LYS KAL! Free Pattern from LYS

Lancaster County Blend

a basic sock recipe
by Wendy Ellis

Materials

100 grams Alpaca Yarn Co. Paca Peds HT

1 set No. 1(2.5mm) or 2(3mm) needles or as needed for gauge

Gauge:  7 sts=1"; 11 rnds=1"

Instructions 

Cast on 64 sts.  Divide onto three needles as follows: Needle 1:  24 sts; Needle 2:  20 sts; Needle 3: 20 sts.  Join, being careful not to twist sts and work K1, P1 rib for 1 1/2". 

Establish pattern for leg:

Rnd. 1:  Knit.

Rnd. 2:  K2, P2 around.

Repeat these two rounds until leg measures 7" from start, ending with rnd. 2.  
Set up heel:  with Needle 3, K across first 14 sts of needle 1.  Turn and P across 30 sts for heel.  Slip remaining 34 sts onto two needles for instep.

Heel:  
Change to mini skein semi-solid color for heel.

Row 1:  *Sl 1, K1, repeat from * across.

Row 2:  Purl.

Repeat these two rows until heel measures 2 1/4", usually 32 rows, ending with a K row.

  

Turn Heel: 

Row 1:  P across 17 sts, P2 tog, P1, turn.

Row 2:  Sl 1, K5, sl 1, K1, psso, K1, turn.

Row 3:  Sl 1, P6, P2 tog, P1, turn.

Row 4:  Sl 1, K7, sl 1, K1, psso, K1, turn.

Row 5:  Sl 1, P8, P2 tog, P1, turn.  

Continue to decrease in this manner, having 1 more st between decs. each row until all sts are worked and 18 sts remain, ending on a K row.  Slip all Instep sts onto 1 needle.  Divide sts of heel onto 2 needles.  

Gusset & Shaping:
Change to MC.

Needle 1:  Pick up & K 16 sts along side of heel.  

Needle 2:  Work in pattern across Instep sts.

Needle 3:  Pick up & K 16 sts along other side of heel & K remaining 9 heel sts onto this needle.  

Rnd 1--Needle 1:  K to last 3 sts, K2 tog, K1.  Needle 2: Work in pattern.   Needle 3:  K1, sl 1, K1, psso, K to end.  

Rnd 2--Needles 1 and 3:  Knit.  Needle 2:  Work in pattern.

Repeat these two rounds until 15 sts remain on needles 1 & 3.  

Foot:  Work even on 64 sts, keeping pattern on needle 2 only until foot measures 1 3/4" less than desired finished length.  Arrange sts on needles as follows:  Needles 1 & 3:  16 sts.  Needle 2:  32 sts.  

Toe: 

Change to mini skein semi-solid color for toe.Rnd. 1:  Needle 1:  K to last 3 sts,  K2 tog, K1.  Needle 2:  K1, sl 1, K1, psso, K to last 3 sts, k2 tog, K1.  Needle 3:  K1, sl1, K1, psso, K to end.

Rnd. 2:  Knit around.

Repeat these 2 rnds until 24 sts remain.  With Needle 3 knit across needle 1.  Cut yarn leaving 20".

Finish with Kitchener stitch.

pattern copyright & all rights reserved Wendy Ellis, 2010

not to be sold, please share link freely

Repairs, Quick Fixes & Letting it Be

Mistakes can be hard to admit.  Not just in knitting, but everywhere.  I'm finding that readily admitting a mistake tends to soften the outcome.  So, why is it sometimes so hard to look at a mistake in our handwork & just deal with it?
Why is my sweater still lurking in the bottom of my knitting bag?  
One of our Knit Night regulars, Beth, is a very, very good knitter .  She regularly tackles projects that make me gawk.    One of Beth's strengths as a knitter is her willingness to ask for help.  If she is stuck, she asks for help.  If she wants to modify a pattern or use a different yarn, she asks for help.  When she makes a mistake, she asks for help--or, sometimes, she just RIPS.  And I do mean RIPS.  Just this week, Beth ripped out nearly the whole back of a vest because her yarn had a less than subtle dye change from skein to skein.  

I asked Beth, about her strategies for mistakes.  Here are her guidelines for knitting mistakes:

1.   If it is painfully obvious or will bug you every time you see the piece/project…then ya gotta fix it.

2.   If only you know it is there and it will not affect the pattern sequence in the next row or the overall outcome…keep going.

3.    Migrate toward patterns that have charts. That way you can see what should be happening in the row where the mistake is and maybe fix it on the next round by tinking back on only the stitches that are in error and fixing them from above.

Ripping, Frogging, Tinking--Oh My!

I let the sweater sink slowly to the bottom of my knitting bag.  After a couple of days, I lifted it out of the bag and neatened up the now tangled balls of yarn.  I resolutely started knitting again.  With my Mistake staring me down the whole time.  STOP. 
Let's step back and see what happened.  I had already calculated that one row of the sweater took about 20 minutes to knit.  I knit a row.  I knit 4 rows.  I had to tink back across one of them when I forgot to read my chart from left to right on the purl rows.  No problem, I had lots of time that day.  We were at an outdoors music festival, the sun was shining with that peculiar oblique golden light of early fall.  It was a Perfect Knitting Day. I got an astonishing 12 rows of fair-isle knitting done.  I was flying through the rows! 
So, what happened?  On the ride home, I put my reading glasses on to review the next pattern section.  I knit a few stitches.  I stopped and absently tried to smooth out the previous pattern section which was a little...bumpy.  I shook my head as if to  clear it & kept knitting.  About half way across the row I had to admit that it was really bumpy, puckered even.  Assuring myself that it would block out--or that maybe it was just compressed on the needle, I kept knitting. For a little while.  Like, for another row.
Shortly after that, the sweater started inching it's way towards the bottom of my knitting bag.  I had some other things to finish up & samples to knit, so it was easy to think I was just taking a little break.  I knit a shawl, a pair of socks, a pair of baby socks...& a hat.  I looked around and found another pair of socks that were nearly finished and I worked on them.
Fast forward to last week.  At knit night I tried to work on the sweater.  Then, I showed the sweater to a couple of other knitters.  There was consensus.  It has to be ripped out.  So, I put it back in my bag--and it's still there.  I think I'll make another hat.

Next time:  LYS talks to some other knitters about mistakes, knitting, mistakes, fixes, & abandoning projects. 

Fall Color from Manos del Uruguay

NOTHING beats busy Fall days at LYS!  We've been patiently (& impatiently!) waiting for Fall yarns to start making their way to the shelves.  This week's star yarns are from Manos del Uruguay.  Manos del Uruguay is a full member of WFTO (World Fair Trade Organization) and is committed to 100% Fair Trade.  Manos’s mission to eradicate poverty through sustainable economic development, pioneering social and environmental policy and practice, and continual reinvestment in marginalized artisans, farmers and producer communities makes this yarn company a darling of the knitting & craft community.  Manos works hard to provide a sustainable business model, and they also work hard to produce gorgeous yarns.  

We have a beautiful array of semi-solid kettle dyed colors & hand paints in the Wool Classica hand spun yarn.  

We've also filled a wall with Silk Blend, one of my favorite yarns!  Silk Blend is a kettle dyed 30% silk & 70% merino yarn in a dk weight.  It has a remarkably soft hand & is lovely to knit.  Check out the free pattern for the sweet Crumpet hat shown above in the colorway 'Citric.'  

But wait!  There's more!  Manos has an exciting new yarn about to hit the shelves!  Maxima is a super soft and squishy kettle-dyed yarn. The worsted weight one-ply construction makes it a great all purpose yarn, and the fantastic yardage makes it perfect for one skein accessory projects. Fun, bright, intense colors spun of 100% merino wool are kettle dyed and measure approximately 218 yards per 100g skein.  The gauge is 18-20 sts = 4”/10cm on a US Needle #7-#8 US.  We'll update you as soon as we have it here at LYS! 

Whorled Peace Yarn

Kellie from Whorled Peace stopped by LYS today and brought us new yarn! She brought hand-dyed sock yarn in a new DK weight, and hand-painted roving. Kellie has designed a pattern for a chevron cowl made with the new sock yarn- free with your purchase of the yarn! We found this great pattern on Ravelry for a DK weight sock. 

 

Summertime Socks & Knitting on the Beach

Our family was invited to spend a week in South Bethany Beach, Delaware this month.  The house was right off the beach, an easy walk to & from the ocean.  This meant carrying picnic lunches was easy, & so was running back to the house for the forgotten drinks.  Day one I fell asleep under the umbrella, but by day two I was rested & ready to break out my beach knitting.
I saw one other knitter that morning, a 9 year old who had just learned to knit the day before.  She was blazing her way through a garter stitch scarf on size 10 needles, & it looked pretty good.  Her aunt, who had taught her to knit, was nearby with a giant pair of sunglasses & a magazine.
I loved seeing so many people reading on the beach. Not a laptop or 'mobile device' in sight.  I guess there's no service on the beach.   I did see ipods & a couple of kindles & readers.  Most of them were carefully sealed into ziplock bags.  I thought I'd need a plastic bag for my knitting, but I used a small project bag instead & it worked out fine.
So, what did I take along for my beach knitting?  NOT the giant worsted weight, fair-isle cardigan I'm making for my August sweater-of-the-month! SOCKS, of course!  I cast on a pair of socks in a limited edition color way from Whorled Peace.  They're a gift, so pictures will be along in a few weeks.  I didn't get a lot of knitting done while we were on the beach, but there was one good stretch when I was sitting alone under the umbrella watching the waves & knitting.
Rather than carrying along a pattern, I'm just making up the socks as I go along.  Nothing fancy--I used the surprisingly stretchy cast on, a simple 2 X 2 rib for the cuff, & the leg is a K3,P1 rib.

We're home from the beach now & I've turned the heel & have the gusset under way.  Sock number two will have to be worked fairly quickly as I want these to be done by the end of the month.  What I'd give for another week knitting at the beach!