Crash Course in Comfort Sock by Berroco

This summer I was encouraged to jump on the sock bandwagon and knit my first pair of socks ever. 'Why not', I thought, and proceeded to pick out some yarn.

I had seen a pattern for some pompom socks and thought they would be perfect for my daughter and chose my yarn based on a 12 year old being the recipient. I wanted durability, washability, and (most of all) stretchability for her ever growing feet! Petting and feeling and reading labels really wasn't necessary since I had Lucinda--Mont Tricot's resident sock expert-- there to offer advice. She suggested Berroco Comfort Sock yarn as the best choice to meet my many demands. I grabbed it up and headed home to start my summer knitting project.

2 MONTHS LATER...

As with many great plans, life got in the way and my socks were delayed. I was finally able to cast on and play with Berroco's squishy goodness early in August. I'm not quite finished with the socks yet, but this is what I've discovered so far.

CRASH COURSE IN BERROCO COMFORT SOCK:

• Soooooooo soft-- like I could knit with this forever soft
• Fairly splitty, but not unknittable-- the fibers don't separate on their own, but they don't take that much encouragement from a knitting needle (or a hangnail!)
• Yarn is very forgiving-- uneven stitches are not super obvious, and it frogs/reworks beautifully
• Nice and stretchy!-- but this may be because I'm knitting lace and ribbing
• MOST IMPORTANT DISCOVERY: center pull yarn end knots up horribly with the rest of the skein as it is being used! I am knitting these socks 2-at-a-time on the same ball of yarn, so I am using both ends of the skein. My biggest regret is that I did not wind the yarn before starting--I have spent as much time untangling yarn blobs pulled out of the center as I have actually knitting the socks. (No, this is not an exageration...)

CONCLUSION:

I really love the feel of this yarn and the look of the fabric! It's one of the best feeling "plain" acrylic yarns that I've come across. I will definately use it again--great possibility for baby and kid friendly items! But I strongly urge everyone to rewind the yarn before using, just to reduce the chance of unwanted headaches! I'm not sure if it will help, but it certainly can't hurt!

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Fiber Cravings...

Oh the endless possibilities of such a gorgeous set of hanks...!

"Marici" 100% spun silk

"Cool Waters" colorway

from The Unique Sheep

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COMING SOON to Everyday Peacocks:

The Cascade Collection!

Stay tuned for details...

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If I were a really, really, REALLY fast knitter, this is what I'd knit today:

"Chaussons Hedwige" by Marie Christine

And the perfect soft and snuggly yarn for these:

Caribou from HiKoo by Skacel Collection, Inc.

The Sample Knit Saga--Grande Finale!

And it is done! This exquisitely decadent and sensually divine creation is finally finished after two months of blissful torture. Of course, as you may have read, there have been a few hiccups along the way, but overall I would call this a successful project that I have greatly enjoyed!

The last major hurdle to finishing this shawl was probably the greatest challenge along the way. As I mentioned in my most recent post, the Shattered Sun Shawl by Felicia Lo has a selvedge edge that I forgot to remember about 1/4 of the way through, but I didn't notice that I forgot until I was about 9/10 of the way through. I had to experiment to discover the best way to repair this omission before continuing on!

After careful manipulation and re-manipulation of a stockinette swatch, I came to decide that I should leave the edge stitch intact and drop the next two stitches to create a garter stitch column. After I finished the repair I continued on in this fashion as well to keep it from being noticeable. I think the edge works very well now and will lie flat as it should.

After the repair, I was able to continue on with the final stockinette section and finally the edge ruffle. I did shorten this last section considerably, but I added two plain rows to the ruffle. Some very interesting realizations came to me as I watched my little ball of yarn shrinking precariously close to it's end with several rows left to knit... First, a Russian bind-off of almost 700 stitches is actually almost 1400 stitches. And Second, the way a pattern handles increases GREATLY impacts the amount of yarn used if you plan to alter it. This last one is a good one to keep in mind if you (like me) change patterns when you're knitting. Let me explain:

With every knitted shawl pattern-- with the exception of some square or rectangular ones-- increases or decreases are used to shape the structure of the shawl. If coming from the center out as this pattern does, then increases are used. Many lace shawls increase two or four stitches every row to keep a very smooth shape and edge-- think of a triangle getting bigger as it comes gradually to its base. This has been my experience with increases in the past; with gradual increases you can notice how much yardage you are using by watching your yarn ball dwindle. I generally am watching my ball as it's getting smaller to gauge if I have enough to do one more row, etc.

I was super happy when I started this shawl and discovered there were only a handful of increase rows!-- one between each section. This made it soooooo easy to memorize the patterns and knit away contentedly while chasing my son around the yard this summer.

HERE'S WHERE I CREATED MY PROBLEM: every row knit between two increases uses TWICE as much yarn as the section before it. I shortened several sections early on in the shawl (and banked me some yarn), but then I added rows to the final ruffle (which is the most yarn consuming part of the pattern!)

Let's just say LESSON LEARNED. Designers spend a lot of time figuring out these patterns and adjusting them to our many shapes and sizes. The structures and shaping we take for granted (and often complain about) create the foundation for those designs we love so much; they should not be ignored or cast away so lightly. Will I be modifying my patterns again in the future? ABSOLUTELY! But from here on out I will take care to note how a garment is made originally before trying to recreate it.

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HUGE thanks to Lucinda at Mont Tricot in Sutton, Quebec for the fabulous (and fun!) photo shoot! Awesome store, awesome people, and an uncanny knack for getting AMAZING shots!

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Pattern: Fancy Bottle Cozy

The other day I was in need of a super quick knitting project that I could just knit on the fly. I've been dying to make a beer cozy for several years now, so this just seemed like the right time for it! I wasn't thrilled with any of the patterns I'd seen-- not because they are bad or ugly, they just weren't "ME". What resulted is me just improvising a pattern as I went along.

Turned out to be pretty easy to remember, so now I'm sharing the pattern with anyone who might be interested. I created it to fit a typical beer bottle, but the pattern could be easily modified to fit other bottles or cans, depending on your needs (but I think it's the decreasing neck section that makes it soooo sexy!)

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PATTERN:

Long tail cast on 9 stitches. Join to work in the round, place marker.

BOTTOM:
Row 1 - Knit to marker
Row 2 - (k1, yo)* repeat to marker
Row 3 - Knit to marker [18 stitches]
Row 4 - Repeat Row 2
Row 5 - Knit to marker [36 stitches]

BASE SET-UP:
Row 6 - Purl to marker
Row 7 - Purl to marker
Row 8 -Knit to marker
(Repeat Row 8 four more times)

LACE SECTION (Chart below):
Row 9 - (k, yo, k4, sk2p, k4, yo, place marker)* 3 times
Row 10 and all even rows - (p, k to marker)* 3 times

~* YOU SHOULD NOW HAVE 3 MARKERS AND 36 STITCHES *~

Row 11 - (p, k, yo, k3, sk2p, k3, yo, k)* 3 times
Row 13 - (p, k2, yo, k2, sk2p, k2, yo, k2)* 3 times
Row 15 - (p, k3, yo, k, sk2p, k, yo, k3)* 3 times
Row 17 - (p, k4, yo, sk2p, yo, k4)* 3 times
Row 19 - (k, yo, k4, sk2p, k4, yo)* 3 times

WORK ROWS (11-20) 2 times

NECK SECTION:
Row 21 - (p, ssk, k7, k2tog)* 3 times [30 stitches]
Row 22 - (p, k to marker)* 3 times
Row 23 - (p, k, p, k, sk2p, k, p, k)* 3 times [24 stitches]
Row 24 - (p, k to marker)* 3 times
Row 25 - (p, k, p, sk2p, p, k, remove marker[except end of row marker])* 3 times [18 stitches]

Rows (26-end) p1, k1 rib around to desired length. I did 7 rows ribbing before bind off.

Bind off using whatever S-T-R-E-T-C-H-Y bind off method you like best. I followed this tutorial by SlipSlipKnit.com (excellent for use with ribbing.)

~*IMPORTANT TO NOTE!!!*~

I looped my yarn through the first stitch of the bind-off and tied it off before trying the cozy on my bottle--big time rookie mistake! The opening was too tight!!! Luckily I was able to unknot my yarn and redo the finishing. I instead looped my end through the first purl stitch on the row below before tying off, and now the cozy just squeezes on. Next time, I will bind off a little looser.

A couple more photos can be found on my Ravelry Pattern Page if you'd like to see more details. I'd love to see what you do with this super-quick and fun pattern!

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If I were a really, really, REALLY fast crocheter, this is what I'd crochet today:

"Cool Blue Evening Shawl " by Kathryn A. Clark