Third Time's the Charm Hat Story

My maiden name is Hull. It's an English name, but Grandpa was the oldest of seven children raised by a proper German patriarch. (You can read that as Stubborn-Old-Man-Who-Knew-He-Was-Right.) Grandpa married a fine Irish girl who had her own brand of stubborness and it came down through the family. Hull stubbornness is legendary. We alternately lament it and take pride in it, and I am truly a Hull, even if I am now called Jones.

I am also an avid knitter, so the call for Hats for the State Librarian's Luncheon sent me to the yarn store. I was going to make a hat for the luncheon. I could see it -- a fine knitted fedora, sitting next to the Maltese Falcon that has resided in glory in the SEKLS office. I'd snap it's picture, just as if Sam Spade had tossed it there, then send the hat and the picture off to the luncheon.

The hat was finished two weeks ago. There was no way it would even begin to take the shape of a fedora. It had decided it was a nice warm stocking hat, and stocking hat it would be... and a rather plain, shapeless stocking hat at that. It wasn't anything I wanted to send to the luncheon.

Okay. I'd make something else. I'd make the chenille hood that I've always enjoyed wearing. Back to the yarn store, get more yarn, and I'm off and running. I carried the yarn with me to KLA Legislative Day and was spotted Knitting in Public in various places as I waited to speak to legislators. By the time I got home, I was on a roll. It was half finished. I was going to finish it before the weekend was out. I worked most of the day Saturday. It was really going good. I WAS going to have it finished before I went to bed. (Nothing quite like a goal driven stubborn Hull.) I finished it, too. At 4:00 AM. The next morning I tossed it in the washer to tidy it up. It would be ready to send off on Monday.

No. It wasn't. Something happened in the washer. Some stitches tightened up. Some hung out like Mick Jagger's tongue in a Rolling Stones logo. This was another terrible, ugly hat.

By this time, most folks would have quit knitting and bought a hat to send to the State Librarian's Luncheon. Not me. At 6:30 Sunday evening, I ripped out the hood, rewound the yarn and started over. This time it would be my classic crocheted Tam-o-Shanter. That pattern has never failed me. I finished it at 1:00 Monday morning. I'm NOT putting it in the washer to tidy up. I'm not photographing it next to the Maltese Falcon, but I am going to package it fast -- while it still looks like a Tam and send it to the State Librarian.

We Hulls are stubborn. Sometimes it pays off.

KIPping for KLA and State Librarian's Luncheon

The Kansas Library Conference is in April. Each year the State Librarian hosts a luncheon for attendees and asks for contributions to be door prizes and table decorations. Those contributions are often auctioned off with the proceeds being donated to a worthy cause. Last year's luncheon asked for purses. Hundreds of purses were donated to the Dress for Success program to help low income women. This year's request is for hats. They will be auctioned to benefit the Kansas Center for the Book. www.kcfb.info

Ah! That's a call I couldn't resist. I'm knitting the Lion Brand Chenille Hood from the pattern I discussed in an earlier post. I'm using a chocolate brown chenille that just begs to be fondled.

Yesterday was KLA Legislative Day in Topeka. Many librarians across the state braved icy weather to show up and discuss issues of importance to Kansas libraries with our legislators. I carried my yarn and hood-in-progress in my purse and worked on it whenever I found myself waiting for a legislator. What is more appropriate than Knitting in Public for a Kansas library event when you are promoting Kansas Libraries?

By the time I got home, the hood was half finished. If I have any knitting time in the coming week I should be able to get it mailed off soon and on to the socks for the March birthday kids.

Toe-up Socks on 2 Circular Needles -- Knit Two at a Time

Knitting socks two-at-a-time is the only way to go! Not only do you have both socks finished when you get to the end of the pattern, you have all of the changes -- toes, heels, patterns -- done simultaneously. There is no counting of rows to figure out where you did something on the first sock so you can make it happen at the same place on the second one.

I don't know about you, but I'm never certain that I've seen all the stitches and counted the rows correctly. In the end, all that counting becomes an educated guess. Most of the time, I get by with it. Other times, it's frogging time. Why set yourself up for that sort of stress when there is a better way?

I struggled to get started with two-at-a-time toe-up socks. Now I love them! I record here what I've learned in the hopes it helps your experience easier. As an FYI, the pink socks were knitted by this pattern with a k2,p2 ribbing used on the ankle section.

I've added a list of favorite sock books at the end of this post. They are great resources. I recommend them whole-heartedly. They would make a great foundation for any sock knitter's library.

Now -- on to the directions:

Needle size is determined by the size of your yarn. See ball band or chart below.

Suggested Gauge and Needle Size

From p. 9 Sensational Knitted Socks

Yarn Weight Stitch Gauge per Inch Needle Size

Fingering.......... 8 ½- 10 st. .......................... U.S. 0 (2.0 mm) or 1 (2.25 mm)

Sport ............. .. 7 ½- 9 st. ............ .......... U.S. 2 (2.5 mm)

DK.......... .......... 6 ½ to 8 st. .......... .......... U.S. 3 (3.5 mm)

Worsted .......... 6 to 7 st .......... .......... ....... U.S. 4 (3.5 mm)

Yarn: 2 balls of yarn (one for each sock). Total amount to be determined from chart below. Choose your fiber according to the person who will wear the socks. (Don’t give hand-wash only wool to a person who puts everything in the washer.)

Approximate Yards Needed For a Pair of Socks

From p. 9 Sensational Knitted Socks

Yarn .......... ....Child.......... Child .......... Women .......... Men

Weight.......... (Small) ...... (Medium)

Fingering.......... 275 ........ .....340 .......... .....430.......... ..... 525

Sport................ 215 .......... ...275.......... ..... 370.......... ..... 430

DK................... 200 .......... ...250.......... ..... 340 .......... .....400

Worsted.......... 185 .......... .....215 .......... .....310.......... ..... 370

Measure foot for the socks.

Sock should be approximately ½” narrower than the width of the foot. Finished sock should be ¾ to 1 inch shorter than the foot due to the stretch of the sock. Length to beginning of heel turn should be two inches shorter than total length of sock.

I make a basic woman’s sock (9 inch foot) 48-64 stitches around and 7-8” to the heel turn. I'm finding that a 64 stitch sock works better most of the time than 48 stitches. Use the smaller number with large yarn and larger needles (or for smaller feet.) If you are using sock yarn and size 0, 1, or 2 needles, use 64 stitches. I usually make the ankle section as long as the foot section. The amount of stitches cast on for the toe is a function of the number of stitches around. I cast on 8 st. for a 48 st. sock and 12 stitches for a 64 st. sock.

Tools: Needles, Tape measure, Crochet hook of size to work with yarn, Small to Medium-sized stitch holders, Tapestry needles (for weaving in ends), Scrap yarn of contrasting color for Lifeline (opt.)

Toe-up Socks

Instructions are written for an 12 st. cast-on/ 64 stitch sock. Adapt as needed for the number of stitches you will have in the foot of your sock.

1. Cast on 12 stitches from first ball of yarn. Drop yarn. Cast on 12 stitches from 2^nd ball.

2. Increase 1 in each stitch across for each sock.

3. Remove needle from each sock.

4. Reinsert needle into socks, putting every other stitch on 1^st needle.

5. Using 2^nd needle, put unclaimed stitches on needle. You now have 12 stitches of each sock on each needle.

6. Knit 12 stitches on first sock. Drop yarn. Pick up next yarn, knit 12 stitches on 2^nd sock. Turn. Knit 12 stitches on 2^nd sock. Drop yarn. Pick up first yarn. Knit 12 st. on first sock.

7. Increase 1 in first stitch of first sock. Knit to last stitch. Increase 1 in last stitch. 14 st. Drop yarn. Pick up 2^nd yarn. Repeat for second sock. (14 st.) Repeat on 2^nd needle for each sock. Total of 28 stitch on each sock at end of row.

8. Knit around for each sock.

9. Repeat 6 and 7 until 32 stitches on each side for each sock (total 64 stitches each sock).

10. Toe increases have been finished.

11. Knit around each sock until 2 inches from end of foot.
(NOTE: If you are making these socks for your own foot length, the "handy measure" is your own hand. The length from the heel of your hand to the tip of your longest finger is the length of your sock from toe to beginning of heel turn.)

12. Short row heel: Work across the two socks on the first needle as described in 13. Turn. Slip the remaining stitches of the first sock onto a stitch holder. Move to 2^nd sock; place those stitches onto the 2nd stitch holder. You will only be working on the stitches from one needle, one sock as you turn the heel. Put each sock on a different circular needle after you have the front halves on stitch holders.

13. (Quoted from Toe-Up Techniques for Hand Knit Socks p. 18-19)

You are now working on only the heel stitches. Knit the stitches on needle #1 to the last 2 stitches, bring your yarn to the front of the work, slip one stitch from the left needle to the right needle. Return your yarn to the back of the work and slip the stitch back to the left needle. You didn’t knit the stitch, you just wrapped the yarn around it to eliminate holes. It’s slip the stitch to the right needle, wrap the yarn around the stitch, slip the stitch back to the left needle. You have two stitches that are not knit on needle #1 (the stitch you wrapped and the last stitch on the needle.)

Turn your work. You still have those two stitches unworked and now they are on the right needle that you will use to purl back across needle #1.

Purl back across needle # … until there are 2 stitches left… This time put the yarn to the back of the work, slip the next stitch onto your right hand needle, return the yarn to the front of the work, and slip the stitch back over to the left hand needle.

You now have four stitches not worked. The two you didn’t knit in row 1 and the two you didn’t purl in row 2.

Each time you knit or purl a row, you work one less stitch, slipping and wrapping that stitch, leaving it un-knit or un-purled until until you have only the center one third of the heel stitches [12 center stitches] that are actually knit and all the rest of the stitches on both sides of the center stitches have been slipped and wrapped (or put on hold).

14. (Quoted from Toe-Up Techniques for Hand Knit Socks p. 21)

Heel Increase Section: It’s the same process as you begin to re-knit or re-purl the slipped and wrapped stitches one by one on each row until you rework all the stitches from the heel section. Knit up to the closest slipped stitch, knit that stitch with the wrap together as one, slip and wrap the next stitch, turn the work. Purl back across to the closest slipped stitch, purl the stitch and wrap together as one, slip and wrap the next stitch, turn the work. As you re-work the stitches, you will again wrap the next stitch as you turn. So while returning the stitches into work, you will actually have two wraps per stitch.

You decrease down by not working the stitches and then increase back out by working into the stitches again one by one.

To hide the wraps when bringing the slipped stitches back up to work, you work the wrap and the stitch together.

15. After heel has been turned, continue in stockinette for about ¼ inch then pick up stitches from the stitch holders to get both socks back onto the circular needles.

16. Knit around each sock until within 1 inch of end. Switch to knit 2, purl 2 ribbing to finish sock.

17. Bind off loosely.

NOTE: Test sock for fit as you are making it. If ankle portion is snug, you may need to make the upper section (ribbing) larger to allow more stretch. Do this by changing to needles 2 sizes larger than the ones you have used for body of sock.

To adapt to for patterns: determine number of stitches needed for the pattern and calculate how that fits the number of stitches in your sock. If you want the pattern to cover the top of the foot, start pattern after toe increase and work it on the needle that carries the top of the sock. If you want the pattern to cover the ankle, start it after the toe increase when you return to knitting in the round.

Bibliography

Crazy toes & heels sock knitting book, Queen Kahuna Creations, http://www.queenkahuna-creations.com/

Favorite socks, 25 timeless designs from Interweave, Ann Budd and Anne Merrow, editors, Loveland, Co.: Interweave Press, c2006.

Sensational knitted socks by Charlene Schurch, Woodinville, Wa. : Martingale & Company, c2005.

Socks a la carte: pick and choose patterns to knit socks your way by Jonnelle Paffino, Katherine Cade, and the SWTC Staff, Cincinnati, Ohio: North Light Books, c 2008.  (First of a series of great sock pattern books. They have toe-up versions and two-at-a-time versions as well as standard sock patterns.)

Toe-up techniques for hand knit socks, by Janet Rehfeldt, (s.l.): Montat Publishing, c2003.

Vogue Knitting: the ultimate sock book: history, technique, design, by the editors of Vogue Knitting Magazine, New York : Sixth & Spring Books, c2007.