Brand-New Digital Pattern - No-Sew Socks

 

“My” knitters love to make and give beautiful, quality socks, and I have already written two sock-making books.  One is for the standard machine with a ribber and the other book is for circular sock machines. 

However, if you have a standard gauge machine and you don’t have or want to use a ribber, this pattern is for you!  This sock is great to knit on any brand of Japanese 4.5 mm flatbed machine. 

This NO SEW SOCK comes off the machine finished!  All you have to do is hide the beginning and ending yarn tails!  Check this out:

·         NO toe grafting

·         NO stitching side seams

·         NO ribber required

·         NO circular knitting

·         COMFY socks without bulky foot seams  

This pattern features “sew as you go” knitting by picking up side loops as well as mock rib cuffs which are also joined as you knit on the machine.  The pattern has many color closeup photos of the techniques as well as linking to a detailed video which teaches each step.

Choose between a shorty sock to wear with gym shoes or a longer sock.  The pattern contains 12 sizes, from babies to big guys. 

Make this with quality Group 2 hand knitting sock yarn.  I like solid and variegated colorways for this project.  Self-striping yarns are difficult to match.   Sock yarn with 75% Superwash wool and 25% nylon can be machine washed and tumbled dry and will last for years.  

The No Sew Sock pattern is an automatic digital download, available at https://www.dianaknits.com.

And, here's the technique video:  https://youtu.be/hiFB5KsnEN0

My Latest Sock Making Adventure - A Brand New Tru-Knit CSM!

 

Recently, I purchased a Tru-Knit Circular Sock Machine.  I’d been looking at new CSMs for a while, and I had tried out the Ehrlbacher, the Lamb, and the Tru-Knit.  I liked all three.

I’ve knitted a lot of socks for at least 15 years.  I actually have owned an antique Legare 47, an antique Auto Knitter, and two antique Ehrlbachers, and I got them all to make good socks.  I owned a beautiful NZAK.  I even wrote a book, The Happy Cranker, which featured the Legare and the NZAK.

I kept the Legare and I still use it quite a lot.  I am always on the lookout for nice sock yarn, too, and I’ve gotten much pickier about sock yarn over the years. 

After I got the Tru-Knit machine I was very impressed with it.  I did a review of the machine on YouTube.  I tried to be unbiased, but honestly, I just love the machine and I really admire people who devote their resources to making excellent equipment for us knitters, even managing to manufacture in the USA.  After owning so much knitting equipment, I was just stunned at how beautifully made the Tru-Knit it and how reliably it knits.  I hope they sell LOTS of them, and I think their customers will be quite satisfied.  

As I did my review, I tried to discuss the features and give lots of information for those who are actually shopping for a machine.

I wanted to make sure my evaluation took into account what the machine is like to actually use, so I worked with their directions and made all the socks in their manual, trying to do them their way (which isn't quite like my CSM habitual ways of doing things.  

The review is here:  https://youtu.be/8PtUlYckq-A

In addition, I made a series of Quick-Start lessons on the machine, hoping that I can be of service to the novice CSM knitters who might be overwhelmed with the learning curve.  Hey, CSMs are tricky to use at first!  I had a tough time myself working in a circle after years of flatbed and hand knit work.  

Even though there are lots of fabulous other videos out there, but I wanted to make just a few in logical order to get knitters who follow me started and knitting that first good sock:

Quick-Start #1 Cast-On & Knit a Tube  https://youtu.be/E3mLR2q8oiI

Quick-Start #2 Make a Hem  https://youtu.be/ZyYYavRDO6M

Quick-Start #3 Shape the Heel  https://youtu.be/FI5mH6gzmpE

Quick-Start #4 Shape the Toe  https://youtu.be/2dHW2OPGkvs

Quick-Start #5 Finish a Sock  https://youtu.be/0NppK_t7ak8

Quick-Start #6 Knitting a First Sock - After showing the five key skills in those first 5 videos, and hoping people will practice and get comfortable, this video shows the whole sock:  https://youtu.be/NjMMR51GVYk

Quick-Start #7 Introduction to the Ribber  https://youtu.be/-0tU3CDMRGU 

Here are a bunch of other CSM resources:

Tru-Knit Website - Shop for a CSM!  My setup in the videos is the 60-stitch cylinder and ribber with the reduced ratio setup for easy turning.  Jamie Mayfield recommended that setup to me, and it was really helpful because I probably want almost every cylinder and I had a bad case on indecision.  It’s an excellent, versatile setup and that’s where I’d start you if you were trying to decide. 

One thing that surprised me was that everything I needed was in the package.  The only thing I can think of that is badly needed in addition to that package is a sturdy stand.  If you don’t have one, get one.  They sell a folding stand on their website. 

https://https://tru-knit.com/shop/

Tru-Knit has a bunch of teaching videos, very well done, and you’re going to want more information than I gave in my brief Quick Start set.  There are so many, many tech videos to help you improve your knitting – too many to catalog here.  Go explore these!   https://tru-knit.com/videos/

I like their Aktiv sock yarn, which I used in the videos.  It comes on cones, the perfect put-up for CSMs.  https://csmsupplies.com/product-category/yarn/   Your socks are only as good as the yarn you use!

Another great place to learn and make friends is to join a Facebook group for CSM Knitters.  Sock crankers help each other with all kinds of questions and issues.  Don’t crank alone!  https://www.facebook.com/groups/561948523913745

If anyone is interested in my book about making socks (using my Legare and NZAK), which has some common-sense information about a number of topics, it’s "The Happy Cranker," Diana's book teaching sock knitting on antique CSMs & the NZAK, available here:

https://dianaknits.square.site/product/happy-cranker-circular-sock-machine-success-book-dvd/17?cs=true&cst=custom

Also, another great site for antique CSM lovers, that I’ve enjoyed for years:  https://www.angoravalley.com/

 

OOPS - Tension Not Right!

I made a sock as a sample of an upcoming pattern for single bed, no-sew socks.

But then I got VERY distracted by life.  Our son visited, we all got Covid, we all recovered, we quarantined, our son left, and then I started working on a project with an awesome new circular sock machine.  Those videos drop this coming Saturday.

Today I thought about my cool unfinished no-sew socks, and here was one sample shorty sock sitting on my Brother standard gauge.  It's been sitting there almost a month and the second sock needs knitted, so I decided to make the second sock.  I had the written instructions, I had some film of the process, no problem.  But I had a nagging suspicion that I did something different from the written instructions to get the gauge in this yarn, but what was it?  I followed the written instructions, but now the sock is too big, and I've looked at little bits of paper near the machine, I am pretty sure I was three whole tension dial numbers off.

Check out how big a difference that makes!  It's 1-1/2" longer.  No biggie, I'll rip it out and reknit it.  

I make an unbelievable number of knitting mistakes.  I also knit an unbelievable amount.  More knitting equals more mistakes, I figure.  I am pretty good at fixing mistakes, since I get so much practice!  Also, with all that practice, I'm pretty good at not getting overly upset about my mistakes.

I make so many mistakes that I even have mental categories for them.  This one goes in my Rookie Mistake category.  Those are stupid things I should not do anymore.  After all, I started knitting as a teen and I started machine knitting at age 25.  I've taught it many years, and I'm 72 now.  I still make Rookie Mistakes.  It's not really discouraging, because as a machine knitter, I can re-knit this sock in 45 minutes or less.  

If I hand knitted the second sock on the wrong needles, that would have more consequences.  But as a machine knitter, I just laugh at the goof and fix the thing.  I'm not claiming I never get frustrated, but certainly not by this small re-knit job.

This is a great example of why it's so important to get the right gauge.  Just look how much difference a few numbers on the dial makes on such a small project!

I also want you to know I make LOTS of mistakes, and I hope you are not discouraged by mistakes.  

Bye!  Got a sock to re-knit.

Errata as of 7-10-24

 

ERRATA

As of July 10, 2024

 

Shawl Collection

Page 2:  Change this line to read “mid-gauge or bulky” as follows:  Machine:  You may follow these directions for a mid-gauge or a bulky machine.

Page 16:  In the third paragraph from the bottom, after “Thread garment yarn and knit 1 row to the right,”  add this sentence:  Set row counter to 000.

Page 16:  In the second paragraph from the bottom, delete the words after Repeat * to * up to the last sentence, which you leave.  Replace them with “until row counter reads 040. You will have only a few needles in work.”  This paragraph will now read: “Carriage on right.  Set the carriage to H for short-rowing.  In H, it will not knit needles extended to “hold” or E position.  *On the far left, pull 7 needles to hold.  Knit to left.  Put one more needle in hold just to the right of the ones already in hold.  Knit to the right.*  Repeat * to * until row counter reads 040.  You will have only a few needles in work.  That is the decrease part of your triangle.”

 

New Digital Pattern "Long Triangles Short-Row Graphic Blanket" and FIVE Technique Videos

Now that I've been making some digital patterns, I wanted to put up one more "Afghan in a Day or Even Less" project.  This one, the Long Triangles Blanket, required either a ridiculously long video or five technique videos.

Once you get the hang of this, it's actually a quite easy project.  To do it the first time, though, I felt that you needed to be able to see the techniques.  I try very hard to make my pattern instructions accessible to everyone, not just experienced knitters.

So, like a lunatic, I put up five technique videos.  I may not do this again!  I put QR codes in the digital pattern, so if you know how to do it, you can skip the video, and if it's new to you, you click on the QR code and see it.

What's new here?  May I recommend the videos of the top hem, which has a super simple marker row, and the corner motif?  There are two ways to sew the top hem - some of you might like the way that matches the bottom hem but takes longer.  There's also a video teaching the side hems.

I am getting the most comments on the corner motif.  Betcha you'll find more places to use it.

And are you wondering, what's with all the hems?  Well, I have gotten very, very fond of hems around my afghans.  The edges get the most wear, and the doubled edges are sturdier as well as more likely to keep their shape.  

Here are the videos.  I turned off the regular YouTube advertising, but I made a brief commercial for my new pattern and put it in.  

New Video: Short-Rowing a Toe Made Easy

 I did this video in response to a question.  I realized that to answer the question, I needed to demonstrate and explain the following things in more detail:

• Why we wrap as we short row and how to do it
• How to understand those line diagrams in magazines with the darts on the sides
• How to do a very typical toe on a sock

Here's the video:

New Videos for August

 This month's new videos were two key techniques from my new pattern set, Bargello Lace Collection.  

The first video, the Double Strand E-Wrap, is an easy, practical cast-on for lace projects.  This gives you a thicker, sturdier edge than a plain e-wrap, and it's ideal for these Bargello Lace scarves.

The second video is a Double Strand Tapestry Needle Bind-Off, so you can do a top edge that exactly matches the cast-on taught above.  Same idea - it's thicker than a typical e-wrap and it's stretchy.  It's just a variation of the backstitch bind-off.

Sponge Bars

Sponge bars on my mind lately, and I thought a little information about them might be useful to others.

So, why are sponge bars on my mind lately?  I have pulled two different knitting machines out that I hadn't used in a year or two, and they both needed sponge bars.  I can push on a needle tip anywhere and it pops up about 1/8".  I know better than to try to knit with the machine like this!  This can result in jams, bent needles, and terrible aggravation.   

First of all, just about every flatbed machine has either a sponge bar, a felt bar, or a spring to hold the needles down against the bed.  If the sponge bar is worn out, the machine will absolutely not knit properly.  It will be absolutely miserable to use, and plenty of people have given up on machine knitting when all they needed was a decent sponge bar.

Sponge bars wear out.  I've had knitting machines where I never had to replace a single part except the sponge bar!  These have foam rubber, and it deteriorates over time.  Also, the foam is squashed all the time, which of course flattens it.  I understand you can prolong the life of a sponge bar by removing it from the machine whenever you are not knitting, but I simply cannot make myself do this.  They're not all that quick to get in and out, and I like to go to my machine and just start knitting.  (But hey, I might as well mention that I've always been the sort who slips off shoes without unbuckling the little straps or loosening the laces, if I could get away with it.   And nothing terrible has happened to me from that particular bad habit.)

The sponge bar is a long metal stick (the length of the main bed) with foam rubber on one side.  It slides in to a slot at the end of the knitting machine near the front of the bed.  There is very seldom any information at all about it in your machine's manual - I guess the manufacturers all assumed we had a local dealer to help us with this.  The sponge bar is installed with the foam rubber side pushing down on the needles.  You need a new sponge bar if your machine's needles are not pressed firmly downward against the machine's number strip.

You can get your sponge bar out with a wooden chop stick.  Push on its end until it sticks out enough at the other end to grab it, then pull it out.  When you install a sponge bar, make sure you push the needles downward with the flat side of a needle pusher as you slide in the bar, because it has to be ABOVE the needles, FOAM DOWN.

Yes, you can refurbish your sponge bar.  There are good directions here.  I admit, I prefer weather stripping to the foam rubber in her directions, but it does take some hunting to find just the right size of weather stripping.  

However, I don't refurbish sponge bar anymore unless I can't get the proper sponge bar for that model.  I prefer to buy from a dealer.  Rehabbing a sponge bar takes time, effort, and materials, and my rehabbed sponge bars never last quite as long as the ones I can get from dealers.  If you have a dealer near you, buy the sponge bar from the dealer.  First of all, it supports your dealer (you are so lucky to have one!), and secondly, she can show you how to put it in, and third, shipping these long, skinny things is expensive, so you will probably save both money and time that way.  

I don't have a dealer.  Lately, I've been buying them from The Knitting Closet, here.  When I buy them, I try to buy several at once, to save on shipping.  Sometimes, you can find a friend who needs some, too, and order together to save on shipping.

Latest Video

 I didn't know how many of you would be interested in this, but I've been fascinated with it, so I'm sharing.  I had purchased a TINY Sister toy knitting machine, so small I can put it in my suitcase for an ordinary trip, and it is quite old.  I did a video on it, and someone suggested we replace the sponge.  Well, of course, I should have thought of that!  All old machines need a new sponge or felt.

The sponge holds the needles in proper position for knitting.  It's just foam rubber, and it deteriorates over time.  Modern machines have a sponge bar, which you can simply purchase.  They slide right into the knitting machine, super easy if you know how (sponge above and against needles, please).  I like to get mine at the Knitting Closet, which has an online store.

Older machines, especially small ones, might have a piece of old-fashioned felt or they might have foam rubber.  

In this video, my husband (always the good sport) took this old toy machine apart and figured out what and where the padding was.  Then he replaced it with a home-trimmed bit of foam, to very good results.

Later this summer, I'm posting some videos on making hems with this old, plain, simple machine.  Of course, I think you should get the very best machine you can afford, but you'd be amazed at what can be done with a primitive machine.  Let's not settle for so-so knitting - let's do our very best!

Deadline Approaching for Charity Knitting Grants

 The knit club that I belong to, the Knit Natters, which is a machine knitting guild in the Austin, Texas area, has funds for charity knitting and has decided to offer charity grants.  The grant application (which is short and simple) is due by July 10.  

Yes, the deadline is coming very, very soon!  You can pick up an an application in the files on Facebook in the "Knitting with Diana Sullivan" group.  

What I've been knitting...Round Tams!

Round Tams

My mother-in-law likes these little berets for her morning walks, just for a little bit of extra warmth.  She is having a birthday later in June, and since she asked for more, I knitted some.

A few comments about this pattern:

1.  They're standard gauge, and made from 50 grams of self-striping sock yarn.  You could use whatever works well on your standard gauge, but I enjoy the interesting designs that self-striping yarns make on the crown.  Besides, I often have 50 grams of sock yarn - sometimes I'll even buy single balls on the sale table in the yarn shop.  50 grams won't make a pair of socks, but it'll make a beret.

2.  These have a sew-as-you go ribbed cuff.  You make the cuff first, using the ribber, and take it off on contrasting waste knitting.  Then you hang a stitch on every other row (as explained in the video).  

3.  I do see one change I like to make to the video - cast on 200 stitches for the ribbing.  That gives you one extra stitch on each edge of the band for a selvedge.  

4.  Obviously, I think they're fun to knit.  After all, I made four over just a couple days!  These three are in the mail to John's mom, and the other one just wasn't her colors.  

5.  I block them over a dinner plate.  I pull the hat over the plate, sew around the ribbing edge with a piece of smooth yarn, and pull it and tie it to tighten the hat.  Then I steam the hat and leave it to dry.

Here's the (old) video where I teach how to make them:

New Video: How to Add Ribbed Button Band When You Don't Have a Ribber

Don't you think you ought to be able to make very nice garments on a simple machine?  I do!

My video for June is out, and it's a very nice ribbed button band especially for knitting on machines without a ribber - for instance, your Brother 350, Bond, or perhaps your beloved LK150.  And, this isn't difficult to do.  

New Video - Faster, flatter mattress stitch - Sewn from either the knit side or the purl side

 I have been remiss about posting my new YouTubes here - sorry!  I'll try to do better.

So, this video is specifically to help the Chicago club as I teach seams at their meeting next weekend.  It is the "Faster, Flatter Mattress" stitch (probably my most popular YouTube ever in its original form), but I had to change it up.  The original video showed how to sew it from the knit side, and this one shows that and also how to sew it from the purl side.

Maybe you have never done this stitch - try it!  It will improve your ability to get projects sewed together, and it looks very, very good.  Maybe you've only done it from the knit side, and I think you'll get a kick out of how easy it is to do from the purl side.

And here it is:

Merry Christmas - And an Oldie But Goodie Freebie Project to Knit

 Hello, dear fellow knitters, and Merry, Merry Christmas!  

Over the years, since I've been teaching machine knitting online, I've got to know quite a few of you.  You are very important to me. 

I do hope you are having an absolutely beautiful holiday and that your heart is filled with the hope, love and peace Jesus provides. If for some reason you're experiencing difficulty, discouragement, or illness, please email me so I could pray for you?   (Email me by clicking on the envelope icon down the left side of this blog).  

We knitters need to stick together and encourage one another.

I'd like to give you a Christmas present, and I wondered what I could do for everyone.  Why not repost a cool old pattern that's a little tricky to find?  So, here's an an oldie but goodie machine knitting pattern for a sew as you go gym-length sock.  Knitters get a lot of requests for socks, and here's a pattern you can make on the simples single bed machine.  It's a great opportunity to tune up your sew as you go skills!

First the old video (sorry, made with the older technology) for the technique:

And here's a written pattern for a womens' medium gym sock:

Sew-As-You-Go Single Bed Sock

By Diana Sullivan

© Diana L. Sullivan All Rights Reserved

This pattern makes a low-rise gym sock, which barely shows under an athletic shoe. Instructions are for a women’s medium.

Click here for the instructional video

Yarn: Use a good quality sock weight yarn.

Gauge: 8 stitches and 9.25 rows to an inch, or 34 sts and 38 rows to 4” (10 centimenters) I was using tension 6.2 on my machine to get the gauge, but you need the tension setting that gives you the gauge on your machine with your yarn.

Machine: Any standard gauge Japanese flat bed knitting machine, no ribber required

Mock Rib Hem

Tension 3 tensions tighter than garment tension.

Arrange needles for a 2 x 1 mock ribbing arrangement from needle #L16 through needle #R16. That is, put two needles into working position, and leave one back, across those needles. Knit a few rows of waste yarn and a row with ravel cord.

Change to main yarn and knit 20 rows. Pick up the hem, filling in the empty needles. All the needles are in work now, 32 sts.

Back of Ankle

Turn to the regular tension, which gives the gauge for the sock. Knit 20 rows.

Back of Heel

Short row shaping – decrease one stitch at the beginning of every row until only 11 stitches remain in work. Wrapping to prevent a hole (see the video), increase 1 stitch every row until all stitches are in work again.

Bottom of Foot

Knit 40 rows.

Toe

Short row shaping, just like heel. Decrease one stitch at the beginning of every row until only 11 stitches remain in work. Wrapping to prevent a hole (see the video), increase 1 stitch every row until all stitches are in work again.

Top of Foot and Front of Ankle

Knit, doing sew-as-you-go pickup of 1 loop on side opposite carriage every row. Watch the video to see exactly how to do the sew-as-you-go join. Knit until you are all the way back to the mock rib hem.

Final Mock Rib Hem (Ankle front)

Following the video, sew off every third stitch onto a piece of waste yarn. Move those unused needles out of work. Turn the tension to the tighter tension for the mock rib hem. Knit 20 rows. Pick up the stitches from the waste yarn and put them on the out of work needles. Pick up the remaining stitches. Cut the yarn and sew the hem off as shown in the video, OR cast off.

 

New Book, Video, and YouTube - Teddy Bear Wardrobe

I think you'll get a kick out of this if you have children in your life who just love teddy bears, especially Build a Bears.

Kids love to dress them.  Last year, I helped with a charity project to help dress a LOT of them, and after getting the patterns just right, I created a new book and DVD set.  

These patterns include a dress, Mary Jane "show" which is really a slipper, Tam hat with and without ear holes, top-down raglan sweater with cables or Fair Isle, poncho and also a sewing pattern for trousers, complete with the tail hole.

This is a terrific teaching set.  If you want to teach a beginner, why not do it with small projects?  Or maybe you'd just like to finally get the hang of top-down raglans or round tams?

The video shows how to make the poncho.  Here are lots of great techniques in one video,.  This project is sideways knitted.  It has hems at both the bottom and the top, and they match.  It has an extra-easy neckline.  It has self-made fringe, and on this one you can learn to lock the fringe in place so it doesn't unravel where the fabric begins.  

'Nuff said, here's the video:

TWO New Videos

 I just put up two new videos for November.  I usually do one a month, but I wanted to let people know about my digital pattern for a Mukluk in 3 gauges and 12 sizes in time for holiday knitting.

Here is the Mukluk video, which shows me knitting a child's size mukluk.  

And here is my regular monthly video, a pile knitted slouch hat.  This is warm, but keep in mind that this stitch is a bit fragile.  It's okay for a hat if you're careful, but much too easily snagged for something like a mitten or a pillow top.  

If anyone knows how to thoroughly lock the stitch, would you clue me in?  I think it is super cute and you might really enjoy making and wearing this:

June Video - Pile (Loopy) Knitting on a Brother with Ribber

If you've never played with loopy knitting, that is, pile knitting, why not give it a try?  Here's a video where I show how to do it using a Brother bulky machine with ribber:

New Video for May - Reversible Double Jacquard

This is one of my favorite ribber techniques, and I hope you will try it!  

You can create a double-thickness, fancy two-color pattern that is beautiful on both sides.  It's like a photo negative in that the background color on one side becomes the foreground color on the other side.  

Many of us have done this in hand knitting, and it's quite an exercise in counting stitches.  I used to try hand-counting it on the knitting machine, and I did not have the patience to do it.  However, using the patterning capability of a Brother machine with a ribber, you can use the machine-selected needles as a guide to hand-count the needles on the ribber.

'Nuff said - more easily seen than explained...

And also, Happy Mother's Day!

Slipper Bottoms from The Knitting Closet

 I wore my own mukluks so often this winter! It's cold underfoot where we usually sit at our breakfast table with our laptops, because we have a tile floor. I just like to have my feet quite warm. (People do ask for this pattern - it was part of my Strings to Things seminar, and it was based on the lined slipper in Footnotes. it isn't published separately from that USB at this time. I may do it later, but it's not done yet.)

I realized I was going to wear through the slippers, and before that happens, I wanted to put some sort of sole on them.

I purchased these suede heels and toes from theknittingcloset.com. I used some black yarn that has nylon on it to stitch them onto the slipper. The soles came with some black yarn for sewing, but I used my yarn instead because I knew it would be strong. I used two strands and I pulled it through with a rubber "finger cot," one of those gummy thimbles people use in offices. I bought a box of them years ago, and they've lasted all this time and still grip a needle.

So here's my review: They're nicely non-slip. My soles were size "large," and I have a size 8 foot. Large was a good choice since these mukluks are Group 4 yarn and lined with Group 4 yarn, therefore, they're not small foot bottoms. The suede pieces are pre-punched, but the holes aren't very big, so expect to tug. It was easy to keep them in position with just a couple sewing pins, since you can slip pins into the holes.

My only real complaint is I wish they'd come with gray yarn to match.

Standing in them, I can feel them a little, but it's not an issue since my slippers are double-thickness. You would certainly feel them through a thin slipper.

New Video Today - Hand Painting a Sock Blank Using KoolAid

 I have a new YouTube video today - I did this a while back, and it was so much fun and turned out so well! Great activity for kids who are cooped up...hand painting a sock blank with Kool Aid.

While I realize this is a childlike approach to dyeing, I love working wih Kool Aid. It smells good, it isn't toxic and doesn't require special pots and implements, it's inexpensive, and it is amazingly colorfast.

The downsides are the colors are limited and the purple is a disappointment (to me - I know other people like it). You can get strong colors by using more Kool Aid.