…and other joys—Quilt Making

Good friends are like quilts.
They age with you yet never lose their warmth.

My friend, Ruth, is flying to Florida this weekend to celebrate her nephew’s wedding. She’d planned to make a king-sized wedding quilt for the couple ever since last fall. One challenge after another intruded on her plans and time grew short so she let me help her piece the quilt. For two weeks, we worked in a flurry of activity and finished in time.

It has been a long time since I set aside my knitting needles and sewed on a quilt. When I returned from North Carolina, I hurried to Ruth’s to see the finished quilt before she took it away. Wow. The quilting and finishing made it even grander.

This project was not only fun—it was a joy to work on a quilt with my friend.

More Vacation

In every out-thrust headland,
in every curving beach,
in every grain of sand
there is the story of the earth.
[Rachel Carson]

The photo is Battery Buchanan at Fort Fisher. Only part of this North Carolina costal fort remains. The rest has washed into the Atlantic. One of the last battles in the Civil War was fought here. We toured the fort the day we visited friends on the beach near Wilmington. Lovely place. I’ll write more when I return home.

Vacation

If we would only give, just once, the same amount of reflection
to what we want to get out of life that we give to
the question of what to do with a two weeks’ vacation,
we would be startled at our false standards and
the aimless procession of our busy days.
[Dorothy Canfield Fisher]

Ah.  A road trip. I have a feeling that an eight year old boy and a grandmother might be the best possible traveling companions. I’m looking forward to a week of driving through Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina. We’re off to Grandpa’s then to Uncle Jamie and Aunt Bev’s. Hope to visit on the beach as well.

Michael and Cole

Every child comes with the message that
God is not yet discouraged of man.
[Rabindranath Tagore]

My two youngest grandsons are only three months apart in age. Michael (left) is the oldest. I’d love to see them play together but Cole (right) lives so far away. They both are such jolly little lads.

Decoration Day

We cherish too, the Poppy red
That grows on fields where valor led,
It seems to signal to the skies
That blood of heroes never dies.

The poem is from World War I, but the tintype is of Sammy Marvel, 1842–1864. He died in the battle of Atlanta on his twenty-second birthday. He was my great-great uncle.

Decoration Day as an event was started shortly after the Civil War but was not celebrated in many southern states until after World War I. When I was a child, it was on May 30 and had become a day when we decorated all our kinfolks’ graves. My family graves are too far away so I decorate the grave of Mother George, a Civil War nurse. She spent the war looking after Indiana troops and died of typhoid fever on her way home at the end of the war. Since I was a military nurse, I have long felt an affinity for her.

Toe-Up Sock—3

Toe: A part of the foot used to find furniture in the dark.
[Author Unknown]

NOTE on May 18th, 2009: This and the following two posts were published in January, 2008, then I got stuck describing how to work the heel. Now I have it figured out and changed it completely from the original. I knit a peasant or replaceable heel as follows:

• I knit scrap yarn across half the sock.
  
• Then, using the sock yarn, I went on knitting the sock leg and cuff including a cable pattern on each side of the leg (called a clock).
• After binding off the cuff, I removed the scrap yarn, and picked up the stitches on 4 sock needles.
• I knit a heel in the round, decreasing on each side every other round
• When 20 sts were left, I bound off using the Kitchner stitch.

For the toe, the increasing starts after one plain round. There are 4 increases per round (two on the right side of the foot and two on the left side of the foot). The increases are worked every other round. The first photo below shows the toe after first set of increases are worked, and the increases on the finished sock. The second photo shows the toe when all of the increases have been worked. I worked the increases as follows:

• k1, m1+k1, k6, k1+m1, k2, m1+k1, k6, k1+m1, k1
• k 24 around
• k1, m1+k1, k8, k1+m1, k2, m1+k1, k8, k1+m1, k1
• k 28 around
• k1, m1+k1, k10, k1+m1, k2, m1+k1, k10, k1+m1, k1
• k 32 around
• k1, m1+k1, k12, k1+m1, k2, m1+k1, k12, k1+m1, k1
• k 36 around
• k1, m1+k1, k14, k1+m1, k2, m1+k1, k14, k1+m1, k1
• k 40 around
• k1, m1+k1, k16, k1+m1, k2, m1+k1, k16, k1+m1, k1
• k 44 around
• k1, m1+k1, k18, k1+m1, k2, m1+k1, k18, k1+m1, k1
• k 48 around
• k1, m1+k1, k20, k1+m1, k2, m1+k1, k20, k1+m1, k1
• k 52 around
• k1, m1+k1, k22, k1+m1, k2, m1+k1, k22, k1+m1, k1
• k 56 around

Since this is sport weight yarn and I used US #2 needles, I only need 56 stitches around for the foot and the leg. I used what I call “lifted increases.” This LINK will take you to a page that shows a diagram for this kind of increase (look at the end of the page). m1+k1 is a left-leaning increase and k1+m1 is a right-leaning increase. You are welcome to use any increase you prefer.

The foot is knit around and around on the 56 stitches per round. You can try it on to see how long a foot you need to knit before starting the heel. I’ll show the heel turn as soon as I get the foot knit.

Toe-Up Sock—2

I like making a piece of string into something I can wear.
[Author Unknown]

I heard from several people who would like my toe up instructions so here is how I started the toe. I’ll add to this with photos as I knit the sock.You are welcome to my ideas. I’m not sure if this is how dedicated toe-up sock knitters do it, but this worked for me. I’m using sport weight yarn and US size 2 needles.

STEP 1 — Put a slip-knot stitch on the needle. This will not be used in the actual stitch count and will be dropped later.

STEP 2 — Cast on 10 stitches using the half-hitch cast-on technique. You will have 11 stitches on the needle counting the slip-knot stitch.

STEP 3 — Knit across the 10 cast-on stitches. Slide the slip-knot stitch onto the needle.

STEP 4 — Turn knitting upside down so you can knit back in the backs of the half-hitch cast on stitches. Start with the thread that connects the slip-knot stitch to the half-hitch cast on stitch. Use another needle to lift the strand under which you will knit. The photo shows the row half knit.

STEP 5 — You will have 10 stitches along the edge you just knit. When you have added more rounds, you will notice that this method produces a seamless effect. I think it might be magic.

Now you will start knitting in the round so turn your knitting over and knit 5 stitches. With another needle, knit 5 more stitches and slip the slip-knot stitch to that needle. With a third needle, knit 5 more stitches, and then use a 4th needle to knit the last five in that round. You will continue knitting in the round.

Tomorrow, I’ll show you how I work the increases that shape the toe. Meanwhile, I’ll go make my bed, clean the kitchen, and work on a client job.

Toe-up Sock—1

Knitting fills my days,
not to mention my living room, bedroom, and closets.
[Author Unknown]

When I received this hand-spun, merino yarn from my daughter, the customs form read, “The world’s ugliest sock yarn.” The yarn feels comfortable in a sock and the color is moss green in daylight but tan in artificial light. Not the world’s ugliest sock yarn in my book. My task was to see how it would knit for socks, and how far the quantity of yarn would go. I always knit socks from the cuff down but I decided to knit these from the toe up since I wasn’t sure how long I could make the leg and cuff. The heel shaping I usually use worked nicely from the toe up. Now I need to knit the second sock. Would anyone be interested in the toe-up pattern worked step-by-step as I knit it?

Michael and Joshua

Nobody can do for little children what grandparents do.
Grandparents sort of sprinkle stardust over the lives of little children.
[Alex Haley]

Michael is 18 months old and his brother, Joshua, is 8 years old. I don’t need to mention how old Grandma is, but she loves these lads and their new photo.

Noro Socks—Finished

Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.
Security is mostly a superstition.
It does not exist in nature.
[Helen Keller]

(This was first posted in April when I began these socks. This is an update.) I realize that this doesn’t look daring, but it really is. First, I’m usually compulsive about knitting a pair of socks where the color repeats match. With these, I’m pulling one strand from the inside and the other from the outside. The order of the color repeats won’t match. Second, I habitually knit socks on 5-needle sock sets. I saw a knitter making two socks at a time on circular needles and decided to try something new.

There are days when a person can dare big stuff like learning inline skating or surf boarding. Then there are days when little changes in habitual patterns are personal wins. I’ve discovered that even little dares to change can alter my perception of the world around me.

I can think of at least two positive aspects of this project. When I finish, both socks will be done—no second-sock syndrome. Also, someone will like the color differences. I can carry them around with me until someone says, “I just love those socks,” and then I can give them away.

UPDATE: I’ve finished the socks. I have knitted socks that I like better but these will do Okay. I prefer a smooth, plied yarn instead of this mono spun, nubby yarn. I also prefer a less scratchy feel to the yarn. If I knit with this colorway again, I’d try to match the color changes instead of flipping them. Also, when there is such a long color change, it would be convenient if the yarn company would include a few extra yards. I almost ran out of yarn.