As someone who occasionally shirks swatching before casting on to knit a pair of socks (TSA was complicit in this little misadventure, as one of their agents, trying to be helpful while searching my bag, mangled my swatch), I really appreciate the ability to try on top down socks while knitting them. This pair is for my daughter, and so far, they are a perfect fit.
The pattern is Zigzagular and the yarn is Elliebelly’s Juliet Sock.
The Adventurous April 2016 Knitalong started on Friday. Although I wasn’t quite done with Silver Spoons, I did cast on for my Zigzagular Sock. But then I set it aside to finish the shawl.
Now I’m sock knitting in earnest. I’m almost through with the flap on the first sock. I’m knitting them one at a time on double pointed needles.
If you want to KAL along with us, head on over to the Elliebelly Ravelry group. You’ve still got plenty of time and there are lots of beautiful socks in progress.
It’s day one of the KAL. Adventurous April is here and even though I’m off in Vermont on spring break, my socks are officially a work in progress.
It’s fun and it’s hard to put down because of the anticipation of seeing how the colors will stack up on each successive row. The yarn is a Paintbrush Colorway on Elliebelly’s Juliet Sock Yarn.
I’ve got to return to college viewing activities with kids, but I’ll be back to show your more sock when I get through with the ribbing and move onto the pattern.
I’m on a quick trip with one of the kidlets to look at colleges, so yet again, me, knitting on a plane.
This is Silver Spoons (in bad plane lighting) and you can see I’ve just started the third chart. I love the way the M5’s and K5 tog stitches work into the spoon shapes. This is an incredibly fun knit!
It's time to get serious.
Knitting needles √
Pattern √
Yarn √
Project Page on Ravelry ? Here.
Swatch. Um, not so much. (It was a bad travel incident that I don't want to think about)
It's getting close. April 1 will be here before you know it! If you haven't joined us yet, take a look on the Elliebelly Ravelry Group. The rules are simple, starting April 1 and ending when we're through, we're going to knit socks. We've selected a couple of patterns but you're also free to knit one of your choosing. And although many of us are knitting with Elliebelly yarn this year, you're free to knit with any yarn you choose. Make sure you tag your project page with ElliebellyAdventurousApril2016.
Still need some Elliebelly yarn? I've got one last giveaway. (Yes, for old hands, that's Pop!) Go on over to Instagram and follow Elliebelly_Knits and leave a comment on the most recent post. I promise to add a lovely picture of my knitting or yarn to your feed a couple of times a week. I'll randomly pick a winner on Tuesday and get the last yarn off in the mail in time for a little bit of quick swatching before our April 1 start.
Happy Friday! I don't know about you, but it has been a long week for me! I've been away from home and sick at the same time, which is never fun! I can't remember the last time I felt too sick to knit, but that was me. Coming home to my family seems to have been a wonder drug and I'm feeling much better.
© coco581
Since I don't have knitting of my own to show you this week, I thought I would share a project I've been undertaking with a cohort of amazing knitters. The old Elliebelly website had a page called "What Can I Knit With It" that helped you match patterns with yarns. When I moved my website hosting, there were a couple of glitches, and all of that data was lost. It was time to freshen up those recommendations in any event, so I spent several weeks dyeing yarn in some of my favorite bases, and for the last few months, a group of talented knitters have been knitting with it. Their projects are amazing!
We are on track to have a photo shoot with them at the end of this month, so I can have a new and improved page that helps you match your yarn with projects. Until then, you can take a look at all of the projects on Ravelry by clicking here. Judi's Waiting with Rain, the photo above, is knit with Elliebelly's BFL Sock and illustrates one of those elusive principles of yarn selection.
You can typically make a good substitution of a yarn in your stash for a pattern yarn by focusing on the weight of the yarn, in other words, substituting a dk pattern yarn for a dk yarn in your stash. But this isn't the exclusive consideration. You also need to think about drape. 100% wool yarns are "sprongy." They hold their shape. They are more likely to cling — in a nice way. Yarns with silk, bamboo, cotton, linen, etc., may be more drapey if the content of the not-wool fiber is high enough. Think a drapey shawl. A summer tank top knit out of linen will be loose and drapey but the same pattern, at the same weight, knit in wool, will have a different, more fitted, shape. Of course, it's not an exact science and sometimes, you just have to knit with a yarn to see what it does. The 100% Blue Faced Leicester (sheep's wool) content of Elliebelly BFL sock turns out to be really perfect for shawls. It blocks out to show off the lace patterning perfectly. And, it's warm enough for a little comfort on a cool day without being too heavy. The new "What Can I Knit With It" page, when it's ready, will help knitters make these kinds of selections.
As long as we're on this topic, I'll note that one final factor to consider when substituting yarns is that not all yarns categorized as fingering (or sport, or dk, or worsted, or aran, or bulky) will be the same. Example: a quick perusal of Ravelry shows commercially produced dk weight yarns can run anywhere from 214 to 260 yards for a 100 gram skein. It's important to be aware of differences like this when substituting a yarn for the one recommended in the pattern.
© coco581
Of course, once you understand these concepts, your ability to substitute yarns in endless. You may deliberately choose to knit a wool cardigan in linen for a looser summer look. A good example is Ishbel, pictured above. If you click on the link to the pattern, you'll see it was written for a 100% wool fingering yarn, although the pattern page also shows a 50 wool/50 Silk blend as an option. The wool version has a lovely drawn in look that emphasizes the lace. The Ishbel shown above is knit in Elliebelly Panda, a 50% silk, 50% Bamboo blend. You might not have thought it would be a good fit for this pattern based on the yarns the designer used, but knowing that her beautiful, complex lace would be shown off to perfection by a drapey, non-wool blend, I chose Panda for this project. Understanding the way the yarn base will work is a key to making a yarn substitution that is quite different from the recommended yarn, but still a success.
Thinking about the results a yarn will give you with the pattern you select is a key to ending up with finished projects you will love and wear over an over again. And as with the time spent on swatching, it's well worth engaging in this exercise before you invest your precious knitting time in a project. I hope that when the new "What Can I Knit With It" page is ready, it will be a really helpful resource for everyone.
I really want to give everyone who posted some yarn for the KAL. I loved seeing everyone's comments. But alas, I've only got three skeins of yarn, two of Secour and one of Blue Eggs for this giveaway. Random number generator says the winners are Siobahn, Marla, and Katie. Congrats to the three of you. Please pm me on Ravelry with your addresses and I'll put your yarn in the mail.
No worries if you want to knit in the KAL with Elliebelly yarn and haven't scored any yet, there will be several more giveaways before the end of March. Next up is a quick Instagram giveaway this weekend. Add me, Elliebelly_Knits, to your Instagram friends and comment on the Instagram photo of this yarn for a chance at winning this pretty little skein of the new Friends colorway in Juliet Merino. It's my personal pick for the KAL and I wanted to share a bit too.
Sunday night, we'll draw one commentator to win this skein. If you are interested in joining us for the annual Elliebelly Adventurous April Knit Along, you can find all of the information you need on the Ravelry Group. This year, we've picked several sock patterns to choose from and you've got plenty of time left to join us. We would love to have you if you haven't knit with us before!
It's pretty spring weather here in 'Bama, and I'm off to play with my kids for the afternoon. But, I'll be back later this weekend because I have big news. I've finished the second sleeve and last piece for my Glacier sweater, thanks to my husband driving to the conference we had to attend late this week. I need to do some end weaving, but then I'm going to block and get ready to do all of the finishing work so I can wear this gorgeous cabled sweater when I'm up north later this month!