Lifestyle Socks: Videos

Videos to assist you in making socks that fit the way you want 'em.
The Pattern: Lifestyle Socks

Click the photo below to see the pattern and download it. It's free.

Not a pattern, but a lifestyle
My sock making guide with a great formula for toe-up socks:
• Judy Becker's Cast On +
• Priscilla Wild's No Muss No Fuss Short Row Heel +
• And any pattern you choose +
• Any weight yarn of your choosing = Socks that always fit.











Technique

How to knit on two circular needles, brought to you by Stitch Diva
She shows you multiple ways to knit small diameter tubes.

The Sock
Toe: Judy Becker Cast On for Toe Up Socks
Cat Bordhi demos, and unfortunately, you cannot elect for viewing in "high quality", but she uses large needles so you get the idea.

Heel: I walk you through Priscilla Wild's short row heel in my Lifestyles pattern

Updated: See a variation of this short row heel using stitch markers. You'll never lose your place between held and active stitches.


Elizabeth Zimmermann's Sewn Bind Off
You need a tail of yarn at least three times the length of the distance you need to bind off.

Inspiration - where do you get yours?

Definitely inspring! Friday night - Amy and Emily, strong as ever. They are kind enough to allow photos and recording and I caught this with my point and shoot. Small venue, great sound, perfect. Their songs about justice, love, and learning how to do the journey are all food for thought for the art that I create.

What inspires you?

Happy Birthday!

My partner, in life (and crime), has a birthday today! Happy Birthday Carol! See the wonderful inspiration she brings to my life - view her beautiful artwork here. Have her incredible work inspire you in your own home - click to purchase a catalog of her art.

Geeks in motion, or well, not much motion.

From my son's blog:

I pulled a muscle in my back today, doing nothing more strenuous than standing and wiggling my shoulder blades around to stretch. It feels fine, unless I move or breathe, in which case it hurts terribly. Later on in the evening I went to meditation class. I started going last week, and found it calming and pleasantly novel. This week I discovered that sitting cross-legged, upright, and still is the perfect way to make nearly every muscle in my body scream in pain or go numb. Also, listening to my own breath makes me drowsy right quick. So there I am, half asleep, writhing in anguish, and the meditation instructor, who's oratory style can be complemented as nasal and rambly, is talking about how pain is a good thing because it provides contrast for pleasure and because it gives us something to focus on to bring us into the present. Instead of calming me down, this mostly just annoyed me, because I didn't feel the pain I was experiencing was really necessary or productive. So there I am: annoyed, distracted, half asleep, in pain, and my phone keeps buzzing.

The instructor tells a story about a study where they submerged meditator's hands in ice water to gauge their pain and fear before and after a three-month meditation class. They found that after the meditation class that the meditators did not feel less pain but they did experience less fear as a result of the ice water hand bath. This was attributed to the effects of meditation. I thought: was there a control group? You can't make any conclusions unless there's a control group. If there was a control group, the study probably would have found that repeated exposure to an ice hand bath reduces one's ice-bath anxiety because you learn that an ice hand bath is not harmful. I am going to make a tee shirt. The shirt will say, "Was there a control group?". Whenever someone makes a bold statement, I will point to my shirt.

So, I had the shirt made and sent it to my son. He found it on his doorstep today. You can get one too. (click to order) Oh, and I knit the hat on his head too!

Handspun Shrine

Yarn I've handspun in the past couple of years
Someday I'll actually cast on and knit with it! (Click on image to see it big).




Some yarn I'm not that fond of, scratchy romni wool I think. Fun color: denim with pink shot. Used it as an opportunity to practice woolen spinning. About 350 yards, 2ply, 5.6 ounces.