Monday, May 26, 2008

Little Socks

I finished another pair of toddler socks for CIC today. Yay! It's my fifth pair towards our current challenge. The green ones aren't blocked yet, but I'm posting 'em anyway. They were made using Patons Classic Wool Merino and the purple ones were made with Cascade 220. They are both heathered shades - I love the depth of color.


Knitting Techniques

Due to popular demand (i.e. Marmel), I'm posting about knitting resources on the web.

One of my favorite websites for knitting techniques is Knitting Help. It has these great little videos that show you exactly what to do and they're shown from the point of view of the knitter.

I particularly like their tutorials on joining yarns without having to weave in the ends. For wool yarns, there is the felting method, and for non-feltable yarns, there is the Russian method. You can find these videos about halfway down the Tips page.

I also like their video tutorial on short rows. Many have tried to explain how to do this technique, but this is the only explanation that made any sense to me. The video is at the bottom of the page entitled Advanced Knitting Techniques.

Monday, May 12, 2008

My Favorite Knits

Here are a couple more of my all-time favorite knitting projects.

This is a felted bag that I made for my mom a couple years ago. The pattern is from the Pursenalities book. If you look closely, you will see that the centers of the flowers are embellished with iridescent red beads. I just love how this one turned out.



The next photo shows a pair of mittens that I made for my dad for Christmas 2007. The pattern is from the Folk Mittens book. My dad bought me the book, so I figured that I'd make the first pair for him. Plus, he loves getting handmade gifts. The photo shows the palmar view on the left and the dorsal view on the right.


Socks for Mother's Day

I made these socks for my mom for Mother's Day. The color is slightly off in the photos; they are actually a deep plum with lavender trim. They are really soft and cushy and she loves them. Yay!


And look, they fit her perfectly!


The next pictures are of some very cool socks that I did not make. My dad got them years ago in Masouleh, Iran. One of the local specialties there is fancy handmade socks.

The first pair is made of wool and the pattern is what I would usually call the Norwegian star, but I guess this one is the Persian star.

The second pair is much more intricate and it is actually made of silk.

Here's the front view:

And the soles: