Embossed Leaves Cast-On (and On)

The Embossed Leaves socks pattern (Ravelry link) by Mona Schmidt is published both in Interweave Knits Winter 2005 issue, and in the book Favorite Socks.

In both sources, the pattern calls for a 1x1 rib cast on. I cast on as prescribed, but the edge did not look, to my eye, like the photo in the pattern. It was not very stretchy and had a pointy look, instead of the softly rounded edge in the photo. Research on the Ravelry boards led me to a tutorial on Mona's blog (see links in her sidebar) demonstrating the cast on she intended the socks to have: the tubular cast on from Montse Stanley's Knitters Handbook (p. 78).

I also found an excellent video of this technique, with additional explanation, on Ysolda's site. The photo above is my 2nd start on the sock, with tubular cast on, looking at least closer to what it should be. So this project has begun in my usual fashion: read a bit, knit a bit, read a bit, frog a bit, and repeat.

Rainy Day Stash

Very Small Sock

This very small sock is barely 10 cm. from top to toe. It was knitted for the Wee Tiny Sock Swap, organized by Emily of Yarn Miracle. For scale, I photographed it on top of a cedar sock blocker.

The wool is Hazel Knits Artisan Sock Daphne, with Natural stripes. I based the pattern on the one on Emily's site, but instead of a ribbed cuff, I made a picot one, and instead of Dutch heel, I did half-handkerchief. I will be mailing this off to East Lansing tomorrow, to my Sock Swap Pal.

Small Socks

These Hazel Knits Lacy Baby Socks are adorable and a very easy knit. The lace pattern is simple to memorize. They came out a bit small because I misread the pattern and used 2.0 mm needles when I should have used SIZE 2 (oops). The yarn is Hazel Knits Artisan Sock, in Beachglass. The color is pale green with slight blue cast and is semisolid, giving a lovely faded effect. The coins (for scale) in the photo above are 20 pence, 20 Euro cents, and 25 US cents.

Beach Baby

Very tiny socks in progress. These are Hazel Knit's shop pattern Lacy Baby Socks (Ravel it), using her Artisan Sock merino/nylon. The color is Beachglass, a wonderful frosty pale green. 2.0 mm DPNs. The lace repeat is 8 stitches and very easy to memorize. There are several babies in progress at my boathouse, so I'm stocking up on the dinky cute stuff.

Slightly Lumpy

This slightly lumpy object is a combination iPod bag and practice swatch - my first attempt at stranded knitting. Do not examine it too closely. The beautiful wool is Hazelknits Artisan Sock in Rogue plum and green (bottom half) and plum with Terrywinkle (top half). Patterns are from S Hisdal "Digt i masker," Nancy Bush "Folk Knitting in Estonia" and A Starmore's "Book of Fair Isle Knitting" (the three-row peerie at the bottom). I used 2.25 mm bamboo dpn. I knit this inside out to help keep the floats loose, and I did improve as I went along - the plum/periwinkle section is neater & flatter than the green - but I have a long way to go.

There is No Seam

I'm learning two-handed colorwork, and am practicing by making a small bag with rows of peerie patterns from Alice Starmore's Book of Fair Isle Knitting. The yarn is Hazel Knits artisan sock in two Rogue colors: mossy green and plum.

My colorwork is suitably wonky for a knitter new to working one color in each hand; my floats are not even (yet) and the bag bunches a little when not blocked out by the iPod. I hope to improve with practice.

Notice the nice smooth seam at the bottom of the bag? In fact, there is No Seam. I started by casting on an even number of stitches on one needle, then did rows of *K1, SL1*, until I had about 7 rounds done. On each row, you are knitting one side of the bag while slipping stitches of the other side. After several rows, slip one side's stitches to one needle, and the other side to another needle. Then turn the bag rightside out to hide the cast-on "seam" inside. Continue on with your pattern as you wish.

This method can be done with dpn or circs, but with this tiny bag it's easier with circulars. For the bag above (to fit a Classic iPod) I cast on 44 st (my gauge is 7 st / inch on 2.5mm needles). I learned this double-knitting technique in a Magical Knitting class taught by Annemor Sundbø last year at the Nordic Knitting conference.