Knitting

Patterns, projects and techniques

Simply Socks Yarn

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New colors, new patterns, new self striping or self patterning yarns….  Where’s all of this going? Well, if you’ve been following my ramblings, you know that I’m now among the ranks of those proudly known as “avid sock knitters”! And I do things like commemorate important events in my  life with a purchase of sock yarn that will remind me of said event.

And now where is this going? Well, I’m glad you asked. Just a month or so ago, I bought myself a new motorcycle. Well, ok, it’s not new, but it’s new to me and since it’s mine and I paid for it, I can call it new. But, alas, I have not found the PERFECT yarn with which to commemorate this event… until now! Behold:

StepCoctail_115_1Not only are these super cool, they’re a pretty close color match to my *new* bike! (Oh, they come in other colors too, just in case you were wondering).

Hmmmm, my credit card is itching and fingers are reaching……

Hurry, go here before I get it all…..http://www.simplysockyarn.com/servlet/Categories?category=SOCK+YARN%3AAustermann,+Step+Cocktail

Looking for more knitted socks designs and patterns to keep you warm this winter? Check out these knitted sock patterns on Etsy.

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Comments

  1. Love the sock yarn! Congrats on your new bike! Too bad they don’t have an RED…cause that’s the color of MY new bike!

Have you read?

Make Your Knitting Machine Scarves Better

I feel like it’s been a while since I’ve shared any patterns for our circular knitting machine users. I know these devices aren’t for everyone but even though I much prefer knitting by hand, it is kind of fun to crank things out on these machines.

One of the most common early projects for a circular knitting machine is a scarf. Which makes sense, because it’s just one long tube and you can make it as long as you like.

One problem that comes from knitting scarves on the circular knitting machine, though, is that it can be hard to know how to finish the ends of the tube so that it looks like a finished scarf and not a tube of knitting.

If you’re not a knitter or crocheter, the most basic way to finish a circular knitting machine scarf is just by cinching up the ends and maybe adding a pompom to each end to cover up any hole that might still be visible at the end.

But if you have a little knitting or crochet skill or are willing to learn, there are a lot of different options for closing up the ends of a scarf. And this would also be true if you hand knit a tube scarf!

I recently wrote a post over at Our Daily Craft that includes five different ways to close up the ends of a tube scarf:

  • the simple cinching method mentioned above
  • sewing the stitches together
  • three needle bind off
  • grafting
  • crochet bind off

Grafting is my favorite because I feel like it gives the cleanest, closest to a seamless look. If you’re a knitter you may already know how to do it but even if you don’t it’s not that hard to learn.

Do you knit tube scarves by hand or machine? I’d love to know how you like to finish them!