I have a confession (hence the title). It’s shocking, so you might want to sit down. If you’re on your iPhone, don’t take this moment to decide to cross the street, because what I have to say will stop most of you in your tracks. I reorganized my stash one Tuesday to make room for my Maryland Sheep & Wool haul, and I discovered that I have enough sock yarn to knit 46 pairs of socks. If you count the 4 pairs currently in the knitting basket, that brings me up to an even 50. I have enough sock yarn to construct 50 pairs of socks. Of course, Martha looked at me when I told her and said, “Pfft. Amateur.” *  But to my banker and me, this is cause for concern. Not all of the sock yarns are recent acquisitions. Not all of the yarn is from Natural Stitches. In fact, I still have some sock yarn from my first order of sock yarn 5 years ago. (“Pfft. Amateur.”)

Of course, all of this is mere rationalization. I need to spend the summer finishing up projects and starting new socks. Only new socks. And we at Natural Stitches would like you to join me. Socks, in fact, make great beach knitting, great park knitting, great “standing in line for the Phantom’s Revenge” knitting. (Just make sure they’re stowed safely away before the ride starts. Leaving the ball at the station while the sock stays with you in your pocket…hardly priceless.)

Here’s the deal: We’ll be holding a contest from the time you read this until Labor Day (September 1st, 2008). Who can knit the most socks this summer?

The prize is a $50 gift card from Natural Stitches. (Got your attention now? Keep reading.)

We’ll be going by yardage of the final project as that seems to be the fairest way to go. When you finish a pair, bring them to the shop with the ball band and we’ll record the yardage. (The ball band is critical as it will help us to more accurately figure out how much yarn you used.) You can feel free to use any yarn from your stash, but yarn purchased at Natural Stitches will be counted as DOUBLE yardage. (Another reason the ball band is so important.)

Lace Knitters: As Martha enjoys knitting lace so much, we’re doing an entirely separate category for lace projects. Separate leader board, separate $50 gift card.

Answers to commonly asked questions:

• Crocheted lace is eligible as are crocheted socks and slippers
• If you knit lace socks, they only qualify in one category. You pick which one.
• You can participate in both categories.
• PLEASE BRING IN PROJECTS AS YOU FINISH THEM SO THAT WE DON’T HAVE A HUGE RUSH ON LABOR DAY
• One winner per category will be contacted shortly after Labor Day and will be announced in the Newsletter published after Labor Day.
• If you’ve never done socks or lace, both our Knit and Crochet teachers are overloading their class schedules with beginner and intermediate classes in socks and lace.
• Our apologies to hand spinners, but we couldn’t figure out a way to accurately calculate yardage without making our heads explode.
• Need to expand your stash? We’ve got some sock and lace yarns on sale right now, with possible further discounts later in the summer. (Remember…double points for Natural Stitches Yarn!)
• We will keep track of your total yardage in a ledger as well as on a publicly displayed leader board. One for each category.
  

Natural Stitches is proud to feature a yarn review by one of our fabulous customers: Rachel A.

Wisdom Yarns – "Marathon Sock Yarn"
75% SW Wool, 25 % Nylon
$14.00 per ball for 437yds / 100g

With so many more name brand choices in the sock grotto, it is easy to over look Universal’s Marathon sock yarn. You notice the Opal, Regia, Trekking, Lorna’s and just sort of miss this little gem of a yarn, hiding amongst its more well known counterparts. I’d have missed it myself if I hadn’t picked it up before I really got to know the better publicized brands, but I have to say that I’m glad I didn’t overlook it.

Although it seemed pretty standard in the skein, this yarn started to show its individuality as soon as I began to knit with it. It has a slight halo and yet really seems to glide through the fingers. The knitted fabric has a unique softness that is quite enjoyable on the feet. In fact, it's one of the softest pairs of socks I’ve knit. Marathon also seems to hold up quite well on repeated wearing with average to less than average felting and only slightly more fuzzing and pilling.

The colorways are also quite a treat. There is a wide palette of self-striping and self-patterning varieties, everything from primary colors and neons to the more drab masculine colors, and many in between. You really can make socks for the whole family from the same yarn. Also with the different “city” themes, there are a variety of different patterning options to go with the wide range of colors.

So when you’re picking out a new sock yarn, take a chance on a yarn you may not have met yet, this one certainly won’t let you down.

Class Spotlight: Beginning Spinning 1 - The Spindle

This class can be both a beginning and an end on your spinning journey. I like to start folks out on a spindle for two reasons:

1. Spinning requires learning to corrdinate your hands and feet, much like learning to rub your tummy and pat your head at the same time. With only 2 hours available for class, it’s best to learn what the hands should do as that’s where the yarn is made—thus we use spindles in class. Once you’ve mastered that, it’s a simple matter to add the foot motions for treadling a wheel in the next class, Beginning Spinning 1 – The Wheel.
2. For many people, spindle spinning yarn is quite satisfactory. It’s a small portable form of spinning and can be done just about anywhere, yet produces great yarn (although at a slower pace than wheel spinning).

And then, there’s all those pretty spindles out there, made in all sorts of sizes and exotic woods and just waiting to be adopted. Just ask Melissa about the lure of spindle spinning…..

You can find Carol's spindle class, and all her other classes, on the calendar. (Hint, they are all in bright pink!)

Gauging Your Hand Knits

Accurate gauge measurement is vital to a well-fitted garment, but counting individual stitches can be very difficult to do depending on the yarn you are using and/or the number of stitches per inch you are aiming for. Counting stitches at 8 or 9 stitches per inch in fingering weight yarn can drive you batty, and as we get older it’s not always possible to make our eyes do what we want!

But there is hope! You really don’t have to count all those individual stitches! There is another way to measure your gauge accurately with three simple tools: a gauge swatch, measuring device and calculator.

Here’s how to do it step by step. Work through it with me and I think this will all become clear.

We are going to knit our gauge swatch with worsted weight yarn on size US 8 needles. Our pattern calls for our gauge to be taken over stockinette stitch.

• Cast on 30 stitches.
• Border: Work in garter stitch (knit every row) for 3 rows.
• Row 1: Knit
• Row 2: Knit 3, purl to last 3 stitches, k3
• Repeat rows 1 and 2 for at least 4 inches. Don’t cheat! Get a full 4 inches.
• Border: Work 3 rows garter stitch. Bind off loosely.

Now here comes the magic. The garter stitches are used only to keep the main body of our swatch from curling, so we don’t need to include them in our measurement. Because we know that we cast on 30 stitches and used 3 stitches on each side for our garter stitch border, we have 24 stitches worked in stockinette stitch in the middle. (30-6=24) Those are the stitches we will measure.

Measure the stitches from the left side after the garter stitch edge to the right side before the garter stitch edge. You need to be extremely accurate in this measurement. Measure your swatch several times to be sure you are measuring all of the stockinette stitches and include even 1/8’s of a stitch. When I knit my example, my stockinette section measured 4 ½ inches (or 4.5). (You will want to keep a decimal conversation table close at hand. You can find one here. I printed mine out and keep it with my knitting gear.) Where I use 4.5 in the following calculations, you should substitute your stockinette section measurement.

Now for the math. First we figure out how many stitches we are getting in one inch of knitting. Divide 24 by 4.5 to get 5.33 stitches per inch. There is no need to keep all the decimal places for accuracy; 2 decimal places are plenty so just round off any numbers beyond that. (24 ÷ 4.5=5.33 stitches per inch)

To get our gauge over 4 inches simply multiply the stitches per inch by 4.
(5.33 x 4=21.32 stitches in 4 inches)

By the way, if you think those fractions of a stitch don’t really matter, think about this:

We want our sweater to measure 40 inches around with a required gauge of 5 stitches per inch to knit up correctly according to the pattern. But if we use the gauge we got in our example (5.33 stitches per inch), the sweater will actually come out measuring 37.5 inches! That third of a stitch difference turns out to equal 2.5 inches in the finished product and can be the difference between a sweater that fits and one that………..well…………just doesn’t!

Now that we have done the example, here are step-by-step directions for doing it on your own.

• Using the yarn and needles you are going to use for your project make a gauge swatch of about 4 inches square and remember how many stitches you cast on. If the pattern calls for the gauge in stockinette stitch, make a border of garter stitch (to control rolling) around a middle of stockinette stitch. If the pattern calls for the gauge to be measured over a different stitch or pattern use that in the center but still make a garter stitch border.
• Accurately measure the center part of your swatch between the garter stitch edges. Include all fractions of an inch! Do this several times to be sure you get the same measurement.
• Divide the number of stitches in the center section by the measurement you got in step 2. This gives your gauge in 1 inch.
• Multiply your gauge in 1 inch by 4 to get your gauge over 4 inches.
  

Accurate Gauge = Happy Knitter

CarlaK

From the entire staff of Natural Stitches, we wish you happy knits, creative crochets and splendid spinnings. And, as always, if there's anything we can do to help, just let us know!

Please check out what is happening at the web page.

{Martha notes she has over 100 pairs listed in her incomplete database (last updated in Early 2007} (back to the top)