A First Step in Sock Knitting

Note from the SpaceCadet:  My friend Amy (DPUTiger on Ravelry) is a knitting teacher, a quilter, and a newly-minted weaver.  And she’s been kind enough to write about her favourite way to start new sock knitters on their journey…

Socks seem to be part of the “Magical Mystery Tour” of knitting. Somehow, people get all freaked out with sock heels, short rows, gussets, kitchener stitch … the list goes on.

And with all these amazing hand-dyed yarns to choose from, why not add sock knitting to your repertoire?

I teach sock knitting at Bloomin’ Yarns, my LYS.  On Ravelry, I’d say one of the questions I see most often is how to get started with sock knitting. I have a prefab answer that I use over there, but you lucky folks get the expanded version with the why’s and wherefores behind my answer.

The number one thing that I recommend for a first sock is usually Fuzzy Feet. It’s a free pattern from the Winter, 2002 issue of Knitty.com. Why do I like it so much for a first sock?

knitting, sock yarn, sock knitting, tutorial, fuzzy feet, knitty.

The first reason is that it calls for a worsted weight yarn. I believe that using fingering weight yarn and sock-sized needles is a skill all by itself. When you are used to using worsted weight yarns and needles in the neighborhood of a US 8, it’s a big change to go down to 8 sts/inch and a 2.5mm needle. And it’s better to learn one thing at a time, not two.

If you already do enjoy small needles and want to jump right in with that set-up, then you can go wind your next skein of SpaceCadet so you’re ready to roll with my next guest post.

So what else is so great about Fuzzy Feet?

They are knit with a worsted weight feltable wool (like Cascade 220) on US 10.5 needles, which makes them very quick to knit. I usually use a 16” circ, so I don’t even have to mess with a small-circumference technique like DPNs (double-pointed needles), two circular needles or Magic Loop. The construction is identical to a traditional top-down sock so you can learn the process with great big comfy needles. And the best part? It doesn’t matter in the least if you mess up, because when you’re done… you felt the slippers.

knitting, sock knitting, felting, fuzzy feet.

Have you ever felted anything before? There is virtually no stitch definition left after the felting process so those wonky short rows to turn the heel? Those gusset stitches that you picked up that are a little loose and open? The kitchener stitch at the toe that isn’t quite perfect? Gone. All of it.

You wind up with a pair of comfortable, warm slippers. And you learned the mechanics of sock knitting! Even my uber-picky husband likes his Fuzzy Feet. He’s on pair #2, since he walked through his first pair by the end of Winter #3.

knitting, sock yarn, sock knitting, fuzzy feet, tutorial.

So what’s the next step after you’ve finished your Fuzzy Feet? I’ll be back to talk about that next time!

Podcasts: Fibery Goodness Whispered in Your Ear

When I finally bought an MP3 player last year, I thought I’d be using it to listen to music, but it turns out that what I really listen to are fiber podcasts.   I love ’em!  Ever since I discovered there were these people out there just talking away about knitting, spinning, weaving, and dyeing, I’ve been addicted.  Who wouldn’t be?  A nearly endless source of people who get it and are right there, on tap, ready at any time of day or night to whisper in my ear about all thing fibery — while I’m doing the dishes or sweeping the floor or stuck in traffic or inexplicably wide awake in the dead of night.  Who wouldn’t be hooked?!?

Well… ok, I know there are a lot of people who wouldn’t be, but that’s only because they’re not fiber freaks like you and I.  In fiberista terms,the people who matter are the people who understand the allure of fiber, and that’s me, and you …and the podcasters.  Here are some of my absolute favourites:

Cast-On from Brenda Dayne is the first fiber podcast I discovered and I think it is the absolute best — a benchmark for all other podcasters to work toward.  Thoughtful, whimsical, educational, and always so beautifully put together, Cast-On is always a treat.  Brenda is taking a sabbatical at the moment to recover from some health issues but, if you’ve never listened, it’s worth working your way through the archives while we wait for her return.

FiberBeat is what I imagine the B-52s would come up with if they decided to record a fiber podcast.  WonderMike has created a zany podcast that, while always full of interesting interviews, news, and information, is also chock full of crazy random audio madness that has me laughing out loud.  You’ll have to listen to see what I mean, but that’s no hardship.

Insubordiknit from spinning artist  Jacey Boggs is a rare treat — rare because she produces episodes randomly and seldom, but a treat because they are so completely worth the wait.  Jacey is famous in the fiber world for her art yarns — unique, creative, and stunning… but always stable and balanced.  Listening to her talk through their creation is wonderfully inspiring.

These great podcasters keep me wrapped in fibery goodness even when I can’t be spinning or knitting — a wonderful thing.    And you know what?  I’d like to find more fiber podcasts just like them!   What are your favourite podcasts?   Who should I be listening to?  I’d love to know.

Iceberg — Fresh and Cold and Blue

A friend of mine suggested I try a snow-and-ice colourway — and the easiest way, I suspect, might be to just leave the snowy-white wool undyed…!  But that would never do, so this is what I came up with instead.  Doesn’t it say icy-cold to you?.

Hand-dyed Combed Top, Superwash Merino, in Iceberg

Bright sunshine, falling from a dazzling and cloudless blue sky, carries with the promise of a warm midsummer’s day …but for the breeze, which belies the truth with its bracing chill, and the way light bounces back off the brilliant white snow that sits atop luminous blue mass of ice, melting at the edges, releasing gentle droplets which drip quietly down… down to the white-capped waves… down to the sea that hides the frozen mass of the Iceberg in its murky blue-black depths.

This is over 4oz of wonderfully soft Superwash Merino combed top. It spins up beautifully, and the final item can be machine washed.

Fiber Content: 100% Superwash Merino wool
Weight: Approximately 4.25oz / 120g
Colourway: Iceberg 100410-001
Care Instructions for the final item: Hand or Machine wash, Lay flat to dry..

Each item is individually hand-dyed by the SpaceCadet, using professional grade acid dyes which are mixed by hand from primaries. Please be sure to buy enough for your project as dyelots can vary noticeably and the colours may not be able to be reproduced exactly.
SpaceCadet Creations is a smoke-free, pet-free environment.
Please remember that the colours in pictures may vary depending on your computer monitor. The colours in the photos are as accurate as possible.

Announcing: SpaceCadet Gift Certificates!

I had a customer enquire last week about giving a SpaceCadet Creations gift certificate…  and I was quite shocked to realise I hadn’t even thought of them before!

Selling on Etsy, it’s a bit tricky to do gift certificates (Etsy doesn’t have the functionality for either gift certificates or for discount codes, unfortunately) and it took quite a bit of digging around, but I finally figured out how to do it.  And… TA DA!!!!… I am delighted to announce that Space Cadet Gift Certificates can be now be purchased through PayPal!  Just click on the link in the sidebar to the right (just under the SpaceCadet’s head) to be taken to a screen that will walk you through the process.

And Happy Gift-giving!

A Little Merino Top is Good for the Soul

Not that I’m spin obsessed lately or anything (!), but something made me turn my dyeing attention from yarn to fiber.  I don’t know what that could be…  cough cough!

Anyway, my one-track mindedness is your gain.  Here’s a peek at the gorgeousness that came out of the dyepot.  I am sooooo tempted to pull it out of the shop and spin it up myself!

Hand-dyed Combed Top, Superwash Merino, in Pond Lilies

Nourished by the murky blue-green waters and coaxed by the warm summer sun, the Pond Lilies, with their heads turned skyward, open slowly to reveal a ring of white petals — as white as a dove’s wings — that surround a center so yellow it could almost be citrus, and they sway gently on the water’s surface as fish brush past their roots reaching down into the dark water beneath them.

This is over 4oz of wonderfully soft Superwash Merino combed top. It spins up beautifully, and the final item can be machine washed.

Fiber Content: 100% Superwash Merino wool
Weight: Approximately 4.05oz / 115g
Colourway: Pond Lilies 100412-001
Care Instructions for the final item: Hand or Machine wash, Lay flat to dry.

This item was individually hand-dyed by the SpaceCadet, using professional grade acid dyes which were mixed by hand from primaries. Please be sure to buy enough for your project as dyelots can vary noticeably and the colours may not be able to be reproduced exactly.
SpaceCadet Creations is a smoke-free, pet-free environment.
Please remember that the colours in pictures may vary depending on your computer monitor. The colours in the photos are as accurate as possible.

Come Back! Come Back!

In an attempt to encourage Spring to return, I’ve dyed some BFL combed top in all the lovely colours of Garden in Spring:

Hand-dyed BFL Combed Top, in Garden in Spring

Like an English garden in the full bloom of spring, this wool is a gentle explosion of colour. The pinks are a riot of foxgloves, buzzing with the sound of busy bumblebees collecting pollen. There is the deep bluey-purple of delphiniums, and the impossible green of new spring grass, called to life again by the sun and fresh rain.

This is over 4oz of wonderfully soft Blue Faced Leicester combed top that spins up beautifully.

Fiber Content: 100% Blue Faced Leicester wool
Weight: Approximately 4.10oz / 115g
Colourway: Cottage Garden in Spring, 100328-001
Care Instructions for the final item: Handwash only in tepid water, Lay flat to dry.

Each item is individually hand-dyed by the SpaceCadet, using professional grade acid dyes, using professional grade acid dyes which are mixed by hand from primaries. Please be sure to buy enough for your project as the colours may not be able to be reproduced exactly.
SpaceCadet Creations is a smoke-free, pet-free environment.
Please remember that the colours in pictures may vary depending on your computer monitor. The colours in the photos are as accurate as possible.