Monday, February 06, 2012


Non-knit

What has happened to Hillary’s hair? I used to offer her as a pattern to my hairdresser – aim for something like that. Now she looks terrible.

I remember this day 60 years ago. I think I’ve said this before. My husband doesn’t – he was 26 at the time, and must have been thinking about art. I don’t remember hearing the news, but I vividly remember (for some reason) leaning forward to the man in front of me in Mr Kennick’s 1:30 philosophy class and asking, “Is it true that the King is dead?” Like that. Not “of England”.

Knitting

The groundhog may have prudently gone back into hibernation, but the Sky Scarf is definitely getting blue-er! Kristie, I don’t know what I’m going to do with the ends. There they are. I suspect the answer will be (because the easiest) to knot them and cut them neatly to 4” or so and have lots more fringe on one side than on the other.

I should finish the outré socks in another couple of sessions.

If the Sailors’ Society hands out yarn to knitters to knit hats with, maybe they’d like the rest of my Debbie Bliss “Maya” once I’ve knit them a hat? Making a parcel and trudging to the post office is the part I hate – it wouldn’t be any more trouble to put yarn in with the hat.


Heels

Clearly, heels are to be a major part of my self-challenging in 2012. Fate has spoken. I have made a page for them in my electronic Filofax.

I’ll start with Cat Bordhi’s Sweet Tomato. I found the video you mention, Catmum, in which she demonstrates it. It’s a bit languid – I kept wanting her to hurry up and get to the point. But when I’m actually engaged with the problem, I may be glad that she takes it slowly. I’ll have my iPad with me on the shores of Loch Fyne where I hope to be attempting it at Easter.

A quick survey of my shelves comes up with Nancy Bush’s “Folk Socks” which has a whole section on heels, one after another. I was a bit surprised to find that the overall books, Vogue and Montse Stanley and Principles of Knitting, don't have sections like that.

I’ve made a note of where to find the “Andersson heel” QueerJoe mentions.

I’ve downloaded and printed the June Sock pattern from Ravelry which you recommend, Daisy.

And I’ve bought from Lucy Neatby and downloaded and printed her “Timberland Toes” pattern which includes the garter stitch heel you mention, Janis. (Hi!) I thought maybe I’d buy her “Cool Socks Warm Feet” book from amazon.co.uk instead, but it costs £43.27 and reckless as I am with money where knitting books are concerned, that’s too much.

I’ve got all of EZ, so somewhere I must have her detachable-and-replaceable heel.

I’m going to have to work some extra socks into the schedule.

9 comments:

  1. Anonymous8:59 AM

    You can get Cool Socks Warm Feet as a digital download through Ravelry for $16 CDN....
    Jenny

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  2. Anonymous10:52 AM

    G'day

    When I am joining in a new yarn, I knit it with the old one for a few stitches. In this case, where all the colour changes are at the same place, you may get a slight ridge of thicker stitches, I guess. Can this be turned into a design feature?

    LMcC

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  3. I like your rememberance story and glad you thought The King because he wasn't just King of England but of us all. I am getting quite upset today that most of the news articles say " second Diamond Jubilee" of an english monarch and although not a great supporter of the monarchy per se, I really admire the Queen and all that she does. On a lighter note, I love the stories about your socks and you have inspired me to start knitting them- this may be a long process as my skills are a bit rusty..

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  4. Oh Jean! You are spot on when you ask about Hillary's hair. She looks like she's been drug through a hedge backwards. I've always thought her a very attractive woman but this long hair has added a good fifteen years to her face.

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  5. Anonymous1:46 PM

    Jean, Priscilla Gibson-Roberts has a book called "Simple Socks" that I found interesting. I think it has out for a while but it may be available used.

    We have been away for a month so I'm just getting back into the swing of reading blogs again. I found that I've lost interest in a lot of the ones I used to follow but yours was the first one I caught up on. It's nice to be back!

    Barbara M. in NH

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  6. The first chapter of EZ's "Knitting Around" is all about socks. The sole of the Moccasin sock is knit in one piece .. EZ calls them "Retreads" :) .. Love your blog! Thank you for posting.

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  7. Jean - I made a baby blanket where you cahnged color every 2 rows in garter stitch. They had you leave 8 inches of yarn at the beginning and end of each row. You braided 3 strands together whenever you felt the need to get rid of the dangling yarn. My grandson loves this blanket and I thin it would make a great eadge for your scarf....for the rows you don't have long enough strands, just add some with a crochet hook. My braids are about 5-6 inches each and droop perfectly.
    Leslie, in Nj

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  8. Sally7:33 PM

    Jean,
    Have you ever tried the after thought heel. It's another toe.It's the only one I make, not bulky.There are directions on the internet.

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  9. I very often use Fleegle's heel. It can be used toe-up, which I do, or top-down. If you google for her heel, you'll find it on her blog.

    Colin Andersson's heel is great too.

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