Monday, January 21, 2013

Let's Go! On with the Toes!

Curtain Up! Light the (Ott) Lights! We've got nothing to knit but some tights (okay - socks)!
Honey every thing's coming up Toesies!

Can you tell I like Broadway musicals?  The winding is done and now it's time to explain the mystery behind "RED TOE" diaries.

Let's go.....on with the toes!
That's right folks - I decided for several reasons to make the toes on all of the socks out of RED yarn:
1. It's my favorite color.
2. Most sock yarn is designed to make a pair of socks for the average woman's foot, not a man with size XL. (Hey...I can't reveal every detail - this is a public site you know.)
3. It's my favorite color.
4. I wanted the socks to have something to tie them all together and make them a set.
5. It's my FAVORITE color!

Toe-night, Toe-night, I'll knit more toes Toe-night... 
So here is the yarn I selected - Admiral by Schoppel Wolle distributed in the US and Canada by Skacel Collection Inc.
 One thing that makes this particular yarn even more special is that Skacel had this color specially created to make Johnny's socks.  When you purchase either the sock kit or the yarn - 100% of the skacel proceeds are donated to the National Institute of Health's - The Heart Truth® program, which I think is pretty darn cool.

I want to thank one of my sponsors, the Vashon Pharmacy Yarnacy, for supplying the yarn for the toes!  Thank you Myra and gang!   If you get to Vashon Island - you will want to be sure to stop in.
The yarn selection may be small, but it is top notch!

I knit sixteen, going on seventeen, when will this project end?
I have a confession to make - I actually knit all the toes individually, and then move them on to the needle.  I know you probably consider this cheating, but I'm not really trying to set any world records.  (I did try with the Week's Worth of Socks - but that organization that does world records told me that there wasn't enough public interest to merit it as a record.)  Since I didn't know exactly how much yarn it takes to knit a toe, I didn't really want to wind off mini-balls of yarn and try to make that all work.  So..the toes were done one at a time.  If you want to know....using a size one (2.5mm) needle and working the toe by casting on 16 stitches and increasing to 72 stitches, it is possible to get 23 toes out of one ball of Admiral.

I could have knit all night, I could have knit all night, and still I'll knit some more!
Sorry, I can't help myself! 
The cast-on can be a tricky part of a toe up sock, be we must all thank the amazing Judy Becker for creating Judy's Magic Cast On. This technique is so wonderful because it just disappears and looks like regular knitting. While it's perfect for socks, there are many other ways this cast-on can be used as can be found in Judy's book: Beyond Toes: Knitting Adventures With Judy's Magic Cast-On.
I don't own the book myself (yet), but I've had a chance to look at it, and I must tell you,  it is the perfect addition to ANY knitter's library. 

How do you stop a knitter like Maria Brian?
Well I think I've rambled on enough here for now. I've got to get back to my socks! 
I hope to see some of you at the Madrona Fiber Arts Winter Retreat coming up in February.
Here is what you've been waiting for - the first photo of the socks:

 Do you have a favorite song from a musical that you can apply to sock knitting?  I'd love to see your ideas in the comments below. (Can you figure out where all mine came from?)

12 comments:

  1. I'm laughing!
    And loving it!
    I'm singing those songs in my head already! Okay...now to give you a challenge...
    Just you wait!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I don't knit... and I have never seen this musical... or heard this song...

    But I am decent at working the google on the internet machine.

    How about Love is my Legs from Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.

    Lyrics inlcude:
    Faith are the toes
    Attatched to your feet
    So I'll be your feet completely,
    Always there to strive in your socks,
    Alive in your socks,
    No longer dejected,
    Two feet resurrected-
    Connected to legs which is love-

    ReplyDelete
  3. Keep on Knitting! How about "Toe-morrow"

    ReplyDelete
  4. Do you hear the people knit?
    Knitting a song of wooly folk?
    It's the knitting of a people who will not be old again!
    When the beating of your hear echoes the clicking of your needles
    There's a sock about to start
    When toe-morrow comes!

    So excited to watch your project progress!
    Jules

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oddly enough I can generally get a pair of socks for my husband (feet US 12/13) out of a 100 g (or 2x 50g) ball of sock yarn. I stop the leg right under his calf muscle though, so maybe I'm making them too short.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I usually can too, but the yardage can vary brand to brand.

      Delete
  6. It's a sock toe garland! Here's hoping you don't have to sing this sock song...

    Tink sock three, tink sock three only
    Promise not to cry
    Remember when you were distracted
    That's when it went awry

    Knit it back, it won't take very long
    To do the pattern properly
    So just stop and take a moment
    Tink back number three

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love West Side Story. And knitting socks, although I do them one at a time. I definitely have to check back to see how they're coming along. :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. So will each sock pair have a different pattern?

    ReplyDelete
  9. Toooooe-kalhoma, where the yarn comes sweepin' down the skein!

    Great post Brian!

    ReplyDelete