I have finished my KAL dishcloths. This was a fun project – I really like the play between the raised and recessed parts of the pattern. It reminds me of a quilt my mom made for me. I did one in white and one in ecru. – the white didn’t show up very well in my photo (sorry not much of a photographer). I think these will be added to my personal collection of spa cloths. I just don’t see me putting dishwater on these beauties. Thanks Rainy for the pattern and thanks Andi for posting. The KAL has been a really fun way for me to improve my knitting skills.

I am in the home stretch of the mid-December KAL- this one has proved a challenge for my fledgling knitting skills. I am able to do the various stitches in the pattern but it requires a good deal of concentration – which is hard to find in a house full of kids. 🙂
Hopefully I will be finished with it before time to start the mid-January KAL.

Knit On!!

I completed the second sock MUCH faster than the first one. I was able to finish most of it from memory without having to refer to the tutorial. I am still having a bit of trouble with the kichener stitch but it is definitely a technique that will be worth learning. I just wish I could see what I am doing wrong on the last stitch. I have ended up with a loop on the last stitch both times and I don’t know why. I stitched the last sock slowly and deliberately hoping that I would see what I was doing wrong but as far as I can tell I am doing it exactly like the directions.

As you can see, I already have my second pair underway. This pair is for a friend in the colors of his favorite sports team. As you can see I have a few thread ends to clip and weave. I have also purchased yarn for the next two pairs after this one. Socks are great fun. I really like the portability of this project.

Here are the final steps of my first sock

The Dreaded Heel Turn
This wasn’t nearly as hard as I was expecting. I agree with Kristin that this step is truly magic. I still can’t believe that a few well-placed decreases will make the heel turn.

Gussets Complete
This was the first time I have picked up stitches. On the whole I found this more difficult than turning the heel but even this wasn’t as hard as I was expecting.

Instep of sock Complete
Ready to start the toe. I was wondering why I had so many stitches on one needle until I got ready to start the toe and then it became crystal clear.

Completed sock!!!!!!!!
The kicheners stitch is really amazing. With the exception of the last stitch, this seam is completely invisible.

My husband has been laughing at me all day because I have been wearing one sock. Admittedly, two would be considerably warmer. I will use that as incentive to finish the second sock quickly. I have gotten it cast on already.

I have now frogged those pesky little backward stitches, turned my sock inside out and made sure that I didn’t drop any stitches in the process. Turns out that my cuff looks better on this side so I am happy about that. I am ready to begin my heel flap once again. Hopefully I will have more success this time. If not I may be binding off and making myself a wrist warmer, or a can cozy or possibly a telescope protector or a flashlight cover – well you get the idea. I am SO glad that I didn’t just keep knitting. I am also glad that I had that bunch of cast on stitches on a dpn where I have been practicing the long tail cast on. It made finding my mistake much faster. This sock is becoming quite the learning experience. Wish me luck as I press on.

Knit on!!

OOPS!!!! I knew it was too good to be true. Everything was going so well on my sock until I got to the heel. Once I started knitting the heel flap I realized that my stitches didn’t look like Kristin’s (aka Silver). My stitches were inside out to what Kristin was doing. PANIC TIME!!!!!! I went back and reread the directions about a dozen times and I even watched the double point knitting video on knittinghelp.com but I still couldn’t see where I had made any mistake. In desperation I emailed everyone I knew who could knit including Kristen (Silver) though not really expecting her to answer. An hour or so later, Kristin came to the rescue. Turns out I was knitting on the inside of my circle instead of the outside (could explain the cramp I was getting in my right hand). She patiently answered questions until I realized what I was doing wrong and kindly suggested a solution that didn’t involve frogging the whole sock. I only needed to rip the few rows of heel flap that I had knitted, turn the sock inside out and Voila! I am ready to continue on with the heel. Relatively painless. She did say that I might have to deal with a twisted stitch or two but that is a very small price to pay to keep from starting completely over. And as it turns out it is easier to knit when you are working on the outside of the circle rather than the inside. Thank you SSOOOOOO much for all your help Kristin. I don’t know who Kristin really is but apparently she is the patron saint of sock knitters. She is definitely a real Sock Saver and a hero in my book. THANK YOU KRISTIN!!!!!!