Footlet Socks for a wide foot

I bought this lovely yarn in Las Cruces, NM, visiting my dear friend Jeanne. I loved the shop, Unravel Yarn Shop & Gallery . The very helpful shop owner was happy to point me to yarn manufactured in the region and probably hard to find in the East. There was plenty in the skein for at least a 6" leg at the width knitted, 8" for a narrower leg and ankle. There's enough left over for booties.

Materials: 1 skein LoneSome Stone's Mountain Feat in "Shades of Lavender" 100% superwash Merino in the company's "Premier Color Collection." 400 yards. (no weight on yarn band)
Needles: Addi Turbo #1 because they are at the top range of the #1 size, probably closer to #1.5
Gauge 7 st / 1"
Ease: 12% or 1.42"
Ankle circumference: 12"

I need socks that will fit wide feet and swollen ankles so I designed my own pattern. Next time I'll try Lucy Neatby's double knitting to the method I used, just in case it's easier. My method resulted in a very tidy cuff but was a little painstaking.

Cast on 66 + 1 stitch to allow for the round jog. You may use a provisional cast-on if you like.
Folded-over cuff: knit in k1p1 (using whatever needles or method you like) for 1" or 14 rounds. Purl next round, knit another 14 rounds in p1k1 ribbing. On next round fold over the cuff and pick up one stitch from the live stitches and 1 from cast-on edge. Knit 2 rounds. Next round, increase 6 sts evenly (*knit 10 sts, inc 1 in next stitch* six times). Continue on 72 sts until 3/4" from bottom of cuff.
Heel: used traditional heel with heel stitch ribbing.
Gusset: continue on until 60 sts. Knit until 6" (or desired length -- my food is short).
Toe: decrease 2 sts. at each half of round (4 sts) every other row. When there are 8 sts left, graft sts with kitchener st.

Finished: early November 2007

Third Scarf for the Women's Auxiliary Charity Project

Judy B. is once again my model for a lovely (if I say so myself) dropped stitch scarf, about 6' long, made from Manetto Hill Yarnery's "Awaken", 60 yards / 50g; 100% nylon. I cast on 16 stitches and used #11 needles and 2 1/2 balls The colors on this are hard to see in the photo, which is slightly blurred. It's lovely space dyed ribbon yarn, mainly fuschias to purples. The pattern was to have 2 or 3 garter bumps on each side before a dropped stitch row.

Luckily, the wonderful, generous Phyllis H. who organized the charity project fell in love with the scarf. Phyllis' close friend has bought it for her birthday as a surprise. That's good because Manetto Hill Yarnery seems to be out of business. Oh well.

Spinning Guild Paper Bag Project for 2007

Last spring each North Country Spinners Guild member received a bag with 4 colors of Romney roving, 2 dyed and 2 natural. When I opened my bag I almost cried; one of my colors was school bus yellow . Luckily a very sweet guild member traded me for either the blue or the green - I can't remember now which one.

First I carded each into into about 17 combinations, trying to get as many colors as possible. I didn't photograph the rolags with all their variations. I did get very involved n making sure that each of the four colors was combined with each, sometimes 4 colors altogether.

For the spinning I carefully, albeit totally intuitively, arranged the rolags so that they would alternate dark to medium to light and then spun it woolen.

I began with 4 unmixed colors which you can see in the center of the upside-down bowl. To maintain the colors' distinctiveness I Navajo plied the single and ended up with about 34 yds.

My D.B. loves containers in various places for loose change and sundries. I decided to knit a bowl, using 4 wooden #13 dp's, beginning from the center. I fulled the finished bowl in the washing machine.

Originally I had not looked forward to this project and tried to finish it as soon as possible. These photos were taken on August 3. In the end, however, I really enjoyed the color blending. The little bowl reminds me of the North American Indian baskets which lined the walls of our Anthropology lab at Bryn Mawr. A small version, that is. The subtle differences in color add to the interest, along with the big, thick stitches which look like basketry. And, the D.B. loves it, which is what matters.