Helpful Hints

If you're like me, I can never remember what all those little symbols on our clothing tags mean ... I remember some but not all so, I found this helpful hint on http://stitchandunwind.com/ that I thought I'd share with y'all. :)

This was so cute, I had to add it in! :)  Who knew how much sheep it takes to make something? ;)

Tabi No Monogatari Part 2

I'm finally done with the toe and most of the foot part of my initial sock! :)  Amazingly, while my hubby really has small feet for someone his height, what's on his right foot right now is 19 cm (7.5 inches) long:

Now, I'm ready to do the heel.  Thanks (again) to my sock goddess, Ariana, she helped me get started.

First of all, I ignored the instructions on how to do a traditional short row from Wendy's Generic Toe-Up Sock pattern.  Instead, Ariana suggested that I do a German Short Row.  Here's a great youtube video that explains the German Short Row and the difference between a "regular" short row and the German short row.  And here's an even better youtube video that not only shows you how a "regular" short row looks like in your knitting but explains exactly how to do the German short row.  Essentially, the short row will create a pocket or pouch for the heel to sit in.

Ok, now down to the knitty gritty (my hubby's rubbing off on me :'().  Here's what I did:

1. Important note: I somehow managed to get from a total of 64 stitches (as noted in Part 1) to a total of 70 stitches on my sock as I went round and round to get to the heel.  In short, I now have 35 stitches on each side. 
2. Since I'm working a German short row, I first determined which side of my sock would be the "bottom" (sole) of the sock.
3. With the inside of the sole facing me, I slipped the first stitch, pulled the working yarn straight up, then pulled the working yarn to the front (as if to purl) and purled to the end of the row (the last stitch is called the ultimate stitch).  Now, I have my first ultimate stitch on my current right side of my sock.  Remember, I'm purling because I'm looking at the "inside" of my sock, not the "outside" where it's knitted.
4. I then turned my sock around (so that I'm now looking at the outside of the sock - the knitted side), slipped the first stitch, pulled the working yarn straight up and bring it to the front (towards myself).  This creates my first ultimate stitch on the other side (my "new" right side because the first ultimate stitch I created in Step #3 is now on the left side (because I turned my sock around)) of the sock.  I then brought the working yarn to the back (essentially creating a yarn over) so that the yarn is ready to be knitted.  Then I knitted to the end of the last stitch before my first ultimate stitch (on the left).  This stitch is called the pen-ultimate or the designated stitch (it's essentially the second to the last stitch).
5. I then turned my work around (again), so that I'm looking at the inside of the sole (again).   I repeated Step #3 to the pen-ultimate stitch.  At this juncture, I have two (2) ultimate stitches on the right side and one (1) ultimate stitch on the left. Then I followed Step #4 to the pen-ultimate stitch.  I now have two (2) ultimate stitches on both sides of my needles.  
6. I need to continue to repeat Steps #3 & 4 until I have ten (10) ultimate stitches on each side and fifteen (15) "regular" stitches in the middle (totaling 35 stitches - the same amount of stitches I started with).  This will ultimately create increases in my work to make the actual pocket/pouch for the heel.

So far, I have found this method very interesting and kind of easy, especially after seeing the youtube videos.  I've already got down six (6) of my ultimate stitches on each side since I started this today so, hopefully, I'll be ready to post Part 3 soon and perhaps finish up the right sock! :)  

I know my instructions might sound confusing so, I'm hoping the below pictures will help with the explanation.  Here's what it should looks like:

This picture is where I'm looking at the outside of my sock - the knitted side where I'm at my 6th ultimate stitch.  I've pulled my left needle through a bit so you can see how the heel is rounding out.

Here's where I knitted to the left and am ready to turn my work around (to the inside of my sock - the purl side): 

This is where I pulled the working yarn straight up, then pulled the working yarn to the front (as if to purl) to create my 7th ultimate stitch:

Here's what it looks like half way through the row:

Ready to make the opposite 8th ultimate stitch (on the outside - knitted side):

This is where I pulled the working yarn straight up, then pulled the working yarn to the front:

Then moving the working yarn to the back (essentially creating a yarn over) so that the yarn is ready to be knitted (again):

Almost near the end of the knitted row:

Here's what it should look like when you've completed all the rows; remember, I needed to have ten (10) ultimate stitches on each side and fifteen (15) "regular" stitches in the middle (totaling 35 stitches - the same amount of stitches I started with).:

Here's a pick of the needles pulled through so it looks more like a real sock:

Scary ... my sock's taking shape! :)

If you're interested in trying this method, you should seriously check out the youtube links that I posted above. :)  Good luck! :)

Knit in Public Week

This past week was Knit in Public Week.  Actually, it was suppose to be Knit in Public Day on June 14th to promote awareness of knitting and connecting with fellow fiber enthusiasts. But this one website that I visit (http://stitchandunwind.com) made it into a week long event. :)  

Unfortunately, I really wasn't able to really participate this week since my physical therapist put me on a two-week hiatus on knitting (and on Knit in Public Week of all times) to give my right wrist more rest but, I couldn't resist ... :D ... Here's a picture of me pseudo knitting in public at one of our local parks:

Don't worry ... I wasn't knitting - at all ... I couldn't even sneak a stitch; my hubby has been keeping an eagle eye on me while I longly stare and wish I was knitting ... who knew life would be so boring when one can't knit?! :'( :P

One more week to go and I'm back to knitting! :)