Paddling Upstream

Preparing for this Cat Bordhi class has been consuming my knitting time. I finally decided where I was going  with my first sock using one of her Master Patterns and set about to make it happen. Yarn: Opal 6Ply some experimental mohair/wool from Louet that I dyed a couple years ago (experimental because I was considering switching from our current Millington to it, but decided I didn’t like the weight of it as a replacement). Needles: Crystal Palace double point bamboo Addi Lace and Natura. Upstream inset: cables and faggotting a mini lace leaf. Toe: garter stitch. Okay, so I waivered a lot. But the planning is half the fun!

Next I had Christel measure my foot so I could do my calculations using Cat’s worksheet. Then I had to figure out how her Master Patterns work. I’m still working on the specifics, but at least I’m knitting now. The Upstream architecture is from the toe up. I got to select any toe I wanted and I picked the garter toe because my foot is sooooo square. We’ll see how it works in reality on my foot. The toe is where I always wear out my socks - and I go through them quickly (thank goodness mom makes me so many pairs that I haven’t had to mend any lately, but the pile to be fixed is growing). Here’s what the toe looks like as a toe and “head on.”

  

I’m just getting ready to begin the instep increases and start inserting the lace. But, I have to chart it first!

The real miracle here is that I am knitting socks on circular needles because I’m ready to admit that knitting the Cat Bordhi way seems to work better with them. Ana will be proud of me!

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Over the weekend my daughter and I went to visit Christel in Indianapolis and we spent a morning at the Indy Children’s Museum. Mostly we visited the exhibits about Ryan White, Anne Frank and Ruby Bridges - kids making a difference, which were quite wonderful. However, the very, very first thing we saw when we entered was this:

I can’t escape it! This was the very first scene in a miniatures exhibit. This room is a room from Colonial America. At any rate, if you are ever in Indy, don’t miss the Children’s Museum - it is great for children of all ages.

More Socks

The exploration continues. Since the last post I’ve knit Marcelo’s Seven League Boots for my grandson (but I think they look like Robin Hood boots). When I showed them to my mom she said, “they’re cute.” Then I asked her, “where are the gussets?” Gone! I think mom will stay a traditional sock knitter. And, there’s nothing wrong with that - it is mom who’s responsible for just about all the sock samples in our sock room at the shop. Her latest was knit with Crystal Palace’s new Panda Silk. When someone asked her how she liked the yarn she gushed about how nicely it knit and how she enjoyed working with it. And that from someone who has knit with LOTS of different kinds of sock yarn. I’m sure she knits at least 30 pairs a year (on top of mounds of prayer quilts, grand kid quilts, etc.). Pretty special mom.

The next sock I tackled is full-size following the Cedar architecture - Ocean Toes. I learned a lot and confirmed at least one thing: I don’t follow a pattern well because I go on my merry way where I think the pattern ought to be going. That’s not usually where Cat is going! This sock was a sample. Notice I didn’t say “pair.” I actually used sock yarn with a pattern that calls for larger yarn because I wanted to start NOW and I didn’t have other yarn at home. The sock is too loosely knit to really be servicable. However, it will look just fine hanging on the wall and it told me what I suspected: I need to make a larger size than her standard pattern in the book. That means I need to do some math following her formula at the end of each of the chapters to make them fit me. The Ocean sock did “just” fit my daughter who has a narrow size 8 foot.

 My next sock is going to be following the Upstream architecture, will have a patterned inset of my own design and will fit me. I’m looking forward to it and will keep you posted.

Revolutionary Knitting Explored

 First, I have to I am confess I am not a “sock knitter.” I have knit socks, enough times that I can knit them without a pattern, but I don’t consider myself a dyed-in-the-wool sock knitter — the passion just isn’t there!  That said, this book intrigued me. Cat Bordhi intrigues me. She has an interesting link/project posted on her website about knitting treehouses that has stayed in my mind since I first read it. It looks so cool and one of these days I WILL make a knitted treehouse or at least hammock. I’ve not read her other books because knitting a moebius never captured my imagination (Treasury of Magical Knitting) and I don’t knit much from patterns and knitting socks with circular needles annoys me (Socks Soar on Two Circular Needles).

However, I have a healthy respect and admiration for Cat’s brain. It is artistic and she’s really, really smart. I enjoyed reading about how she came to redesign socks as we know them. It was very serendipitious. What is wonderful is that she took that thought and ran - no, flew with it. The result is her book New Pathways for Sock Knitters and she’s promising two more books in the same vein to follow this one.

I decided that if I signed myself up to teach a class from the book that I’d be forced to check it out more closely. I’m so glad I did! I have been having a blast. So far I’ve only knit two sample socks in the picture above. Now I think I’m ready to begin a full sized sock (yeah - now I can pick out yarn!). It’s just plain fun! Easy to understand all the time . . . not exactly. That’s part of the fun of it - figuring out Cat’s artistic brain.

I think the reason I am enjoying this self-imposed exercise so much is that it is fun to watch the socks develop and at the same time to see how her brain works (which isn’t like mine at all). I love figuring out people riddles. Cat is a people riddle. How does she THINK of these things? Because our brains work so differently, it has been more of a challenge to work with her directions than to knit the socks! If your brain isn’t quite so artistic as Cat’s, perhaps you are struggling with these new concepts, too. If so, join me on March 8 and we’ll knit together from the book and I think you’ll come to enjoy it for the treasure it is as much as I do.

Just another reminder that easy isn’t nearly as fun as a challenge. And, when you get done you have an even bigger sense of accomplishment.

PS Don’t forget to download the errata for this book from her website. And, if you find problems with it, she asks you to let her know.