Fresh Off the Needles: Socks that actually fit

I did it! I finally knit a pair of socks that actually fit. Best part? They're not even for me. I finally knit a pair of socks and they fit someone else. Maybe it's not a big deal for most people, but it's a pretty big deal for me. For the longest time, I've been having such trouble with sock knitting that I was about to give it up all together. I would have too if it weren't for all the Knit Picks Felici I've stocked up on. So, how did I do it you ask? Simple, I finally took the time to make a cardboard foot template following the instructions from Fish Lips Kiss Heel pattern. I wish I had done it sooner, it would have saved me a headache or 600. I've had this pattern since my sock knitting journey began (find link to old post). If you're having trouble fitting your socks I highly recommend this pattern. It's only a dollar on Ravelry, so you really don't have much to lose. I knit everything but the heel in Knit Picks Felici in the Surfs Up colorway. Like 99.99% of the sock knitting community, I love this yarn. The only thing I don't love, is that it comes in extremely limited quantities about twice a year, so right now, it's not available on the Knit Picks website. And it's why I have more of it stashed away than I know what to do with.
For the heel, I used some Cascade Heritage in the Snow colorway. I did a simple German Short Row heel instead of the heel called for in the Fish Lips Kiss pattern only because I prefer making my short rows German styles. One thing I still need to figure out when I'm knitting socks is how to avoid the hole at when I start knitting in the round after knitting the heel. I try to pick up an extra stitch to close it up, it that always seems to make it worse. If anyone has any tips I'm all ears. Overall, I'm pretty pumped about my sister’s new socks and am gunna check this in the win column. Have you had a major knitting win? I'd love to hear about it in the comment section.

Want to keep up with all my sock knitting shenanigans? Follow me on Tumblr, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.

Project Overload

Anyone else ever have so many knitting projects going on you don't know what to work on? So, you end up working on nothing. Then you go a few days without knitting anything which makes you feel guilty, so you then start a new project to get yourself back into the swing of things? Then as you're working on said new project, your mind starts to wander and you start thinking about all the other abandoned projects you have to work on? And then you're tense and stressed until you finally convince yourself to just stick to one project and the rest will have their time soon enough? Then, finally, you can relax and hopefully start getting some finished objects?

No? Me either. Just asking for a friend. But my friend would really like to know how you all deal with project overload, so, tell me about it in the comments. I'll be sure to pass along the information.

 If you want to stay up to date on all my projects follow me on Tumblr, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.

First Impression Book Review: Vintage Design Workshop by Geraldine Warner

Whenever I go to Half Price Books, the knitting section is always my first stop. Sometimes I have luck and find something of interest other days I don't. During my last trip, when I picked up, Vintage Design Workshop: Knitting Techniques for Modern Style by Geraldine Warner, I knew I had luck on my side that day.

Usually when I find a vintage knitting book, it's a collection of updated vintage patterns, which I love, but this book is different. Vintage Design Workshop is exactly what it says it is. It shows you step by step what you should do while knitting from a vintage pattern. It has everything from how to assess your vintage knitting pattern to how to adapt a modern pattern to give it a vintage look.

My latest vintage knitting project

My favorite section, in the entire book is Chapter 2: Substituting Yarns. This has been one of my biggest stumbling blocks when knitting from a vintage pattern. In vintage knitting patterns, there's very little information on the yarn. Usually, it just has something along the lines of, "12 balls of Patons Confetti Flecks". Not too terribly helpful. In this book, Warner gives you advice on how to figure out what type of yarn was used from analyzing a series of things from the gauge given to the description of the garmet. Then she has a whole section dedicated to learning what you can from the preview picture. I really could have used this section a few months ago when I started my most recent vintage project.

This is all just a first impression, I can only assume I'll love this book more once I have time to actually use it on a real project. But just from skimming through it, I would highly recommend it. And even though I got it at a deep discount, this is a book I would definitely feel good about paying full price for.

Have you guys purchased this book? How do you like it?

To keep up with my next vintage knitting projects follow me on Instagram.

WIP Wednesday: Poison Ivy

After spending almost two weeks without knitting on my most recent WIP, I decided to pick it back up over the weekend.

Initially, I wasn't overly excited about the way this sweater was turning out. It didn't look like the picture in the booklet. I had felt this way after I'd washed and blocked my swatch, too. I still don't think it looks like it does in the booklet, but I'm okay with that now.

I'm currently about to split the front and back, and I've made a promise to myself that when I finish the fronts, then I get to start on my annual Christmas sweater. Things like that always get me going when I've stalled out on a project.

What are some things that kick you into gear when you're less than motivated to finish a project? Let me know in the comment section.

As always follow me on Instagram to keep up to date on all my projects.

WIP Wednesday: Practice swatch

It's been over a week since I've knit on anything. When nothing's going right, it's good to take a step back for a while. I feel like my first project getting back into the swing of things should be one of my favorite things to knit. I love knitting color work, and it's about that time for me to start thinking about my annual Christmas sweater. I've planned out the color pattern and even picked out the yarn. But there are a couple things I plan on doing that I've never done.

I’ve said it before, but I am a big fan of practicing a technique before coming to it in my project. There's nothing more stressful than attempting something I'm not too sure about on a project I've already put a lot of time and effort into. Plus, if I know I'm coming to something I hadn't planned for, I put it off then a year later wonder what happened to that one sweater I was knitting that one time.

For my Christmas sweater there are two things that are semi new to me. Small diameter stranded color work and steeking with superwash yarn.

In the past when I've done small circumference stranded knitting, the areas where the joins were had awful tension issues. Apparently, there's a technique to fix that. And it's so easy, but did take some getting used to.

I've done steeks before, my very first garment I knit had steeks. Cutting my knitting is no big deal to me. BUT I've never secured my steek with a sewing machine and it’s a must when you're using superwash, non-sticky yarn. Can you imagine me cutting into my knitting, probably on Christmas Eve, and having my sweater starting to fall apart? It makes me sick just thinking about it.

What do you guys do when you're unfamiliar with a technique in a project. Do you dive right in and worry about it when you get to it, or do you plan ahead and practice it first?

Don't for get to follow me on  Instagram to keep up with all my swatch knitting.

WIP Wednesday: We were on a break!

This past weekend has been the weekend from knitting hell. If it could go wrong, it did go wrong.

First of all, my current sweater project just isn't doing it for me right now. I'm not hating it enough to rip it out, but not loving it enough to continue on. So, there it sits in the same spot I left it on Friday night, mocking me. Okay, not THAT bad, right?

If you've been following me on Instagram, you'll know I've been having a lot of feelings about The Flash and have been wanting to knit something inspired by the comic books. Well, after several charts and swatches later… I'll just let my Instagram Story to speak for itself.

Honestly, I applaud all knitwear designers for having the patience and perseverance to actually get just a prototype done. Maybe this is my own fault for taking on something like this after my sweater issue.

After my designing reality check, I decided I needed to cleanse my palate with a simple vanilla sock. How could I go wrong with that? I was knitting along when I decided I should try it on. Even though it’s for my sister, I figured I'd get a good guess if the cuff would be long enough. I put it on and it was too small… My sister has bigger feet than me.

For whatever reason, in my delirium, I started trying on and measuring all the socks I've knit so far. I'm not sure what I was trying to prove, but I stayed up well past two in the morning trying to prove it.

That was pretty much my last straw. And I have to say, I think it's time I take a short break from knitting. Not a long one. Maybe just a couple more days, I think that's best so I don't try to force it and then get myself a case of the yips.

What do you guys do when your knitting just isn't going your way?

If you want to stay up to date on all this knitting drama follow me on Instagram.

Blog relaunch + free printable

Earlier in the summer, I made the decision to revamp my blog. That included, coming up with a precise plan on what I'll be posting, and how often. It also meant getting serious and buying my own domain name. Welcome to thisgalknows.com! I'm super excited!

Here at the new and improved This Gal Knows, I'll be sharing current works in progresses and recent finished objects for both knitting and sewing. You'll even get to follow along on this new baking thing I've gotten myself into. Some of my other craftiness will shine through, too. And don't be surprised if I come at you guys crying over some comic book.

My main goal for This Gal Knows has always been for it to be a place where knitters and sewists can go to get their questions answered. But I feel like the internet is already full of great knitting resources and tutorials. Do we really need yet another site with the same information? BUT what I do think we all need is an index of these resources. That's why I've started creating masterlists of some of my favorite resources. This is going to be an ongoing project for me because, yikes, there are A LOT of great resources out there.

Anyway, I'm pretty excited about this new relaunch. To celebrate I'm giving you guys a free notepad printable. I have so many of these things designed, so keep your eyes peeled for more of these over the coming weeks...months...maybe years. You can never have enough notepads, right?

To make the notepad, I printed about 15 full pages on the back side of some scratch paper I had laying around. Then I followed Sea Lemon's How To Make Your Own Notepad tutorial. It's really straight forward, and feels like a great way to ease into bookbinding, if you're into that sort of thing. One thing I do have to say is use just the one coat of glue. I did two coats of glue and it's really difficult to pull the pages off.

I would also recommend using a straight edge to cut the sheets, I used scissors, and as you can see, things got a little wobbly near the edges.

One thing I like to do, is keep a stick of restickable glue on hand, then I can turn these into quick little sticky notes. Just a warning though, the glue leaves a sticky residue behind, so I wouldn't use these homemade sticky notes to put inside any important books.

What's included
[3] 7.5" x 5.5" notepads/sticky notes
[1] 3"x 3" notepads/sticky notes

Printing tips

• Print on high quality for best results
• To print just one page, use the page range functions in the print dialog and choose the page number of the style you want.

If you have any questions please comment here. And as always, to keep up to date with me and my crafts follow me on Tumblr, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.