A Hole In One

This is why I don't do knitted socks for myself.



Remember these slipper socks? I just had finished them in January and now I've worn a hole in the sole. Could be because they were not knit at a tighter gauge, could be the yarn type, could be I wore them too much. And yes I do drag my feet, one foot in particular because I have a slight scoliosis back problem - so I cannot fix that, but I really like warm slippers.

The crocheted ones seem to be holding up better but I prefer knitted ones.
So I fiddled around with a generic garter stitch type slipper and left the sole part until last.
I picked up 12 sts at the black stripe and knitted back towards the heel, picking up and knitting together the ends of the cuff stitches.
The plan is that when I wear a hole in the sole, I can unravel it and re-do it. We'll see....



At least they are bright and cheery!

Finished Objects

I finished this seaming up my machine & handknit sweater sometime ago, but have not been feeling well enough to post. Today I am trying to catch up on all computer chores, email, etc.

So I proudly present the Finished Object!



Conclusion - I think I like this construction method!



And here is a cute little baby sized poncho I crocheted. I added the ribbon just for show and instead of fringe, I crocheted a little loopy edging.

Pattern can be found here.

Machine Knit Plus Hand Knit Fun

Here's another example of my wierd machine and handknit experiments.
I love handknitting fairisle - I hate doing it on the machine. I've tried but I get much better results by hand knitting.
Started this little sweater - another Mary Rich Goodwin pattern - and here you can see I've completed it up to the part where you separate the sleeves from the body.





I then hung each sleeve, front and back on my knitting machine and knit the stockinette part.



Now I will just work the fairisle borders and ribbing by hand and then sew up the seams.
I'm pretty good at seaming up so I don't mind that part.

Pam asked what kind of machine I am using. It's a Bond aka Incredible Sweater Machine aka Ultimate Sweater Machine.
It sure comes in handy for those stockinette parts!

Sweaters For Charity

I'm still busy working on sweaters for the Cheyenne River Reservation Sweater Challenge.
There is no specific number of sweaters one has to make or needs to make. It's all up to what and how many one wants to make and send.

Being that it is very cold up in South Dakota right now, I am trying to make as many as I can.

If anyone is interested they can send sweaters to any of the addresses listed on the homepage of our Yahoo Group - Native American Support


My Latest Sweater Experiments

I'm getting quite good at working up these small sweaters on my ISM. I was having a problem rehanging the sleeves, but now I pick up and knit the first row by hand and then transfer to the machine.

Here's a little green sweater whose yoke was made first in garter stitch and then the other parts hung on the machine to knit up.





I saw a sweater with this type of rectangular yoke in an old Knitters magazine. So I thought I could knit it up by hand then attach the ends and continue on using the machine.



Garter stitch stretches and is larger in gauge than stockinette stitch, so the top is a bit larger.
I think next time I will try a ribbed yoke to draw in the neckline.