Neck Pillow

You know, those 'U'-shaped pillows that you use when you're traveling. Coincidentally, they're also called travel pillows. Well, I wanted one to sleep with in my bed. See, I can't sleep lying flat anymore. I broke my arm this past Father's Day and if I try to sleep lying flat on my back, that shoulder and arm will complain. Loudly.

So, my darling, loving husband fixed the mattress by placing old sofa cushions under there to raise it up enough so I don't have to sleep in the recliner anymore. But now I can't get my head comfortable. Then I thought about it and came up with a solution. You guessed it, a neck pillow. Since I like to knit and crochet I started looking for a pattern. There is one at Lion Brand that was close to what I needed, but it was too flat-looking. Others looked like dog bones. I didn't want a dog bone to sleep on. So, like always, I started thinking about how to create what I wanted, and the answer just came to me. Socks!

Toe-up socks start off with a provisional cast-on and then you make short rows to form the toe (Well, some of them do.), just like making a short row heel. Problem solved. So, I grabbed up a long circular needle and began knitting. I made a short row 'toe' and I am now knitting up one side of the pillow like it was a big, bulky sock. When I get to where I like how it looks, I'll make another short row 'heel', then make the back of the pillow, another 'heel', then down the other side, where I'll make another 'toe'. Whatever you want to call them, they're all made the same and I believe I'll have a neat little neck/travel pillow when I'm done. Oh, and for convenience sake, it's easier to stuff it as I go with all of those angles that will be in it. And since its construction is identical to socks, I'm calling it the Socks Neck Pillow.

Oh, and I'm translating it to crochet too. Good thing I'm making two of them, the husband will probably want one anyway.

The only way I'll probably finish them both is to work on them alternately. It'll also help alleviate the boredom or working in one stitch all the time. Maybe I'll make up some more decorative ones with different stitches later, I need these fast so sc and knitting around is the fastest.

More Socks

As you can see from the percent bars to the right of these posts, I really like the Tadpole sock pattern. It's very easy and fast-especially on two circulars doing both socks at the same time.

My latest pair is being done on #3 dpns with Bernat Baby sport yarn in a white/blue/green colorway. It's a huge ball of yarn and I know I can probably get two adult pairs of socks out of it and still have some leftover. Looks like they're going to have blue/green speckles all over them, I think I'm going to like it. Anyway, I'm doing these on dpns this time because I don't have any #3 circulars. I can still do the pair sort of at the same time since I have two open sets of dpns and raided another set to get two sets of five so I can start the other sock once I get going on the first one. Then I can just alternate socks after each pattern repeat and have the pair done practically at the same time. Now I'll get to see if it's easier with the dpns or circs.

I know, people probably frown on using acrylic yarn for socks, but I have very little money to work with so I get what I can afford, and acrylic baby yarn is very soft nowadays. Maybe not as soft as 100% merino like Knitpicks Palette or Knitpicks Essential sock yarn with nylon, but it's soft enough not to irritate my feet.

Anyways, I never worry about what other people say, I just do what I like within the law and purists can make a face-just hope it doesn't freeze that way ;)

Socks

I posted a few posts ago that my mom wanted me to knit her some socks. Well, come to find out that, when I got ready to go get some sock yarn, my LYS had shut down. I'm not sure how long it had been shut down since I don't go downtown very much, nor do I buy yarn from there very often because I just don't have the money.

Anyway, since Wal-Mart doesn't carry sock yarn, I went to KnitPicks and ordered some of their Essential sock yarn in Glacial and Terrain Twist to do mom some socks in. I also ordered some of the Options fixed circular needles, some Palette yarn and Gloss yarn to get my order to over $50 while I had the money and could get free shipping.

Since this was the first time I've ordered from KnitPicks, I wasn't sure what I would be getting, I just knew that they had the most reasonably priced yarn and needles that I'd ever seen. When my yarn and needles came in, I was pleasantly surprised-the Essential yarn is exactly what I wanted: soft, snuggly and cushy and washable. My mom is diabetic and I wanted something really soft, yet still washable. When I started knitting them, the needles, to me, were as good as Addi Turbos at about a third of the price.

The pattern I decided on while waiting for my yarn to come in is a free one from Knitting Pattern Central-Tadpole Socks which I'm doing in the Glacial, and they're coming out very well. As soon as I can get a picture, I'll show you-hopefully.

I also started me a pair of socks out of one of the Palette yarns I ordered, and am doing it in the same pattern. Now, while the yarn is pretty soft, it's not nearly as soft as the Essential, but it will do for me since I'm not diabetic and the price is right-I'll just have to hand wash them. Not sure yet what I'm going to do with the Gloss, but I really like how soft it is-probably make more socks for myself since it isn't washable either.

All in all, I'm going to order more Essential for myself sometime-next time I get another $50 or more to get free shipping, and make me some washable socks-and I do like handmade socks better-mostly because they're unique and I can make them to fit me instead of the one size things in the store.

I'll keep you all updated as I progress-the pattern is easy, I had the lace part memorized after the first repeat.

Well, that was fun...

I finally got both heels on my DK socks turned. I had to frog the outside one once more because it still wasn't coming out right. I'm not sure how the rows weren't coming out even, or even where the error occurred, so I simply frogged and started back over and it came out right-finally.

Now I've tediously put all the heel stitches back on one needle, I'm ready to start on the foot and close the little gap that always occurs with short row heels. Hopefully the toes won't give me so much trouble, I'll do them when I'm not being distracted.

Anyway, so far, no Knitpicks order, so I guess I'll have to wait till Monday to see how my yarn looks and get started on mom's socks.

Now, I'm going to go back to some mindless round stockinette ;)

Edit: Well, just as I had given up, in walks my son with a box........*Happy Dance!

Rambling on about socks

In this post I outlined the different ways to knit a pair of socks at the same time. I focused on DKing with DPNs because I was trying it and had posted about it at a community on LJ and got several negative responses touting it as grandstanding. Perhaps it is-but, as I also said-it's a perfectly valid option for the DPN lover who wants to make a basic pair of socks and doesn't like/can't use circulars.

Anyway-slow to finish things that I am, I've finally reached the heel. Now, rather than try to do the wrapped short row heel and do them both at the same time, I decided that, since I prefer the YO short row better, that I would get an extra needle, seperate the two heels and knit them seperately. This would really work if you had a five-needle set and only used four, saving the extra needle for the heel (and toe-I'm doing a short row toe as well). Me, I happen to have several four-needle sets in the size I'm using, so I just borrowed a needle from another set. I've finished the inside heel with one small unseen error and am working on the outside heel. I would already be done, but I've somehow made an error that I can't work around, so I frogged the heel all the way back, carefully put the stitches back on the needle and have started the heel over again.

Anyway, that error had nothing to do with DKing, it had to do with me not watching what I was doing.

It probably won't be the best pair of socks in the world since I'm practicing with some Bernat Soft Baby yarn but I'd rather practice my technique with cheap acrylic, then move on to nice sock yarn once I know what I'm doing.

Speaking of sock yarn, in this post I said my Mom asked me to knit her a pair of socks. Well, my LYS downtown had closed by the time I could afford to get any yarn, so I did the next best thing and went to KnitPicks and ordered some yarn for her socks, plus some circulars, and more yarn for me (so I could get free shipping). The order came out to almost the $60 I put on my son's prepaid credit card to be able to order, so I'll also be doing me some socks using the two on two circular method that I've also been practicing with some cheap yarn.

Anyway, that order should be coming in by Monday at the latest (Hopefully today) and I'll get to see if the good stuff I've been hearing about KnitPicks is true. If it is, I'll probably start ordering more yarn from them as I get extra money to. The prices are very reasonable for the yarn content compared with other well-known brands, and I'm one of those who likes to hang onto her money ;) (who doesn't?) and I just don't have the money to be able to try all those others that cost upwards of three times the price of KnitPicks for, what I can see, is the same yarn.

Anyway, I'll let you know when the order ges here. And if I can figure out the camera on this new phone, I might even include a picture.

Popular Mitts

My knitted fingerless mitts appear to be popular-another woman in my church asked me to make her a pair, so I am.

These really knit up and go together fast-at least a day of off and on knitting, you can have a pair before the weekend is out. I have until this Sunday, so I'm not going to get in a hurry with them.

I'm also working on writing out a version for circular knitting-I'm almost finished with one, and I like the way it looks-however, the other will have to wait, I'm trying a technique for socks I've never tried before so I'll know if I want to do mom's socks that way-two socks using Magic Loop. I'm using my #8 circ (Which is what I was using for the mitt-using Magic Loop) to try it out with some RHSS and am making my grandson a pair of slipper socks so that I'll at least be making something useful. The yarn is camo, and he has some camo clothes, so they'll go good with them. So far, I've turned the heel and am working on the foot-I used the YO short row heel, which means I had to do each heel separately, but it worked out all right and I like the YO short row heel. I'll be doing that same short row when I reach the toe shaping because I also like the short row toe-I just don't like doing toe up socks, and the extra stitches I have to graft don't bother me, so I'll keep making socks like that.

So if I like DKing socks, why am I thinking about Magic Loop for Mom's socks? Because DKing isn't for cables, and I'm thinking about doing a twisted rib sock. I know she'd be happy with just a plain old knit sock just because I knit it for her, but if I'm going to take the time to make her a pair of socks I want to jazz them up a bit and I don't particularly care for lace since she wants them mainly to keep her feet warm-plus, I haven't really knitted much in the way of lace, I'm just not a lacy person. Lazy-yes, lacy-no

If they turn out, I'll be getting me a 40" #3 Addi Turbo and sock yarn at my LYS as soon as I get some extra money.

If I make any adult slipper socks on this needle though, I'd have to do them one at a time-a 29" needle will not make a pair of adult slipper socks-the toddler socks are stretching the limits of the cord as it is.

Another Request I Couldn't Deny

My mom called me the other day to let me know that the present I sent her had arrived, and the conversation turned to crochet and knitting when I mentioned that I was knitting a pair of fingerless mitts for my friend at church. Mom asked me if I knew how to knit socks and I said yes I did and she asked me to knit her a pair. I can't say no to that, but it might be awhile since we're barely making enough money to pay bills and get groceries. I told her that it might have to wait until we get our income tax back so I could go get some sock yarn from our LYS. It still might be next Christmas before she gets them. I might just start making her a pair every Christmas.

At least I can use my foot as a model since we both wear the same size. It might even be a bit loose on her, which will be good since she's diabetic and has just had bypass surgery on her legs-so I don't want to make the socks too binding on her feet or ankles.

Anyway-she didn't even specify a color when I asked, she just said she didn't care-so I'll have to browse the LYS's selection and see if they have any pretty ones.

One Sock or Two?

Sock knitters all over have had a dilemma for as long as socks have been knitted-most everyone has two feet, and they could only knit one sock at a time, which could get tedious. Then along came circular needles, which allowed women or men to knit a pair of socks at the same time. Then some enterprising person figured out how to do a pair of socks on one very long circular needle.

Now-what if you didn't like using circular needles to do socks (or other small circumference items)? What if you preferred using double pointed needles-how would you knit two pairs at the same time then? There are two options-both of which I've either done, or am trying.

The first method is to use two sets of DPNs-one set for each sock-then work part way on one sock, switch to the other and work the same amount on it. This works pretty well-you don't exactly do the pair at the same time-you're simply working on one, putting it down and working on the other.

The other method-which I've already linked to in a previous post or two-is to use one set of DPNs and double knit the pair of socks. Double knitting has been around for centuries-usually used to create a double thick fabric such as a nice warm baby blanket. However, you don't want to tie your two socks together-you want to keep each sock separate-so you have to be a little more diligent about watching your yarn so that you use the right end for the right sock.

Anyway-I said all this because a couple of people pretty much dismissed the technique as grandstanding and didn't see the point. The point is-if you can't get the hang of circulars-or you just don't like them as well-this is a perfectly valid method to knit a pair of socks. The author even said you could do it with circulars as well-whether using two or one long one. Now, I really don't see the point of double knitting socks on circulars since there's plenty of room on them to keep them separate, but for DPNs, it gives the DPN lover a way to knit a pair of socks-if she/he's patient enough to learn the technique. About the only thing I wouldn't recommend would be trying to DK socks with cables. Lacy patterns may be possible with a bit of finageling, but I'm pretty sure cable socks would be much too tedious and stressful to try DKing-try the other method instead. Actually-all in all-for anything other than a basic knitted sock, I would knit them one at a time or do the two socks on two circs or Magic Loop-DKing would work best for just your basic stockinette stitch sock with K1, P1 ribbing.

An aside: The 'cheat' method of casting on, to me, works much better than the cable cast-on she uses. But in that YMMV. Either way-the cast-on and first round or two will always be the most tedious-whether DKing or not. After that-you pretty much sail through it.

I may change my mind once I reach the heel-who knows? All I do know is, so far, I like this method and it's fun-which is what knitting should be. I do recommend taking frequent breaks from it until you're comfortable with it-that way you're less likely to accidentally cross your stitches. Simply pick up something mindless to work on to clear your mind, and pretty soon DKing will be almost as mindless as a st st dishcloth-except you'll have to watch your yarns more closely. I'm comfortable enough with it that I simply join and start the first round in my ribbing pattern-usually K1, P1-instead of knitting the first round.

Update

I had to frog back the doubleknit socks-when I cross a stitch, I don't usually notice til l've gotten into another round, so it's actually a whole round of stitches that need to be fixed-which means I'd have to go all the way back around, which I wouldn't mind for one round or maybe two-but this one was several more rounds down.

Then after casting on again, things didn't want to line up properly and I had to keep trying and doing a lot of head scratching as to why it wasn't wanting to do right, when I finally got it right.

After I got started again, I still crossed yarns again, but only had to tink back about a round and a half to get back to it and straighten things out.

Now I'm back where I was before having to frog-about an inch of ribbing and starting on the leg.

I still managed to cross stitches after doing that-but only had to tink back one needle since I happened to think to look, then something told me to look back further and I'll be damned if I didn't have an extra YO on the previous needle. The explanation for that is twofold-trying to knit without having my morning coffee yet and going into a completely new rhythm with the yarn.

Now, what the devil did I mean by that last comment? Well, when you're double knitting and want to keep your two pieces separate, you have a certain rhythm that you knit with to keep the yarns from crossing-I was using one rhythm for the ribbing, so now I had to switch to an entirely different one with the stockinette leg. It's the same as if you were knitting something flat, like a sweater-you start off with ribbing, then when you move to the body your hands are so used to doing the ribbing that they still want to do ribbing while your brain is telling them no, it's time to do stockinette, and there's bound to be errors until your hands start listening to your brain.

Any knitter who is reading this will know exactly what I'm talking about here.

Okay, I said I'd try them, and I did.

Well, I gave the double knitted socks a try to see if I can do it, and I can, although I frogged them after a couple of rounds. It wasn't because I did something wrong, it's because they didn't look like they were going to fit me, so I'm just going to recast on more stitches-if I'm going to make socks, I want them to fit. I did find out that the long tail cast on can be done with both yarns on one needle with no extra hands-and it's much less stressful than trying the knitted cast-on that she does in her Knitty article.

It's really not as hard or nerve-wracking as it may sound from the article either. The only tedious part is doing that first round and keeping your yarns straight. If you look closely, you'll be able to see which stitch is which and which one needs to be worked next if you happen to leave it for any length of time, but a solution to that is to leave off at the end of a needle so that you know where you are.

Anyway, this should be an interesting experience. I'm trying 40 stitches each instead of 32-I have a pretty wide foot, so it shouldn't hurt. I'm using #3 DPNs and Lion Wool yarn in Winter White.

It's actually easier to see where I'm at than I thought it would be-even if I'm in the middle of a needle I can still see at a glance which end I need to use-the WW wool makes it pretty easy to see the front and back pieces. How it would do with sock yarn I have yet to find out, but I might get some sock weight (I.E. baby) yarn and see.

I'll keep a running update on my progress, but so far the hardest part has been joining and knitting the first knit round before starting the ribbing. I will say this-I would go a bit slowly doing the ribbing, as you can easily get confused-especially doing the first round. After that it's much easier as you can see which are knit stitches and which are purl stitches-just remember to keep the yarns from twisting and all should be well.

An amendment: Do not do this if you're going to be distracted by anything-I had to tink back to the first rib row on the third needle instead of using a hook, simply because there were more crossed stitches than I realized. It's all straightened out now, and hopefully I won't do that again. I will definitely only be working on them when I'm not chatting or otherwise distracted by something else. And definitely don't do it if you're tired-that would be the biggest distraction of all. Double knitting requires much more concentration than regular knitting. No, I'm not going to chuck it-it was my own fault, I'm simply going to go from where I left off and chug along-just to say I did it.

Several projects on the go

I'm working on a couple pairs of socks-one on dpns and one using Magic Loop. I really should have a circ longer than 16", but since it's a sock, I think I'll manage since I don't have the money to go buy a circ.

I'm also working on a couple of cowls. they'll double as hoods as well. a lot of people also call them wimples, but I like cowl better. I'm using a generic-type one I found on Knitting Pattern Central. Just go to the scarves, and the *Neckwarmer/Wimple. It is in PDF format, so you have to have Adobe Acrobat, or another PDF reader to see it. I doubt I make the increases for the shoulder, I'll see how it fits when I get down there. I'm using some discontinued Bernat Frenzy Yarn I've been trying to find a use for, and a 24" #10-1/2 circ. I CO 100 sts and am just doing st st. I like the way the hood rolled back with the first few rows, and I hope I can find a couple more balls of it stashed away somewhere since I won't be able to purchase any more. If not, I'll probably find something else to use with it.

The next one is going to be one I'm making up-I'll call it Twisted Rib, since that's what I'm doing-twisting the ribs in the 2x1 rib pattern every four rnds. since I'm using RHSS and a 24" #9 circ, I CO 141, and it will still fit pretty snug. I'm liking it already-the twisted ribs give it a really interesting texture.

Lastly, I'm making Dot's Double Crossed Hat. However-working with three strands of WW cotton yarn with a K hook is a bit daunting-and I don't have that much cotton yarn anyway-so I'm using two strands of WW acrylic and an I hook. Yes, I'm having to adjust the pattern a bit, but it's one that seems to be pretty adjustable, so I've added one more inc rnd before starting the crossed sts, and I'm going to add one more rnd of crossed sts before working on the brim. I'll let you know how it turns out. I'm using a bright blue RHSS and a burnt orange acrylic that's unlabeled, so I'm not sure if it's also RH or not-but the two look really nice together. Yes, that means I'm working with a dozen more sts than the pattern calls for, but I think it would hurt my hands even more to be working with three strands of cotton held together and using a K hook.

Edit: When I got to the brim/band, I had to figure some math, since I had quite a few more sts than her 72 (I worked it out so I had 99sts), and came up with 25 sl sts on each side of the brim, 7 sc on each side of the hdcs and 25 hdcs-that seemed to work out pretty right, and it fits my large head pretty well, too.

PS: I almost forgot, I'm doing the Magic Scarf from Crazy Aunt Purl, only I'm using some RH Plush in taupe and #10-1/2 straight needles. It isn't going to be a scarf though-it's going to be a wrap-I CO 60 sts and each section is 10 sts x 10 rows. It's still going pretty fast and is going to be really soft and plushy.

Anyway, back to crocheting-if my achey hands will let me.

Back in a sock groove

Maybe I'll actually finish a pair. I'm actually experimenting a bit with a couple of different ways to make them.

I'm going to try two socks on one circular needle as soon as I find some sock yarn I like-I think I might like that method because I can do an entire pair and not have to worry about SSS. OTOH, I'm also a start-stopper because I like to start something and then put it aside so unless it's something I REALLY want to finish it's liable to be a UFO for quite some time-until I decide to finish or frog ;)

I'm also trying a toe up sock with an afterthought heel. I'm using Caron SS in a baby varigated and making the toe, heel and leg ribbing in a pale yellow. I'm knitting this one in the round on DPNs size three. I have the toe done and have started on the instep-I'll let you know when I get to the heel. Even with the size three needles the fabric is still pretty soft, considering they suggest using size eight. If I like this method I might adopt it for the two socks on one circular when I find the right sock yarn.

Before I try the two socks, I'm practicing Magic Loop by making a basic fingerless mitt with some cotton/wool sock yarn I came across and only bought one ball. I should be able to get a pair out of it and I just couldn't see this colorway as a sock anyway. I'm almost done with the first one and will take a picture when it is. By the time I make the second I should be proficient enough at Magic Loop to try the two socks.

If I actually finish a pair, or even one sock, I'll post a picture for your enjoyment-or to mock-as you see fit :D

I have an idea

All of the instructions (that I've found) for making two socks at once using Magic Loop have said to start with the figure eight cast on. I don't like that cast on-I could never do it right-it's the reason I haven't tried knitting two socks at once-Magic Loop or with two circs. Well, if you can do two socks at once with Magic Loop and figure eight cast on then why can't you do two socks at once with Magic Loop using provisional cast on? I haven't tried it yet because I don't have a circular needle the right size and length but I will soon-I'm going to splurge at my LYS and get an Addi Turbo in size 1 and the longest they have. I'm going to try it out with some cheap acrylic first to see if it works and then I might post instructions on how to do it.

Personally, I like the short row toe to the other type of toe up pattern anyway, it looks neater.

Stand by, more to come when I've tried it.

On another note, a friend of mine from Bavaria is going to send me some sock yarn-I can't wait-and I'm trying to think of what to do for her in return. I have an idea-hopefully she'll like it.

Before I ball it up

This is my latest skein of dyed yarn. I think it's going to be another pair of socks. I'm going to use #2 DPNs this time and should hopefully get a pair out of one skein. The stitches will also be smaller, resulting in a denser fabric that will also hopefully still be soft. I have an idea for a pattern and will be trying it out as soon as I get the lilac sock off my #2 needles. I just got the heel turned yesterday and am now going up the leg-it's my version of the Seaweed sock-toe up and it seems to be working. I'm using RH baby yarn and #2 needles and the stitches are really small. I'm not sure how far I want to go up the leg, probably about like the socks I just finished-which will probably be six repeats of the pattern with the smaller gauge.

Stay tuned, the lilac sock will be lonely for awhile but I'm eager to see how this yarn will stripe. There will be splotches where colors merged but it should stripe for the most part.

I changed my mind

I said in another blog that I didn't like wrapped or YO short rows. I've changed my mind-about wrapped short rows, anyway. I figured out I was doing one side of them wrong and twisting them, that's why one side looked fantastic and the other side looked wonky. No, I did not frog back and fix them, it was a learning experience and I'm keeping it as is so I can remember what NOT to do. Wrapped short rows are my friend now. I like both wrapped and Japanese now so if I don't have safety pins with me I can still do short rows if I have to.

Now that I can do them right, they look just as good as the Japanese short rows. Now I don't have to worry about which decreases to do on the toe of a sock, I can just short row them from the bottom around to the instep and graft there. I know, more stitches to graft, but kitchener stitch is also our friend and if you remember the mantra-K, P, P, K-then you too, can have an invisible graft and having more stitches to graft together will not send you into a panic. Just remember to pull the yarn snug but not tight and no one will be able to see where you grafted. Now you can do your toes and heels any way you want and not have to worry about what the pattern says.

A little more about K, P, P, K:

You must have an equal number of sts on both DPNs. Cut yarn, leaving a long tail, this tail should be on the back DPN and to your right. Thread this end through a tapestry needle.

Insert tapestry needle into first st on front DPN as if to K, slip this st off DPN. Holding st just taken off DPN on the tapestry needle, insert tapestry needle into next st on front DPN as if to P (leave this st on DPN) and pull yarn snug, insert tapestry needle into first st on back DPN as if to P and slip this st off DPN. Holding st just taken off DPN on the tapestry needle, insert tapestry needle into next st on back DPN as if to K (leave this st on DPN) and pull yarn snug.

Note: Do not pull yarn tight, just pull it snug.

Repeat these directions until all sts have been worked off needles.

If these directions are followed then you should have a seamless join.