Ladders

I made it to the third Minikin. Now I need/want to get to them purple to see how the colours look. 

Susan finished her socks. I love the colours. The main colour is Hedgehog Kelp and the contrast is Crazy 2404. Susan’s socks would look great with my shawl 😘

Here are my Sparks.  The first one I knit was a bit short so the made the second one longer. Really enjoyed knitting these. 

There’s a bit of laddering even though I used the magic loop, so I need some practice. 

I think I’m hooked on socks now!

Susan mention laddering. Here is a definition from Dummies.com.

A ladder is a column of extended running threads that are surrounded on either side by normal stitches. They resemble the rungs of a ladder, hence the name. Laddering can happen in circular knitting in the area between the last stitch of one needle and the first stitch of the next. A ladder may be barely noticeable, or it may be so wide that it looks like a column of dropped stitches — neither of which is attractive or desirable.

My trick for laddering is to rotate your stitches every few rows. I can’t come up with the words to explain this tonight. Earlier today I wrote a newsletter (going out tomorrow) plus I had to write about the store for Rowan’s new website (coming in February). I don’t have words left.

A popular remedy for laddering is to move the first few stitches on each needle to the previous needle after working every few rounds. This moves the location where the needles meet, thus moving the location of the ladder. This method doesn’t actually eliminate the ladder; it just staggers it so it is no longer vertical. However, it does make the laddering slightly less noticeable.

This is also from Dummies.com. It’s exactly what I wanted to say.

Now a few rows of knitting before bed. 

They love each other and they love to wrestle. Boscoe walks by and Lucy whines. Boscoe comes over and growls and it’s on.

Skystorm

Stephen West has a new shawl pattern called Skystorm (you can purchase it on Stephen’s website).

Skystorm is an asymmetric top-down shawl knit in garter stitch with stockinette stitch texture stripes. Three colors fade together as eyelet increases shape the fabric. Choose between two shapes for this pattern, a smooth wave with straight edges or a version with a wavy border. I-cord edges frame the shawl for a simple elegant accessory that’s easy to knit.

The shawl is knit with 3 skeins of fingering weight yarn. 

Photos © Stephen West

We have three pairs of finished Sparks. Thanks for sharing ladies. They are beautiful. Will one of you knit my other sock??😘

From Kathy - she wrote that she still needs to block them. 

From Adrienne 

Here are my Sparks! These were so fun to knit, and knit up quite quickly. I'm fairly new to colourwork, so my tension varied a little bit throughout the project. Next time I'll be more consistent 🙂 I used Lang Jawool in White Smoke, and Zauberball Crazy in 2266. 

Lynn’s Sparks. I'm glad that Lynn started again (and again) because these look great.

We received a small shipment of Dyed in the Wool this week and more skeins are coming next week.

Someone had a long day. Boscoe did too. It's time for some sleep. I want to be wide awake tomorrow for football and knitting.

Socks and more

Jennifer finished her Sparks. They look so cozy!! Jennifer used a skein of Hedgehog Twist Sock and a ball of Crazy. 

I am not the best at colourwork but I pushed through and ended up really enjoying it.  Thanks for the inspiration, I wouldn't have tried it otherwise!

Thanks for sharing Jennifer - now I need to finish mine. 

We are out of the Hedgehog Twist Sock in Kelp but have some in Hedgehog Sock. The Crazy is 2404 Deep Water.

I have kits for the socks as well.

We have a new sock yarn from Opal. This is new for us - it is a dk weight so you will be knitting on bigger needles and will have thicker socks.

My supplier is already sold out of this collection so don’t wait. Get yours today. 

Here are some sock patterns that are a dk thickness - it is not the same sock pattern as many of you use.

These socks remind me of my Dad, coming home from work as a heavy-duty mechanic out in logging camps. His big baby-blue Ford pickup rumbled up the driveway, and my mom, my sister and I ran outside, so excited to welcome him home.

You can purchase the sock pattern from Tin Can Knits.

You can purchase this pattern from Churchmouse Yarns.

There are 2 Opal collections in fingering weight (the thickness that we are used to).

Wanderlust - the out of stock colours are in a box that should be delivered this week.

Goodnight Stories - again the out of stock colours are on their way.

There are new colours of Freia Minikins on the way to us.

Some of the colours that we are out of will be in the shipment too.

Two Minikins will make the Mismitts Fingerless Gloves (pattern purchased on Ravelry).

Gloves are written for a left and right handed version. For the left mitt MC is the background and CC is for the overlay stitches. For the right mitt, the MC and CC are reversed, so your new MC is the CC from the first mitt.

The Lykke needles arrived today.

Don’t forget that Laine Magazine Winter 2020 Issue 10 will be available on Friday. The box has arrived but I haven’t opened it yet. It’ll be like Christmas on Friday morning. I will get it on the website tomorrow so that you can order and I will ship on Friday (or you can pick it up on Friday).

Sea Glass, Mustard Seed and Wild Rose

The Cocoknits tape measures arrived today. They are so cute. 

After years of requests, we have finally made our own version of a tape measure - in Sea Glass, Mustard Seed, and Wild Rose (aqua, yellow, and pink). The bright colors will ensure you can always find it in your project bag. The metal tape inside measures both inches and cm/mm (78 in / 2 m long), and has a metal tab on the end to keep it from retracting into the body of the tape measure.

Because Cocoknits is committed to avoiding plastic wherever possible, we manufactured it from PLA, a 100% biodegradable plant fiber (similar to the Needle Gauge, but not water soluble). The absence of a locking mechanism keeps them 100% plastic-free and reduces the likelihood of breakage.

Each tape measure is packaged in a reusable linen drawstring bag to minimize packaging waste.

We are well stocked on all our Cocoknits accessories.

I put together some colour combinations for Melanie Berg’s Only Good Vibes this afternoon.

Only Good Vibes is a reminder to enjoy the good things that surround you — there are so many of them out there!

This lovely shawl is a fun collaboration, combining Madelinetosh Tosh Merino Light and Hedgehog Fibers Alpaca Bouclé to make a soft and dreamy fabric in a gorgeously romantic colorway.

The design pairs garter stitch with lace sections to show what a beautiful world it is when we set aside differences to work together and lift each other up.

You can purchase the pattern on Ravelry. 

Photos © Melanie Berg

These are tosh merino light with Hedgehog Alpaca Boucle.

Aura and Method

Moonglow and Ozone. I think that this is the combination that I would make.

Calligraphy and Juniper

Star Scatter Solid and Comeback

Copper Pink Solid and Taffy. This is the combination that Melanie used for her shawl.

I have a few rows to go on the heel of my sock. The heel shaping is exactly the same as the toe shaping. It makes it easy to remember the pattern. 

Here is Helen’s sock. She is using a solid colour for the main colour and a hand dyed for the colourwork. Then she used a solid for the heels and toes. These look great.