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Giveaway….Knitting Socks With Handpainted Yarn

July 18, 2009 by Terrye

yarnTotally cool book! Knitting Socks with Handpainted Yarn by Carol J Sulcoski goes into detail about the differences between hand dyed vs machine dyed yarns, different fibers, and blends. Oooooh, the blends!

And the patterns!  Gorgeous patterns, not just for handpaints, but for any yarns.

Tips for avoiding splotching and pooling. Ideas for choosing patterns that complement the yarns and guidelines for understanding how the colors in a sock work together! – Funny story….. I’m soooooo not the person who cares if my socks pool, or splotch or even match. It just doesn’t matter to me, but this last pair of socks I knitted are I.D.E.N.T.I.C.A.L!!  Of course I’m taking credit for this, but between you and me, I knit until I was happy with how long the cuff was (toe up patterns and I are bff!), and then just started with the toe on the next one. No amount of planning could replicate this freak of nature, but they match. And I don’t care! Who’da thunk??

Anyway, tell me about your sock horror stories, I’ll send an email to everyone who comments and as usual, the first one to respond back to me with their mailing address gets this awesome book!

And if you don’t win the book, you can buy it at Interweave Press, here: http://www.interweavestore.com/store/p/2274-Knitting-Socks-with-Handpainted-Yarn.aspx

They even have a few hurt copies at a discount, but hurry!

Next Pattern:

  • How Do You Put Yarn in a Yarn Holder?
  • Book Review - Knitting Socks: Quick and Easy Way to…
  • Knitting Pattern - Spring In The Air Socks
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Comments

  1. Eleanor (undeadgoat) says

    July 18, 2009 at 7:56 am

    I don’t have any pooling/flashing horror stories, but the last time I had to find a pattern for a special skein of handpainted yarn I kept swatching, then having pooling, and nearly scuzzed up the bamboo-blend yarn beyond usability before I found something that worked.

  2. Annette says

    July 18, 2009 at 8:09 am

    My ‘horror’ sock experience was trying to knit two at a time with two needles. Way to many things hanging and dangling!

    I’m a magic loop kind of gal with a great toe up pattern! I turn the heel with no pick up stitches. yumm!

  3. Gina says

    July 18, 2009 at 8:27 am

    Hmmm, sock horror stories…. usually my horror stories involve lace, lol, but my worst sock experience was using a REALLY expensive cashmere blend sock yarn that wanted to split at any given opportunity. I ended up finishing the socks because I was afraid the yarn would be trashed and not good for anything else. In the end they looked great, but I think I ground a quarter inch off my teeth!

  4. Nicole says

    July 18, 2009 at 8:49 am

    I don’t have any experienced ‘horror’ stories other then the fact that I am very afraid to start sock knitting with handpainted yarns. I have a few skeins of handpainted sock yarn that has been begging to be cast on but have yet to do so because of my inability to choose a pattern that would work with the yarns. Sounds like this book would help me with that conundrum.

  5. Lesley says

    July 18, 2009 at 11:47 am

    I just have an incredibly hard time knitting socks, for some reason. I always have to start them 5-10 times before I get a good beat going. Not the worst horror story, I know, but pretty difficult. Thanks!

  6. BeckyS says

    July 18, 2009 at 2:09 pm

    I just ripped out most of a foot (toe up is the only way I go)because of pooling. I mean, who wants to wear socks that have eyeballs looking up at them? Creepy!

  7. Christine Mc says

    July 18, 2009 at 7:37 pm

    I’m brand new to the addiction of sock making – and in spite of having my first sock look like it could fit an elephant, I’m hooked. I have a comfortably snug cuff and a reasonably well fitting foot with a GIGANTIC ankle and body. The mate fits well but is definitely blotchy. Oh well…at least I have a pair of socks that I can stash away for the next family member who sprains an ankle – the elephant one could easily hold a package of frozen peas for cold therapy!

  8. Jeanne says

    July 18, 2009 at 8:40 pm

    I don’t really have a sock horror story – one thing though, I tried an unconventional way to knit socks by a very popular sock designer – I had to rip back at least 3 times to get the foot length correct – I guess I don’t know what an ankle bone is.

  9. Mariane C says

    July 19, 2009 at 7:07 am

    I just had a toe up gusset go nuts on me. My yarn was striping very nicely until the 1st gusset increases. That was all it took…2 extra stitches to start the crazy z-ing. I keep knitting to the leg and ended pulling the whole thing back down to before the increase in did a short row heel!

  10. Lauren says

    July 19, 2009 at 10:58 am

    I can’t turn the heel! AH! no matter what pattern I use, what kind of yarn, I just can’t get past the heel. So I have a bunch of sock toes lying around lol.

  11. Turtle says

    July 19, 2009 at 11:03 am

    no real horror stories aside form horrid pooling, a bit uneven, still grasping toe up’s and the short foot! The last toer ups are sitting up on the needles for over a year now….yikes!

  12. Mariam Marhoon says

    July 19, 2009 at 11:25 am

    I dont have a horror story with socks .. We actually used to have lots of fun with them

  13. Mia says

    July 19, 2009 at 11:48 am

    I have the you can see them from outer space socks. The colors pooled like crazy no matter what I did. But they turned out to be perfect for my pre-teen niece. Apparently the more they scream the better they are to wear to school. And that book is fantastic too. I keep looking at it at the store but haven’t bought it yet.

  14. Jennifer says

    July 19, 2009 at 2:03 pm

    I have tried to knit socks once. I gave up because they looked horrid. I am still a sock virgin.

  15. Carmen says

    July 19, 2009 at 6:14 pm

    I haven’t made socks yet, but I’m anxious to try. I need more colorful socks in my wardrobe!

  16. Linda says

    July 20, 2009 at 9:06 am

    No horror stories yet – just a couple of nice pairs of socks. Perhaps I’ve just been lucky so far?!

  17. Anne says

    July 21, 2009 at 10:00 am

    My horror story doesn’t have to do with pooling or flashing but instructions and writing down your modifications. I put a pair of socks I was working on aside to work on other projects. When I went back to them months later, I realized that I didn’t mark where I was on the chart and had modified things but hadn’t noted those changes anywhere. I ended up frogging them and starting another pair of socks with the yarn.

  18. ikkinlala says

    July 21, 2009 at 2:12 pm

    I can’t think of any real horror stories with socks except for dropping a stitch in a lace pattern – it didn’t actually go far, but I was a new enough/confused enough lace knitter that I frogged back to the cuff.

Have you read?

Knit a Great Button Down Shirt

Just about anything you can make in fabric you can make in knitting, but there are some styles that you just don’t see that often translated into knitting. 

For example, a button down collared shirt. This is a classic design, of course, and it looks great in a knit version, but it’s just not something you see much of. 

Noma Ndlovu’s Guglethu shirt is the pattern to try if you want to knit your own button down shirt. This one is inspired by cashmere tops (though the sample was made out of yak yarn, not cashmere, and uses two strands of lace weight yarn held together) and includes lots of high-fashion details like double-knit cuffs, collar and shoulder seams. 

It has a patch pocket on the front and 10 buttons including the button band and the cuffs. 

The designer says you can also use a DK weight yarn held singly if you’d rather, and that the shirt looks good in a variety of yarns. There is another version on Ravelry that uses Berroco Remix Light, which is a mix of nylon, cotton, acrylic, silk and cellulose fibers. It has a more relaxed look but it still really pretty. 

The pattern has 12 sizes, with a full bust measurement ranging from 32.35 to 72.25 inches, or 82 to 183.5 cm. The designer suggests 2 to 6 inches, or 5 to 15 cm, of positive ease when you pick your size. I could totally see knitting one that’s even bigger to wear more like a jacket, because I do that a lot with button down shirts I already own.

I love all the details on this shirt, which isn’t necessarily difficult to knit, but might introduce you to some things you’ve never knit before (like those cuffs with the plackets, or a shirt collar like this). 

To learn more about this shirt and grab a copy of the pattern for yourself, head to Ravelry. 

[Photo: Noma Ndlovu]

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