Saturday, August 8, 2009

Mermish Folk Socks





Inspired once again by the Harry Potter books, by J.K. Rowling, I tried at my hand at designing / creating my own socks. Not that Mer people (folks) would wear socks...

I tried several Open and Closed Shell patterns in swatches, none of which "flowed" as I liked. I chose the pattern SHELL LACE RIB, it reminds me of fish scales, waves and light patterns on the water surface. This pattern can be found in many stitch pattern books and in no way is my own. However I did tweak the stitches on the needles while knitting so the pattern centered up the leg.

I did realize a mistake too late, as the picture shows. I did not slip two stitches to the proper needle during the gusset shaping and have four stitches on one side instead of two on either side leading to the instep / foot. OOPS! I bound off marked the error and intend to begin the other sock and then complete the pair.

The pattern may be knit either top down or toe up and follows a basic sock recipe. If you knit the pattern toe up your SHELL LACE RIB will be upside down, but that may add extra interest that I had not previously thought about when first trying this out.

Materials:
YARN: Knit Picks Esstential Fingering Weight in MERMAID
SIZE: 2(US) and 3(US) DPNs
Place Marker
Gauge: sts x 12 rows = 1"

Abbrv:

K - Knit
sl - slip
sts - stitches / stitch
RS - Right Side
WS - Wrong Side

TOP DOWN INSTRUCTIONS

NOTES: The first two stitches on needle one (N1) begin and end the round. Needle 4 holds the final stitches of the pattern (K1, psso) before the KNIT round begins, keeping the pattern even and centered.

I knit kind of upside down and backwards, please see the picture indicating needle numbers. I knit to the left beginning with the needle closest to me (N1) when knitting in the round.

CO: 56 Sts
Divide the stitches on to four Size 2(US) dpns as follows:
N1: 16 sts.
N2: 14 sts
N3: 14 sts
N4: 12 sts

Place Marker to denote beginning of round
Work in 1 x 1 ribbing for 1" (12 rounds)

Switch to size 3(US) Needles. I found using the larger needle helps keep the pattern from stretching and distorting too much when worn.

Round 1:
N1: K2, *K2tog, K2, yo, K1, yo, K5, sl1, K1, psso, K2*
N2 and N3: repeat from * to *
N4: K2tog, K2, yo, K1, yo, K5, sl1, K1, psso

Round 2 - KNIT

Round 3:
N1: K2, *K2tog, K1, yo, K3, yo, K4, sl1, K1, psso, K2*
N2 and N3: repeat from * to *
N4: K2tog, K1, yo, K3, yo, K4, sl1, K1, psso

Round 4 - KNIT

Round 5:
N1: K2, *K2tog, yo, K5, yo, K3, sl1, K1, psso, K2*
N2 and N3: repeat from * to *
N4: K2tog, yo, K5, yo, K3, sl1, K1, psso

Round 6 - KNIT

Round 7:
N1: K2, *K2tog, K5, yo, K1, yo, K2, sl1, K1, psso, K2*
N2 and N3: repeat from * to *
N4: K2tog, K5, yo, K1, yo, K2, sl1, K1, psso

Round 8 - KNIT

Round 9:
N1: K2, *K2tog, K4, yo, K3, yo, K1, sl1, K1, psso, K2*
N2 and N3: repeat from * to *
N4: K2tog, K4, yo, K3, yo, K1, sl1, K1, psso

Round 10 - KNIT

Round 11:
N1: K2, *K2tog, K3, yo, K5, yo, sl1, K1, psso, K2*
N2 and N3: repeat from * to *
N4: K2tog, K3, yo, K5, yo, sl1, K1, psso

Round 12 - KNIT

Repeat these 12 rows for pattern. Work the pattern for 48 rounds or 12 rows 4 times, ending with a KNIT row.

HEEL FLAP

The heel flap is worked across N1 and N4. On the last round of the leg, Knit the first two stitches from N1 to N4 (14 sts on each needle) for 28 sts.

Switch to size 2 (US) dpns

Work the heel in your favorite heel stitch. I used stockinette with out the slipping and psso of a traditional heel.

Work across N1, Turn, Slip the first st and purl across to the end. Turn, Slip the first stitch and knit across to the end, turn. Continue to Slip the first stitch of each row until 28 rows have been worked. (14 slipped stitches on either side of heel flap)

TURN THE HEEL
SLIP all sts Purl Wise
RS
Row 1: K16, K2tog, K1, Turn Leave the remaining sts. on N1.
Row 2: Sl1, P5, P2tog, P1, Turn
Row 3: Sl1, K6, K2tog, K1, Turn
Row 4: Sl1, P7, P2tog, P1, Turn
Row 5: Sl1, K8, K2tog, K1, Turn
Row 6: Sl1, P9, P2tog, P1, Turn

Continue in this manner, working RS until the last st on N4, Knit that stitch and the first st on N1 together then knit one more st from N1, Turn the piece and work the WS until the last three sts on N4, purl two together and then Purl the last st. Work back and forth RS / WS until all 28 sts have been worked and 16 sts remain on N4.

GUSSET:

Begin working in the round again.
With a free needle, pick up and Knit 14 sts along the side of heel flap (N1).
Knit across the 28 instep st in the SHELL LACE RIB pattern on N2 and N3.
Pick up and Knit 14 sts from the other side of the heel flap and knit 8 sts from N4.
All five (5) needles hold stitches.
Slip the last 8 sts from the odd needle to N1. There should be 22 Sts on N1 and N4. 72 sts in total.
Place marker to note beginning of round.

DECREASE ROUNDS:

ROUND 1
N1: Knit to the last three sts on N1, K2tog, K1
Follow the SHELL LACE RIB pattern for N2 and N3
N4: K1, ssk, Knit to end of round.

ROUND 2 - KNIT

Work in rounds, maintaining the SHELL LACE RIB pattern on the instep (N2 and N3), repeat Rounds 1 and 2 until 14 sts remain in N1 and N4 or there are 56 sts total.

FOOT

Work in rounds, maintaining the SHELL LACE RIB pattern for the instep (N2 and N3), work in Stockinette st on N1 and N4 until the foot measures about 2" shorter than your desired length. Be sure to end the instep pattern with a Knit row.

TOE

This is your basic pointy sock toe, if you have another way to create the toe, please feel free to use whatever method you are most comfortable with. Sock toes are not written in stone.

DECREASE ROUNDS:

ROUND 1:
N1: Knit to last three stitches, K2tog, K1
N2: K1, ssk, knit to end
N3: Knit to last three stitches, K2tog, K1
N4: K1, ssk, Knit to end of round

Round 2 - KNIT

Repeat rounds 1 and 2 until 7 sts remain in each needle. Repeat Round 1 ONLY until 4 sts remain in each needle.
Knit four sts from N1 to N4 and Slip four sts from N3 to N2.
16 sts remain. Use a tapestry needle to Kitchener Stitch the toe closed.

Follow the blocking and washing instructions that are best for the yarn you chose.

Slip on your foot. AHHH nice!

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Dread Pirate Rabbit Progress




I had something written as a draft, but it has disappeared, so we'll begin again.

Progress has been made. YEA! I have been working on this pattern for six months or so and I have finally gotten the head and "face" to look "right" or more rabbity anyway. I still have to figure out how to do the ears and the crossbones are still in the drawing / charting stage.

As promised when the whole thing is complete I will post charts and written pattern instructions. I still need input from the Pirates at Ravelry, they're good like that.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Green Apples





This was the very first article of clothing (top) that I completed and can wear. I knit a sweater when I first began to knit again, and that didn't work out so well. I am very pleased with this. The pattern is Lace Hem Topping from Creative Knitting, July 2008.

Materials: Shine (worsted weight) a blend of Cotton and Modal (recycled beach wood). The yarn "fluffed" a lot leaving lint everywhere when I was knitting. However, the yarn is lovely and soft and makes a wonderful fabric.

I made a mistake while knitting the front and had to rip the rows back. With some help from the users at Ravelry, I was able to correct the mistake without having to frog the whole piece!

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Ravenclaw Year 1- 2 House Scarf / Hat Set



Ravenclaw Year 1-2 House Scarf from Charmed Knits

I really enjoyed knitting this, very simple it was a pleasure to watch the material grow.

Long Time No Post

Wow, I had no idea it had been so long since I had posted anything. Still working on the Dread Pirate Rabbit, which I think I have almost gotten "right". I have also finished several projects in the mean time. Like most knitters, I would rather be knitting than blogging.

Well I suppose I should start posting some of those finsihed projects.

Also I would like to say thank you to Crafty Witch Josee from the Leaky Cauldron for inviting me to share / show my Harry Potter Knitting projects.

Arachknits: Ravenclaw Illusion Banner

Arachknits: Ravenclaw Illusion Banner

Saturday, September 6, 2008

Dread Pirate Bunny Progress

I am currently using Caron Simply Soft 100% Acrylic in Worsted Weight Black and White. I am still having major problems with the ears, I just can't seem to get them right.

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Harry Potter Hubby

Your result for The Harry Potter Husband Test...

Mrs. Weasley Twin

Your perfect HP man is Fred and/or George Weasley.


Laughter is important to you. You want a guy who's never boring, who can always put a smile on your face, and who can pull the best of pranks and never get caught. Or possibly two such guys. Because let's face it, they're pretty much a two-fer. You get one, you get both. Even if one of them's only a friend, he'll still be around so much you'll feel like you're married to him, too. Sure, they may not seem like the most mature guys in the world, in a traditional sense, but just ask them about their business plan. When they drive you nuts by relentlessly testing their latest inventions on you, you can console youself with that huge stack of cash and dragon-leather jacket. Besides, you know you're powerless against those stereo smiles.

Take The Harry Potter Husband Test at HelloQuizzy

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Hedwig




So I finished Hedwig.

I liked the pattern, but wanted to try something else, of course. I used Lion Brand Fun Fur for this project, and it was really hard ot finish because I couldn't see the edges through the fluff. She's cute in her own way.