun to do reversed Dutch heels.

Probably.

Ok, time to go see Henry’s show!

Green Jawoll sock yarn, needles size 1.25mm (0000). Toe up. Cable pattern “Pretzel Braid” from Barbara Walker’s 3rd treasury of knitting patterns.

64 st. Round toe done from temporary cast on. White strings mark round 1 of 32-round cable rep. Instep gusset starts beginning of 3rd rep.

Notes to self, so the second sock is the same: Work instep gusset to round 20 of cable chart.  Then work little heel flap on 12 stitches, for 12 rows.  Pick up stitches on both sides of heel flap and work in rows, decreasing gusset stitches with ssk on right-side rows and p2tog on wrong side rows.  Dec to 72 st. total — I think I’ll need these extra 8 stitches in the leg.  Start working in rounds again on round 21 of cable chart.

I finished these socks a couple of weeks ago. They’re toe-up socks, and for fun I worked two different kinds of backwards heels, which is why they don’t match exactly.

Close-up of heels:

The left sock shows an ordinary Dutch/German heel (my favorite heel) worked just as usual, but of course starting on the bottom of the foot. You can see how the heel flap ends up under the heel.

The right sock shows a much more elegant solution — “Denise’s Reverse Dutch Heel” — a heel worked literally backwards. First, work instep INCREASES, then work a tiny flap which represents the bit you get when you turn a heel, then pick up stitches around the sides of the little flap and work the heel flap, getting rid of a foot stitch at the end of every row. Then meet up with the rest of the foot stitches and continue the leg. Sweet! Better instructions here: http://www.socknitters.com/toe-up/lessonfour.htm

I probably won’t make cotton socks again.  I prefer the resiliency of wool, and when it’s barely cool enough to wear socks at all, thin wool socks are more comfy than cotton anyway.

This afternoon, Henry and I went to a really fun gathering of homeschoolers who like Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh. While the kids played, I got a lot of knitting done! Turned my heel and began the leg ribbing. Here are photos:

Snazzy, huh? :) I’ll probably work a solid-color ribbing band soon and stop.

Notes to self: work 9 white stripes, then start heel flap. Inc one st so heel-stitch looks nice. Work 4 rows per stripe, 3 stripes each color.  After third white stripe, turn heel in blue (6 st. each side).  Pick up side stitches with blue, dec at sides every other round back down to 44 st total.