I finished my striped socks yesterday morning. I am pleased with how they turned out. I used a self-striping yarn from Patons Yarns and it was fascinating to see the stripes evolve as the socks knit up.
I did not really use a pattern for these socks. There are literally thousands of free sock patterns available on the internet, but you really don’t need them if you understand the basics of knitting socks. I started with a gauge swatch and used my foot measurements to determine the number of stitches I needed. The “how to” of this seems to be enough for a separate post, so I will place that in my queue for future topics.
I choose to do a picot hem at the top of the cuff, a 3 by 1 rib for the cuff and instep, a slipped stitched heel flap with a square heel turn. My mentors for these socks were Nancy Bush – I consulted her book “Knitting on the Road” for advice on the square heel and Cat Bordhi, whose book “Socks Soar on Two Circular Needles” contains a wealth of information on how to knit socks.
Knitting socks on two circular needles
I used the two socks on two circular needles for this pair of socks. I prefer to knit socks two at a time, because when you’ve finished, you have a pair of socks and don’t have to go back and knit that second sock. You can knit socks two at a time using either two circulars – as shown here in my photo – Or you can use the magic loop technique. I started another pair of socks last night using this technique – so I’ll post about them later.
Holy cow! I just finished the first sock of my pair this afternoon (well I need to stitch up the toe). I love how that striped pattern turned out. Did you buy the yarn locally here?
Oh and could I take a look at that Cat Bordhi book this week by chance?
I haven’t knit any socks at all yet. When I consider the skills I have I think I could manage to knit socks, but when I consider the feet I have, I can’t believe that I could get them to fit.
Your socks are so pretty–I look at them, I sigh, and wish I could.
The beauty of hand-knit socks is that you can make them to fit your feet. I will be posting some how to’s and links for sock knitting in the next few weeks, so check back.
In my previous post, I discussed the basic structure of a basic beanie hat and how to knit the brim and the body of the hat. Once you have knitted the hat to the desired length before the start of the crown shaping, you have basically knit a cylinder as shown below.
If you look at the top of the cylinder, it is a circle – and this is the area where you shape the crown by gradually decreasing stitches to close the top of the hat. I usually decrease my stitches down to somewhere between 6 to 12 stitches and then finish the top of the hat by breaking the yarn and using the tail to close the very top of the hat.
Shaping the Crown: The shape of the crown is determined by the number of stitches you need to decrease, the type of decreases you use and how frequently you make your decreases.
Basic beanies usually have either a “spiral” shaped crown or a “wedge” shaped crown. Spiral shaped crowns are made by dividing the number of stitches into an equal number of segments where the decreases are made. The number of segments can be 5, 6, 7, or 8. The number you choose depends upon the total number of stitches and whether the total is evenly divisible by the number of segments. For example, 96 stitches can be divided into 6 equal segments of 16 stitches, or it can be divided into 8 equal segments of 12 stitches. If you have a number of stitches that cannot be evenly divided, then you will need to decrease your stitches down to a number that can be evenly segmented.
Typically, the decrease used for crown shaping is K2Tog which is a right-leaning decrease. You can also use the SSK decrease which leans left. However, you need to use only one of these two decreases in order to knit the spiral shape for your crown.
A wedge-shaped crown has only 4 segments. If you want this shape for your crown, you will divide your stitches by 4 and then use double decreases as you shape the crown. Using 96 stitches as an example, you would have 4 segments of 24 stitches.
To decrease you can use a combination of K2Tog and SSK at each point of decrease or you can use a Central Double Decrease(CDD).
I usually place a stitch or 2 between the K2Tog and SSK decrease when making the wedge-shaped crown. This gives the top of the hat a decorative ridge. The CDD makes a decorative line itself.
Rate of Decreases: Typically, I start crown decreases at a rate of every other round – where I decrease in each segment until I have knit approximately 1.5 inches and then I switch to decreasing every round until I am down to somewhere between 12 and 6 stitches. This is based on my experience.
Calculating Decrease Rates: I know it’s a lot of math, but here goes: To calculate your own rate of decrease, you need to know the number of rows that remain for the crown of the hat and your row gauge. The crown of the hat is approximately 1/3 of the total length of the hat. For example, the total length of the hat is 11 inches — and 1/3 of this is 3.7 inches. Using a row gauge of 7 rounds per inch. 3.7 x 7 equals 25.9 rounds (round up to 26 rounds). I need to decrease from 96 stitches to 12 stitches at a rate of 6 sts per decrease round. This gives me 14 sets of decreases (96-12 = 84, 84/6 = 14). Dividing the total number of rounds by the number of decrease rounds gives me 1.9. Now I can opt to decrease EOR over 28 rows, which makes my hat slightly longer, or I can decrease EOR for 20 rows (decreasing 60 sts) and then decrease every row for 6 rows (decreasing 36 sts) and end with 10 sts to close the top of the hat. Either way will give me a hat with a close-fitting crown.
I have now covered how to make a basic beanie hat without using a pattern. Give it a try using your choice of yarn and your gauge. Happy Knitting. 🙂
I am making significant progress on my Color Block Vest. In fact, I am nearly done! So Saturday, I realized that I really needed to go buy buttons for this vest. And off I went.
Now, I must admit that it has been some time since I ventured into a fabric store to buy buttons. And usually when I am buying buttons, I am also buying thread and fabric to match. What I discovered is that in the time that I have been absent from the fabric store scene that things have really changed. Changed in a good way, actually. Oh my! the selection was enormous! And really wonderful. In addition to the standard buttons in rather standard colors that come in sets of four or five — there are all these unique and stylish buttons available. Who knew? Obviously, not someone like me who hasn’t ventured into the button section of the fabric store in a good long while.
I was enormously challenged — I had so many choices! Wonderful choices! And then…I found them! The perfect buttons for my vest!
Aren’t these just wonderful? They have a lovely brown background with swirls of pink, green and darker reddish brown. They match the three colors where they will be placed nicely.
As wonderfully matched as these buttons are — I must also admit to sticker shock when I went to check out. They were on sale, fortunately, but even at that they were expensive. I paid $7.00 apiece for them. (ON SALE!) Who knew buttons could cost so much? Now, I was willing to spend the money to get these perfect buttons — especially since I have invested money in a high quality yarn for this project. Still I think that buttons should not be so expensive. Even if they are perfect…
My Teddy Bear baby blanket is now half done. I have completed two rows of the Teddy Bear pattern and I really love how it is knitting up. The Peaches & Cream yarn is soft as you knit and will become even softer when washed. Perfect for a baby – soft and washable.
Holy cow! I just finished the first sock of my pair this afternoon (well I need to stitch up the toe). I love how that striped pattern turned out. Did you buy the yarn locally here?
Oh and could I take a look at that Cat Bordhi book this week by chance?
I haven’t knit any socks at all yet. When I consider the skills I have I think I could manage to knit socks, but when I consider the feet I have, I can’t believe that I could get them to fit.
Your socks are so pretty–I look at them, I sigh, and wish I could.
The beauty of hand-knit socks is that you can make them to fit your feet. I will be posting some how to’s and links for sock knitting in the next few weeks, so check back.