My renewed interest in knitting socks started when my mother was ill.  Her feet were often cold.  She did not care for the local “store bought” socks.  And I kept  a watchful eye on her legs, as the sock legs often seemed too tight.  Even though her legs were quite thin. My sister suggested I knit mother a pair of socks.  And so I did.  I knit her knee-high socks, and carefully measured to have them fit comfortably.  Since then, I’ve gone on to knit other socks.  And found an interesting association with stress and knitting socks. When the leg of a sock takes less than 3 days of... (Read More ...)

Yesterday I attended an Open House for instructors at my local Joann Fabrics and Crafts Store. I realized late the night before that it would be a good idea to wear a knitted heart, since Valentine’s Day is only a few days away. Don’t you think it’s a good idea for the knitting instructor to be showing Valentine crafts at the February Open House? I could not find the one I made a couple of years ago. No problem! I got out the pattern I created a couple of years ago and tweaked it. With only a few yards of yarn, I knit a heart in about 30 minutes. Rather than attaching it with... (Read More ...)

Do you remember when? Each generation seems to have an event that changed everything.  My parents spoke about Pearl Harbor.  Everyone in their generation knew where they were when they heard the news.  Some of my older colleagues spoke about the assassination of President Kennedy the same way.  Both were events that shattered their respective generations’ feelings of safety. Just like the Challenger disaster shattered the feeling of safety in space in the early 1980s. And more recently the 9/11 attack in 2001. When attacked, crafters have always been part of supporting the heroes.  I... (Read More ...)

One of the nice things about a knitted dishcloth pattern is its gauge usually doesn’t matter. Which is a blessing for me, because I’ve been known to rewrite patterns to match my gauge. Yes, really!  I knit loosely, and use the pick or Continental method.  When I use the throw or English/American method, the gauge is much closer.  And my knitting is much tighter.  So I think most patterns are written by knitters using the throw method. Personally I find the pick method much easier, faster and smoother.  If you like a different method GREAT! What else makes knitted dishcloth patterns... (Read More ...)

For the past few weeks, I haven’t felt like knitting.  Until . . . Earlier this week I sat up most of the night with a sick family member. And after about an hour, I felt an urge to start a pair of socks.  I decided to use the pattern that came with the yarn. Well, the way I knit, I’ll start with it as a template! Usually I tweak knitting patterns as I go . . . So I dutifully knit a swatch for the gauge.  And as happens sometimes, the swatch didn’t match the section I cast on and began knitting.  In full disclosure, I did use a different cast-on stitch.  The looser cast-on made the... (Read More ...)