Natural Stitches: Knitting On

With the July 4 holiday weekend  coming up, we’re almost at the halfway point of our Summer of Socks and Lace contest. I thought I’d check in with the Natural Stitches staff to see where they are in the employee competition. I asked everyone to tell me what was in their sock project bag.

Charissa: I’m right now working Froot Loop in Socks that Rock mediumweight in the Knitters Without Borders colorway from last year’s Maryland Sheep and Wool.

Melissa: Good Plain Sock Recipe from the Yarn Harlot’s Knitting Rules in Creatively Dyed in Brazil Nut, the Aquaphobia Socks in Interlacements Tiny Toes [ed note: we feel this would be a great choice for men's socks for the Lorna's Laces Steelers Pride as well], the Baby Cable Rib from  Sensational Knitted Socks in Flat Feet, a Gentleman’s Fancy Sock from Vintage Knitted Socks in Pagewood Alyeska in Army Girl. I only have 4 pairs on the needle???  That can’t be right.  Must cast on for more this weekend!

Monica: I have in progress  the Rivendell Socks from The Eclectic Sole in Pagewood Farms Alyeska in the Bird of Paradise colorway and Rick from Cookie A’s Sock Innovation in Socks that Rock  lightweight in Hurdy Gurdy.  I have waiting to cast on next in my bag: Sunshine  from Sock Innovation in Dream in Color  Smooshy in Flamingo Pie, STR mediumweight in Heartthrob, Tropicana by Sabine Riefler (free Ravelry download) in Socks that Rock Mediumweight in Heartthrob, and Kai Mei, also from Cookie’s book in Pagewood Denali in River Rock.

Monica's Rivendells in Pagewood Alyeska

Anna: I just finished a pair of Nutkins in Pagewood Denali in Maple Leaf. I’m currently working on the Waving Lace socks from Favorite Socks in Pagewood Denali in Really Red. Next up is the Child’s French Sock in Dream in Color Smooshy in the Gothic Rose colorway.

Anna's Nutkins in Pagewood Denali

Notice a Pagewood trend going on here?

Remember that the employee contest is separate from the regular contest, and that it’s not too late to enter! We love seeing the socks roll in. It’s a real pleasure to admire our customers’ work, learn about new patterns, and see how our beloved sock yarn knits up.

We’ve declared this month “Holidays in July” and are dedicating ourselves to working on gifts to give later in the year. Originally we’d planned to put all the holiday-themed patterns on sale, but we decided to put ALL, yes, ALL the patterns on sale for 50% off this month. From July 1st - July 31st ALL pattern leaflets and pattern company booklets will be not 25% off… but 50% off. If it’s in a binder, or a magazine holder on the back shelves, it’ll be 50% off. Did I mention ALL the patterns are on sale?

Yes, that means the new Norah Gaughan and Berocco books are on sale. The Schoolhouse Press patterns are on sale. The loose Cookie A. patterns are on sale.  All in-stock patterns and booklets from companies like Tahki, Classic Elite, Noro, Cabin Fever, Dream in Color, and sooooo many more are all 50% off!

You can read more about Holidays in July in our newsletter. Look for new gift ideas right here on the blog every Monday!

We will be CLOSED on Saturday, July 4. We wish all of you a happy and safe Independence Day! We will be open our regular hours on Friday July 3 (10:00 am to 9:00 pm) and Sunday July 5 (11:00 am to 5:00 pm).

Also, we wanted to remind everyone that it is not too late to enter the Summer of Socks and Lace contest. We are accepting entries through Labor Day, and everyone entered will win a fun prize.

How cute is this? Frequent customer Georgia is knitting a Noah’s Ark for her granddaughter. She stops by every now and then to show us what animals she’s finished lately. Click on the pictures to see the animals in their full glory.

A shipment of Pagewood Farms sock yarn. This will be out on the floor by tomorrow morning at the latest.

It’s the time of year when many of us fall victim to over-zealous air-conditioning in offices and stores. On the bright side, at least it gives us an opportunity to wear and to make hand-knit sweaters all the year ’round. Here are some ideas to ward off the chill. Bonus points to all of these patterns for being practically seamless, guaranteeing that it won’t languish in your knitting basket waiting to be finished. Even better, these patterns are all free, and if you have a minute, send the designers some love and gratitude for working so hard to share their talents.

We would be remiss if we didn’t give a shout-out to Pamela Wynne’s fabulous February Lady Sweater Pattern that she so kindly adapted from Elizabeth Zimmermann’s February Baby Sweater.  This is a new classic, one you can make over and over again, out of any worsted weight, in any fiber. Make a cotton or cotton-blend short-sleeved version for summer; the stitch definition in the Comfort Worsted shows off the gull lace in an amazing way.

Knitty is always a fabulous source for summer tops. Here are two that are cute and versatile: Radiate and Annette.

I’ve mentioned this one before, but I’m almost done with mine and it is so unbelievably cute, I have to share it again. The Garter Stitch Swingy-Sweater may look like miles of unending garter stitch, but the results are worth it, plus you have the advantage of having a mindless project to work on at the movies or sitting at the kids’ ballgames. I’m doing mine in Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece, and it’s a pleasure to work with.

Finally, I’ll just point out that Annette and the February Lady would totally count as entries in the Summer of Socks and Lace contest!

Carla’s Calla Lily Bag, all prettied up:

Kelli’s completed bag, knit larger than the original pattern in Cascade Eco Wool:

Dear Natural Stitches Gang,

I really want to enter the Summer of Socks and Lace contest, but I walked into the store the other day and saw Carla’s name up on the leaderboard! I can’t compete with that! Is there any hope for me?

Intimidated in Ingram

Dear Intimidated in Ingram,

No worries! Carla — and the rest of the staff — aren’t competing with the customers. The staff leaderboard is just for fun; we’re competing amongst ourselves.  Remember, we can knit and crochet at work, and we’re guessing those who work at PNC, for example, not so much.  So please, don’t be intimidated! Bring your projects in and enter!

Dear Carla,

I’m really excited about the Summer of Socks and Lace. I’m an intermediate knitter but fairly new to lace. I feel like I’m getting a lot better at catching mistakes as they happen, but I’m having a problem ripping back neatly and getting all the stitches back on my needles with the correct mount. Can you offer any tips on “tinking” back SSK, SKP, and PSSO decreases?

Thanks,
Twisted Tinker in Tarentum

Dear Twisted Tinker in Tarentum,

Excellent question.  Let’s hope my answer is as good.  Anyone who knows me knows that the first thing I am going to say is plan ahead for disaster.  Use lifelines.  But we don’t always plan far enough ahead for that to help so here’s my ripping back advice.

If you have a long distance to rip take out your needles and rip back to 1 or 2 rows from where you made the mistake.  Put your needles back in the work and start tinking.  (Tink=knit spelled backwards and means ripping back one stitch at a time.)  As you can see from the article you can put in a lifeline with your knitting needles after the fact but it’s much easier if you plan ahead and do it before you need it.

Tinking back through decreases is a bit more challenging.  As you tink back and come to a decrease determine if it a right or left leaning decrease.  Left leaning (Ex. K2tog) are fairly easy to do.  Just be sure you put the left needle through both loops of the decrease the same way you do when doing regular tinking and rip out the stitch.  This makes sure your stitches are on the needles in the correct configuration.

Right leaning decreases (Ex.  SSK)  are a bit trickier and must be done carefully.  First I use my left thumb and forefinger to hold on to the stitches just below the one on the knitting needle.  Then I carefully pull the stitch off the right needle that is holding the decrease on the needle.  When you release that stitch you will see the 2 loops of the decrease you are trying to rip.  Now get those stitches onto the left needle paying attention to the correct configuration (see above link).  By holding the stitches at their base you have less likelihood of dropping them as you have control of them and they really can’t go anywhere.

When you have finished tinking the row where you had the problem count your stitches and compare to the number of stitches you should have on that row according to your pattern.   If it’s not right look back stitch by stitch across the row and find where you are short or over. Sometimes it is as easy and not picking up a stitch or getting a YO in there somehow.

I have been telling folks lately that a good way to get good at fixing errors is to make them.  By that I mean knit up a gauge swatch and make errors in it.  Then figure out how to correct the errors.  If you make a mistake so what-it’s just a swatch.  Once you have figured out how to do it you will feel more confident when you need to do it on a real project.

If you need a demo on all this make a swatch with errors in it and stop into the shop.  We’ll give you a hand learning the techniques and then you can tink back through your decreases without breaking out in a sweat.

Happy knitting!

Carla

The Penguins are getting ready for Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Summer of Socks and Lace contest is in full swing, and more of our exclusive Lorna’s Laces colorway, Steeler’s Pride, has arrived. We’re fully restocked in the Shepherd’s Sock, plus, just in time for the hockey playoffs, we now have the Steeler’s Pride in Shepherd’s Worsted (a superwash), Bullfrogs and Butterflies (excellent for felting), and even some spinning fiber in black and gold.

Here’s the current leader in our Summer of Socks and Lace contest, Zelda, showing off the slip-stitch socks she knit for her boyfriend in the Steeler’s Pride Shepherd’s Sock.