Springtime Project Idea!

 

Hello, Poncho!

Need an adorable springtime cover-up for your favorite little girl?  How about a hooded poncho?  It’s quick and seamless and fun to knit.  

Pattern: Knitting Pure & Simple Children’s Poncho UPDATED 4/10/13: We no longer stock this particular pattern, but we think our lovely Sweet Tart Poncho is a perfect substitute and it comes in big girls sizes too.

Sizes:  2-4 (6-8, 10-12)

Yarn:  Blue Sky Alpaca Worsted Cotton – Pictured above in 637 Rasperry, 639 Wasabi, 628 Azul, and 639 Jasper.  (For the 2-4 you’ll need 2 skeins of the Rasperry and 1 each of contrast colors).

Needles:  24 inch circular US 8 or needles to gauge

Speaking of Socks

How often do you talk about your socks? I suspect that most people don’t talk about socks all that much. Like many other things in this world that knitters do differently, they do talk about socks. Even knitters who don’t knit socks still talk about them. Socks really are a truly legitimate source of conversation. If you tell a member of the non knitting public that you do indeed knit socks, I can guarantee you a conversation. Amazing!

What makes sock knitting so great?

1. They are very wearable. Great fitting socks can add a lot to your general comfort. As anyone who went for a walk with a sock that keeps sliding down can tell you, that is very uncomfortable, annoying and might actually injury you with a blister.

2. Extreme portability. Unless you are making tall socks for a very large man, socks are some of the most portable knitting projects. They can be stuffed into bags, backpacks, in corners of suitcases, seat back pockets on airplanes. They fit in your lap. You might not do this with that off white lace shawl that you are making for your best friend’s wedding. But socks will eventually end up on your feet, you will walk on them, so they can take it.

3. Awesome yarns. Sockweight/fingering yarns are some of the most fabulous out there. Colors, self striping, self patterning, variegated, you name it, there is a sock yarn somewhere with your name on it. Here are some yarns to start:  Zitron Trekking XXL, Berroco Comfort Sock, Dream in Color Everlasting Sock, Madelinetosh Sock, or  Berroco Sox

4. The average pair of socks only take one skein of yarn. So you get a wearable, useful, beautiful piece of knitting from 1 skein of yarn.

5. Smaller diameter needles. Yes you heard me right, smaller needles are a great thing. First, they are what make socks so portable, trust me US 2 needles stuff into a diaper bag more easily than US 10 needles (assuming your project is on the needles). Bigger needles usually means fatter yarn which takes up more space, can you see where I am going with this?

6. Socks can be as simple and plain to very fancy and complex. When we wear our ready made socks, what kind of knitting are they? That’s right, stockinette stitch. If you can knit, you can make socks. You don’t need to know how to cable or strand two colors or make lace. But if you want to put lace or cables or some awesome fair isle motif into a sock you can. They are tiny canvases for every possible knitting skill.

7. Knitting in the round, you don’t seam socks, that would defeat the comfort principle. Before you say you don’t like double pointed needles (DPNs), you can use magic loop with a long circular needle, two circulars, or small diameter circular needles. You can make two at a time if you want to.

8. Cool skills like turning heels, making gussets, Kitchener stitching toes, short row toes and heels just to name a few. I am telling you, turning your first heel is rather amazing. I spent all my time saying “I don’t see how this is going to work” and then there it was, a heel of a sock.

9. Whenever a conversation is lagging at a party, you can randomly throw out that you just made some socks. Someone will take the bait and you can convert them to the wonders of knitting.

10. You can buy the newest PolkaDotSheep find to show them off…. Peek A Boots!!!

Peek A Boots

I know that I am singing to the choir for many of you. But for those of you who need a little convincing and are local to Whitefish/Flathead/NW Montana, there will be  My First Socks class starting May 1 with Catilin H. as your fabulous instructor. It doesn’t have to be your very first socks because she will be discussing different ways to construct socks so there is something for everyone to learn. If you are not local, here is a link to get you started on socks from a favorite knit blogger/designer, Susan B. Anderson’s How I Make My Socks (ravelry link). There are so many beginner sock patterns out there, there is sure to be one to suit you. Then once you have made your first socks, a whole new world of knitting is at your needle tips.

Photos in the post provided by Skacel Knitting

~Angela M.