Episode 48 of the Eldenwood Craft Knitting Podcast went live at the end of March. In this episode I talked about two projects I'd been working on - a pair of handknit socks and a new garment. I also shared some new yarn and ran through what I'd been reading and watching recently. Here are all the details.
Striped Socks
Pattern : my own sock recipe
Yarn : Birdstreet Yarn mini skein set in the Great Outdoors colourway and the cream is Drops Fabel colourway 100
This year I'm very much in the frame of mind to stop hoarding and start using the special skeins of yarn I've got saved for 'best'. This project uses one of those skeins - or rather a mini skein set.
The sock itself is straightforward; it's my regular vanilla sock recipe. To knit the sock I cast on 60 stitches on 2.25mm needles (Chiaogoo bamboo DPNs) and I knit about 15 rounds of 1x1 twisted rib. This sock then has 68 rounds of plain knitting before a heel flap and gusset (a slip stitch heel flap with three garter stitches on either side of each row). For the foot I'm a UK size six and I find that 68 rounds works well for me. The toe is a standard wedge toe - decreasing four stitches every other round until there are 12 stitches left on each needle - and is finished off with the Kitchener stitch.
The interest in this sock comes with the colour blocking. I had five mini skeins in my set plus a contrast skein of Drops Fabel to work with. The starting point to work out how many rounds of each colour I should do was to take the number of rounds I needed to knit for my foot (68) and divide that into equal sized blocks. I ended up with four blocks of 17 rounds and I split that into 14 rounds for the main colour and 3 for the contrast. Simple!
To deal with all the ends that come with knitting this type of sock I've used the clasp weft join method of securing the ends as you knit. I love this technique and use it regularly. It's not the neatest join (you're doubling up with two strands of yarn for a few stitches) but I change yarns at the back of the sock and I'm happy with that.
Cumulus Tee
Pattern : Cumulus Tee by PetiteKnit
Yarn : Tynn Line from Sandnes Garn in the colourway 8561 (purchased from Knitt)
This is a new project for the podcast. It's a light fingering weight summer tee knit from the top down and finished with an icord bind off rather than ribbing. It has the feel of a wardrobe staple and I'm hoping that if it all goes well I'll end up with a few of these.
The yarn is a cotton/linen/viscose mix and I'd not knit with yarn like it before so was not sure really what to expect other than I thought it might be a little hard wearing on the hands. I couldn't have been more wrong. It has a lovely handle and drape and I'm very much enjoying working with it. The only negative point is that it is quite splitty and I have to reknit the odd stitch because I've not caught all four strands. But that's ok, I can live with that.
The needles I'm using are also worth a mention. They're Chiaogoo Spin needles from an interchangeable set I bought last year. The main feature is that they spin on the connector so there's no twisting of the cord. This, along with the cord that has almost no memory, makes for an enhanced (my words, not Chiaogoo's!) knitting experience and at the moment they're probably my favourite needles to knit with.
Other craft related mentions
- New yarn from Beehive Yarns (Grassflower colourway)
- Well Loved Knits podcast
- Woolyknit yarn cones
- Embroidery kit from Boho Craft Studio on Etsy
Reading and Watching
- All the Broken Places by John Boyne
- The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
- Ted Lasso
- Succession
- The Last of Us
- Fleishman is in Trouble
Shop news
My last project bag shop update was in early March. I'm currently working through orders and a new collection of project bags to come later in the spring. You can see what's currently available here.
I hope you enjoyed watching what I've been working on. I'll see you again soon.
Emma x