Basic freaking socks

So... it's been awhile. Yeah. Since my last post, I've fallen in love, made a bunch of plans, gotten my heart broken, and started school. I've also learned some new knitting techniques. Having made socks and mittens, I feel as if I can conquer the world. I want to share that feeling with YOU. You need to know how to cast on, how to knit, and how to purl. The rest is a bit challenging, but it is by no means insurmountable.

I started my first pair of socks with a skein of super-fine yarn and the pattern that came with it. I felt that I needed some extra instructions, because I didn't understand the process of turning the heel or of picking up stitches along the heel flap. I found an excellent tutorial, Silver's Sock Class. Step 6 shows how to turn the heel, step 7 shows how to pick up stitches and knit the gussets, and step 10 shows Kitchener stitch in a much better manner than I could explain! This tutorial is awesome. Thanks to Silver, I [heart] sock-knitting.

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Ashleigh's Basic Freaking Socks

I hate complications. They always seem to find me, though. That’s why I’m really happy with this sock pattern that I developed. I took the best parts of two different patterns and smooshed them together to form what I believe (for now) to be the perfect basic sock, even if its origins are a bit complicated. If you are new to sock knitting, these babies will make you happy.

What you need
1 set of 4 dpns in US size 6
worsted weight yarn (I used Stitch Nation Bamboo Ewe in Snapdragon; one 177-yard skein makes a pair of socks with enough left over for, say, a coffee cup cozy.)
darning needle

Gauge
Looks like 11 sts x 15 rnds = 2" square. This pattern as I wrote and knit it fits a ladies' size 8 or 8-1/2.

Cuff
Cast on 40 sts and divide as follows: 14 sts each on needles 1 and 3, and 12 sts on needle 2. Join and be careful not to twist your cast-on round. Work in K2P2 ribbing for 7-10 rounds, depending on your preference, then knit 21 rounds of stockinette (or however many rounds will make the cuff the length that you want). End by knitting across the first 11 stitches on needle 1.

Heel flap
Redistribute stitches as follows: slip 11 stitches from needle 3 to needle 1, and rearrange remaining 18 stitches on needles 2 and 3. On needle one, you will have 22 stitches; on needle 2, you will have 9 stitches; on needle 3, you will have 9 stitches as well. You may let needles 2 and 3 hang down, or you may place the stitches on waste yarn, according to your preference. You will be working back-and-forth with the 22 stitches on needle 1 to make the heel flap.

Row 1: P2tog, P2 to end, ending with P2tog. (16 sts)
Row 2: Sl1, K1 to end
Row 3: Sl1, P to end

Work rows 2 and 3 for 10 times total. Repeat row 2 one time more.

Turn heel
Row 1: P8, P2tog, P1, leaving remaining 5 sts unworked. Turn.
Row 2: K3, K2tog, K1, leaving remaining 4 sts unworked. Turn.
Row 3: P4, P2tog, P1, leaving remaining 3 sts unworked. Turn.
Row 4: K5, K2tog, K1, leaving remaining 2 sts unworked. Turn.
Row 5: P6, P2tog, P1, leaving remaining st unworked. Turn.
Row 6: K7, K2tog, K1, turn.
Row 7: P10
Row 8: K10

(Pause and admire your lovely heel!)

Gussets
With right side facing you, and using spare needle, pick up and knit 11 sts along side of heel flap. Slip these stitches onto needle 1. With spare needle, knit across the 18 sts on needles 2 and 3. With spare needle, pick up and knit 11 sts along the other side of heel flap; with the same needle, knit 5 sts from needle 1. Needle 1 now has 16 sts, needle 2 has 18 sts, and needle 3 has 16 sts, for a total of 50 sts.

Knit one round, and make sure your stitches aren’t too loose.

Round 1: On needle 1: K to last 3 sts, K2tog, K1. On needle 2: K across. On needle 3: K1, SSK, K to end of needle. (48 sts)
Round 2: Knit.

Repeat rounds 1 and 2 for 5 times total (40 sts remain).

Instep
Knit stockinette stitch for 35 rounds, or until foot measures 2” less than the total length needed.

Toe
Redistribute stitches as follows: 10 sts on needle 1, 20 sts on needle 2, and 10 sts on needle 3.

Round 1: On needle 1: K to last 3 sts, K2tog, K1. On needle 2: K1, SSK, K to last 3 sts, K2tog, K1. On needle 3: K1, SSK, K to end of needle.
Round 2: Knit.

Repeat rounds 1 and 2 for 7 times total (12 sts remain). Knit across needle 1, arrange 6 sts onto each of 2 needles, and graft closed with Kitchener stitch.

Repeat for second sock!

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Yes, your socks will look a bit funky when you're done. I understand why people use sock blockers for aesthetic purposes. However, the fit is unbeatable!



I really love how these socks turned out. They are chunky and breathable (thank you, wool and bamboo), and I think they will be nice to wear in transitional weather. I'm sending these beauties to my sister in Georgia.

As you gain confidence in your sock-knitting abilities, you can throw in stripes and lace borders and all sorts of embellishments. Enjoy!

Summer treats

There was a nasty heat wave last week, complete with temperatures near 100 degrees and humidity near 100 percent. Also, an air-conditioning snafu in my car. But that's beside the point. Because this is coastal Virginia, the heat wave came to an abrupt and very welcome end the other evening in a string of spectacular thunderstorms that raked the beach and the city and the cow pastures alike. Before the storms, though, I closed the blinds to keep the house cool and baked lemon bars after brewing a pitcher of iced tea. If you're not familiar with the American South (very different from a South American... ), you may not know the refreshing joy of a glass of iced tea and a lemon bar on a hot, hot day. There's something about citrus that cuts through the heat and humidity. Unlike most southerners, I don't make my iced tea super-sweet, but these lemon bars more than make up for that!



Without exception, I grease my pans with vegetable shortening. It contains less moisture than butter, so it won't alter the texture of your baked goods.



Look at all that buttery-sugary goodness.



Mixing. Not quite there yet...



The crust dough should look like a thick paste.



Mmm. Pasty.



Make sure you spread the dough evenly.



I had to resist taking a taste of the freshly browned shortbread crust. Mmm.



Ingredients for a delicious custard.



The custard is really thin before you bake it.



Just go ahead and pour it on the warm crust.



The custard will be just about as thick as the crust.



Browned again. Resisting a taste-test again.



Yes, it's an old sieve. But it works.



Finished bars. Don't you want to dig in?

I swear I took pictures of the bars once I'd cut them, but my old memory card gobbled them up the way my mom and my friends and I gobbled up the lemon bars!

Lemon bars

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

For crust, cream together 1 cup of softened butter, 1/2 cup powdered sugar, and 2 cups flour. Press this mixture into a greased 9"x13" pan. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until golden.

The best thing to do here is to wash the dishes you just used while the crust is baking. Then you can start making the filling when the crust comes out of the oven. For the filling, beat together 4 eggs, 4 tbsp lemon juice, 2 cups granulated sugar, 4 tbsp flour, and 1/4 tsp salt. Pour on top of the crust and bake for another 20-25 minutes, until evenly browned. Cool and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Now, because this is an egg-based custard, I should tell you to keep the lemon bars in the fridge after they've cooled in the pan. This advice never goes into effect in my house, though, because the lemon bars disappear before they have a chance to turn.

Notes: I haven't attempted to veganize this recipe (which would make my grandmother's ashes swirl in their urn), but I imagine that margarine and Ener-G would indeed work just fine. Also, try substituting lime juice for lemon juice. Yum!

Tropical headgear

Well hello, Virginia summer. Nice to see you again. Might I say that while you are hot and steamy, you have nothing on a Florida spring? Mm-hmm. It's true.

Last month, I spent a week in Florida (and fell in love with Miami), a trip which included a stop in Jacksonville to visit with a friend, Jaye, who lives there. Jaye's mom is going through cancer treatment, so I made her a couple of hats. They're easy-care hats, made of acrylic. However, I realized that acrylic might not be the most comfortable material to wear in the Florida summer. I had some nice, high-end cotton yarn -- just enough for a hat, I thought -- in my stash at home. Any worsted-weight cotton yarn will do, of course, but I wanted to use something special for Jaye's mom.

What you'll need: 1 skein (really, about 90 yards) of your favorite cotton yarn, 12" or 16" circular needles in US sizes 6 and 8, a set of US size 8 double-pointed needles, one stitch marker, and a tapestry needle. Using the smaller circular needle, cast on 90 stitches. Place marker, don't twist the stitches, and knit 8 rounds. Switch to larger circular, and knit 22-25 more rounds, depending on how big you want the hat to be. Now begin your decreases. Once there are too few stitches to work on the circular needle, switch to double-pointed needles, distributing the stitches however you like.

First decrease row: *K8, K2tog, repeat from * to end of round. (You'll have 81 sts left.)
Next row: knit
Second dec row: *K7, K2tog, rep from *. (72 sts)
Next row: knit
Third dec row: *K6, K2tog, rep from *. (63 sts)
Next row: knit
Fourth dec row: *K5, K2tog, rep from *. (54 sts)
Next row: knit
Fifth dec row: *K4, K2tog, rep from *. (45 sts)
Next row: knit
Sixth dec row: *K3, K2tog, rep from *. (36 sts) -- This is usually when I switch to dpns.
Next row: knit
Seventh dec row: *K2, K2tog, rep from *. (27 sts)
Next row: knit
Eighth dec row: *K1, K2tog, rep from *. (18 sts)
Next row: knit
Last dec row: K2tog, rep to end of round. (9 sts)

Cut yarn and use the tapestry needle to thread the yarn tail through remaining 9 stitches. Weave in ends, and there you have it -- a lovely little cap!





I am a hat model, I suppose.



I love how the even decreases make a spiral pattern.

Tomorrow morning, this hat will be on its way to sunny Florida!

Frosted fluffiness

My mom has asked me several times to make another scarf for her. She has roughly a dozen of my scarves, but she always thinks of a new color or style that she would like. So I set aside my Etsy knitting and made another scarf for Mom.

One of her favorites is this furry beast:



Rawr!

She wanted a pink furry beast in the same style. Luckily, Michael's had Fun Fur on sale last weekend, so I picked up the necessary materials. This scarf is an excellent weekend project; I started it on Friday morning and finished it on Sunday evening during a "Whale Wars" marathon. (I would have finished it sooner, but I didn't knit a single stitch on Saturday.) Knit with me, won't you?

What you need: 2 balls of white Lion Brand Fun Fur (or another eyelash yarn), 2 balls of any color Fun Fur (the purple one is "grape" and the pink one is "soft pink"), one pair US size 11 needles, and one tapestry needle or crochet hook for weaving in ends.



I swear that the top strand is pink.



Holding one strand of white and one strand of color together, cast on 16 stitches. For every row, *K1, P1, rep from * for K1P1 ribbing. When you have knit your scarf to a desired length, bind off in patt, then weave in ends.



Tada! Using white Fun Fur with a color gives the scarf a frosted look.

Variation: cast on 12 stitches instead of 16 for a narrower (or child-size) scarf. The scarf will be about 4 inches wide with 16 stitches and about 3 inches wide with 12 stitches.

Worldwide Knit in Public Day

That's right! Get your needles and your yarn, and get out there!

My WWKIP Day is this Sunday, June 13, but you can click here to find the day your knitting community has chosen. If I remember to take my camera, I'll post pictures here of both the event and my project -- a summer chemo cap for my friend's mom.

Happy (public) knitting!

Summer joys

I love flowers, whether they're cultivated or growing in the wild. At the beginning of this year, I moved in with my mom to save money and to get my life on a different track. My mom inherited the house a couple of years ago, but throughout my childhood, I spent many hours there visiting with relatives. I never quite realized, until this spring, how many gorgeous plants grow there. Azalea season is huge in our area, and we had quite the variety this spring! In late summer, the gardenias will bloom profusely, and we will cut the flowers and set them in shallow bowls of water in the house. In the meantime, though, I want to share some of the lovelies that adorn the yard right now.





Purple clematis behind the mailbox, and clematis bud. (The vine won't grab the plastic mailbox, so we installed an iron trellis.)







I have no idea what these yellow beauties are called, but they line one side of the house, and I love seeing them when I pull into the driveway.



Magenta clematis. Technically this is the neighbor's vine, but it grows on our mutual fence. These are democratic clematis. Flowers to the people! :P







Pink clematis by the front porch. These are on a trellis, too, but the leaves are so thick that you can't really see it.



These were a gift from one of my mom's customers. I planted them in the front yard flowerbed, and I really, really hope they don't succumb to my black thumb.



I suppose that people with no imagination would call this flower a weed and pull it out of the ground. Good thing the little plant is growing in my yard.



Another "weed". As a little girl, I called them "bee flowers" because the bumblebees seem to love them. They smell sweet and lend a bit of interest to an otherwise homogeneously green lawn.



Lastly, a whimsically beautiful dandelion puff.

So there you have it, some of the beauty of the front lawn. I love pulling into the driveway (or up to the curb) and seeing all the flowers. The back yard is lush and green...





... and we can see the cows when they're out to pasture. Believe it or not, I don't live in a rural area. There are family farms tucked away here and there, and I merely happen to live right next to one. It's just one more of my summer joys.

Knitters: the next generation

Am I a geek? Yes I am.

Next week, I'm going to give my ten-year-old cousin a crash course in knitting before she and her mom and her sister set off on an adventure across the country. Last night, I was putting together a "knit kit" for her as I pondered the perfect first project. Her mom thought it was pretty nifty that I make dishcloths, so hey, why not a dishcloth? I always need dishcloths, so I started one, and I'm sharing it here.

What you need: one pair of single-point needles in US size 4, 5, 6, or 7, depending upon your knitting style, and depending upon your desired results (smaller gauge needle = tighter knit, etc.); one ball cotton yarn; large-eyed blunt needle; scissors.

For dishcloths, I LOVE Lily's Sugar & Cream yarn. (Last summer, I was lucky to find an insane amount of Sugar & Cream mill ends at a North Carolina A.C. Moore, and I nearly had a conniption right there in the store.) You can use Lion Cotton, or any other yarn that is 100% cotton. Cotton cotton cotton.



(Isn't it GORGEOUS?)

Cast on 35 stitches. Here, I'm using US size 5 needles, because I like a dishcloth that can scrub my bean pot clean and live to tell the tale.





(I just love the look and feel of cotton yarn on bamboo needles.)

Now, knit every row* until the cloth is square, then bind off in knit and weave in your ends. Give your new dishcloth a quick rinse, and it's ready to go! I toss mine in the washer and dryer with my other towels. Sometimes I have to re-tuck the ends, but these dishcloths really hold up. No kidding, they will scrub your bean pot clean and live to tell the tale.

Happy knitting!

*If you want to get fancy with your garter stitch knitting, slip the first stitch of every row for a neat, smooth edge.