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: