Friday, September 19, 2008

September socks!

leaflacesocks 2

Stats:
Yarn: Autumn House Farm Twist Strideaway in Skye Sea Garden
Needles: Knitpicks size 1.5 (2.5mm) 4" circulars
Pattern: Leaf lace socks, from Vogue Knitting's Ultimate Sock Book modified to be toe up with a short row heel

leaflacesocks 1

I posted a tutorial on how to do the toe up picot hem on my blog yesterday. Most picot hems are done from the top down, but I don't do my socks like that, and I know a lot of other people don't either, but would like the pretty treatment at the cuff, so you can find it here

leaflacesocks 3

have a good weekend!

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Toe up or bind off picot hem tutorial

toeuppicohemtutorial 14 on

I love the look of picot hems, but I've always knit my socks toe up, and I didn't know there was a way to do it that way until I stumbled upon the fiber fool's entry about that exact thing her swatch # 4 was perfect, so I decided to give it a try. Unfortunately even though she does tell how it is done. I still managed to mess up quite a few times before getting it right. And since I couldn’t find any good tutorials on this particular method, I decided to make my own in case other people would like to do it this way as well.
Enjoy!



After you finished knitting the main art of your sock it’s time to make the hem.
Begin by knitting 7 plain rounds, then *yo, k2tog* around, then 6 more plain rounds.
You can make the hem as deep as you like, but you always want the section above the yo round to be one less then the section below.


Once you have knit the picot hem. Place all the stitches on a piece of waste yarn, this will make it easier to sew and to see what you are doing.
toeuppicohemtutorial 01 threded


Turn your sock inside out. fold down the hem so that you are pleased with the way your picots look, make a note of where the edge lands, this is the purl row you will be sewing into.
toeuppicohemtutorial 02 inside out


Using your yarn tail, which you cut to 2 – 3 times the circumference of your sock, sew purl-wise through the first live stitch.
toeuppicohemtutorial 03 first stitch


Then sew through the purl bump on the previously noted row that falls below your first stitch.
You will be sewing from the top downwards.
toeuppicohemtutorial 04 first stitch purl


Pull the yarn snug, but not too tight
toeuppicohemtutorial 05 first stitch finish


Continue in this manner: purl wise through the next stitch, then top to bottom through the next purl bump.
toeuppicohemtutorial 06 through the stitch
toeuppicohemtutorial 07 through the purl


After a few stitches, I find it faster to sew through both the stitch and the bump at the same time.
toeuppicohemtutorial 08 alternate stitch


After you have finished sewing the entire hem. Sew once more through the first stitch and it's corresponding purl bump to finish off.
toeuppicohemtutorial 09 last stitch


To make sure that your hem will be stretchy enough to get on, give it a good stretch before weaving in the ends.
toeuppicohemtutorial 10 stretch



Remove the waste yarn, by simply pulling on one end, it should slide freely out of your hem.
toeuppicohemtutorial 11 pull


and admire your spiffy sewing job.
toeuppicohemtutorial 12 seam


and there you go. If you have any questions or comments feel free to ask.
Tomorrow there will be more details on pattern, yarn, and pictures of these new socks actually on my feet. But Bill isn't home today, and no matter how I try all my modeled pictures look really crappy.

toeuppicohemtutorial 13 done