GO PANTHERS!!!!

As the Heel Turns. . .

Three cheers for the turning of the heels on this Crazy Tolstoy sock project! Last night's Knit & Wine gathering in Cedar Falls provided the motivation . At this point, if you are knitting these with us, I have a few "pointers" to pass on. First, when you get to the heel turn and it calls for you to "narrow", don't be confused.



"Narrow" is just old world language for "do a double decrease". Now I will admit, at first, when I read their directions, I said "No way, this is ridiculous" because in order to do the decrease you have to get the alternate stitch out of the way...according to their directions, this involves moving one stitch over to the right needle, putting the next off on a cable needle, moving the first one back, and so on till your reaching for the extra strength Advil. But after a few of these I realized it's easy if you do it like you would a cable without a cable needle: Slip one stitch to right needle, stick right needle into front of second stitch on left needle, with right hand, pinch below the two stitches on left needle, slip left needle out of first two stitches, then quickly reinsert into what was the first stitch on the left needle. Then put the other two stitches on your right needle onto the left needle. Now you are ready for two decreases, one for each sock. Okay...looking back, that sounds horrific. But really, it's not, it's just not something I can explain well with the written word. So stop in and I'd love to show you. Maybe I'll do a video. :) Thanks to Molly Wade Photography for the awesome photos!

A New Approach...

Well after four starts on these Tolstoy socks, I needed a new approach. My first pair was too loose. (I learned that an Addi #2 is like a US 2.5. oops. )My second pair I tried to use the same color for both socks. Big mistake. My third pair I used my original two colors but striped them so I would only have to do one pair and have a set of fraternal twins. Unfortunately, while they looked great together in the skein, once they knitted up and the colors separated a bit, I didn't like the striping effect. :( So I had to start again. This many starts made me critically review the way I was casting on. I had been casting all the stitches on to two separate needles and then slipping them alternately onto the working needle. BIG PAIN. So I came up with a new way to cast on that I think is easier and faster and makes you look like a pro. It takes a little practice, much like learning to knit backwards did, but it's worth the effort....check out my youtube video "the Mrs. Adrian cast on" to see how it works. I apologize for the video quality. We're having a little too much fun with a little too little quality. haha. They don't call us Crazy Girl for nothing.

So I'm feeling much better about this approach to knitting socks now. I can't say I quite love it yet but I'm starting to realize the advantages. I think it's winning me over slowly but I won't cast my vote until I pass the heel. Until next time...

Tolstoy Socks

I am beginning what we have come to call the "Tolstoy Socks" today. This is actually a technique described (albeit briefly) in the latest edition of Knitting Traditions Magazine. We're calling it the Tolstoy sock because it was described by Tolstoy in War and Peace and has been resurrected for the indefatiguably courageous knitter. The method involves knitting two socks at once, one inside the other. If you have ever done "double knitting" the method is similar. The author of the article recommended knitting the ribbing of the two socks separately and then joining them. This didn't feel right to me. Kind of like walking down past the moguls and then putting your skiis on for the rest of the run. So I dove in right at the beginning. Its going pretty well. The cast on was a bit akward. If you are going to try this I would cast on all the stitches on to two separate DPN's and then alternately slip them on to your working needles. Here's my start:

If anyone would like to join us in Coralville we will be knitting these socks as a KAL on Friday afternoons. It's not a class but if I stay a step ahead I should be able to help. That's why I started early.

If you know me, you know that I often say "Just because you can, doesn't mean you should." I believe this technique falls into that category. The risk of not being able to separate the socks when you are done is a bit daunting. However, from what I'm seeing so far, I think if you twist the yarns (thereby joining the two socks) it is readily apparant in the next row and can be easily fixed. So if you are intrigued, join us. It will be fun if nothing else.