My biggest task for today was to work on my entry for the IG club’s logo competition. Initially, I’d wanted my little beauty to be nose cone art but I’m just not that talented. So, instead, she’s part of the welcoming committee…

The next steps will be to work out the background (palm trees? flags?) and get the text on there. Good thing the deadline for submission is a month away…

(Note: a PDF version of this pattern is also available)

The design for these socks came about while I was “on the way to somewhere else”…in other words, while trying very hard to design something completely different.

Finished Size

To fit a woman’s medium foot

Circumference: 7.5 inches

Materials

v 1 skein Malabrigo Sock (440 yards)

v Set of 5 US#00 double pointed needles

v Tapestry needle

Gauge

22 stitches and 27 rows = 2 inches in eyelet rib after blocking

Notes

v Don’t worry if these socks look really tiny while you’re knitting them…the eyelet rib pattern is very stretchy.

Abbreviations

CO cast on
K knit
k2tog knit two stitches together as one
P purl
Rnd round
Sl slip stitch
SSK slip 1 stitch knit-wise, slip next stitch purl-wise, knit the two stitches together through the back loop
YO yarn over
* starting point of repeat

Stitch Guide

Eyelet Rib

Heel Stitch

Gusset Decrease

Toe Decrease

Instructions

CO 70 stitches and join in round, being careful not to twist. Distribute stitches as follows: Ndl 1: 21 st; Ndl 2: 28 st; Ndl 3: 21 st.

Cuff

Work in k1-p1 rib for 1 inch.

Leg

Work in Eyelet Rib for 5 inches (or desired length).

Divide for heel flap by placing 35 stitches on each of two needles. Each needle should contain 7 pattern repeats, starting and ending with a single purl stitch.

Heel Flap

Work in heel stitch for 36 rows.

Turn Heel

Row 1 K21, k2tog, k1, turn.
Row 2 Sl1, p8, p2tog, p1, turn.
Row 3 Knit to first st before gap formed on previous row, k2tog, k1, turn.
Row 4 Purl to first st before gap formed on previous row, p2tog, p1, turn.

Repeat rows 3 and 4 until all stitches have been worked.

Gusset

Using a new needle, pick up and knit stitches along edge of gusset. Knit across instep needle in pattern. Using another new needle, pick up and knit stitches along other edge of gusset. Knit across half of the remaining heel stitches. Transfer remaining stitches to the first gusset needle; you now have three needles. One of the gusset needles should hold one more stitch than the other; don’t worry about this…it’s all good.

Begin your gusset decrease rounds; continue to decrease until 70 st remain (35 on instep needle and 17 and 18 on needles 1 & 3).

Foot

Ndl 1: knit in stocking stitch; Ndl 2: knit in pattern; Ndl 3: knit in stocking stitch. Continue in this manner until you reach your desired foot length less 1.25 inches.

Toe

Divide instep stitches onto two needles.

Knit four rounds even. Work one toe dec round.

Work three rounds even, then one toe dec round.

Then work toe dec rnd every other row twice more (54 st rem).

Work toe dec rnd every row for four more rounds (38 st rem).

Knit across Ndl 1 with Ndl 4. Combine stitches on Ndls 2 & 3 onto a single ndl (19 st on each of two needles).

Finishing

Graft st together using Kitchener stitch. (Tip: Knitting Daily’s Sandi Wisehart has a fantastic blog post for those who hate the Kitchener stitch!)

Weave in ends and block.

After a busy morning yesterday, I was laid low by a sudden and severe migraine (heh…as if there’s such a thing as a “mild migraine”). While lying in bed waiting for the meds to kick in (or death–either would have been welcomed equally), I thought of all the things that might help give me some relief.

Although they seemed so very reasonable at the time, in retrospect, not so much…

Sounded good: scooping my left eye out with a melon baller
Was good: closing all the blinds, turning off all the lights, and covering my eyes with a thick blanket

Sounded good: shoving a knitting needle between my eye and the socket, driving it up into my brain
Was good: migraine medication (my current fave is Maxalt although it wasn’t too much help yesterday)

Sounded good: tractioning my neck until disarticulation occurred
Was good: gentle pressure on various pressure points on the neck

Sounded good: placing my head in some sort of press (my fantasy press was a large steel thing…the sort you might find in a machine shop)
Was good: placing head under a hot stream of water (i.e., a very hot shower)

Sounded good: lead aspirin
Was good: OTC pain killers (current fave being one each of naproxen and acetominophen…works better than Vicodin)

And yes, the migraine is still there…

Thanks to Debbie for letting me know about an error in the Kathleen Cowl pattern.

The original instructions called for the pattern repeat to be two times after the completion of the initial pattern, for a total of four pattern repeats in the entire work. However, the cowl as illustrated has only a total of three pattern repeats.

The pattern as originally published read:

Work rows 1 through 12 twice more.

It should read:

Work rows 1 through 12 once more.

The PDF file has been updated with this change.

These socks came out of my desire to use a particular stitch pattern found in Karen Hemingway’s “Super Stitches Knitting”. Her peapod stitch really appealed to me and so I went on a quest for a yarn that would show it off with some wicked stitch definition. Happily for me, Crystal Palace’s Panda Silk turned out to be the perfect yarn for this pattern and, after adapting the pattern for knitting in the round, the combination has made a beautiful pair of socks.

You can download the pattern here: Peapod Socks.

Finished Size

To fit a woman’s medium foot

Materials

v 2 skeins Crystal Palace Panda Silk

v Set of 5 US#00 double pointed needles

v Tapestry needle

Gauge

18 stitches and 26 rows = 2 inches in peapod pattern.

Notes

v I found the Panda Silk to be somewhat finer than other sock yarns and so the gauge is quite tiny. If you’re not interested in knitting so many tiny stitches using such tiny needles, I think you could probably get away with casting on 48 stitches onto US 2 needles and reducing the number of pattern repeats to four instead of six. I haven’t tried this myself so, if you give it a go, let me know how it turns out.

Abbreviations

BO bind off

CO cast on

K knit

k2tog knit two stitches together as one

Rnd round

SSK slip 1 stitch knit-wise, slip next stitch purl-wise, knit the two stitches together through the back loop

YO yarn over

* starting point of repeat

Stitch Guide

Peapod Pattern

Row 1 K

Row 2 K

Row 3 K4, k2tog, k1, yo, *k9, k2tog, k1, yo*, repeat until 5 stitches remain, k to end

Row 4 K3, k2tog, k1, yo, *k9, k2tog, k1, yo*, repeat until 6 stitches remain, k to end

Row 5 K2, k2tog, k1, yo, *k9, k2tog, k1, yo*, repeat until 7 stitches remain, k to end

Row 6 K1, k2tog, k1, yo, *k9, k2tog, k1, yo*, repeat until 8 stitches remain, k to end

Row 7 K

Row 8 K

Row 9 K5, yo, k1, ssk, *k9, yo, k1, ssk*, repeat until 4 stitches remain, k to end

Row 10 K6, yo, k1, ssk, *k9, yo, k1, ssk*, repeat until 3 stitches remain, k to end

Row 11 K7, yo, k1, ssk, *k9, yo, k1, ssk*, repeat until 2 stitches remain, k to end

Row 12 K8, yo, k1, ssk, *k9, yo, k1, ssk*, repeat until 1 stitches remain, k to end

Eye of Partridge Stitch

Row 1 Sl 1, p35
Row 2 Sl 1, *k1, sl 1,* repeat from * to end
Row 3 Sl 1, p35
Row 4 Sl1, *sl 1, k1,* repeat from * until 2 stitches remain, k2

Pattern

Cast on 72 stitches; divide stitches between three needles. Join in round and place marker (if desired).

Cuff

Work in k3,p1 rib for one inch.

Leg

Work Peapod pattern six times (approximately 5”). Knit 1 rnd.

Divide for heel flap by transferring 12 stitches from one needle to each of the other needles. There should be 36 stitches on each needle with three stitch patterns centered on each.

Heel flap

On one needle, work heel flap in Eye of Partridge stitch for 36 rows. Set up heel turn by purling 1 row.

Turn heel

Row 1 K21, ssk, k1, turn
Row 2 P8, p2tog, p1, turn
Row 3 Knit to 1 st before gap formed on previous row, ssk, k1, turn
Row 4 Purl to 1 st before gap formed on previous row, p2tog, p1, turn

Repeat rows 3 and 4 until all stitches have been worked.

Gusset

With a new needle, pick up and knit 18 stitches along edge of heel flap.

Knit across instep needle.

With another new needle, pick up and knit 18 stitches along edge of heel flap. Knit 10 heel stitches onto this needle.

Transfer remaining heel stitches to first gusset needle. You should have 28 stitches on Needle 1, 36 instep stitches on Needle 2, and 28 stitches on Needle 3.

Gusset Decrease Round

Needle 1 K until 2 stitches remain, ssk
Needle 2 Work in peapod pattern
Needle 3 K2tog, knit to end

Row 1 Work dec round
Row 2 Knit Needle 1 even, work Needle 2 in patt, knit Needle 3 even

Repeat Rows 1 and 2 until 18 stitches remain on Needles 1 and 3; 72 stitches total.

Foot

Knit Needle 1, work Needle 2 in patt, knit Needle 3 until work is 2 inches less than desired finished length. End with either Row 6 or Row 12 of Peapod stitch.

Toe

Divide stitches evenly between four needles; 18 stitches on each needle.

Toe Decrease Round

Needle 1 K until 4 stitches remain, ssk, k2.
Needle 2 K2, k2tog, k to end.
Needle 3 K until 4 stitches remain, ssk, k2.
Needle 4 K2, k2tog, k to end.

Knit 4 rounds even.

Work one toe dec rnd; 4 stitches decreased. K one rnd. Alternate toe dec rnd with even rnd five more times; 48 stitches remain.

Work toe dec rnd every row for four rows; 32 stitches remain.

With Needle 4, knit stitches on Needle 1. Combine stitches on Needles 2 and 3 onto one needle.

Finishing

Cut yarn leaving a 12 inch tail. Using Kitchener stitch, graft remaining stitches together. Weave in ends and block.

I finished up the Kathleen Cowl yesterday and was able to take some photos of it today:

The pattern is available for download here: Kathleen Cowl.

01.21.2009: Errata for the pattern is now available.

Yippee! I can cross one item off my list of October goals…Streaka’s “Old Lady Whippet Sweater” is finished.

I’ll probably end up having to move the buttons; once I’d sewed them on and then let her try on the sweater again, I could see that they were in the wrong place.

Here’s the pattern for the sweater:

Notes

Earlier this week, I was trying to remember the name of the vintage apron pattern I’d downloaded onto my hard drive. I was sure it was Ricky but it wasn’t…it was Ripply. As I wrote yesterday, I didn’t read the instructions when I sewed up this little cutie and so I think it’s different enough from the original to change the name a little bit.

And so I’d like to introduce my newest apron, Ricky!

So what did I change in my eagerness to avoid reading the instructions?

Well, the biggest difference is that the waistband is on upside-down. Also, there is one small pleat on each side of the apron instead of the original two. No pockets (although I did cut out the pieces, I decided not to use them). And, finally, I made the ties from bias tape.

I think this little number is cutecutecute! The photo might not convey it well but it looks very much like a sexy little apron one might wear at a cocktail party.

I like it!

I’ve tweaked the design I did for my friend’s baby shower thank you notes and have added these cuties to the shop:

They’re available here, along with my other stationery items.

I am serious coveting some of the fabrics created by Mary Mulcahey of Les Indiennes:

The fabric is printed in India using the art process of Kalamkari, although with the patterns adapted for western society.

Take a look through Les Indiennes flipbook and, if you’re flush, check out the Les Indiennes online shop!