TOFUtsies

Here is the sock I designed for South West Trading Company's new sock yarn, TOFUtsies. I finished it last night. Now to neaten up the pattern and get it off to Jonelle at SWTC. I'm delighted to be among the designers who got a preview of this soft, pretty, comfortable yarn.





They are worked in typical Argyle fashion, with the cuff and leg done flat and the rest of the sock worked in the round like any other sock. You have a choice of knitting in the diagonal lines as you go or embroidering them on later in duplicate stitch. The pattern will be available exclusively from SWTC, with whom you may be familar as the makers of Soysilk® and many lovely natural fiber yarns.

Steeking at last

For about the last 14 hours I've been working on my steeked cardigan top-down multi-gauge multi-yarn sweater. I've got about four inches done from the neck out and down and have used about 6 yarns, two of them my own hand painted ones. It's got purple, magenta, fuchsia, violet, navy, red, dark royal blue, and (in a very small accent dose) all of the colors in the hand painted yarn I got at stitches originally intended for the Sandy, which include olive, burnt orange, black, plum.

I've been working up from sport weight at 5 sts/in in garter stitch (mandarin collar) on a size 5 needle to worsteds and bulkys and am up to needle size 8. Heading for no larger than an 11 and no fatter gauge than 3.5.

Color and texture techniques include stranded, slipped, and "Bohus" style purled accent blips.

Despite all the color that is there, the mixes and contrasts are pretty subdued, and the overall color is dark and warm and dramatic.

I might actually finish this one, since the most complicated shaping, colorwork, and gauge changes are in the yoke. Most of the knitting after that will be relatively routine.

Oops

Some of you may know the little jingle often used to teach children how to knit

"In through the front door,
around the back,
down throught the window,
and off jumps jack."

Well, I use that for grownups, too. I had a small class this evening. About an hour into the session, one student got distracted and needed help figuring out what step she was on. I took a look, saw that all had been done except taking the old stitch off, and said, "you just need to Jack off."

As they say in the Reader's Digest, was my face red!

My student is eager for her next class .