Toe-up socks

L's first pair of toe-up socks went well. The Bernat sox yarn finally spoke to her and told her what it would like to be. She enjoyed knitting up from the toe. It was not unusual to see her hopping around on one foot with an unfinished sock on the other.

Here's a handy tip for you. Don't step on knitting needles. It will either be very painful for you, for the knitting needles, or for everyone involved.

These socks have a lovely wave-type pattern that doesn't show up as well as was expected. Try squinting a little bit.


Did you see it? Do you see the waves?

All wave issues, aside, these socks certainly look warm and toasty. Current temperature outside? About seventy degrees Fahrenheit. Maybe the next project should be a wool sweater or something light like that.

Torvald the Gnome

Teeny Torvald here was knit using Alan Dart's Teeny Tomte pattern. Alan Dart (http://www.alandart.co.uk/) has quite a selection of lovely knitting patterns available on his website. I'm definitely looking forward to trying more in the future.

There were some issues translating Torvald from an English knitting pattern into my Americanized intelligence. For instance I had no 3mm knitting needles and so was forced to use US size three. A couple of the stitch/pattern names also were a little different than those I knew.


Much to my surprise, Torvald was knit flat and then mattress-stitched together. On my next foray into the world of gnomes, I plan to attempt knitting in the round, since that much stitching feels like a complete waste of time. In these pictures you can see that he isn't quite finished ans still has some loose yarn strands floating around.


This was a really enjoyable project. The size was fairly small, so I didn't have to wait too long to be finished. And Torvald is very cute.

Another new knitter

Naomi has joined the hordes of needle-brandishing people. She did it in her typically quiet, subdued, perfectionist way - sneaking upstairs to see if she could do it on her own first.

She can. And she has nearly as much speed as I do, demonstrating a natural dexterity that I wish I could imitate. She has not yet progressed to knitting in the Continental style as does L, but I feel that a change in style may be in her future.

For now she works diligently on her chosen project. She knit the half of a scarf shown in the picture in less than twenty-four hours. Speedy, indeed.