Hold me back!

My Lockdown fringe isn't so much getting in my eyes as my nose and mouth as well.  It's been extremely irritating, so I got a cheap plastic hairband from the Co-op and covered in in a 5 stitch I-cord tube.  Such a simple thing, but necessary.

Make Do and Mend

   There is a movement in museums to mend textiles in a very visible way, and one that can be reversed.  The idea is that in future years, more techniques may be found.  One can imagine a future curator asking "now why the devil did they do it liek that?"  Well, here's what I did with mine!  Keith has very pointed elbows and cardis made of 100% wool do not last long with him.  If I can them in time, I can do a bit of Swiss Darning/duplicate stitch to match the original.  This cardi has been mended twice before, and is now pretty hopeless.  I was given some 75 % wool/25% nylon in browns that I decided to use as very visible, machine knit, elbow patches.  He will not be let out of the house wearing it.

Sockits anyone?

I was thinking abut making kits for socks, starting with machine knit tubes.  After first attempt, want to record what would be best.  

Pretty Cymbal, 72 cylinder, tension around 4.  All yarn Russian joined. Waste yarn is white cotton.

*Waste yarn of around 12 rows, join project yarn in with a tad longer piece than usual.  210 rounds, 12 rounds or more of WY, 50 rounds*  Repeat from * to *, then12 more rounds waste and take off machine.

With small dpn's 2.5mm to 2.75mm, pick up last row of project yarn knitted on a longer piece.  Unravel waste yarn.  

1. Standard flat toe - pick up stitches 36/18/18.  Remove waste yarn. Wrap last stitch to go clockwise.  Unravel waste yarn from smaller piece and join in project yarn with Russian join.  K1, skp at first side, k2tog, k1 at second side.  Second round plain,  Go down to approx 24 sts and finish with grafting.  Toe uses approx 15 rounds of a tube.

2. Standard afterthought heel. Measure the foot it is to go on (mine is 10 inches, so measured 9 inches for negative ease).  Measure piece with toe, probably 2 inches and take 2  from 9, leaving 7.  Mark line 7 inches up from toe.  Run a needle up from exact side "seams" of toe.  Don't do it by eye, there may be some bias, as in photo.

Snip one stitch in middle of the needles at the 7 inches level.  Unravel stitch by stitch on to needles and work as for toe.  Toe also uses approx 15 rounds of smaller piece for this.  It now leaves approx 20 rounds to put a ribbed welt on.

3. Swirl toe.  Pick up stitches 24/24/24.  Unravel waste yarn, join from smaller piece. Wrap second from last stitch.  K6 k2tog 9 times.  Knit one round plain.  K5k2tog, etc.  After K1 t k2togl round, do not work a plain round, but k2tog all round, cut yarn and thread through twice.  

4. Swirl heel could also be worked (in which case it is called a hat heel), but it may come out a bit pointed.  Swirls avoid all grafting!

5. Heelless sock after swirl toe OR flat toe.  Try on and decide length.  Pick other end up, or unravel down to where you want it, and use small piece to knit rib.

6.Standard commercial socks, when folded at the heel line, the leg of sock before the rib equals the foot.  You can go along with this or make the rib part as short or as long as you like.  The rib can be 1x1, 2x1,3x1. or 2x2 rib.  Work about 20 rounds, and back stich to finish off which gives a neater edge than casting off.

7. Alternative top - simple back stitch will give a rolled top.  Or fold over and whip stitch a hem.

Picture below show finished sock and the amount remaining from the starting piece

Fifty Years Ago

 

Newspaper headlines today are remembering decimalisation of the English money system.  What I remember about 15th Feb 1971 is it was the day we moved into our first house - in the middle of a mail strike.  The banks were closed for the changeover so we didn't have any cash to pay people (no ATM's then).  The house was in Southampton, the solicitors were in Bournemouth and the estate owners/builders head office was somewhere else again on the South coast, so there had been a lot of to-ing and fro-ing with documents (no email or mobile phones with text!).  Our furniture had been stored temporarily in the garage after previous "friends" in Swansea had ordered us to remove it from theirs.  They charged us for it, too.  Quite a few things had suffered from the damp.  Despite being left open, the fridge door had become shut and was totally green inside.  We had a few curtains, but no carpets, only a huge circular reversible rug.  The house cost us £5,025.  Thanks to the housing boom, we sold it only two years later for £9,750.  Zoopla's current price estimate for it is £260,000!

The coins in the photo are a ship ha'penny (ship depicting Francis Drake's the Golden Hind), 480 to the pound,

The wren farthing (as the wren is the smallest British bird), was discontinued at the end of 1960, and was rare when I was a child.  There would have been 960 to the pound

A modern penny, 100 to the pound, with a portcullis.  This was the badge of the first Tudor monarch used on coins from Henry VIII.  Last used on the old thru'penny bit then on the new penny which was worth 2.4 old pence

Long Tall Sheep

 

I finished the prototype sheep mitten, and what a disaster!  It measures 12.5 inches long when it ought to be 10.  If I ever (ever) attempt it again it will have to have a  shorter "fence", a row of flowers taken out and probably the first line of sheep.  I squashed the head down a bit, got the ears lopsided, and ended up with two more stitches on one side than the other.  And the mistakes!  Oh, tons.  

The palm pattern need to be sorted so that the mid-point of the black  diamonds fits neatly under the tip, which could affect the stitch count.  I won't be putting the thumb on this, or, of course, making a second mitten.

Back to the drawing board.  (Don't know why I keep saying this, I haven't even got a drawing board) 

New Year lethargy

I got five knitting books for Christmas.  Three are being passed straight on in Ravelry book sales.  One is on the Norwegian way of Entrelac, without turning the work.  The method is not purling backwards really, but taking each stitch to  the other needle and knitting it.  Much easier than I have tried before, but it is slower.  The fifth book, a surprise present rather than self-bought, is a brand new one for a Fair Isle (actually living on Fair Isle) designer.  She does bespoke garments on a machine, (I had heard of her before) and I think this is reflected in her handknit patterns as they are all 24 st repeat.  This makes it ideal for me to put some on punch card.  The patterns sort of dissolve up a jumper, a really nice modern idea.

More experiments on the pretty Cymbal.  With the 72 cylinder, every other needle baby socks on both T9 and T4,  Leaving the tension on 4, also an "either hand" mitten with 2x1 mock rib hemmed cuff.  The new row counter is a treat - slightly different from the original one, it can actually be turned off which must save the battery.  The display is much brighter as well.  This time I have fixed the sensor to the base of the mast, kept the wire short/bundled up and the display is on the table.  The magnet is on the back of the yarn carrier.

Looking backwards and forwards

Looking back to my post of 24th October, I said I would be selling the pretty Cymbal on.  Well, once the equal slot ribber arrived, and I got into making the drop stitch crav-hats, I have rather changed my mind.  The machine is running so much smoother now, and it is nice to be able to do the experimental stuff on a machine totally separate from my "museum production" one.  Being the same make, it makes for useful comparisons in case of hiccups.

The photo is of a set of Russian joined balls of sockyarn, all ready to go for more experiments.