I'm hooked!

Not my fault. My sister made me do it.

I was an innocent knitter, happily motoring along on my gazillion projects, and then! my sister started crocheting. Uh oh. Her crochet bug bit me, and now (pun intended) I'm hooked. Resistance is futile; I've been infected. My poor knitting.

Yesterday I was a wee bit under the weather, and had about as much energy as a sloth. So I spent much of the day on my favorite couch surrounded by yarns, crochet books, hooks, and other paraphernalia. It was a sad moment, I tell you. Innocent little knitter me parked on a very comfy couch and in great light and those dratted books, hooks and yarns. What was I to do? My pretty little shawl just sat in her bag, totally ignored, while I hooked by the hour. I hooked and frogged just about the entire day, and the net result is pathetic. 4 bits of projects, one of which is going to bite the dust. What you are not seeing are all the frogged stuff. Lots of it. This hooky business is an addiction.

Here is a winner. I hooked the first square, went "meh", gave it a wet block, and then made another and attached it as I went along. Hmmm. I rather like it. It's interesting to hook.



This motif was done in 4 different yarns and mostly in one color, and then Mandarin Petit appeared at my elbow, and voila, a motif was born. What I'm going to do with it is anybody's guess. I'm thinking of doing another round in white, maybe, just to offset the unbearable preppiness of the colors. I don't know. I don't want to do a blankie all in cotton. It's very pricey, and will be heavy. I'm thinking of maybe some Baby Ull. I wouldn't have to dye it, and it is a lovely yarn, and skinny. Hmmm. This takes some serious thinking here. But I like the idea enough to play with it some more. That'll be attempt #6 on this baby.



Here's a yarn that's driving me crazy. I love love love the colorway and can't seem to settle on a pattern. I'm not wild about this little scarf so far: I love the pattern which is autopilot, but I think the colors get in the way of seeing what I've hooked. So, back to the frog pile yet again. Any brilliant ideas on what to do with this yarn? I'm pretty good at figuring out variegated yarn patterns, but this one has me stumped. I suppose I could yet another pair of Roundabout socks; I know that would work well, but I really want something different. I think a little shawl might be possible. Stay tuned; this yarn WILL be used in something pretty, but what I don't yet know.



Now this one is a keeper. Yet another zigzag crochet scarf, with a different pattern than the others I've done, but very soothing to work on, and the yarn is not too crazy so that the pattern can be seen. This one is in my new Bambi yarn, and I like it very much indeed.



If only I had taken pics of all the stuff I frogged; then you'd really be impressed with my activity, but I didn't.

Today is a vertigo day. What can I say? Sometimes it just arrives and I have to deal with it. Blech. At least I got tons of work done on Mon and Tues. Elder DD is coming out for a visit, and is arriving this afternoon, so I'll have lovely company. I was going to visit the Mommie, and the farmers' market, and some errands, but the world is spinning and I'm not great for driving. Not to worry, it'll go away sooner or later, hopefully sooner.

So, back to the couch and the hooks and the yarns and the books. If you're not feeling up to par, this is not a bad way to spend the day. I think my WOTFT (what's on tap for today) is a bit of laundry, making a bread, and taking it easy. I can handle that. But tomorrow, I want to dye, so this better be gone and soon.

Totally off topic, I'm embarrassed to admit that I can make a pretty mean loaf of bread in the bread machine. Hey, I'm a real bread baker from way back when! I use the machine to knead, and that's all. I love the mixing, the shaping, the smell, the whole 9 yards, but the other day, I had a yen and we were out of bread, and it was really hot, so I thought I would actually bake in the machine. And you know what? The loaf came out very very nice. I used buttermilk, lavender and lemon in it, and a medium crust. OK, it came out as a very light crust, and the bread looked like something that kids would eat: not dark and crusty the way I like it. But, oh the taste! What a bread! So today, in my dizzy spell, I'm going to do it again. Same ingredients because the taste was amazing. Shhh, don't tell anyone.

Off to slave away.

itsJUSTme - I also started doing doilies when I was a kid! Can you imagine? Now my eyes would need magnification for all those tiny holes, but it was fun to do. I put a bread up in the machine again. It's way too hot to put on the oven, no?

Leedra - Yep my head is really really dizzy and the hot flashes don't help much either. Sitting, knitting and hooking are my speed today.

Jadielady - I hear you. My poor knitting is languishing while I try out a gazillion crochet stitches.

Roundabout Socks

Ta Da! Here is the sock pattern for my Roundabout Socks.

Roundabout Socks

They go around and around, just like a traffic circle.

Cuff down.
Gauge: 7.75 sts/inch
Double pointed needles, 2 circular needles, or magic loop needle – your choice. I use 2 circular needles.

Needle size to get my gauge: #1, 2.5mm. You use what works for you.

Yarn: sock weight yarn, approximately 300-400 yards, depending on how big or how long your foot is. A 4 oz skein ought to do it.


Instructions are for a 56 st. sock. If you have a larger foot, use 64 sts.

Pattern: multiple of 8.

Round 1: *ssk, k3, yo, k3* Continue in this pattern around the sock.
Round 2: Knit

Repeat these 2 rounds for the leg of the sock.

Cast on: 56 sts (64 sts) on whatever needle method you choose. Cast on over 2 needles held together, so that the sock will easily stretch over your foot. Make sure that you don’t twist the yarn. Join the stitches into a circle.

Divide your stitches so that each needle holds a multiple of 8. It’s just easier to knit this way.


Leg: Work a k2, p2 ribbing for 1 inch.
Work in pattern for desired length.

Heel: Arrange stitches so that half of the total stitches are on one needle, and the other half are on the other needle.
For a 56 stitch sock, you will have 28 sts on each needle on 2 circulars; for a 64 stitch sock, you will have 32 stitches on each needle.

Working on either 28 or 32 stitches only, on the heel side, slip the first stitch, and then purl back.

Heel pattern: Row 1: *sl 1, k1* across the row.
Row 2: sl 1, purl across

Proceed with these two rows until you have worked 28 (32) rows.

Turn heel: Row 1: On rt side, k15 (17), ssk, k1. Turn
Row 2: sl 1, p3, p2tog, p1. Turn
Row 3: sl 1, k4, ssk, k1. Turn
Row 4: sl 1, p5, p2tog, p1. Turn
Repeat these rows, always adding one more stitch to the center ones, until you have used up all the stitches. You should end up with 16 (18) stitches.

Heel gusset: On right side of sock, work across the heel stitches. Then pick up 14 (16) stitches. Knit across the instep (the front of the sock). Pick up 14 (16) stitches . From here on, you will work in stockinette for the rest of the sock.

To shape the gusset, you will work alternate dec and plain rounds.
Dec round: Work to 3 sts before the end of the back sts. K2tog, k1. Work the instep. Then, at the beginning of the back stitches, k1, ssk, and knit.

Plain round: Knit.

Repeat these 2 rounds, decreasing one stitch at each end of the back stitches every other round until you have 56 (64) stitches left. You will have half of the stitches on one needle, and half on the other.

Foot: Work in stockinette until foot is about 1.5 inches before the end.

Shape toe: Round 1: K1, ssk, work until 3 sts from the end of the needle, k2tog, k1. Repeat on the other needle.
Round 2: Work plain.

Work these 2 rounds until 10 sts remain on each needle. Finish the sock by grafting the stitches together using the Kitchener stitch.

Weave in your ends. Make the second sock.

You did it! Now you too can go around and around the circle.



Thanks to all of you for your lovely comments! I haven't yet figured out how to reply individually to you, so this is my response.

To those who like to knit toe up, just do the pattern on the leg. It's that simple.

Stampingdreams - Look at it this way: ssk = 1 stitch, k3 = 3 sts, yo = 1 stitch, k3 = 3 stitches. Add them up and you have 8 sts.

In other words, *ssk, then k3, then do a yarn over, k3*, and repeat this until you've finished the round. Next round, knit. Keep repeating these 2 rounds. What will happen magically is that the leg will torque. That's what's supposed to happen.

If you are on Ravelry, pm me there. My name there is ruth. And you can send me pics or I can send you some.