More stripy things!

If you're going to knit up a sack sock with that Bernat Handicrafter Cotton Stripes, don't you want to add a towel and dishcloth, not to mention a tribble? I did! Now, check out what I discovered along the knitty way....

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One skein of the Bernat Handicrafter Cotton Stripes will give you one large Simply Striped Sack Sock plus one Simply Striped Kitchen Hanging Hand Towel, and one Small sized Simply Striped Dishcloth with just a very wee bit left over. Roughly 4 yards. Not too much breathing room is there?

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If you use one skein of Lily Sugar 'n Cream cotton you can get one Large Sized Simply Striped Dishcloth and one Tribble with ~16 yards left over.

Now, if you put these both side by side, if you didn't know which size was knitted out of which 'brand', would you be able to tell the difference?

Patterns coming up shortly as I post them separately...but for the rest of today....I'll be working on another sack sock...out of Bernat's Handicrafter Naturals in Chocolate omb. Hey..I have 4 kids you know..they all have separate places to live..gotta treat them all the same here!

Happy Green Day! Simply Striped Sack Sock

What do you do with all of your plastic shopping bags? I reuse them all the time. But keeping them 'corralled' can be a bit of a challenge unless you have a container of sorts. Back in the summer of 1996, my Auntie "M" was sewing up Sack Socks for everyone in the family. They were the best idea I thought at the time.She made large ones and smaller ones to use in the car or campers while out on the road. Here are the two she made me and I've used them non-stop ever since. They live up on the pegs in my kitchen with my aprons.

Today, there are cities who are banning the use of plastic bags. While I think for the environment it's got it's merits, I really like reusing them over and over again. Face it, for now, we are a society of easy. I do have a whole collection of fabric shopping bags, that I used to use all the time when I was grocery shopping for 6. Today, they mostly carry my knitting projects or literally hang out in the hallway closet. I've slacked back to the 'easy' way.

Knowing that Earth Day was coming up, I got to thinking that it was time to come up with a new project and this seemed to just fit the bill. How about knitted sack socks to house all those wayward plastic bags! Well, thanks to Ravelry for getting lots of my yarn all organized, my daughter for additional ideas, and to the cotton companies for producing those huge skeins of cotton, I was ready to dive right in.

May I present to you.....Simply Striped Sack Socks

©Cathy Waldie, April 11, 2008
16 stitches and 20 rows = 4 inches in stockinette stitch in the round

Large (pink) size used 6.2 oz/173 g of cotton, 289.9 yds/265.1 m. Small (blue) size used 4.8 oz/139 g of cotton, 233.6 yds/213.6m in length.
(US) 7 (4.5mm) 16" circular needle
(US) 6 (4.0mm) double point needles
Stitch Marker

Size large (pink version) 30" in length
Small (blue version) 20" in length

K=Knit
P=Purl
YO=Yarn Over
tog=Together
Sl=Slip
PSSO=Pass Slipped Stitch Over
KFB=Knit into the front and back of the same stitch


Knit Rolled Edge Bottom:
Using the circular needle, Cast on 90 stitches. Join stitches but do not twist, place stitch marker at beginning of round and Knit 10 rounds.

Bottom Eyelet Round:
*Yo, sl 1, K2 tog, PSSO* and repeat around. (60 sts)
Sack body:
Continue to knit each round until the sack sock reaches 17 " for the small size and 27" for the large size from the eyelet round.

Top Eyelet Rounds:Row 1: *YO, K2 tog* around
Row 2: *K1, KFB* around (90 sts)

Top Rolled Edge:
Knit 5 round and Bind off in knit.
Using two of the double point needles, make two 3 stitch I-cords, one 43" in length, a second one in 36" of length.

Thread the 36" length through the bottom eyelet row and tie in front so that there is a small opening at the bottom of the sack
.
Using the longer I-chord, thread it through the top eyelet rows with the ends hanging out at the front (to be tied later). Pull up 2 small loops in the back of the sack sock.You're going to tie these loops into a single hanging loop.

Tie one loop over the other.

Thread one loop through the other and pull 'snugly' up to take the slack out of the other one.
Wa-laaa...you can now tie the front ends into a bow to hang your Sack Sock!
To fill your sack sock, untie the top I-chord a bit, gather up your plastic bags and stuff them down into your sack sock.

Re-tie the top I-chord until you need to refill your Sack Sock after your next shopping trip and you're ready to pull out one plastic bag at a time from the bottom opening
.
Too cute, or what?

Coming up soon? Directions for a Feather and Fan bottom (seen on the blue version) and more patterns like the Orange one...which is done in Christmas Lace. Look also for hanging kitchen towels and dishcloths to match!

But for today...Happy Earth Day and my you help the planet out one "Reduce, Recycle, Reuse" idea at a time!

Teaser picture today

Today's teaser picture....have any ideas yet what the patterns will be? Come back on Earth Day to find out! Hint, lots of Cotton yarn with these! Oh, ya...and I-chords, too.

In other 'Dad' news, talked to Dad just a bit ago, and he's improving daily! Mom did say that when they were about to take him home, he requested cancelling it out and just staying put in the hospital....I told her, and I quote, "Mom, forgive me the phrase I'm about to use, but that is when you tell Dad...OH HELL NO! You're going home! No options here, mister!" she laughed. Kinda like the old bumper sticker that went something like...get in, shut up, hang on.... Then she said he's told her that she's acting like one of the nurses at the hospital. I reminded her that must be a good thing because they pushed him to do for himself. And she's not allowed to choke him (joke - please understand) no matter how much she'd like to at times. Thank goodness she takes teasing well.

AHHHHH.they've not lost their humor! Oh, to have someone to be that close to when I'm nearly 80 and 80! Now, do you understand how the "Two Hearts as One" kitchen set came from?

Doing the happy dance!

My family is DOING THE HAPPY DANCE! (yes I'm channelling Carlton and Balki here for dance time.) My Dad is back at home once again!!!!!!!!! After 12 weeks to the day, my Dad is back home and sleeping in his own bed once again! HOT DIGGITY DOG!!! (yes, I cleaned that one up a lot). Mom said he was up quite a few times last night and is having a 'weak' day today, but the doctor said he would have good days and 'could be better' days ahead of him. They will have in home nursing and therapy nurses for the next bit of awhile, but he is home! And that is what matters.

Maybe I should finish this off? I'm getting close to it right now. I just have the armholes and neck band left to go. I told mom this morning that I feel kinda guilty about this. As much as I'd like to finish it off to get it to Dad, I'm really enjoying this project. It's been a very long time since I've done an adult sized sweater/vest/project and to have the cables on it, well, I'm just peachy happy.

I chose to use the 3 needle bind off for the shoulders and I'm really happy that I did. Both shoulders are lined up stitch for stitch in the pattern! I don't think I could have done that any better with any other bind off. I'm still practicing my seaming skills. This is the best mattress stitch I think I've ever done, although I know it could be better. I'll make sure to tell Mom that one trip through the hot water cycle would cure that seam-har har har. That would be an 'inside' joke, as I felted two of her old ski sweaters when I was in Junior high school. I had NO idea that wool sweater shrank until that day! That was the last time she let me borrow her clothes! And let me just say....they had been beautiful sweaters! OPPS!

Yesterday, brought out my sewing basket. Daughter went to Catalina Island with some of her friends for yet another Bachelorette weekend with the girls. Miss "A" will be getting married on the same day my son is Graduating from Law School. So, for the requested Bachelorette weekend veil I got out my needles. None of the girls wanted the *ahem* veils for such an occasion, so I'm happy to whip one up. I'm sure someone must be buying the 'questionable' ones, but there is a market out there for simple for 'fun' veils without all the p_ _ n attachments on them.

Here is your teaser picture for next week's new pattern! In honor of my Auntie "M" who gave me the idea way back in 1996 and just in time for Earth Day....I finished the last stitch on these late last night. I woke up with a bunch of new ideas this morning, but I'm making myself finish off the vest first. Drats! I just wanna know how much I can do to these now! Here's hoping you will all enjoy them as much as I am coming up with the ideas.

If I show you pictures of Cheeseburger Pies, can you guess who I saw last week?

Yep, the end is very near of the professional student days for these 3...May 3rd to be exact will be the event of a life time as they're hooded during Graduation Ceremonies! You can bet this 'mom with a camera' will be there!

Then, over the weekend daughter and I went with one of my 'extra kids' to help with her company picnic. I got to sit in the shade watching the little ones at the bounce house while my 'playground supervisory voice' was put into use one more time. It was sooooooooooooooo hot out in Southern California and windy!



While at the park on Saturday, I got to work on something in cotton that with any luck will be posted next week....so stay tuned! But here's a little sneak peak...you all know that Earth Day is next week-right? Can you guess what I'm working on? Here's another hint, it's a nod to my Auntie "M" who taught me to knit a gazillion years ago...

Sunday afternoon found me working (in 97*F heat) on stitch markers. After looking at the pictures of the vest last week, I thought I should really use some of the beads I've purchased for such a purpose.

I think they look prettier in the vest than the plastic ones. Not that I have anything against the plastic ones, but I like the beaded stitch markers and row markers. And since I have a 'few' beads, time to make up some more. I keep losing or giving away the other ones I've made in the past.



Since the heat has cooled off a bit more, I've been able to get back to working on Dad's vest...it's soooooooooooo close to the end. If it wasn't so important to get it finished, I'd be sad to come to the end. I'm really enjoying working on a cabled project once again. I have noticed in this pattern (Men's Cabled Golf Vest from June, 2007 issue of Knit 'n Style) that the gauge for the cabled pattern doesn't match what I'm receiving, but the measurements of each of the pieces are right on the money. So, I'm going to figure that their cable gauge was a typo. And with that....



I leave you with a couple of pictures of the vest at this point while I go attempt some knitting. I've got deadlines to meet! And with any luck...good news this Friday and a new pattern next week! Boy, do my needles need to get clicking!

"At the Same Time"

How do you react when you're zipping along a pattern and those words jump out at you? Do they make your hands begin to shake? With a little bit of preparation, you should be fine.

Years ago, when I made my first cardigan I had the idea that if I kept track of the number of rows I made the two front panels, they'd match up. That was a true statement. Too bad I didn't match them up to the back section! That sweater is still being worn today. Not by me, but my daughter 'borrowed' it a long time ago. She took it to work in her air conditioned office and the last time I saw it, it made me shutter to see the difference between the fronts and back. I've learned a few things since that sweater.

There are many sock knitters that like to knit both of the pair at the same time. It's the same idea making sure that both socks are knit with the same number of rounds with the same tension to match up to each other. There is a reason I've never publicly shown my first pair of socks. Why I didn't think of it then, is beyond me. After all that first sweater was knit back in junior high school for me. I understood that concept then, but must have had a brain lapse.

Trying to avoid those mistakes, I had cast on for the vest from the beginning all at once. Now, I ended up knitting the back to the armholes before starting the front panels after the ribbing. Had I realized that the front panels were knit with the very same cable pattern as the back, I would have been just fine knitting all three sections at once.

Starting at the armholes, I put all three sections on the same needle. (Thank goodness for circular needles) Stitch markers are a must! Color coding them is a quick visual of where you are in the pattern. I use them for the cable patterns, the beginning of the rows at the start of the cable patterns, and to mark the front sections of the vest.

This is keeping the decreases all in the same section AT THE SAME TIME and the depth of the armholes will be identical to each other. So long as the pattern fits it will be symmetrical.

I really like those 'lobster claws' from the jewelry departments in the craft section of the store. They clip wherever you want them to!

The 2ND best knitting tool that I use is old fashioned paper and pen. I grid out charts of what has to happen and when. It helps me to visualize which row I need to do which direction and AT THE SAME TIME when I need to do something else. For this pattern, I'm continuing the cable pattern, decreasing for the armholes AND decreasing for the neck edges. If I had not written it down, I never would have been able to keep it straight. As you can see by the paper, even the first time I'd charted it out, I still didn't have it all straight. Knitting in public yesterday an older lady noticed me charting this all out and commented on it. She's also a long time knitter and said she didn't think many others did the same thing. I told her, it's the only way I can do this much at once.

How about you? How do you do more than one knitting direction AT THE SAME TIME?

I talked to Dad this weekend on the phone. He's past the 2 month mark of being in the hospital, nearing the 3 month mark. After talking to him for awhile, he said, "I really miss your back rubs." Dad-I miss you, too! I know this won't be the same as a back rub, but I really hope this does the trick of keeping him warm and SOON! He's lost so much weight that I am hoping the 100% wool content will help his warmth factor. I am enjoying this knit. I just can't wait for him to wear it AT THE SAME TIME as being OUTSIDE of hospitals!