nonaSwatches

11-15 june, 2007

I'm taking 5 days off from swatching as I prepare a secret item for Friday's Knitty submission deadline.  I'll give you a hint, what I'm submitting was swatched here when it was cold and rainy.

10 june, 2007

In the 6th and final installment -- The Grand Finale -- of the Sidewinders pattern, a long vertical graft and a short horizontal graft turn a funny looking flat thing into a finished sock -- magic.

Yarn:	Opal's Rainforest Collection sock yarn
Needles:	US 2
Gauge:	30 stitches and 40 rows in 4 inches

9 june, 2007

In the 5th installment -- Act IV -- of the Sidewinders pattern, the second half of the heel was shaped using paired increases.  Tomorrow, in the Grand Finale this flat, crazy looking sock will be joined into a tube and will become a finished sock.

Yarn:	Opal's Rainforest Collection sock yarn
Needles:	US 2
Gauge:	30 stitches and 40 rows in 4 inches

8 june, 2007

In the 4th installment -- Act III -- of the Sidewinder pattern, the second half of the toe was shaped using paired decreases.  Tomorrow, the second half of the heel will be shaped and the knitting of the sock will be completed.

Yarn:	Opal's Rainforest Collection sock yarn
Needles:	US 2
Gauge:	30 stitches and 40 rows in 4 inches

6 june, 2007

In the 3rd installment -- Act II -- of the Sidewinder pattern, the first half of the toe was shaped using paired increases.  Tomorrow, the second half of the toe will be shaped just like the heel.

Yarn:	Opal's Rainforest Collection sock yarn
Needles:	US 2
Gauge:	30 stitches and 40 rows in 4 inches

5 june, 2007

This week is all about the Sidewinders.  I'm posting the pattern -- serial style -- over at nonaKnits and will be using nonaSwatches to test knit the instructions for the 6-7W size.  Today in Act I we casted on and shaped the first half of the heel using paired decreases.  So far so good.

Yarn:	Opal's Rainforest Collection sock yarn
Needles:	US 2
Gauge:	30 stitches and 40 rows in 4 inches

4 june, 2007

I cannot believe these words are actually coming out of my mouth, but, "I felt more like reading tonight than I did like knitting".  So I picked a swatch that I could knit while I read.  What am I reading Gina asks?  Pattern Recognition by William Gibson.

Yarn:	Rowan's HandKnit Cotton
Needles:	US 6
Stitch:	Mindless Garter Stitch

3 june, 2007

Boy I had a hard time getting this one going, but once the kinks were out it was smooth sailing.  I love how Interweave Knits publishes a high quality sock pattern in each of its issues and was thrilled when they republished them in Favorite Socks.

Yarn:	Rowan's 4-Ply Soft
Needles:	US 4
Stitch:	Estonian Cables
Source:	Stitch Pattern for "Meida's Socks" design by Nancy Bush for Interweave Knits and re-published in Favorite Socks, page 70

2 june, 2007

Another sideways sock gauge swatch.  By the way, have you ever knit with Louet Gems?  This is my first time and I like it a lot!

Yarn:	Louet Gems
Needles:	Bottom: US 2 Top: US 3
Gauge:	Top: 30 stitches and 40 rows in 4 inches -- what I'm shooting for.

1 june, 2007

These swatches will be used in the "Knitting 911" class I'm teaching tomorrow.  This class is a blast -- my swatches are full of mistakes that we fix in class.  Everything from an incorrect stitch mount, to a missed stitch, to a dropped stitch, to dropping a stitch on purpose to fix a mistake, to ripping, to tinking, to the grand finale -- cutting the knitting.    What can I say, it's empowering!  Once you can fix mistakes you no longer worry about making them -- fear not your knitting :-)