Saturday, October 24, 2009

No Wrap, No Gap Short Row Heel Tutorial

I used to have this tutorial on my old blog, and I've had problems with the pictures, so I'm going to re-post it here with new pictures.

I saw this method on some pattern somewhere, but I have since forgotten where. I don’t take credit for this Method of Short Rows. There is no wrapping, and no holes.

Start off with your heel stitches on one needle (I just cast on for the purpose of the tutorial, but these would be the heel stitches of your sock):
DSC09383

Slip the first stitch purlwise (and every time you slip a stitch, slip it purlwise), knit to one stitch before the end:
DSC09384

Turn, slip the first stitch, purl to one before the end:
DSC09385

Turn, slip the first stitch, knit to 2 before the end:
DSC09386

Turn, slip the first stictch, purl to two before the end:
DSC09387

Keep Going like this, turning, slipping the first stitch, and knitting to 3 before the end, than 4, than 5, and so on and so forth, each time you’ll be leaving a stitch behind and havin less and less stitches to knit. Keep going until you’ve got however many stitches you want to stop at (I did 6 or so, but a standard sock might be 10 or 12, whatever you want, really.)

Your work should look something like this:
painted

Ok, so.. You should be ready to do a knit row. Slip the first stitch, knit to one stitch before the gap:
DSC09391

Slip the stitch before the gap onto the right hand needle, pick up the bar running between the gap and put it on the right hand needle:
DSC09394

Knit the slipped stitch and the picked up bar together:
DSC09396

And thats how you close a gap on the right side. Now turn, slip the first stitch, and purl to one stitch before the gap:
DSC09397

Slip the stitch before the gap, pick up the bar running between the gap, and put it on the right hand needle:
DSC09398

And that’s how you close the gap on the purl side. Here are videos to help you out.

On the Knit Side:


On the Purl Side:


Keep going like that, Turning, slipping the first stich, knitting to the stitch before the gap, slipping it, picking up the bar, and knitting them together, until you’ve closed all the gaps.
DSC09413

And You've finished your heel. Here's how it looks on the side:
DSC09414

And here’s how it looks knit on a real sock:
fin

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

You know it's fall when...

You put a quilt on your bed.

You wear a hand-knit sweater to work.

You order hot Starbucks instead of your normal ice blended.

Your toes are cold! One remedy for cold toes? Malabrigo.

cold toes

I'm knitting some slippers out of the leftover Malabrigo Merino Worsted that I made a sweater out of a few months back. Once I finish these I'll probably leave them at James' house, so I don't have to steal his slippers and he can have warm toes, too!

Happy Fall everyone!! ♥

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Woah it's been a while.

And I have no idea why! I've been thinking about things I want to blog about, but I never get around to it. Truth is, I am busier these days than I used to be, but I want to make time for this too! And instead of cataloging all of the things I've knit since February, you can check out my projects on Ravelry if you really want to. My username is KaityBeth, add me as a friend!!

I will post my latest FO, though, because it's just too darn cute!

BSJ

Pattern: Duh. Elizabeth Zimmerman's Baby Surprise Jacket!
Yarn: Colinette Jitterbug, one skein in "Sweet Dreams"
Needles: US Size 4

So cute. I knit it for a baby coming up, but until I need to give it, it's on display at the shop for the BSJ class. Everything that people say about this pattern is true. It's fun and interesting to make, knits up quick, and yields the darn cutest baby sweater ever. Plus, that Elizabeth Zimmerman was a freakin' genius.

And as a bonus, little pink chick buttons!!!!

BSJ (1)

Sunday, February 22, 2009

I've got to learn to knit faster...

Listening To: Stash and Burn

I think I mentioned in my last post that James (my boyfriend) wants me to make him a sweater, but I can't start it until I finish something that I've been putting off knitting for someone for MONTHS now. 

3rd poncho
This woman at my church asked me to knit a poncho for her so she could give it to her daughter for Christmas, and I agreed, and then she asked if I could knit another for her granddaughter (who's, like, 3), and I agreed again, because she's tiny and it wouldn't take very long. Then, about a week later, she asked if I could knit one more for her, and she's just such a nice woman, that I couldn't say no. So I finished the ones for her daughter and her granddaughter before Christmas, but I figured her's didn't need to be done before Christmas, so I kinda put it off... then I forgot about it until my mom kindly reminded me. Sooooooo I'm working my little fingers to the bone trying to finish this poncho so I can be done and have it off of my mind!! I wish I could knit faster...

So ANYWAY, back to the point of my story; James wants a sweater. Now, I know what they say about knitting sweaters for your boyfriend. As soon as I told my mom about it, she said "What about the Boyfriend Sweater Curse??" and my boss said the same thing when I was talking to her about it the other day at the store... Yeah right, like I really believe in that (I think...)

I showed him a couple of sweater patterns to see what he wanted... he rejected the Cobblestone sweater, which made me kinda sad, because it's such a handsome sweater. He also didn't like another of my favorites, the Hidden Agenda Sweater, darn! But we searched through Ravelry and he finally picked out a sweater from Drops Design, 85-1 Mens Pullover with Hood. Luckily the sweater is knit in a bulky yarn so It will go fast (and between you and me, James is small, so I can knit the smallest Size! Woo Hoo!). 

I went shopping for yarn the other day for the sweater and decided on Eco Wool, which is a different guage than the yarn the pattern calls for, but I'll make it work. I really want to get started but I HAVE to finish the darn poncho. Back to work.


Thursday, February 19, 2009

FO: Vest-uary Vest!

I finished my Vest-uary project, and I even finished it in February!!! Yay! Check it out:


vestuary vest
Pattern: I kind of made it up as I went, but I referenced Ann Budd's Handy Book of Patterns.
Yarn: Plymouth Encore Worsted (I dunno how many skeins, I used yarn frogged from another project and I haven't gotten around to weighing it.)
Needles: US Size 7 & 6


vestuary vest (2)
I love it, it came out exactly how I envisioned it at the beginning, I even wore it to work on Tuesday and got lots of compliments on it. I'm not sure it's really all that flattering on me, but I don't really care, I'm gonna wear it anyway.

Next up, my boyfriend wants me to knit him a sweater, so I'm gonna look for yarn today at work, but before I can start that I have to knit something for a woman at my church that I promised to knit for her, oh, 3 months ago? Yeah, I really have to get going on that.

Anyway, have a lovely day everyone!

Friday, February 6, 2009

It's Vestuary!

Hey Guys! Sorry I haven't posted in a while, I've had a busy week with school and my new Job, at my LYS! Yay!!

Anyway, it's Vestuary! Yay! I'm gonna knit a sweater without sleeves during the shortest month of the year. I didn't find a pattern I like, so I'm making one up as I go. Cables, and a Deep v-neck. I also found some yarn that will go with my wardrobe!

Vestuary

I think it's coming along nicely! It's fun to knit, too.

Tonight is Traditional Friday movie night:


Movie Night
We're watching American graffiti, and instead of making cookies today, I made Banana and Chocolate pudding with Nila Wafers and Banana slices. Yummmmm.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Well that's may not work out so well...

Listening To: The Jean Genie by David Bowie

While listening to the new episode of Stash and Burn, It inspired me to want to knit a Vest really badly. I've actually been wanting to knit a vest for a while, and I've been talking about it, but I never really looked into it. Then I remembered a bunch of Lionbrand Wool Ease that I have in my stash in a nice teal blue color that I really love, so I thought "I'll use that for a vest!"

Then I started daydreaming about how I would wear it, and the long sleeved t-shirts I could wear under it, until Nicole and Jenny started talking about picking a neutral color for the vest, so that It would go with other things in my wardrobe, seeing as it's a layering peice. 

Duh, Kaity! I didn't even think of that. All the shirts I was envisioning wearing it with are bright colors.


Vest Yarn?

Yeah, that's not gonna work... I can't wear a teal vest and a purple shirt, i'd look like a Crazy lady, but I really want to use that yarn!

I do have one shirt that would work, maybe, but i'd have to wear it with that shirt everytime I wore the vest. Maybe I'll knit it anyway and just go shopping for something to wear under it... I dunno! Any ideas? 

Anyway, in other knitting news... there really isn't all that much news. I got past the heel on my Charade sock, wanna see?


Charade Progress
there's a lot of teal in this post, isn't there?

I'm gonna go look around on Ravelry for inspiration for my vest, then go knit on my sock some more. Have a lovely day!