Cables in Turqoise

Item: Turqoise socks
Yarn: Alpaca yarn, mixed with Merino and Nylon for a more durable yarn (STERK from Du Store Alpakka)
Grams: 90 g

Alpaca is a natural fibre with several nice qualities. It is approximately three times warmer than wool, and its breathing abilities keep you warm when you're cold and cool when you're warm. In addition, the fibre is naturally rich in sulfur, a chemical substance that cleans the fibre when the garment is aired. Because of this, it's often adequate to hang the garment out to air rather than washing it. If a wash is required, always handwash with a suitable wool-friendly detergent. The Alpaca fibre does not contain any lanolin, making it hypoallergenic.

The sock start with a k2 p2 rib, but every 3rd row the k2 is replaced with a special twist, creating something similar to a proper cable. This is achieved by knitting through the back of the second stitch, leaving it on the needle while knitting through the front of the first stitch. Now both stitches can be slipped of the needle.

This twisting technique is repeated every 3rd row all the way down the leg. Turn the heel, using reinforcement stitches. The twisting technique is continued on the instep, whilst the sole is in stockinette stitch. When starting the decrease for the toes, knit stockinette stitch on both the instep and the sole.
The decrease is stopped when a suitable number of stitches remains (usually something like 16 stitches), using a grafting stitch to graft the remaining stitches together.

Fasten ends and block the socks with lots and lots of steam . Blocking always makes a big difference to the end results, it usually makes all the difference.

Leftovers make great baby booties

Item: Baby booties
Yarn: Leftover yarn from the baby blanket project
Grams: 15 g

The baby blanket project did of course bring with it some leftover yarn, more than enough for a pair of tiny baby booties. These are actually a pair of tiny socks rather than booties. The same striped effect used in the blanket is repeated in the legs of the socks. These socks are so tiny, they'll probably only fit a baby the first few weeks after being born. But warm, snug feet are just as important the first few weeks of life as any other week in life!

A giant granny square, but not for my granny

Item: A giant granny square becoming a baby blanket

Yarn: Wool yarn in matching colors, mostly 3-ply merino wool yarn from Nøstebarn.

Grams: 522 g

This is a giant granny square, which is a simple granny square continued forever and forever, until you have a blanket of a desirable size. In my experience, crocheting usually requires (a lot!) more yarn than knitting, especially crocheting something like this blanket. The granny square is crocheted, with a crochet needle of a suitable size, depending on the yarn you choose. My yarn required a crochet needle of size 4.5 mm.

 I've used colors that match, but still have a bit of a punch in them. With large and time-consuming baby projects, I prefer to use gender-friendly colors, so that the finished project can be handed down from sibling to sibling without objections. When spending many, many, m-a-n-y hours on a project, why risk it only being used for a single child? :)

The corners of a granny square are the most attractive parts of the blanket to me, they create nice angles in the blanket. The corner is created by crocheting two groups of double crochets in the same loop, with two chains in between, rather than just the one chain between two groups of double crochet along the long side. 

A traditional granny square alternates the yarn colour every round. This makes each colour form tiny squares, like a chess board, rather than a striped effect. In order to create the striped effect, you'll need at least two rounds of each colour. 

As a final flourish, when the blanket is finished, a 

crochet flower is added to the centre, and scallops creates a nice trim along the edge of the blanket. The flower is crocheted separately, and is sewn onto the blanket afterwards. Now it needs to be gift-wrapped and find a baby to wrap itself around.

Pinky toe, pinky sock

Item: Pink-striped wool socks
Yarn: Wool, two colours
Grams: 66 g

A classical pair of wool socks, knitted on double-pointed knitting needles, size 3mm. I've created the pattern on the go, following a traditional sock anatomy.

Cast on a suitable number of stitches, enough to fit the lower half of your calf. Usually this will be around 12-16 * 4 stitches, 12-16 stitches on each double-pointed needle. Start with a ribbing (k2, p2) for as long as you desire. This can continue all the way down to the heel, but in this particular sock it is only repeated for about 2 cm.

When the length of the leg is as long as you would like it to be, you need to create a heel flap. This is done by knitting forth and back on half of the stitches (12-16 * 2 stitches). When the heel flap is about 5 cm long, it's time to turn the heel. Then you need to pick up stitches along the side of the heel flap. You pick up a stitch for each second row in the heel flap, which should give you a total of more stitches than you initially cast on.

Now, the number of stitches need to be reduced. This is done by creating a gusset. The gusset is a "triangle" that is created by reducing the number of stitches incrementally, every other round. The gusset is marked by a blue triangle in the picture to the left. The gusset is a necessity in a sock in order to avoid crumpling across the ankle when in use. When the number of stitches once again is down to the same number of stitches you initially cast on, you can continue to knit the rest of the foot. Sometimes, of course depending on the foot, you'll require a few more stitches for the foot than you initially cast on.

Continue to knit the foot of the sock until it is of the desired length. When you try on the sock, it should reach approximately to the bottom of your pinky toe. By then you're ready to start decreasing for the toes.

This is accomplished by decreasing 1 stitch on each side of the sole and 1 stitch on each side of the instep (the top of the sock), thus decreasing 4 stitches on a single round. Then you need to knit a regular round before doing another decrease. For the last few rounds (approx. 5 last rounds) you need to do the decrease every round. When only 8 stitches remain (4 in the instep, 4 in the sole), you cut the yarn and pull it through the remaining stitches and tighten. Fasten all yarn ends.

Then you need to knit the other sock. Yuck.

Brown&Braided

Item: Brown and braided soft socks
Yarn: Alpaca yarn,mixed with Merino and Nylon for a more durable yarn
Grams: 106 g

A pair of so-called "nightie socks", a soft pretty pair of socks, very suitable for wearing in bed on a cold Norwegian winter night.

They are knitted in a very soft and warm Alpaca yarn, with a 40% Alpaca, 40% Merino, 20% Nylon blend. The yarn is named "Sterk" ("Strong"), from Du Store Alpakka, a Norwegian yarn company specialising in Alpaca yarns.

The sock begins with a picot edging, an alternative to the more traditional ribbing. The picot edging is not as flexible as ribbing, but is very pretty. The sock continues with what can best be described as a kind of "fake" cabling in the front and the back of the sock, with simple k1 p1 ribbing between them. The "fake" cabling creates the appearance of an aran-like cable without requiring a cable needle, a knitting notion frequently used in aran knitting. However, I did find that the "fake" cabling created an annoying bump for each twist. This is okey for the leg of the sock, but if you intend to wear the sock in a shoe, it can probably be a bit annoying when placed on the actual foot of the sock, creating unnecessary friction.

I found the pattern in the book 2-at-a-time socks, but I must admit that I didn't knit them 2 at a time. I have not yet had the time to study this technique, but it is definitely on my list of knitting to do. This idea of knitting both socks simultaneously seems simply fantastic, as it is one of the most boring things in the world to finish knitting a sock only to realise that you need to knit the other sock until the project can be considered completed. A very common issue, I am certain.