Today I knit in public during lunch, working on socks two at at time, toe up. The toes are now about 2-1/2″ long and I’m just barely into the pattern on the instep.

A woman said to me. What a tiny little bra!

I couldn’t help it. I started laughing. There ain’t a snowball’s chance in the hot place that a pair of sock toes would serve me for that purpose.

They’re socks, I said. These are the toes.

She laughed with me. And added, And what unusual yarn. So many… interesting… colors.

I was afraid that waxing poetic about the wonderfulness of STR would probably be lost on someone who so obviously wasn’t a knitter and wasn’t sure what to make of handpainted sock yarn. But she was interested (always a good sign!) so I told her that STR is made locally but sold nationally; that it’s wonderful, handpainted sock yarn; and that there are other colors that are a less… colorful.

I think she thought I was nuts. But… I am. And I’m in good company. Right, all you sock knitters out there!

The STR Alina is just beautiful yarn! I don’t have a picture newer than the one from yesterday, so you’ll have to trust me that it’s gorgeous. The longer the socks get, the better they look. The toes are very round right now. But soon they will look less bra-like and more sock-like.

Oh, thank you kind and interested woman! I so needed a laugh today! 😆

Well, 143,253 froggings later, I finally have some toes that I like. And here they are. Or at least the start. These are here to stay, I think. This is similar to the toe that I did on the Basket Weave Socks except I’m working more plain rows between increase rows. One plain row between the 1st and 2nd increase rows; two plain rows between the 2nd and 3rd increase rows; three plain rows between the 3rd and 4th increase rows; etc.

As always, clicking on the picture pops up a bigger version where you can see the knitting more clearly.

We had just a few minutes of sunshine this morning – just long enough to snap this pic. The sun is gone again and showers are threatening. I love Portland in the spring.

A couple of questions have been posted in the Sockapaloooza Socks page comments:

Jen the Knittingspaz remarks: I love that you managed to fudge the heel flap and gusset heel so that it would be toe up. I’ve wanted to try this for a while, but haven’t gotten the nerve up yet.

bfmomma asks: I love toe-up socks so much more than cuff-down, but I keep miscounting on the wrapped short-row-heel. Is it possible you’d share the way you did this heel toe-up?

I should probably note that I usually do a flap and gusset heel on all my toe-up socks. It’s just that I usually do a different kind. The heel on the cabled socks was one that I hadn’t worked before. There are several free patterns available on the web that are toe-up and have a flap and gusset heel. One is Judy Gibson’s You’re Putting Me On Socks. This pattern has the gusset and heel flap I usually work. On the heel turn, this pattern decreases stitches and then picks them back up. I usually short-row. But this would be a good pattern to start with.

The pattern I’m working on right now will be available, probably in mid-June. I hate to ask you to wait, but it will be easier to explain the heel in a pattern so you see it in context. The heel flap itself is worked the same way as the pattern above, but the gusset and the heel turn are completely different.

One method I use to keep track of where I am with short rows is to place markers. The trick is in where to put the markers in your knitting:

• Turn the needles and wrap the stitch, slipping the wrapped stitch to the right needle. Place a marker.
• Purl (or knit, depending on which side you’re on) across to the next turn. Wrap the stitch and turn. Slip the wrapped stitch to the right needle. Place a marker.
• Knit (or purl) across to the marker. The stitch to the right of the marker is the one that you want to wrap. Remove the marker, wrap the stitch and turn. Slip the stitch to the right needle. Replace the marker.

Just keep repeating that last step until you’ve worked all of your short rows.

As you short-row back out, change where you put the marker. Instead of slipping the stitch and then placing the marker, you want to place the marker, then slip the stitch. Those rows will work like this:

• Knit (or purl) across to the next marker, remove the marker, knit the next stitch, replace the marker and turn.

Hope this helps!

I love spring. It’s my favorite season. Spring and autumn. When the year changes. When the earth awakens. When it goes back to sleep.

Usually I am inspired by spring and autumn. Right now my cherries are blooming. The weatherman is predicting some sun for this afternoon (a rare Portland spring occurrence). And it’s supposed to be warm. Really warm. I should be inspired.

You can tell from this picture how inspired I am this year. Not a lot done on those toes, eh? I’ll have you know, that’s the 5th time I’ve started them. The yarn is starting to fuzz from being frogged. At one point I had the toes knit all the way to the end of the increases. But I just didn’t like them. So I frogged.

I know what I want to do in my head. But I haven’t managed to translate that into yarn yet. Since this pattern is for someone else and it will be released into the wild for others to knit, I want my ideas to spill forth through the yarn into easily-duplicated instructions.

ARRRRRRGGGGHHHH!

I really love the yarn, though. It’s not the yarn. This is Socks That Rock in Alina. The yarn is gorgeous. Look at the colors! (click the pic for the bigger version) Couldn’t you just eat that yarn, it’s so yummy? There were a couple of birds eying it speculatively while I took this picture. If I were a baby bird, a nest lined with STR would be the lap of luxury indeed.

I just love STR. One of my best friends lives in Scappoose, home of Blue Moon Fiber Arts. My friend doesn’t knit. She knows how, she just doesn’t. Can you imagine? I love her dearly nonetheless.

I will keep reporting on the progress of this project, but there probably won’t be many more pictures because, well… it’s a suprise, don’t you know.

Thank you to all of the Knitty.com visitors for your kind remarks. If you try out the Magic Cast On let me know how it goes!

The Spring 2006 Knitty is out!

And, OMG, I’m published!!!!!

It’s right there, in black and white and lovely color. My magic toe-up cast-on.

I haven’t seen my name in print since about 6th grade. To say that I’m excited by this would be a gross understatement!

I know, I know… I’m easily pleased. And I know it’s not that cool to be doin’ the happy dance over here. But I am really excited! (Can you tell?)

Oh, yeah… the rest of this issue of Knitty looks pretty decent, too.

And the cast-on is now linked to via the Freebies page.

Sharp-eyed readers will note that there are two items crossed off the things to do list! I don’t recall ever finishing two things in one day before. It was a very good day!

First up are the replacement Fair Isle fingerless gloves for #1 Son.

I finished the last finger in the morning and then wove the ends in while waiting for my oil to be changed. There was another woman in the waiting area also knitting. I think she was working on a pair of socks, but since she was very heads-down with her pattern I didn’t want to intrude.

Next we have the Beehive Cabled Sockapalooza Socks. I finished these up while watching a little TV on Saturday night. (Don’t I lead an exciting life?)

I just love these socks. The finished product is so soft and cushy. And I love the cables and the heel and the toe and the bind-off. It’s one of those finished objects that I look at and have a hard time believing that it actually came off my needles.

If my sock pal doesn’t like them, I will take them back in a heartbeat!

The particulars about both projects can be found on their own permanent project pages. You can get there via the link in the right side-bar, the FO-2006 gallery, or by clicking on the links in this post.

Happy birthday to you!

And many more!

And which birthday is this, brother dear? How many years? Can you remember???

oh…. should I have wrapped this cake up in black? 😆