*Apologies to Lili Tomlin.
I learned some really cool things at camp, but one thing sticks out in my mind as an Oprahfied "ah ha!" moment. Say you are knitting along with a lovely striping yarn like, um, I dunno, Socks That Rock. Things are great because you've gotten gauge for the pattern AND the yarn isn't pooling. You knit and knit and knit and then you get to the heel. You start your heel flap, blissfully going along as before. You finish all of the heel stuff (turning the heel, picking up stitches, making the gusset) and get back to business knitting around the foot. THEN YOU SEE IT. There in front of you is a big, honking sideways V (> or <) right at the top of the foot. How did this happen? The yarn was striping before. IT MUST BE THE YARN!!! SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH THE #@&*^ YARN! GAH! IT'S TINA'S FAULT!!!** Take a deep breath and stop pointing fingers 'cause there is an explanation. If you do a traditional heel flap with striping yarn, you will inevitably get one of these : < >. It's true. I have found some great examples of lovely socks that demonstrate this phenomenon exquisitely. Here are the Flickr links:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/indychick_uk/452756125/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/indychick_uk/452755491/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jlw_in_pa/1861004668/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/courtneyburch/514798570/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/oboegoddess/2329505492/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sassenach/812423640/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/indychick_uk/452755491/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jlw_in_pa/1861004668/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/courtneyburch/514798570/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/oboegoddess/2329505492/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sassenach/812423640/
See the >? So, if you don't want >, don't make a heel flap; do a short row heel instead. But maybe you already knew that. Sorry, just catching up here. I don't know why, but I thought that was fascinating. I guess that makes me a sock geek. (Yeah, like that writing wasn't already on the wall.)
Here is a link to my abridged Flickr set of photos from the week: http://www.flickr.com/photos/10744245@N00/sets/72157604656637762/
The alpacas were at Krystal Acres Farm in Friday Harbor on San Juan Island. We went there the day before travelling to Orcas Island for camp.
**It's not Tina's (Newton, owner of Blue Moon Fiber Arts) fault, by the way. Don't like the way your STR is pooling? Change your needle size. Do some experimentation with gauge. You will be able to get it to stripe--promise.
4 comments:
don't stop talking about it!!! I love hearing about it--and your behind-the-scenes style pics made my day! I can't wait til they post the sock monkey pattern...TOO FUN! :-)
Good to see you made it off the island. My packages are slowly wending their way to Altadena...YES, they are off the island, too.
What fun we all had. It seems like more than four days ago. Can't wait to see my stash enhancement.
Yes I recently got some Hazelknits yarn to stop pooling and start variegating because of changing needles sizes, so I can attest to what you are saying!
Room-mate, it was a blast! From AA adventures through monkey love, alpaca fondling and voodoo charms, the laughter guarantees us a 5-year bonus on our lifespans. Thanks for driving through snow & sleet & looping-the-Rosario roads, and of course for being my spirit guide (and enabler) to all this knitting madness.
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