Knit 3 Together Alternative

Barbara Walker is my most referenced knitting guru. Her first three stitch treasuries are full of valuable technical information and tutorials as well as hundreds of stitch patterns. Her book Knitting From the Top Down is a wealth of information on how to do just that - including set in sleeves from the shoulder down. But I've digressed. Let me start this post again.

I have tense shoulders and a bloody middle finger on my left hand from making Vilai k3togs with a 2.25mm needle.

In Barbara Walker's Third Treasury (the yellow one) there is the most handy chart where she gives alternatives for stitches as well as telling what will match them when knitting on the reverse side of the fabric or converting stitch patterns from in-the-round to back-and-forth or converting back-and-forth stitch patterns to in-the-round. I'm not sure how any knitter who likes to improvise can function without this reference.

After knitting a swatch to see if I could tell the difference between k3tog and the alternative, I've decided I like the looks of the alternative better and may never knit a k3tog again.


The swatch was knit with DK weight Cotlin and #5 needles. It's probably important to note that I knit Continental. Your results may vary.

This is a k3tog. It was difficult to get the stitch through all three loops. The top loop is small and doesn't completely cover the other two loops.


This is the alternative right leaning double decrease. It looks neater and is much easier to execute.

1) Knit 2 together
2) Slip resulting stitch back to left needle
3) Slip next stitch on left needle over the knit 2 together
4) Move the resulting right leaning double decrease to the right hand needle



This is a sssk, a left leaning double decrease.

I have no problem knitting sssk, but will switch to the alternative to be consistent.


The alternative to sssk:
1) Slip 1 as if to knit
2) Slip, slip, knit
3) Pass slipped stitch over



The Sock Innovation KAL forbids any pattern modifications except converting to toeup, heel, toe, and modifications for fit.

Although I haven't asked, I'm thinking using the alternative stitches will disqualify a sock from the KAL. Fine with me. My priority is my knitting pleasure so from now on I'll mostly be one of those several thousand lurkers on the KAL forum.

How I Wash Woolens

The two rules for washing woolens are:

1. DO NOT AGITATE.
   
   
2. DO NOT ABRUPTLY CHANGE WATER TEMPERATURE.

Other than that, woolens are much hardier than most people think, although I believe most knitters have figured this out already.

My woolen washing routine is a great exercise program. It requires five trips up and down the basement stairs to the washer. This is how I do it.

For this system to work, you need a washing machine that will agitate but not spin with the lid up.

If you have any concerns about the outcome, try your washing technique out with a swatch.

1. Trip 1.
   
   • Set washer for small load (optional), warm wash, and warm rinse.
     
   • Start wash cycle with lid up.
     
   • Add 1 capful of baby shampoo.
     
   • Do NOT add the items you're washing.
     
   • Go back upstairs, letting washer go through wash cycle with lid up and no woolens. It creates bubbles from the shampoo. It stops before it spins out.
   
   
   
2. Trip 2.
   
   • Washer is now ready to spin out.
     
   • Add woolens to warm water.
     
   • Carefully swish around to throughy wet, but DO NOT AGITATE.
     
   • Go back upstairs leaving woolens to soak for 10-15 minutes.
   
   
   
3. Trip 3.
   
   • Woolens have been soaking.
     
   • Give a final, gentle swish around in the water.
     
   • Shut washer lid.
     
   • Stand by washer while it drains and spins with woolens inside.
     
   • Before washer starts to fill for rinse cycle, remove woolens and set them aside.
     
   • Go back upstairs leaving lid up.
     
   • Washer fills with rinse water and agitates with no woolens in the water. It stops before it spins out because the lid is up.
   
   
   
4. Trip 4.
   
   • Washer is ready to spin out.
     
   • Add woolens to water and gently swish around. DO NOT AGITATE.
     
   • Put lid down and go back upstairs.
     
   • Washer will drain and spin with woolens inside.
   
   
   
5. Trip 5.
   
   • Grab woolens out of washer.
     
   • Lay them out to dry on a flat surface, patting them into the desired shape. This is my version of blocking.
   
   

Anne's Step Socks Done and Sock Sizing

Anne's second pair of birthday socks knit with the yarn she picked out are ready for mailing.


Pattern: Basic sock with k3,p1 ribbing on cuff and instep

Yarn: Austermann Step with Aloe Vera and Jojoba Oil

Color: Gray, purple, and tan

Needles: Options 2.5mm 24" circulars

Gauge: 8 stitches/inch, 10 rows/inch

Yesterday I received a nice email from Karen in Maine who asked . . .

I enjoy knitting socks for myself and I'm interested in knitting them for others as you do. How do you go about making them to fit? What measurements do you ask the person to give you and how do you relate that to the sock as you knit. I know the circumference is easy, but I've always tried on my socks to get the length correct which can't be done when giving a gift to someone.

I ask the person for their shoe size and use the Brannock Shoe Size Chart Chart.

I know my shoe size is 6, my sock row gauge is 10 rows/inch, and I require 60 rows from the gusset pickup to the start of the toe decrease for a good fit. That's my starting point to calculate how many rows to knit for someone else.

Example:
Anne wears a size 9 shoe. From the chart, I see that a size 9 is one inch longer than my size 6, so I add 10 more rows to the 60 rows I would knit for myself. (1 inch X 10 rows per inch) Anne's socks are 70 rows from the gusset pickup to the beginning of the toe decreases.

Another Example:
Mom wears a size 7 shoe. From the chart I see that a size 7 is .3 inches longer than my size 6, so I add 3 rows to the 60 rows I would knit for myself. (.3 inch X 10 rows per inch) Mom's socks are 63 rows from the gusset pickup to the beginning of the toe decreases.

The chart also converts men's sizes to women's sizes and has kid sizes, UK sizes, and European sizes. Click on the "Printer Friendly Version" for a larger, clearer chart.

Monday Miscellany for November 26

An unrelated mix of information in response to recent comments and questions.

Fluffy Knitter Deb asked . . .

Couldn't you knit a smaller size in the bigger gauge and still use the yarn of your choice?

Sure I can although it's usually not as simple as that. For the Set-in Sleeve Aran, it's important that the center cable end in an attraction position, but I'm willing and able to plan ahead and do the math.

I haven't found the perfect yarn for this sweater yet. When I do find it, I may surprise everyone and cast on without a gauge swatch. But probably not.

Kathy and Dorothy both made nice comments about the Vesper Sparrow picture.

Dorothy asked . . .

Are you sure you didn't work for National Geographic in another life?

The camera (Canon S3 IS) does it all. I only turn it on, extend the zoom lens the amount I want, point, let the camera focus, and click.

It works better when my windows are cleaner. Need to address that soon.

The bird pictures on my blog are cropped using the software that comes with the camera. Super easy.

Marie asked about this picture . . .

Did you have much waste? And how did you know you would have enough yarn for sock #1 before breaking the wool for sock #2? By weight?

The amount of waste depends on length of the color repeats and where the sock starts in the color sequence. It's usually minimal.

I wind the balls before starting the socks and I know with yarn like Opal I'll have plenty of yarn, even when knitting for my large footed son. Should I ever run out of yarn (which has never happened unless I'm trying to eke out a second pair), I have a small stash of solid color leftover balls to finish the toes.

I divide the balls into equal balls using a kitchen scale I bought cheap at Target. A skein of Opal weights about 3.4 ounces, so each ball is approximately 1.7 ounces.

Another big big benefit of pre-winding the yarn is finding knots and other upsetting flaws before spending hours on knitting and then reaching the unpleasant surprise in the skein.

Bluebirds, Garbage, and SAM4

Just ten days ago I showed you four fragile naked baby bluebirds here. Now they're cute little bundles of fluffy feathers.

Click on pictures to embiggen.

Today they're two weeks old. All four are in this pile and looking healthy.

I've opened the nest box for the last time. The chicks have started to exercise their new wings and need to stay safely enclosed in the box for three or four more days. Then their parents will take them out into the real world for flying and food gathering lessons.


The male on the right was annoyed at me poking his nest and turned his back on me.

All the better to show you his cute little tail.


Destruction Picture of the Day
(Details on what is happening are here.)

Typical of SW Michigan country roads, our two nearest cross roads are a mile apart to the east and west of our house. We live closest to the east crossroad.

The tree crew started on the east end of the road and has moved on west with their noise and nasty habit of throwing their downed trees in the middle of the road.

Most of us have rigged up temporary mail boxes, but the mail lady won't come down the road because she can't get all the way through. We're driving a sixteen mile round trip to pick up our mail at the post office. This could go on for weeks.

Totally inconvenient and expensive with the current price of gas.

Yesterday the neighborhood optimistically dragged our Herbys (garbage cans)out to the road. In our hearts we knew - the garbage man wasn't coming down this way when he had a good excuse to skip us. It is the second week we've not had garbage pickup. This could become an ugly problem.


After much thought about being careful not to over commit myself, I joined the Sock a Month 4 Knit A Long.

The rules are pretty lenient. To get all possible points five pair of socks are required, one pair finished in each of the remaining months of the year.

In September I'll be knitting Bob's birthday socks. In November I'll be knitting Gail's Christmas socks. In December I'll be knitting Anne's birthday socks. That leaves August and October for some Me socks.

Finished socks are posted on the SAM4 blog. I'm looking forward to seeing all the different socks the group makes.

First month is August, so there's still plenty of time to sign up and join us.

Questions and Answers

First, thanks for all the well wishes for Glory's recovery from surgery.

She's still not perky, but she's alert, taking short leash walks, eating heartily, performing all necessary bodily functions, and doing lots of tail wagging.

That's not a horrible wound in the middle of the bandage, it's part of the bandage fabric. The side showing in the picture is not the shaved side with the incision.

So far she hasn't decided to rid herself of the bandage. It comes off tomorrow night.

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Vivian who blogs at Bits and Pieces asked . . .

Would you mind sharing some the books you listen to and what you think about them?

The perfect audio book for knitting is entertaining, often light (but not stupid), and not too difficult to follow. After all, I do occasionally have to count stitches and/or rows.

Some of my favorites from the past that quickly come to mind are:

• Perry Mason series by Erle Stanley Gardner
  
• Lincoln Rhyme series by Jeffery Deaver
  
• Dortmunder series by Donald Westlake
  
• Anna Pigeon series by Nevada Barr
  
• Harry Potter (I'll be listening to these again this summer in anticipation of the final book arriving in July.)

Going forward, I'll try to remember to mention when I'm listening to something good.

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Laurie asked . . .

The picture wasn't as clear as most of your other pictures. Maybe just that shot. what about posting the dove or phoebe pic from earlier in the week and seeing the difference.

When I was hosting my blog pictures on Picturetrail, they had one size, the size seen on my blog. I tried to get the pictures as clear as possible without having them take forever to upload. I'm still on dialup. It's a handicap.

Now that I'm hosting my pictures in Blogger, a reduced picture appears on the blog. It's not as clear as the Picturetrail picture. The benefit is that you can click on the picture to view it in much better detail than you were able to see with the Picturetrail hosting.

I'm already tired of mentioning the click in every post, but will continue to do so for the new people who stop by.

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Kathy who blogs at Runs With Needles asked . . .

Those pictures are with a point and click camera?

It is a fancy camera, but I've never bothered learning how to use all the fancy settings because when I set it on "Auto" it does magic.

All I ever do is zoom the lens in and out and press the button.

It was the perfect Christmas gift. I've been having a wonderful time with it. And, someday I'm going to read the manual and see what all those other buttons do.

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Shelly who blogs at Knitting and Praying asked . . .

Are you still enjoying the yarn? (Knitpicks Swish)

I like the Swish very much. It's knitting up so nice at the six stitches/inch. Great stitch definition, but still it's soft and I'm going to able to machine wash it.

This is my first time knitting with 100% superwash wool and I'm looking forward to seeing how it blocks out compared to regular wool.

Then, Shelly asked . . .

I really like Swish, too. So far, it's my favorite superwash worsted weight wool. May I ask what type of join you are using?

Click on any picture for more detail.

I'm sure this is a common type of join and has a name, but I don't know what it's called. Feel free to educate me.

First, split about six inches of the yarn on the needle and the end of the new yarn.

Overlap a new yarn section and old yarn section for about two inches.

Wind the new yarn section around the old yarn section following the original twist as much as possible.

Continue knitting, leaving the four half yarn tails hanging on the wrong side of the fabric.

Weave all four ends in separately. If the yarn grabs like wool, the ends can be clipped off after washing without having to weave them in.

Monday Miscellany

Beautiful Lace Knitting

Silvia from the Knitting in Japan Yahoo list is knitting the cover sweater from this Japanese Pattern book.

She has a couple of good size pieces done and they're gorgeous. They can be admired on the Knitting Elegance Blog.


Now I Have Room for More Sock Yarn
Last week I heard about Ronni who uses little balls of left over sock yarn to make colorful chemo caps for teens.

I had a medium size bin of nothing but little balls of left over sock yarn. For years I've been thinking I SHOULD use them for something. All the projects suitable for leftover sock yarn are not projects I want to knit, so the balls have been multiplying in my stash.

Not any more. They're on their way to Ronni. She's happy and I'm even happier. And relieved that they're gone.

Monday Was For the Dogs
Glory and Sunny were both at the vet by 8:30 this morning.

Sunny had her teeth cleaned. For you non-dog people, a doggy dental requires anesthetic.

Sunny gets very nervous at the vet's office. I was able to hold and comfort her until she was drugged and hold her while she came around after. Our vets are very good about that.

As I was bringing a wobbly Sunny home about ten, Glory was just going in for surgery to have a large lump removed from her side. It turned out to be a ten ounce lipoma (benign tumor composed of fatty tissue) under her muscle and between her ribs.

Now, late evening, Glory is home but still very groggy. She has an Ace bandage around her body from front legs to back legs and we're supposed to keep it on and dry for three days. We may succeed if it will stop raining.

For those sweet readers who wondered why my stress level was at three in last Friday's post, it was about Glory and her lump. She's almost eleven years old and I won't feel completely at ease about her until she's back to her normal, perky self and driving us crazy while we try to keep her quiet and dry.

Sky and Questions

I woke up this morning to thunder, lightening, rain, and a big black dog who doesn't like thunderstorms panting in my face.

This is a three day weekend, Memorial Day weekend, billed as the beginning of summer in SW Michigan. So, I feel for all the working people who were looking forward to a beautiful day off outdoors.

We need the rain, though. I'm happy to see it and so are all the plants.

Now for some questions I've recently received.

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Sister Carrie who is blogless and doesn't knit but is nice enough to read this blog anyway asked . . .

Don't mourning doves mate for life?

There are banding studies that show Mourning Doves do mate for life, however their life is not very long.

According to the Pennsylvania Game Commission - State Wildlife Management Agency:

Life expectancy: 70-80 percent of all newly-hatched doves do not live one year (i.e., for every 100 hatched in a summer, only 20-30 will live to breed the following summer). If a juvenile survives its first year, the attrition slows: adults have a 50 percent mortality rate. Average annual mortality for a stable population is estimated at 60 percent.

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Observant Shelly who blogs at Knitting and Praying asked . . .

Hmmm....your left/right brain dominance results only covered 88% of your brain. I wonder what the other 12% is?

I've been wondering the same thing.

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Theresa who blogs at Stitches of Grace asked . . .

I did get very excited when I saw your hummingbird moth. Would you mind taking a look at my May 13 post? I think it might be the same thing.

It sure is! Check out the terrific picture Theresa has of a hummingbird moth here.

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Sister Doris who is blogless and doesn't knit but is nice enough to read this blog anyway asked . . .

What is a gansey? It looks red to me. What's with the white?

Gansey sweaters were standard wear for 19th century British fishermen. They are wool with intricate knit-purl patterns, dropped shoulders, and easy fit in a tight gauge. Traditionally they were knit with dense, dark yarn.

The book I'm knitting from is called "Knitting Ganseys" by Beth Brown-Reinsel. It details all the traditional ways and techniques of making the various gansey parts.

One of the patterns at the end of the book is unimaginatively named "White Gansey" because it's knit in white yarn. I'm (mostly) following that pattern in red and so have unimaginatively named my sweater the Red White Gansey.

For those readers who haven't been here recently, the Red White Gansey project is here.

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Alicia sent an email and asked . . .

Amazed at how you whip out socks. Would you consider sharing on your blog (surely I am not the only one who needs help with speed) some tips and how you do it? What length of circulars do you use? My inquiring mind also wonders if you knit English or Continental, do you work in large blocks of time or in snippets of times during the day, etc

I knit Continental at a moderate speed.

What appears to be knit with speed has taken me just as long as an average knitter.

My kids are grown, I'm retired from a full time job, and have time to knit everyday.

I like to relax with my knitting for large blocks of time. Instead of watching TV in the evening, I listen to audio books from the library and knit away, often for hours.

When knitting in public or knitting in snippets of time, I have to knit simple things or I frequently end up frogging.

As for the circulars, 24 inches work best for me. My knitting style doesn't work well with the shorter metal part of the 16 inch needles, and 32 inches takes too much work to shift the sock from one end to the other.

I can knit socks just as quick, maybe even quicker, with double points. I use the circulars because they're less likely to stab a little dog who unexpectedly jumps into my lap.

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Winging Worsted Weight Socks

As promised, here is my formula for winging charity socks in knitting worsted. Whatever size they turn out, they will be in human proportion and will fit someone.

This is NOT a pattern. It assumes you know the basics of sock knitting such as how to turn a heel and decrease for a toe.

The sock in the picture was knit on #5 needles using the instructions in the example sock below. The yarn is 1.4 ounces, 85 yards, of Paton's worsted weight wool. The cuff measures 5.5 inches and the foot measures eight inches from back of heel to tip of toe.

It fits me, a woman's shoe size 6. For the CIC big kids challenge, I would call it a medium.

1. Cast on an even number of stitches from 30 (toddler size) to 48 (large teen size).
   
   Example: Cast on 40.
   
   
2. Rib until the number of rows = ~1/3 the stitches.
   
   Example: 1/3 of 40 =13. I like even numbers so I ribbed for 14 rows.
   
   
3. Finish cuff so total rows = number of stitches around.
   
   Example: 40 total rows - 14 cuff rows = 26 pattern rows.
   
   If you're doing a stitch pattern, adjust the number of rows so the bottom of the cuff ends on a pattern row that looks nice. All these numbers are approximate.
   
   If you've got plenty of yarn, the cuff can be a little longer. They can always be turned down at the top if the child is short.
   
   
4. Work heel on half the stitches.
   
   Example: 1/2 of 40 = 20 stitches heel and 20 stitches instep.
   
   Once again, a stitch or two isn't going to ruin the shape of the sock. I often do a cuff stitch pattern I want centered and end up with 19 stitches on the heel and 21 stitches on the instep. A make one in the middle of the first row of the heel brings the heel stitch count back up to 20.
   
   
5. Knit heel flap back and forth with the number of slip rows = ~ 1/3 number of total stitches around. On the last slip row, don't purl back.
   
   Example: 1/3 of 40 = 13 slip rows and 12 purl backs.
   
   Slip 1, knit 1 across right side. Purl back on wrong side. Repeat these two rows 12 times, then knit the slip row a 13th time.
   
   
6. Turn heel.
   
   First Row: Slip 1, purl # of stitches = half the heel stitches, purl 2 together, purl, turn.
   
   Second Row: Slip 1, knit 3, ssk, k, turn. Continue turning heel.
   
   Example:
   First Row: Slip 1, purl 10 (half of 20 = 10), p2tog, p, turn.
   
   
7. Pick up gusset stitches. # gusset stitches on each side = #slip rows or whatever works so you don't get a hole.
   
   Example: Pick up 13 or 14 gusset stitches on each side.
   
   
8. Reduce gusset stitches every other round until back to original number of stitches around.
   
   Example: That would be 40.
   
   
9. Using the gusset pickup row as Row 1, work foot until number of rows = number of stitches around.
   
   Example: Work 40 foot rows from gusset pickup.
   
   
10. Toe decrease every other row until half the stitches are gone.
    
    Example: Toe decrease every other row until a total of 20 stitches are left.
    
    
11. Decrease every round until 10 or 12 total stitches remain.
    
    Example: Toe decrease every row until a total of 10 stitches remain.
    
    
12. Kitchener and done.