Why do they always change things?

It's been a while.  Like many bloggers my attention span is not good.  Lately I've been playing with my légaré 400 and not hand knitting as much.  I did design 2 other scarves and I have 2 testers, yes, I did kinda sorta write them up but neither of my testers have finished and I don't feel like pestering them because then I'd have to rewrite things.

I'll just put this out here, if you want to testknit a scarf or 2 for me and are serious, leave a comment below.  Or maybe you are one of my testers and want to finish it up?  It would force me to get back to work on them.  They are my tributaries, Turtle Creek and Nine Mile Run, links below in labels.  I'm not a slave driver but I will want them done in a fairly timely manner with some photos of your results.
Right.  Now what?  I've been playing with my sock machine and I made 3 videos.  I posted my 1st one already so I'll post my 2 latest.

Hmm, maybe some bloggers changes are good, posting that was easy and intuitive.  Good job blogger!
So what's that video about?  It's my somewhat anal retentive way to cast on which makes a nice symmetric architectural pattern.  To spare having to click to the youtube page I will repost my description

A way to cast-on a web that is even and kinda fun. I do this to help get the cobwebs out of my brain as I reacquaint myself with my machine.


If you are more inclined to be efficient you should either make or acquire a cast-on bonnet. Personally I am not. I make socks with this machine for fun and really once you get going if you are trying to get a bunch of socks going all you need to do is crank a few rounds of waste yarn and start another sock.


Here's some cliff notes:


Instructions times 12
set-up: 1 up, 5 down
clip crochet loop onto S carabiner
wrap yarn around up needles in star pattern, clipping onto carabiner as you go
add light weight
row 1: knit 1, wrap 5
add weight
row 2: lower 2 needles on either side of spoke leaving 1 needle up in center
add weight
row 3: raise 2 needles on either side of spoke lower the 1 needle up in center
add weight
row 4: lower one needle on either side of spoke leaving 2 needles up
add weight
row 5: lower remaining needles
Crank at least a few dozen rounds and you are ready to go

There you go.  Beginners can try this.

My very latest video is an attempt to improve my 1st Cat Bordhi Sweet Tomato Heel on CSM video.

Again, I'll post the notes that go with it

A demo of how to make Cat Bordhi's Sweet Tomato Heel on a circular sock machine. This method incorporates the 2 step no wrap method, but re-proportioned for this heel. This may be worked either cuff down or toe up.


This is my second video attempting to explain this. It is much faster paced than my original video. If it seems to fast you might want to watch the video response below.


Notes about this sock
Yarn: Autumn House Velvet(? one of the 100% wool sockyarns anyway)
Machine: Légaré 400
Cylinder: 72 slot, leg and foot 1/3 mock rib(54 stitches), heel, all needles in
Heel: Cat Bordhi's sweet tomato heel, 3 full wedges(48 stitches) with 5 rows both above and below worked mock rib in front(65 stitches, 11 needles added for heel)
Cuff: 30 rows 2/1 rib, cuff down with mock rib (K,P,K,S, repeat)
Leg: 100 rows, mock rib, 
Foot: 30 rows 1/3 mock rib(54 stitches)
Toe: All needles in for 5 rows(72 stitches) standard CSM toe, kitchenered off the machine
Note about mock rib: to line up just right for the heel, the last needle out should be the last slot in the round, that allows a few extra needles in beyond the wedges to prevent gaps.
After adding each needle I pick up 2 sticks below to make it tight


The Rib Stopper is a slight issue with the right heel fork because of the greater spread of this heel.

I just thought I'd post this stuff to keep you folks up to date if you aren't following me in other places.

BTW Blogger, I don't want to highlight my block quote.  I sent a complaint through official means but I will restate it in my post.  Don't effing change colors in my text and background for no ©ø∂ ∂嵘´∂ ®´‰´ÅÍØ reason! I also resent not being able to allow my readers to make my videos fullscreen without going to youtube. I understand you need the advertising revenue but it's annoying.

Sorry readers, if you watch the video and want to see it fullscreen you have to go to youtube. I did figure out in my fingerpecking way how to make the videos show up 60% larger than the standard TINY setting it was at.

Cat Bordhi's Sweet Tomato Heel done on a Circular Sock Machine

I recently made a video that is actually a montage of stills explaining one way to do a sweet tomato heel on a circular sock machine.  It might be a bit over detailed.  I emphasize keeping the latches open largely because I was just getting used to using my machine and I had dropped lots of stitches because of latches NOT being open.

On the other hand I neglect to explain some things like where to start the heel and other things.  In this blog entry I will expand on the things I neglected and briefly explain an alternate way to do the STH(sweet tomato heel) on a CSM.

Anyway, here's the video

And here's the steps in detail

1. Start a sock on your CSM either toe up or cuff down.  If toe up, stop about 2-3 inches shy of the foot length desired, depending on how big the foot is.  If cuff down, top about 2-3 inches shy of the leg length desired, depending on how big the foot is.  I find the STH takes up about the same as a regular heel, but slightly larger.
2. When the yarn is left of the front of the machine, around 7 or 8 o'clock, lift the needles in the front right of the target heel needles, plus one needle.  
3. Lift the needles in back too.  
4. Crank to knit the last needle down
5. Raise the rest of the needles up one from the left side of the heel target needles.
6. Raise the last needle passed on the right
7. Pass to the left
8. Raise the last needle passed on the left and lower 3 needles on the right
9. Pass to the right
10. Raise the last needle passed on the right and lower 3 needles on the left
11. Repeat steps the last 4 steps, 8-11 until two thirds of the needles have been engaged.  This will leave 17 or 19 needles up if using a 54 slot cylinder, 20/60, 24/72, [26 or 28]/80, 32/96, etc.  Your last round of the 2-step might need to be 2 needles lowered instead of 3.
12. As you do the last pass to the right, lower the rest of the needles as they become free to be lowered.
13. Crank around the back once
14. Crank around the back a second time
15. You have completed one wedge of your heel.
16. Repeat steps 2-14 two more times

As far as heel forks go, for this sort of heel, 3 individual heel forks work better than a V-heelfork because this heel uses two thirds of the stitches instead of just half of them.  You will need to adjust your heelforks more often than with a standard heel and they need to be more spread out.

The alternate way to do a STH is to make your wedges have a descending number of stitches instead of an ascending number of stitches, that is, the method above starts with the minimum number of stitches and increases by 2 stitches each row until two thirds of the stitches are used up.  To do descending wedges one starts with two thirds of the stitches and decreases by 2 stitches with each row until you reach your target heel number.  Instead of raising one needle and lowering 3, you may wrap one needle and raise 2.  I happen to prefer the bunny hop. 

Acknowledgements:  

Cat Bordhi developed her Sweet Tomato Heel over many months, working closely with over a hundred test knitters of all skill levels. During this time she distilled her illustrations and explanations again and again, until her test knitters and tech editor agreed the instructions were as clear and perfect as possible. In order to be sure that her work is not misrepresented, Cat asks that designers who wish to use her heel in their patterns send their readers directly to her free videos as well as to purchasing links for her eBook, Cat’s Sweet Tomato Heel Socks ($20), and to the eBook’s individual patterns ($6 each). She is encouraged that many knitters have been able to work from the free videos alone; if not, the eBook or individual patterns will give you the detailed instructions, illustrations, and explanations you need.

Links:

Video: Sweet Tomato Heel

Video: Padded Sweet Tomato Heel

To purchase eBook

To purchase individual patterns

I get binary about heels

I thought of a way to illustrate what’s going on with some heels. Imagine each one below represents one stitch in a short row while zero is the needles not engaged

regular heel - peak row ½ of the stitches
111111111000000000
111111110000000000
111111100000000000
111111000000000000
111110000000000000
111100000000000000
111000000000000000
110000000000000000
111000000000000000
111100000000000000
111110000000000000
111111000000000000
111111100000000000
111111110000000000

sweet tomato heel - peak row ⅔ of the stitches
111111111111000000
111111111100000000
111111110000000000
111111000000000000
111100000000000000
110000000000000000
2 rows knit plain
111111111111000000
111111111100000000
111111110000000000
111111000000000000
111100000000000000
110000000000000000
2 rows knit plain
111111111111000000
111111111100000000
111111110000000000
111111000000000000
111100000000000000
110000000000000000

y heel - peak row ½ of the stitches, for 1 wedge, the second either has more or less stitches than the first
111111111000000000
111111110000000000
111111100000000000
111111000000000000
111110000000000000
111100000000000000
111000000000000000
110000000000000000
111000000000000000
111100000000000000
111110000000000000
111111000000000000
111111100000000000
111111110000000000
111111111000000000
111111111100000000
111111111110000000

y heel has one wedge that is larger than the other so that when you look at the heel of the sock you see a ‘y’ on either side of it. The ‘y’ I illustrated is for a larger heel. It may also be shorter. Really it depends on the shape of the foot.

Personally I like a deep heel but I think mr gobbism’s feet need it less. I suppose if I make socks for more people I will find different heels work better for each. A big future challenge for me is my mother’s feet. She had polio as a child and her feet are shaped quite differently as a result.

Anyway, if you add up the number of short rows, you’ll see that the sweet tomato heel typically is deeper than the standard heel but one may eliminate a row or 2 from 1, 2, or 3 wedges if you like.

Cone of yarn

I wound some yarn onto a cardboard cone. I did it the old fashioned way

This next image is from a Creelman Brothers Manual.  I do not have the same sort of swift but my bobbin winder is quite similar.  With an old fashioned bobbin one must be very careful in how it is wound.  A cone allows a lot of leeway as it already has a good slope but since I over filled it I had to be careful.

It is worth enlarging the second image for the text about Bobbin-winder Operators.

I don't like to photograph my worksite

because frankly I am messy.  I have been working on a little design on my Legare 400 but it is a christmas surprise so I cannot elaborate.  But what I can share is that Cat Bordhi's sweet tomato heel is a good design for a circular sock machine.

I actually am getting to know this thing which I have decided to call Black Bette because she has been my bête noire.  She is Quebecoise so of course French.

I just finished cranking a pair of thigh highs which don't quite match for several reasons including not keeping track of the tension.  I'd like to make myself a bunch of pairs of stockings and then to figure out how to size them for someone whose legs are not as thin as mine.  I think I might have a friend or two willing to be a guinea pig.

I'm working on something

I'm using the sock machine but of course it isn't socks.  Nope.  My brain forces me in the strangest directions.  I can't share details because it's a secret santa project.  I am just terrible with that sort of thing.  Honestly I tend to make most things for myself anyway.

So I am impatient and selfish.  But I think I am a mad genius.  Can I possibly keep a secret until late December?  I'm not sure.

OK, what I should do is finish this and afterwards I will of course have different permutations from this idea.  Those I can develop and share before Xmas.  Yes, that's the ticket.  Maybe I'll finish writing up those scarves and I'll finish up that cardigan design.  I still do not have anything I am proud of on that front.

I should also make some more socks.  Below is one of a pair I made for Todd.  Once I get some parts I can rib.

And now a pair

they don't match but considering all the mistakes I'm not concerned.

I know I should finish writing up those 2 scarves but

I have a new/old/old toy

This sock was made with a handcranked machine

Here it is before it was cleaned up.  The miracle is evaporust, it made everything work, even the cylinder spring.  I'd say it was the springs that were most iffy.  I used old needles which are not in good condition  but they worked well enough, I just can't crank as fast as what I have seen in videos.  Still if I made this by hand I'd be somewhere past the toe.  In theory I will be able to crank out a piar of socks in a few hours.  I'm not sure exactly but it should take less than what it did for this 1 sock.

I got this circular sock machine off ebay years ago.  The resources for this are much better now.  Just Ravelry has made this much easier for me.

I can't wait to get stuff to get this going top speed.  I need one part and don't know if I can find it or if I can improvise something.  I have improvised a lot already.

The creeks

They resemble a Mandlebrot design, sorta.

Just when I think I'm done

A kind knitter, yes, kind knitter, showed me some errors on the written version of Monongahela.  I think I should look it all over again.  They are thankfully not at a critical part and the sort that some knitters might unconsciously correct.  I swear, once you get going on Monongahela that it has a rhythm so you don't generally need to check you pattern often.

Anyway, I don't say this to be mean, but it's hard writing patterns in written as opposed to charted form.  First off, there's more to write and second, written it's harder to see mistakes.  That is why I won't be writing out anymore patterns.

I do hope that there are no more errors but if so, I want to know and to correct them.

OK, so I finished the 2nd creek.

It was closer to being finished than I remember.  Maybe my attention span is getting better.  I certainly have been drinking enough coffee to keep my mind sharper which has in recent years gotten more difficult.

So I finished that and picked up my cardigan project and again I realized that I am farther along than I thought I was.  And it looks nicer than I remember too, but again, I wish I were able to just pick up some suri yarn and go.

Maybe if I sold my homespun, for an insanely high price it could catch on as a new luxury yarn.  My goal would be not so much to sell it, but to force others to make it.  I think if I paid myself a decent wage I'd charge 200 bucks per 100grams, naw, it'd have to be higher than that.  Uh anyway, my sockyarn cardigan looks OK.  I have been good about charting as I go and I even remember what my made up symbols for things mean even if I have no idea what it's actually called.

Yes, I am making up things again.  Yes, I should test knit this before release.  Yes, this time I will be pickier about my test knitters.  I want to make them sign an agreement in blood that they WILL document, photograph and communicate with me in a timely manner.

Most of my test knitters were awesome but some just kinda flaked out.  Granted, by my casual attitude I allowed myself to be equally irresponsible but over time I took my project very seriously.

But I digress.  I need now to rechart all for this cardigan in mirror image.  It's one of those left half, right half things, a side to side thing.  I know once I throw lace into the mix that I will need to be very careful to accomodate knitters who are not gobbists like myself, that is 95% of the knitting population that knit one direction only.

Anyway, before I get there I will reacquaint myself with my pattern as I finish my dull sockyarn version.  I did take a few days to spin up most of what I will need for my spectacular suri version but now I am back to writing and knitting.

I was all done with the creeks and then...

I thought of a way to make them nicer.  I called them 'pools' but now I want to do away with the originals but I don't have my prototypes knit up and I wish I had made them of my homespun suri.  Alas most knitters, or dare I say 99+% will not be able to find a yarn comparable to my homespun.

If you are a spinner who goes fleece to finished object you should get a very nice raw suri fleece.  They are harder to process than other fibers but I've become addicted to the results.  You can use a drum carder but it's very tricky.  I think combing works better but it takes much more work.

Anyway, it is frustrating that I have ideas and I can't knit them fast enough.  I am trying to finish a sweater.  Again I used sock yarn for my 1st prototype, which I am changing a lot but it sorta makes me sad to have to use wool instead of my nice soft drapey suri.  This sweater is designed for drapey fibers.  I suppose silk can work too but I don't like it as much.  I intend to incorporate some lace in this, of the sort that Kieren Foley does.  I want it to fit the structure though which is complicated.

I really should finish the creeks first.

Nine Mile Run 'Pool'

Below is a test knit of Nine Mile Run 'Pool.'  I kinda like this variation better than the original Nine Mile Run, but that's me being picky.  I guess that there's pluses for both.  Anyway, varigated yarn isn't best for this.  I might overdye it so that the lace shows better but I did get a sense od what this pattern is like. I always like alpaca better though.  I intend to knit up the Turtle Creel Pool variation shortly. 

Notice the 'crown point' shape that I blocked this.  I like that better than straight points.  For this I chose 21 repeats because I estimated that that would be just enough to use up the 210 meters of yarn in my skein.  My estimate was off.  I needed a bit extra.  Based on my current calculations 210 meters can accomodate 20 repeats in this pattern and a each repeat needs 13 yards or 11.66 meters.  I am really bad at estimating yardage.  Maybe my gauge got loose or something.
ETA:  My current guess, with more input, is 10 meters a repeat.  This is actually my 1st guess.  In this case I added up the stitches of the repeats and the stitches of the edges and it works out.  At least until I find some glaring error on my part.
ETA:  I had a couple numbers wrong.  It's kinds tricky reconciling the edges to the repeats.  Anyway, my current number is 11 meters a repeat or 12 yards.

Also, as of yesterday, the 12th of September Monongahela was downloaded 1500 times!  This is amazing.  It's also amazing to me that only 2 projects  that I know of have been started since Monongahela's release.  C'mon folks!  That's 0.1333333333 percent of the downloads!  I was think maybe 1 in 5 downloads would turn into projects.

But now I consider my own track record.  I will pause and look at my project to queued ratio on ravelry.  Hmm, I only queued 4 projects and I think I will eventually do at least 1 of them.  I too have downloaded a free project without intending to make it right away.  OK, a more realistic expectation is perhaps 1 in 20?  I can't really say until a year, or at least a few months pass.  It has been 2 months already.  I do like to pretend that if this pattern had cost 1 dollar that it might have sold like it did free and then I'd have $1500 in my bank but I know that that's not realistic at all.

I can say that the Youghiogheny has been bought 7 times in 3 weeks.  I'd imagine that the Monongahela, being a shawl would sell at 6 to 8 times that, just based on the hearts each got.

Another variation in my head

I feel like it's pretty obvious but still, I think it'll be a hit.  All I need to do is expand the tributaries into shawlettes.  That sorta says 'river' to me, but it's not.  I see it as more of a holding pond.  Imagine the stitches pooling together and ending with a waterfall, that's what I see.  What could I call that?

Contrasting Cricks

The sister patterns Nine Mile Run and Turtle Creek are similar but different

First of all, the patterns are different

Secondly, the gauge for each prototype is different

The larger one, turtle creek could be worn as a shawlette, though in yardage they are just about the same.  Can you see other similarities?

I will sell the patterns both individually and separately.  I still have bit of writing to do and a few more photos to take.

Turtle Creek Blocking

This is in the Monongahela family while Nine Mile Run is in the Youghiogheny family.

Turtle Creek

Locally we call it Turtle Crick

Here it is still on the needles.  I chose some 2 ply suri of a DK or worsted weight.

Made a mistake... designed a new scarf.

You know that first draft of Nine Mile Run?  I messed it up.  OK, so now I fixed it I think, but the result is a new design.  I am sticking with the waterway theme so this new scarf is called Turtle Creek.  It's till on the needles but will be off shortly.  I think I will offer each pattern separately for 3 dollars or 2 for 5 dollars.

Eventually I will offer everything in the waterways theme in an ebook.  I am thinking about designing some frilly fingerless gloves to go with these.  I have found that as I wrap my body in a shawl or poncho that my bare arms get cold and I think that they both look a bit more snappy when worn together.  Maybe I'll knit up a poncho that serves well as a skirt (over leggings anyway) to complete this, or maybe a sock... naw, no socks!

Finished my 1st draft of Nine Mile Run

This time I will delay releasing it.  Maybe it will be concurrent with Monongahela no longer being free.  The way I figure it, it will draw attention to everything I have designed and improve my chances of selling patterns.

I said before that I eventually will probably integrate Nine Mile Run, Youghiogheny, and Monongahela into an ebook with a few extra variations thrown in.  I am happy to say that this designing stuff has gotten easier and I still have plenty of ideas.  I hope that people will appreciate the countless hours I've spent doing this stuff.

Working on a new design

This is a cardigan that I've begged to be designed.  I'm not good with such things because I tend not to want to think about things like gauge but I want this.  My prototype does not have lace but I intend that the final one will be lacy.  I am using sock yarn and it's strange how much I wish it was some nice homespun suri alpaca.  It just takes too long to process and spin to catch up to my brain and its very short attention span.

Anyway, I am also thinking about eventually turning Monongahela and Youghiogheny into an ebook.  Monongahela is already kinda an ebook.  I'd add a few specific things, expand on things I felt the need to cut out before.  I do have a scarf, Nine Mile Run, that I will write up as part of it.  I can think of other things to add to make it easy for a creative person to better explore what one can do with the basic structure.  Maybe some fingerless gloves will be part of that, I'm not sure yet, but I'd like to see what the limits are to my general idea.

I do want my designs to be best done up in something drapey like suri alpaca.  You know, I have NEVER seen any yarn in a store that resembles my homespun suri.  It's sad but understandable.  I have to admit that suri is labor intensive to process but the results are incredible.  I still have more than 50 pounds of prime raw fleeces.  Sigh.