nonaKnits

Help! Nona Cannot Stop Making Footlets!

Nona is having way too much fun with these footlets.  I love how the toe and heel are shaped exactly the same using short rows.   I've modified the cuff to use ribbing instead of garter stitch -- believe you me, the ribbing cuff is far superior.  This pair is off to nona-sister4.  What next?  Well my Catherine Lowe kit just arrived in the mail, stay tuned...

Nona cannot stop with the footlets!

Multiplier Madness

I have a pattern I love, but want to use a yarn with a different gauge.  What's a girl to do?  Nona, my friend, use the gauge multiplier.

Remember, nona loves numbers so she thinks the gauge multiplier is really fun.  Here is how it works.  The first step is to make a gauge swatch -- if you're a knitter who refuses to make gauge swatches, then this technique is not for you.  Using your gauge swatch, measure your stitch and row gauge.  Next, for the pattern you wish to use, find the pattern's stitch and row gauge.  On to a bit of easy math, don't worry you can use a calculator -- nona does.  Calculate the stitch multiplier by dividing your stitch gauge by the pattern's stitch gauge.  Similarly, calculate the row multiplier by dividing your row gauge by the pattern's row gauge.  Finally, convert to pattern by multipling all stitch numbers by the stitch multiplier and all row numbers by the row multiplier.

Let's look at an example.  I loved making the Eastern European Footlets from the winter 2003 issue of Interweave Knits, but wanted to make my next pair using Rowan Chunky Print.  My stitch gauge using the Chunky Print is 12 stitches in 4 inches as compared to the pattern's stitch gauge of 28 stitches in 4 inches.  Divide 12 (my stitch gauge) by 28 (pattern's stitch gauge) to get .43, the stitch multiplier.  Using this stitch multiplier, convert the pattern.  Here is the beginning of the original pattern:

...CO 29 sts.  Work short rows as follows ... until there are 11 sts between yarnovers...

Each of the stitch numbers, 29 and 11, need to be multiplied by the stitch multiplier, .43.  This results in the following converted pattern:

...CO 13 sts.  Work short rows as follows ... until there are 5 sts between yarnovers...

This pattern did not have any row numbers (all lengths were specified in inches), so I didn't need the row multiplier.  It's as easy as that.  And here's the result, of course nona couldn't resist felting them and giving them to nona-niece...

Chunky and Felted Footlets

Footlet Fun

Nona, honey, your socks don't match.  Thank you, kind reader, for worrying about my fashion sense, but there are two things I must tell you.  First, they are not socks, they are footlets.  And second, hand knit socks should never match.   Why you ask?  Perhaps it's bad luck, perhaps it highlights the hand craftness -- is that a word? -- of the footlets, or perhaps it's just too darn boring to knit two exactly the same!  Nona loves not following rules.

 

Finished Footlets

What fun the footlets were to knit.  They were knit from the toe to the cuff, using the same short row shaping for both toe and heel.  I absolutely loved, loved, loved the short row shaping, which featured a YO instead of a wrapped stitch at each row turn.  It's too soon to tell, but I think I like the feel and wear of the short rowed heel over the more traditional heel flap.  I loved this project so much, I'm going to make another pair using denim blue and lime green Koigu and experiment making a chunkier pair using Rowan's Chunky Print.  Nona is a footlet fan!  The Complete Footlet Photo Spread

Yarn for the next 2 pairs of footlets ... Could they be presents for someone?

Girl on the Rebound

Nona's on the rebound, the sock rebound, from the disappointing nesting sock project.  When in doubt return home to the tried-and-true and for me and socks -- or is it socks and I -- that's one of two people, Nancy Bush or Priscilla Gibson-Roberts.  I consider Nancy's "A Classic Sock Pattern" in Folk Socks to be just that, a classic.  But I wasn't in the mood for classic, nona was on the rebound and on the prowl for something new.  While prowling, I came across Priscilla's "Eastern European Footlets" in the winter 2003 issue of Interweave Knits.  These socks are knit from the toe up -- that's different -- plus both the toe and heal shaping are done using short rows -- nona loves short rows.  Intriguing, perfect for a girl on the rebound!

Using Koigu merino in chocolate brown and raspberry and US 2 needles I provisionally cast on 29 sts and never looked back.  By the way, did you know that chocolate brown is the new black?  For me, shaping the toe and heal using short rows was pure magic and I loved working with the fine wool and needles.  I'm very happy with this new relationship and am looking forward to the second sock. Footlet Photo Spread