KnitWerk

While Husband is very happy with his new socks, he complains that they’re “Socks With Rules.” The knitters I know will understand this, since the new socks are alpaca. For him, “hand wash only” is a rare and foreign concept.

The first pair that I started for Husband (in hardy Lana Grossa sock yarn) was my first attempt at a toe-up, short row sock, and it wasn’t pretty. The toes turned out okay, but the heel was not good. You can guess the problem: unintentional holes. I should have ripped the first sock right away, but I didn’t… and I never even started the second one. Too discouraging:

The project got stashed in the bottom of the knitting trunk, but it hasn’t been completely forgotten. I’ve been collecting links to conquer the short row problem. In honor of Socktoberfest, I put them all together in one place for easy reference. Have I tried these? Not yet. But Socktoberfest, combined with Husband’s apparent need for a machine washable pair of hand-knit socks, has inspired me to finally rip the thing out and get it right. May not happen until November, but I’ll let you know what works for me.

Note: if I’ve misclassified any of these, or missed some key tutorials, I’d love to know about it.

Short Row Links

Wrapped-Stitch Short Row Tutorials
The following tutorials show wrapped-stitch short rows where you pick up and knit the wrap

• Knitty article Tiptop Toes by Wendy
• Nona’s wrapped stitch technique tutorial
• No photos, but step-by-step instructions from Woolworks
• Socknitters tips: troubleshooting holes
• Socknitters tips: More troubleshooting ideas
• A full pattern using the wrapped short rows technique that’s also used in PGR’s Priscilla’s Dream Socks
• This pattern from Hellchick.net wraps stitches twice (when you pick up and knit one wrap, you wrap the next stitch again)
• Another photo tutorial on this technique from NothinButKnit with very clear photos

Wrapped, but not picked up

• Lucy Neatby’s Garter Stitch Short Row Heel (pdf)

Yarnover Short Rows
Lots of good photo instructions for this technique

• Picture tutorial from Alison
• Ann Budd’s Better Than Booties baby sock pattern, (pdf) which uses Priscilla Gibson-Roberts’ short-row heel and toe
• Scrap Sock pattern also features PGR backward yarnover
• Nona’s yarn over technique tutorial
• Purlwise Yarnover Short Row Heels
• Purlywhites Yarnover Short Row Toes

Knit (and Purl) Encroachment Short Rows
This technique closes short row gaps by lifting the stitch below the next stitch and knitting (or purling) together with the next stitch

• Hipknitism has tutorials for knit encroachment and purl encroachment, as well as a full sock pattern using this technique
• This looks like a similar technique: Unwrapped Short Rows

Japanese Short Rows

• Nona’s Japanese short row technique tutorial
• Japanese short rows described by Knitting Universe (no photos)
• Purlwises’ description of Japanese short rows; also includes a list of books that show the technique

Other Online Resources

• Nona compares several short row techniques in this conclusion to her experiment
• Interweave Knits subscribers can find pdfs on short rows in the Beyond the Basics section, from the Summer 98 and Winter 2004 issues. One concentrates on using short rows to fix sweater fitting issues, the other compares different short row methods.

Beyond Socks: Using Short Rows for Shaping Other Garments

• Knitty’s article on using short rows for sweater shaping
• Using short rows to shape shoulders for 3-needle bind off, also from Knitty
• Nona’s explanation of short row shoulder shaping
• Shoulder shaping description (no photos) from Woolworks
• Shaping a neck opening with short rows. See also purl-row shaping and hiding the wraps
• Shaped Cap Sleeves with Wrapped Short Rows from Purlwise

Seriously, Dad, I’m going to talk in this brief entry about something I found to make for you that’s just about perfect, so don’t read on.

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(Does it ever work, by the way, to make this request? If I were asked specifically not to read something, I think I’d get all itchy, worry about it, then read it anyway. Am I alone in this? I believe that my father has this kind of discipline, however.)

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The first issue of Men Knit is up. I am so going to make my dad some Bicycle Helmet Ear Warmers. Dad frequently does 100-mile bike rides and runs half-marathons. One of his favorite rides is along the cold Northern California coast in September.

Next year I’ll make sure he’ll have warm ears.

Well, it’s been a while! I’ve been out a lot in the last month. Despite all, life has been pretty balanced, with tons accomplished on the knitting and BackTack front. The two things that have suffered most have been the knit blog, and my nutrition. I choose to turn my attention back to these items. Along with finding more time in my schedule to post, I pledge the following:

From this point on, I will no longer classify any of these food combinations as a “meal”

• Coffee with Splenda and milk
• Ice cream and diet Coke
• Chips plus diet Coke

Apparently, I have forgotten how to feed myself responsibly. Now, it’s true: I’ve never enjoyed cooking. Husband loves to cook, and I have encouraged this hobby. Unfortunately, Husband has been away at night even more than I have. He would come home after 9:00 p.m., and ask what I ate for dinner. I got into the habit of eating a bowl of cereal, since at least it’s somewhat nutritious. I didn’t like his expression when I would answer (truthfully) something embarrassing like “Umm… tortilla chips and sparkling cider.” To my credit, I at least had a sheepish expression as I admitted it.

Leave the house with a knitting bag and an audiobook on the trusty iPod, and it’s amazing what can get accomplished. Since I last wrote, I’ve swatched several possible yarn substitutes for a big Christmas gift (I’ll just wink and call it “Audrey,” and my friends in the knitting blog world will understand), swatched a sweater for me, and finished 2 pairs of socks, both to be gifted. I still have to get used to the earlier sunset, so I’m not together enough to have photos of these things yet—coming soon.

Reasons to reconsider my nearly all-black wardrobe

No blog entry is complete without visual interest, so I rely upon the cliche cat photo. You haven’t yet met Eddy, our new kitten. We got him in early June when he was 10 weeks old. Here’s a look at him when he first came to live with us:

Wilson wasn’t too happy about this at first, but pretty quickly he began to groom Eddy, and has become quite a good Momma cat. He does a really, really thorough job with the grooming (cleaning places on Eddy that I, for one, wouldn’t touch without rubber gloves). They’ve bonded:

The bathroom window, their favorite place to lounge:

Yup, I’m going through lots of those sticky-tape cat-hair-picker-upper thingies.