More Treats

A few posts ago I wrote about my self-striping yarn called "Trick or Treats." I've been knitting up some socks to see how the color stripes turn out. I really like the final result: 

Sample sock

Sample sock

This is my own pattern. I started on the toe using Judy's magic cast on and increased until I had 64 stitches (this is the typical number of stitches that I cast on with size 1 needles to fit my foot). I kept knitting until I got the the heel. I decided to use an afterthought heel at this point so that the striping sequence wouldn't be disrupted. 

When I got to the middle of the orange stripe I knit in a piece of scrap yarn on half of the stitches (32 in this case) and then just continued knitting as usual. Once I cast off the top of the sock I went back to finish up the heel. 

I went back to the scrap yarn that I had knit in and took it out while picking up stitches as I went. Then I figured out where the halfway point was in one of the orange strands of yarn and started knitting in much the same way that I would make a toe in a cuff-down sock. I decreased down to 32 stitches then used the kitchener stitch to close the end. 

Picking up stitches to start the heel. 

Picking up stitches to start the heel. 

Once I finished this sock I weighed the remaining yarn and determined that if I used a different ball of yarn for the toe and heel then I could get a 2nd and 3rd sock out of the same ball of yarn. For this pair I used Emily O'Grady's Vanilla Bean Striped Sock recipe. 

Vanilla Bean Sock Recipe

Vanilla Bean Sock Recipe

I love how this one turned out and I'm about halfway through making the next one. I'm also dyeing up some more of this colorway as I type this to re-stock my shop. Keep an eye out for it soon! 

"Trick or Treats"

Lily and I have been busy working on Lilliput Yarn's first self-striping yarn called "Trick or Treats". It's out in plenty of time to knit up a nice pair of Halloween socks! First we got the warping board out and made a huge loop of yarn. This was then dyed in sections. This yarn is 6 stripes- purple, orange, purple, white, black, white. IMG_4869.JPG

Once it was all dyed up we re-skeined it and brought it over to Black Sheep at Orenco where it waits for a new owner. (There will also be some going up in my Etsy shop in the near future.)IMG_4886.JPG

I was on my own by the end of this process as Lily decided that taking a nap would be more fun than getting yarn re-skeined. It's a rough life for Lilliput!

IMG_4870-1.JPG