I Will Spit On Anything In Order To Avoid Weaving In Ends

Spit splices are wonderful. They produce a strong join that's virtually indistinguishable from the rest of the yarn when knitted up and there are no ends to weave in after. Weaving in ends is the bane of my existence so spit splices are a Godsend.   They work on most natural, non-superwash fibers. This is Classic Elite Wool Bam Boo, which is 50/50 merino and bam boo.

You start with two ends of the same yarn. This doesn't work when you're changing colors, by the way. In that case, you need to do a Russian join.

You strip off half the plies from about 3" of each end so the joined yarn won't be bulkier than the rest of the yarn. This is a 5 ply so I removed three plies from one end and two from the other. 

You dampen your hands or the fiber with spit using whatever method you wish. You can spit on your hands, lick them or just stick the ends of the yarn in mouth and soak the fiber that way. However you do it, the yarn needs to be saturated or the ends won't fuse. You can't cheat and use water. The yarn Gods will not be fooled; they demand saliva. You line the two ends up on the palm of your hand.

Then you rub your hands together like crazy. The heat from the friction is what fuses the two ends together so this is no time to be gentle.

When you're all done, it looks like this. The join is strong enough to withstand tugging. It won't come apart while you knitting it even when you're knitting a gansey, which requires that you maintain a constant, even tension on the yarn. 

Knit, Transfer, Rotate, Knit, Transfer, Oh Shit

I don't really understand why some knitters have an aversion to using DPNs. Once you get the hang of them, it's no more difficult than using circs. It's true that switching from one needle to the next slows things down a bit but it does have a certain rhythm to it. You knit to the end of the needle, transfer the empty needle from one hand to the other and rotate your work. Knit, transfer, rotate, knit, transfer, rotate. It becomes second nature after a while. Knit, transfer, rotate, knit, transfer, rotate. Oh sure, every once in a while you might grab a needle with live stitches on it instead of the empty needle if you're not paying attention and then you have to stop and pick up the stitches before you can continue, but that doesn't happen very often; mostly when you're still getting the hang of using DPNs. You'd have to be a real dunce to do it three times in one evening.

Irish Moss, and This Time I Really Mean It

This is Irish Moss using Jamieson's DK in the Pacific colorway. I'm knitting the large on size 4 needles, which should give me a finished underarm measurement of 42-43". This is two pattern repeats. It goes fairly quickly so I'm hoping to finish it before it's too warm to wear it. We'll see how that goes.
It's not purple but I do love the color. It looks like a denim-y blue from a distance but up close you can see that it's two plies of slate blue and one of aquamarine. There's a little bit of red in there too.

I'll use the Jamieson's Worsted for Aranmor, also from Aran Knitting by Alice Starmore, and the Rowan DK has been returned to the stash for some future project not yet determined.

I Really Need to Figure This Out

Years ago, I decided I needed a plaid scarf. I found a pattern in Vogue Knitting but it was unreadable. (Imagine that, an unreadable pattern in Vogue Knitting!) Anyway, I decided to come up with my own pattern for a plaid scarf. This is the beta version of my plaid scarf. This is a close up of the right side. I'm quite happy with the way this turned out.

This is the wrong side. It's not exactly the same but it's good enough for government work. The only thing I don't like is that you can see where the yarn is carried at the color changes.
Each color square is worked with two strands even if it's a solid square. I worked one row in the first color and then pushed the scarf to the other end of the needle (it has to be worked on circs even though it's knit flat) and worked the second row in the second color. Then I turned it and worked the third row in the first color, pushed it all back to the other end of the needle and worked the fourth row in the second color. So the yarn from row 1 is carried up to row 3 and the yarn from row 2 is carried up to row 4. I figured out a better way to do this about half way through the scarf but wasn't willing to frog the whole thing and start again.

So I figured it all out and never wrote it down. Now I want to make another plaid scarf and I have to figure it all out again.

Pedicure Socks

These are being made from Lorna's Laces in the rainbow colorway; 72 stitches cast on, size 1 needles.

I don't really like the multicolored colorways. They almost always pool at some point and look like you spilled something on your feet. I ordered this because my younger son wanted "rainbow" hat, scarf and mittens but he didn't like the colors in this particular rainbow. It seems that not all rainbows are created equal. Who knew?

I thought it would make a festive pair of pedicure socks. I did an inch or so of 2/2 ribbing and then started the cables. These are faux cables. Instead of crossing the stitches and then knitting them, you k2tog, leaving the stitches on the holding needle and then knit the first stitch, then transfer to the working needle. The pattern repeats over 4 stitches and 4 rows; 3 rows of k2, p2 and then 1 row of the cable stitch, p2.

The pattern gets lost amongst all the colors but it's more fun to knit than plain ribbing and it still produces a nice stretchy fabric. I like the way the colors are striping. Let's hope it continues in this manner. I haven't figured out the toes yet. I'm hoping that I can find a pattern for pedicure socks before I get to that point. Then I can tinker with the numbers to make them work for my socks.

Starting and Finishing

Here are the ends of the scarf with the reversable cables. (The color represention isn't accurate in either picture although this picture is closer. It's really a Wedgewood blue.)

The scarf starts with a tubular cast on, has about 2" inches of 1/1 ribbing and then the cable pattern begins. I think I started with a set up row of k3, p3 but I'm not sure. At the end, I did another 2" of 1/1 ribbing, divided the stitches putting all the knit stitches on one needle and all the purl stitches on another and then used the Kitchner stitch to bind them off, which produces an edge that is identical to the tubular cast on.

This cast on/bind off combination produces a very firm edge, which works well for something like a scarf but not so well for a sweater or anything that requires some give.

Things a Scarf Should and Shouldn't Do

It's not that easy to find a good scarf pattern. There are things a scarf should and shouldn't do:

• Both sides should be the same or very similar. The wrong side should, at the very least, be attractive.


• It should lie nice and flat and not curl.


• The ends should be the same or very similar.


• The ends shouldn't flare out or pull in.


• It should have enought drape and be lightweight enough that you can comfortably wear it around your neck.


• Knitting it shouldn't be a soul sucking experience. In other words, no garter stitch.

How about reversable cables?

This is a modified version of the yarn over cable from "Sensational Knitted Socks" by Charlene Schurch. It repeats over 6 stitches and 4 rows:

row 1: s1, k2, psso, p3

row 2: k3, p1, yo, p1

row 3: k3, s1, p2, psso
row 4: k1, yo, k1, p3

The knitted fabric is almost identical on both sides and lies perfectly flat. The only question that remains is how to start and finish it. More on that tomorrow.

Cabled Socks

These were made with Cherry Tree Hill Supersock on 2.75 mm needles.

72 stitches were cast on. The ribbing is 1/1. The cable pattern repeats over 12 stitches and 11 rows as follows:

rows 1,3,4,5,6,8,9,10,11: k1, p3, k1, p1, k1, p3, k1, p1
row 2: k1, p3, k1, p1, put next 4 st onto cable needle and hold in back, k1, return 1st st on cable needle to the holding needle, p3 from cable needle, k1, p1
row 7: put next 4 st onto cable needle and hold in back, k1, return 1st st on cable needle to the holding needle, p3 from cable needle, k1, p1, k1, p3, k1, p1.

with the exception of the first pattern repeat, which is worked as follows:

row 1: (k1, p1) 36 times
row 2: (k1, p1) 3 times, put next 4 st onto cable needle and hold in back, k1, return 1st st on cable needle to the holding needle, p3 from cable needle, k1, p1
rows 3, 4, 5, 6: (k1, p1) 3 times, k1, p3, k1, p1
row 7: put next 4 st onto cable needle and hold in back, k1, return 1st st on cable needle to the holding needle, p3 from cable needle, k1, p1, k1, p3, k1, p1.
rows 8,9,10,11: k1, p3, k1, p1, k1, p3, k1, p1

The cables pull in so much that the stockinette sole was pulled up onto the sides of the foot so I knit the foot with 8 fewer stitches on the sole. The heel flap was worked over 35 stitches and 37 stitches were held for the instep. I did the gusset decreases in the usual manner but continued until there were 29 stitches remaining. The 37 instep stitches were worked as 3 pattern repeats and 1 purl stitch On the last row of the pattern, I did a p2tog at the center of the 1st, 2nd, 5th and 6th cable. On the first row of the toe decreases, I transferred the first stitch of the instep to the first needle, the last stitch of the instep to the 3rd needle, giving me 15, 31 and 16 stitches on needles 1, 2 and 3 respectively. The toe was worked in the usual manner.

A New New Project and an Old New project

First, the new new project. I frogged Irish Moss with the Rowan DK and started it with Jamieson's Simply Shetland in Nightshade, which is a worsted weight 2 ply with one ply in a very dark blue/purple and one in black. It's darker than I wanted but I think it will do.


The old new project is the Olema turtleneck from Simply Shetland 4. I started this over a year ago but put it aside to work on other things. It's mind numbingly boring to work on so I kept coming up with excuses not to work on it and eventually I forgot about it. I was organizing my wool and found it in the bottom of my knitting basket.

It's a very pretty sweater. This is Misti Alpaca worsted in Forest Green but it's really more of a teal. I'd like to finish it but I can't find the book.

Irish Moss by Alice Starmore

This is Rowan Extra Fine Merino DK. I'm not sure I like it. I think I'd prefer it in something heathery so I'm going to check out the Jamieson's Double Knitting in something like loganberry or purple heather this weekend.

In the mean time, I cast on for Fife using the Wool Bam Boo in green. I also started a pair of pedicure socks in Lorna's Laces in the rainbow colorway.

Cape Cod by Alice Starmore

I started this over a year ago but put it aside a couple of times for other projects. The pattern is in Fisherman's Sweaters by Alice Starmore. I knit it with Classic Elite yarns Wool Bam Boo, which probably wasn't a great choice. It's too soft and isn't really appropriate for a gansey but I loved the color and the sheen, which seemed well suited to such a feminine pattern. I sized it based on the swatch, which did stretch but not nearly as much as the sweater did when I blocked it.

I made some modifications to the pattern. The shell pattern repeats over 23 stitches. I reworked it so it repeated over 21, which reduced the overall stitch count by 20. The pattern includes underarm gussets and gussets at the neck but the neck gussets were unecessary and caused the neckband to not lie flat so I removed them and reworked the neckband.

Based on the swatch, the underarm measurement should have been 43". Instead, the underarm measurement is 46", and the sleeves also blocked out longer so they're are about 4" too long. Unfortunately, it's not just a matter of ripping the sleeves back 4" and reworking the cuff because of the bands of different patterns on the sleeves. I'd have to rip the sleeves back to the gussets and rework them from there so I'll just live with the long sleeves. It's still a beautiful sweater.



The body of the sweater has shells and wishbone cables. The sleeves are bands of 3 different patterns separated by bands of stockinette.

The neckline, cuffs and base of the sweater are a checkerboard pattern instead of ribbing.

The entire body of the sweater is worked in the shell and horseshoe pattern.

The gussets are also patterned.

I have 18 skeins of this yarn in green that I intended to use for Norfolk from the same book but based on my experience with the sweater, I think I'll use it for Fife, which is a child's gansey with a finished underarm of 36" so it should block out to about 40", which would be perfect. It's heavily patterned as well, which is fine with me.

Pomatomus by Cookie A

This is another sock pattern by Cookie A. These appeared on Knitty in Winter 2005. The original pattern called for identical socks but I knit the second as a mirror image by reading the pattern backwards and twisting the twisted stitches in the opposite direction. I think there was some other tweaking involved but I don't remember the details.





These are knit with Artyarns Ultramerino 4, which isn't really a sock yarn and is 100% merino but they're holding up well.

Kai-Mei from Cookie A's Sock Innovation

This is a great pattern. The cuff is stretchy and comfortable and it's really cool how the lace panel starts on the side of the heel flap and cuts across the instep. It would be easy to modify this and use a different lace panel or continue the ribbing on the instep instead of stockinette. The pattern calls for 66 stitches cast on but this could be modified as well. There's really no reason that the cuff has to be ribbed. You could use stockinette or some other stitch although you'd want to keep it simple so it doesn't detract from the lace panel.



The lace panel is 15 stitches wide and has a repeat of 8 rows. I picked up 16 stitches along the side of the heel flap so it lined up nicely.

I also tweaked that pattern so that the lace panel would line up with the toe decreases instead of wrapping around on the sole of the sock.

I might try this with a finer weight sock yarn like Lorna's Laces or Koigu so I could use a wider lace panel. These were knit on size 2.75 mm needles with 66 stitches cast on. I think the yarn is Cherry Tree Hill Super Sock but I lost the ball band so I'm not sure.