Fresh Off the Needles: Sick Socks

That's it, I throw in the towel. I'm officially obsessed with sock knitting. I finally get what all the fuss is about. Don't ask me what it was about my first pair of hand knit socks, but I wasn't overjoyed about them. Proud, just not overjoyed. They didn't leave me wanting to make more. Now, I already have another pair on the needles and ideas for an entire series of themed socks swirling around my head.

What can I say? I'm so in love with these socks! Sucks I got distracted while knitting the first foot and knit it too long. Oh well. They fit my sister almost perfectly, so they'll be going to a good home. They are however, a bit wide in the toe, something that can easily be fixed by working a couple more short rows on either side.

I really enjoyed knitting this pattern even if they are just a plain old vanilla sock. Maybe next time I'll knit the leg entirely in 2x2 rib just to spice things up. The pattern is very straight forward with row by row instructions at both the toe and the heel. It was perfect for me since, I had never knit socks with short rows. For a matter of fact, I'd never really done much short row knitting prior to this, just the little bit that were used for the heel turn on my first pair of socks. I've also been sold on knitting socks toe-up as well. For me, it's far easier to fit when you're starting at the toe because you can try it on as you go and you know exactly where to start the heel. Also, you can use up every bit of yarn by winding the yarn into two equal balls and then knitting the leg until you don't have any yarn left.

 My favorite part about knitting these socks are the all too simple German short rows used on the toes and heels. I've been on the hunt for a pair of short row heel socks that didn't involve the old wrap and turn. And finally found one from Staci Perry at VeryPink.com. She even included a free how-to video on her website. It seems fitting that I became such a fan of this short row technique since I am mostly German, don'tcha know.

There are still a few tension issues I have to work out while doing the short rows on the wrong side which I still haven't figured out on my second pair. But all I'm hearing is I get to make more socks to practice this technique.

Lets talk about the yarn, shall we? This is some bare Knit Picks Stroll Sport that I dyed myself using Kool Aid. The orange, is first and foremost, nearly impossible to photograph. Look at those babies glow. I dyed it using some left over orange and cherry that I used for practicing some hand painting. For the bluish green I used  a mix of blue raspberry lemonade, lemon lime and McCormick's blue food coloring. Both yarns turned out far more tonal than I had expected, this is because apparently superwash wool sucks up the dye a lot faster than non-superwash wool does. Like really quickly, I could literally watch the water in the pot go clear like magic. I felt like I'd finally lived my dream and was a student at Hogwarts.

I'm pretty sure I've found my favorite way to knit socks that will keep me wanting to knit more and more. When I get more adventurous I plan on giving magic loop a try and then maybe even two at a time. What are some of your favorite ways to knit socks?

Special Skills Needed:

I included three different reference links for each technique. I didn't want to assume everyone learns the way I learn. Click on the numbers to see the different links.
Provisional cast on: 1|2|3
German Short Rows: 1|2|3
Extra stretchy bind off: 1|2|3

Want to see some of the other sock ideas I have swirling around my head? Be sure to follow me on Tumblr, Twitter, Instagram, Ravelry and Pinterest to be the first to see progress photos and the like before they're up on the blog. Also, don't forget to follow me on Bloglovin' so you never miss a post.

Thrifty Finds: Textile Center Garage Sale

Every year for the past 15 years, the Textile Center asks people and companies to donate their unwanted craft supplies. People bring in everything from unwanted sewing machines, fabric, yarn, sewing, knitting and crochet patterns, crochet hooks, knitting needles and needlework supplies. You name it, someone brings it. Two days later these things are sold in a giant garage sale held in a large warehouse. There's a dollar admission fee and all proceeds go to keeping the center up and running.

This past weekend my mom and I went for the second time. Neither one of us had any real idea what we were looking for. We were sort of just hoping we'd come away with as much great stuff as we did last time. While we did find a few great things, we didn't come away with as many treasures as we did last year. Something like this is pretty hit or miss. There's really no way of knowing what people are going to decide to donate. Regardless, we did pick up a few great things.

When I said people donate anything to the Textile Center, I wasn't lying. Something that surprised me most was the amount of people that donated unfinished objects, or UFOs for short. There were several cafeteria style tables full of UFOs. That's where I found this great 1960s sewing pattern (Simplicity 5835), wool (I think) fabric and a zipper. All for just two dollars. As far as UFOs go this is about as unfinished as you can get. The only thing that's been done for the whole project is that the pattern has been cut.

I'm so stupidly excited about this find everything about this screams 60s. I can't wait to get started on even just the muslin. According to a few handwritten notes on the pattern, the original owner was planning on making the blouse and jacket. But personally, I think the fabric (which is as bright in real life) would be much better suited for the skirt.

Mom also nabbed this adorable pink and white synthetic, possibly polyester, fabric. She plans on making a little dress for my baby niece using the Kwik Sew 3035 pattern. Of course, if she doesn't really want to, I'm sure I can find a cute 60s skirt pattern to that would go perfect with this fabric.

Another great find is an old book on pattern drafting and grading, Modern Method of Women's & Children's Garment Design. It was originally published in 1955 by The Master Designer and this is the 1981 edition. It has everything from slacks, to skirts, to shirts to dresses. I've thumbed through it and all of it is going WAY over my head. But I can already tell this is going to be an invaluable resource as I continue to improve my sewing skills. Since I much prefer using vintage patterns over modern patterns, mostly for their simplicity (ha!), I really have no choice but to learn how to resize patterns.

As always if you want to see my progress on these future projects follow me on Tumblr, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest. Also, if you don't want to miss another blog post, make sure to pop over to Bloglovin' and follow me there as well.

What's on the needles: A whole bunch of projects

Remember when a few weeks ago I said it felt like all I was doing was planning projects and not getting a whole lot done. Well, I finally said to myself to, "Mandi, you need to shut up and put up." If that is indeed how the saying goes. If it's not, then I didn't say that at all.

Since I finished knitting my first pair of socks about a year and a half ago, I've wanted to knit another pair. But I wasn't thrilled with the heel flap and gusset. And I didn't like how the toe decreases were. So, I looked for some toe up socks and found Very Pink's German short rows pattern. I love this pattern because I've been looking for a way to do short rows without the standard wrap&turn and finally found an easy way to do it. Plus, the pattern includes tutorial videos at each part of the sock (ie. the toe, heel and cuff) to help you along the way. I really recommend it.

I finally got to casting on for my purple Rosalie. There's not much to say about it at the moment. Or much to look at for that matter. It's just been some plain old stockinette stitch round after round. Which has been really good to knit while I play the Sims. But it's becoming a bit redundant and I'm getting a tad bit bored with it already. Hopefully, I'll feel differently when I get to the ribbing at the neck line. But I hate to knit ribbing, so I don't know why I would assume that. Maybe this time it'll be different.

This is the fabric I plan to use. Floral of course.

I've also been working on a muslin for a button up shirt I plan to sew sometime in the future. But that one has stalled out. When tracing the pattern I got confused about what certain dots meant,  so I just ignored them all. Turns out those dots were important, who knew. I was noticing this all as I was getting sick the the thousandth time this year. And I didn't really have it in me to figure out where everything lined up. Either way, I'm really excited about this project even if it is only in the muslin stage because it's something that I've done entirely by myself. I'm not saying I haven't asked for help, but there hasn't been anything on it that my mom has done. I'm just going to go ahead and pat myself on the back for that one.

There are few more projects that I've been working on that aren't worth photographing. One of them is another sweater that I've been wanting to be done with for sometime but kind of have run out of steam on it. That's actually happened to me quite a bit. Sometimes I go through a phase where I just want the finished product, but I don't want to go through sewing or knitting it. I just want it to magically appear. Does this happen to you guys? How do you muscle through it?

As always if you want to see my progress follow me on Tumblr, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.

Open letter to self about gauge

"I don't need to check gauge. It's never been a problem for me." I know you've read that countless times. The almighty knitter who has never had one problem with gauge. I myself have said that many a times. But up until recently I'd only knit things that the gauge wasn't all too important. Then I started knitting sweaters and it became apparent that gauge is in fact important. Below is a letter to myself that I will refer to anytime I knit a new sweater.

Dear this gal,

Honestly, what's one of the first things you learn when you're starting out garment knitting? It's important to knit a gauge swatch before you start knitting your garment. I know you've read this, I was there. But since I also know you need a refresher, I'm going to give it to you, all while debunking the reasons why you have in the past chosen not to do a gauge swatch.

What is gauge and why is it important?

Gauge is the number of stitches and rows a knitter makes per inch using a certain yarn and needles. Most yarn labels have the gauge and a suggested needle size, but it doesn't always mean that you'll get gauge with the same needles they suggest. You might have to go up or down needle sizes to get it. Gauge is important because it determines how your garment is going to fit. If you're just half a stitch off, your sweater won't fit.

Here's an example, remember when you started your Magical Mystery Tour vest? Remember how you guesstimated your gauge to be 6.5 stitches per inch? So, you cast on 216 stitches to get you roughly a 33 inch bust. But then it turned out your gauge was actually 6 stitches per inch, so you actually ended up with a sweater that had a 36 inch bust. Do you remember that? If you had just taken your gauge in the first place you would have known to either cast on fewer stitches, or you could have switched needle sizes to get the gauge you wanted.

But what if I run out of yarn?

I know how concerned you were when you started that vest, but let me remind you how much leftover yarn you had when you finished. Enough to knit a whole new vest at the correct gauge, resulting in a well fitting garment. I'd also like to remind you how much yarn you had left over after knitting your Christmas sweater. You had four skeins of red, one skein of white and one skein of green. Plus, in all honesty, if you think you're going to run out of yarn, buy an extra skein.

But it just takes too much time

Admittedly, it does take some time to knit a gauge swatch. But you have to think of the time it takes to knit an entire vest in the wrong size. Then how long it takes to knit an entire vest in the correct size. You could have knit two really great vests in that time had you taken the time to check to make sure everything was going to work out the way you had calculated. Take the time to save the time.

It's a concept literally as old as time, knitting time anyway. I doubt there's ever been a knitting book written that didn't include at least a small section on gauge/tension.

From Patons 665 from the 1960s

Required reading

Now, for my sake, and my sake alone, please read the following articles on the proper ways to swatch for gauge. I will not allow you to even consider knitting another sweater until you've done so.

Gauge Overview - earthguild.com
How to measure gauge - craftsy.com
Everything you need to know about gauge - knitty.com
How to check gauge - video from verypink.com

Sincerely,

Yourself

PS.
That measly thing above, it does not count as knitting a gauge swatch, nice try though. Why is your ribbing longer than the stitch pattern?



If you want to help me keep myself in check follow me on Tumblr, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.

Planning a 1960s sweater

It feels like all I've been doing is planning my next projects without doing actual work on any of said projects. Maybe I should make a promise that the next thing I post will be a finished project... Hahahahaha! But honestly, sometimes I think the funnest thing about knitting or sewing is the planning rather than the actually sewing or knitting. Call me crazy.

I've been wanting to knit a sweater from a vintage pattern for awhile. I even made a post awhile back of my top 5 vintage patterns to knit. Of course the pattern I'm going to knit didn't make that list.

The pattern I plan to use is called 'Rosalie' from the Patons Knitting Book No. 665. My plan is to eliminate the color work and knit it in a dark purple using Knit Picks Stroll. I know, I know, me opting to not do color work? Crazy, right? The color pattern just doesn't really impress me. What drew me to it was the ribbing at the yoke and neckline. I'm not sure how it will look in a single color. But we'll see.

Over half a year ago, my sister and I scored a few vintage dresses at WildWoman's Vintage Clothing, a cute little vintage shop in Sparta, WI. One of the dresses I absolutely fell in love with is a cute little, sleeveless, wool, tweed, purple dress. For months now, I've been talking about knitting some kind of sweater to go under it. My first thoughts were to follow the series on Fitting a 40s pullover that Tasha at By Gum By Golly put together a few years back. But I decided that a mock turtle neck would be the best way to go. To be honest, I'll probably still be referring to those posts quite a bit while planning this.

I know a couple weeks ago I mentioned a sweater I was working on that I hoped would be done by now. Well, surprise, surprise I'm still working on. But I hope to be able to show it off next week or the week after that... Or some week at some point in time, because lets be honest, with this project under way, I might not have the desire to knit on anything else.

If you want to see my progress on my vintage sweater or even possibly my other WIP sweater follow me on Tumblr, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest for latest updates.

This gal dyes... yarn with Kool Aid

Late last year I talked about my fall goals, and one of them was that I wanted to try a bit of yarn dyeing using Kool-Aid. Around that time, I had made up my mind that the first sweater I attempted wasn't working out. So, I frogged it and had all this extra white yarn leftover. It's like the stars had aligned.

Kool Aid dyeing is super, super easy. And there are plenty of resources all over the Internet. Video tutorials, written tutorials, picture tutorials, just about any kind of tutorial you can think of. I've even started a Pinterest board specifically for Kool Aid dyeing and all the different techniques.

My first attempt was a major success. I went with a pretty straight forward lime green using six packets of Lemon Lime Kool-Aid and an entire 50g skein of Knit Picks worsted Wool of the Andes. Being the green lover that I am, I quite like the results.

For my second attempt, I decided to be a bit more adventurous. I wanted to try my hand at purple. Turns out purple isn't an easy color to dye. My weird results are proof of that. It also doesn't help that I went into it with no game plan what-so-ever. I figured, "hey, red and blue make purple. Right?" So, I tossed in three packets of cherry Kool Aid and about 30-something drops of blue food coloring and hoped for the best. I'm not even sure what color I'd call that. Maroon? It doesn't look quite that bright in person. I actually really like the results, it's just not exactly what I was going for.

Since then I've done a bit of reading and it turns out the red dye used in Kool Aid (Red40) tends to produce a muddy color. And the ideal red to use is Red3 which is what's used in food coloring. But apparently that also has its draw backs. I'll have to look into it more. But right now, my thoughts for the next time I attempt purple is to try blue Kool Aid with red food coloring. We'll see what happens.

Needless to say, there's still a lot I can learn about dyeing yarn. But I'm glad I made these mistakes. Without mistakes we wouldn't learn anything. I'm excited to make a few more as the dyeing adventures go on.

Want to follow along and see my mistakes as they happen? Go ahead and follow me on Tumblr, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.

1960s Wiggle Dress Planning

I was hoping to have a finished sweater and a vintage inspired skirt to share with you this week. But seeing as I haven't even started on the front of the sweater, that seems like an unrealistic goal. Instead of knitting my sweater I've been going through some fabric I got at a large garage sale last spring. And just like that I've been bitten by the sewing bug, and want to sew all the things.

The first thing that I want to sew with some great floral fabric I got is a halter wiggle dress. I've been on the hunt for some patterns but am turning up empty. It doesn't help that I can't even find a decent picture of what I'm looking for. To be honest, I'm not even sure if this is inspired by something I saw or something I think I saw. That happens to me a lot. But I'm pretty sure this was sparked by something I saw in an Elvis movie since the fabrics are ones that remind me of Blue Hawaii, but I can't be sure. Looks like I have an excuse to watch some Elvis beach movies now.

Any way, the closest that I've been able to find is a vintage pattern from 1964, McCall's 7511. The only thing is, I want a halter top. But the more I've looked at halter tops, the more I'm wondering if that's something I really want. I haven't been the biggest fan of halter tops in the past, so I'm not entirely sure why I have my mind set on a halter dress. After looking at the pattern more I'm starting to think maybe this would be a better fit for my fabric. After a quick search, I can't find it in my usual pattern price range, but I'll be keeping my eyes open.

As for the fabric, I can't decide between the large print floral or the small print floral. The first time I saw both of them I was thinking along the lines of a gathered skirt for both of them. But I don't think that's their true destiny. I'm leaning more toward the large print for the dress, and maybe the other one can become a nice gathered skirt. Honestly, I think there would be enough of the smaller print to make a dress and skirt. We'll see...

I know you don't want to miss what these two fabrics true destinies will ultimately be. And since I tend to spoil everything on social media you should follow me on Tumblr, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest for the latest updates.