[Nfb-krafters-korner] weaving pet hair
Henrietta Brewer
gary.brewer at comcast.net
Sun Mar 21 19:14:22 UTC 2010
Here is an article I got this weekend. Thought some of you might be interested.
Henrietta
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>From: "501 Knitting Secrets" <KnittingSecrets at DRGBooks.com>
>To: gary.brewer at comcast.net
>Subject: 501 Knitting Secrets educational series: Part 8 of 8
>Date: Sat, 20 Mar 2010 23:00:03 -0400
>Content-Type: text/html; charset=US-ASCII
>
>Trouble viewing this e-mail? Click
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>Part 8 of 8
>
>Part 8: Special surprise from Creative Knitting magazine.
>Click
><http://promotions.drgnetwork.com/eduseries/kn/pg/Toe_Socks.html>here
>for a larger view of the socks.
>
>Dog Yarn Knitting
>By Sue E. Hotovec
>
>Max was the world's sweetest dog. Every spring
>he would shed bales of the softest, downiest
>undercoat. I would brush him and think to
>myself, "This would make an incredible sweater.
>Someday, I'm going to have to learn to spin and
>knit so I can make a sweater out of this." So I
>learned to spin yarn -- dog, sheep, cotton, milkweed, llama -- then to knit!
>
>When people hear about my hobby, it almost
>always generates a lot of questions.
>
>Why pet hair?
>It's not practical for me to keep traditional
>fiber animals like sheep or llamas. But it is
>practical to have a dog that, in addition to
>loving companionship, provides me with a ready
>source of fiber to spin. Long after my beloved
>friend is no longer here, I will have this pair
>of socks or that fuzzy hat as a memento.
>
>Doesn't it smell?
>Some dogs smell more "doggy" than others, but
>once the yarn has been washed, it usually
>doesn't have a noticeable smell. There are
>exceptions though. Someone once gave me some
>hair from a wolf-dog hybrid that reeked. Even
>after multiple washings, it still smelled
>horrible. The yarn was gorgeous, but I asked the
>person not to save me any more hair.
>
>What kinds of pet hair can you spin?
>You can spin almost any hair as long as the
>hairs are at least one and a half inches long.
>Most dogs are double-coated with stiffer,
>coarser guard hairs outside and soft, downy
>undercoat next to the skin. For dogs, a slicker
>brush works well to collect the undercoat
>without getting a lot of the guard hairs too.
>Some of my favorite breeds to spin are sheltie,
>husky and Samoyed. You can also spin the hair
>from breeds without a double coat, like poodle
>or afghan hound. Longhaired cats work too.
>
>How do you turn the hair into yarn?
>There are a number of steps involved in processing hair into yarn.
>
>1. Collect the hair
>Naturally shed hair is best. Whenever I brush my
>dog, I collect the hair from the brush and keep
>it in a grocery bag. I don't recommend using
>clipped hair. Hair clipped from double-coated
>breeds will have a lot of guard hairs in it that
>will have to be picked out. Also, people
>frequently have their pets clipped because the
>fur has gotten matted, which can't be spun.
>
>Note: Some state and federal laws prohibit
>possessing, buying or selling anything made from
>domestic cat or dog. These laws are designed to
>prohibit the killing of pets for their flesh or
>pelt, however, the wording of some laws is broad
>enough to include items made from shed or
>clipped hair as well. It's a good idea to check
>the dog and cat protection laws in your area,
>especially if you plan to spin pet hair for other people or commercially.
>
>2. Pick and card
>"Picking" the fiber is sorting through the hair
>to separate the usable from the unusable. I work
>with 3 paper grocery bags: one for the collected
>hair, one for the guard hairs, twigs, matted
>clumps, etc that get picked out, and a third bag
>to hold the fiber for spinning.
>
>"Carding" uses a pair of paddles with rows of
>small, bent-wire teeth (they look like oversized
>slicker brushes) to comb the hair so that the
>fibers run parallel to each other. Sometimes the
>picking process will make the hair fluffy enough
>that it doesn't need carding. If you want to
>blend the pet hair with another fiber, like
>wool, to modify the properties of the resulting
>yarn, you need to card them together.
>
>3. Spin
>Spinning twists the hairs together to form a ply
>(single strand). Two common spinning tools are
>the drop spindle and the spinning wheel. A drop
>spindle has a weight at one end of a shaft (my
>first drop spindle was a pencil stuck into a
>foam rubber ball). You set the spindle turning
>in the same way that you would spin a top. A
>spinning wheel has a foot treadle to keep the
>wheel turning continuously. With both tools,
>it's the rotation that supplies the twist.
>
>Two things control the thickness of the yarn:
>the amount of hair twisted into an individual
>ply and the number of plies in your final yarn.
>A single ply will coil back on itself and is
>very difficult to work with. You generally need
>at least two plies to make a workable yarn. You
>make yarn by spinning two or more plies
>together, in the opposite direction from which
>they were originally spun. For example, if your
>individual plies were spun clockwise, when you
>ply them together to make yarn, spin the spindle or wheel counterclockwise.
>
>4. Wash, set and dry
>Wind the plied yarn into a hank by wrapping the
>yarn around and around, hand to elbow, the way
>you might coil up a long extension cord or phone
>cable. Tie the hank loosely in about four places
>with lengths of string or other smooth yarn to
>keep the hank from getting tangled.
>
>Submerge the hank in very warm, soapy water. I
>usually add a healthy amount of an inexpensive
>shampoo directly to the water for most house pet
>yarns. If the hair is particularly dirty, or
>from an oily-coated breed, I may use a
>grease-cutting dish soap like Dawn. Don't
>agitate the yarn or change the water temperature
>or it may felt, just let it soak for 10-15
>minutes, then drain. If the water was very dirty, repeat the soaking process.
>
>Rinse the hank by submerging it in clean water
>that is at least as hot as the water you soaked
>it in. Continue the submerge-and-drain process
>until all traces of soap are removed. Carefully
>squeeze as much water as you can from the hank,
>never wring it. Roll the hank up in a towel to
>blot out more water. Hang the damp hank
>somewhere out of the way with good air
>circulation until it is completely dry. Don't
>use anything made of metal, which may rust a bit
>and stain your yarn, or wood that may be damaged
>by the moisture. I hang damp hanks from the
>plastic shower curtain rings over the bathtub.
>Hang a small weight from the bottom to
>straighten the hank. When the yarn is completely
>dry, wind it into a ball and it's ready to use.
>
>What is the yarn like?
>That depends on the fiber used and how you
>processed it. Dog undercoat yarn will be very
>soft and fuzzy; most people mistake it for
>angora. Yarn made from single-coated breeds like
>afghan hound will be smoother and not have the
>fuzzy "halo" that an undercoat yarn has. Cat
>hair yarn, Persian or Himalayan for example,
>will be very soft and drape well. Since pet hair
>doesn't have the crimp that wool does, it tends
>to be inelastic. Some pet-hair yarns will felt
>and some won't. I once had an object lesson in
>this; I knit a sweater vest with Samoyed and
>afghan hound yarns When I hand-washed the vest a
>little too vigorously, the afghan part felted
>and the Samoyed didn't, so one part of the vest
>is now dense and shrunken while the other part is still light and fluffy.
>
>What can you do with it?
>Pretty much anything you can do with commercial
>yarn. As with commercial yarns, each yarn has
>its own characteristics and you need to pair a project with a suitable yarn.
>
>One final thing to keep in mind: dog hair is
>much, much warmer than wool. I had to give up my
>original dream of making a Max-hair sweater.
>After I started working with the hair, I
>realized that if I made a whole sweater with it,
>l'd never be able to wear it. I've made a number
>of head bands or hats for people out of their
>pet's hair and I'm told they're too warm to wear
>... but they still treasure the item made from their pet's hair.
>
>Toe-Up Socks
>Click
><http://promotions.drgnetwork.com/eduseries/kn/pg/Toe_Socks.html>here
>for a larger view of the socks.
>
>It's easy to try on these socks at any point to
>be sure you make them the right length. Right-
>and left-foot toes mean they'll fit perfectly.
>
>SKILL LEVEL
>Experienced
>
>SIZE
>Will vary with yarn and needle size
>Instructions are given for smallest size, with
>larger sizes in parentheses. When only 1 number
>is given, it applies to all sizes.
>
>MATERIALS
> * Sport weight wool blend yarn: 4 oz in one
> color for solid socks, 2 colors for contrast
> heel and toe, or more colors if you want stripes or other color pattern
> * Set of 4 double-pointed needles in a size
> appropriate for yarn (samples knit on size 2)
> * Tapestry needle
>
>SPECIAL ABBREVIATIONS AND TECHNIQUES
>PuSl: From RS, pick up sl st from straight edge
>with right needle, move first st from left
>needle to right needle, sl picked-up st over, leave on right needle.
>
>Wrap (k side): Wyif, sl next st to right needle,
>yarn back, sl st back to left needle.
>
>Wrap (p side): Wyib, sl next st to right needle,
>yarn forward, sl st back to left needle.
>
>Unwrap (k side): Sl wrapped st to right needle,
>reach left needle under wrap, pull wrapped st
>out and onto left needle. Sl wrap back to left
>needle and k st and wrap tog tbl.
>
>Unwrap (p side): Sl wrapped st to right needle,
>reach left needle under wrap, pull wrapped st
>out and onto left needle. Sl wrap back to left needle and p st and wrap tog.
>
>Provisional cast on: Using a length of smooth CC
>yarn, cast on needed number of sts and work as
>instructed. CC yarn is later removed so the resulting sts may be worked.
>
>PATTERN NOTES
>These socks have toes and heels shaped with
>short rows. There are no seams, no grafting,
>only one tail to work in at the end of the solid
>color socks, and a ribbed arch for snug fit.
>Since they are worked from the toe up, you can
>try them on at any point or make to any length.
>The socks can be made in any size with any sport
>or sock weight yarn. For a good fit, you must knit a swatch first.
>
>Sizing: Knit at least a 4 x 4-inch swatch and
>figure your sts per inch for your chosen yarn
>and needles (gauge). The larger your initial
>swatch, the more accurate your gauge will be.
>Measure around the foot at the arch/instep.
>Using the gauge from your swatch, calculate how
>many sts you need for this measurement. The
>number needs to be a multiple of 4, so round up
>or down to the nearest multiple. This is your total st count.
>
>Measure foot length.
>
>Instructions are given for a total st count of 48 (52, 56, 60, 64) sts.
>
>For contrast heel and toe, use CC, otherwise use MC throughout.
>
>SOCK
>First half of toe box
>
>Provisionally cast on half of total st count: 24
>(26, 28, 30, 32) sts on 1 dpn, k22 (24, 26, 28, 30), wrap, turn, p across.
>
>Sl 1, k19 (21, 23, 25, 27), wrap, turn, p across.
>
>Rep last row, k 2 sts less each time, until
>there are 3 (4, 4, 5, 5) wraps on left edge.
>
>Sl 1, k15 (15, 17, 17, 19), wrap, turn, p14 (14, 16, 16, 18), wrap, turn.
>
>K12 (12, 14, 14, 16), wrap, turn, p10 (10, 12, 12, 14), wrap, turn.
>
>K8 (8, 10, 10, 12), wrap, turn, p6 (6, 8, 8, 10), wrap, turn.
>
>Other half of toe box
>K4 (4, 6, 6, 8), wrap, turn, p4 (4, 6, 6, 8), unwrap, wrap, turn.
>
>K5 (5, 7, 7, 9), unwrap, wrap, turn, p6 (6, 8,
>8, 10), [unwrap] twice, wrap, turn.
>
>K8 (8, 10, 10, 12), [unwrap] twice, wrap, turn,
>p10 (10, 12, 12, 14), [unwrap] twice, wrap, turn.
>
>K12 (12, 14, 14, 16), [unwrap] twice, wrap,
>turn, p14 (14, 16, 16, 18), unwrap, turn.
>
>PuSl, k14 (14, 16, 16, 18), [unwrap] twice, wrap, turn, p across, turn.
>
>PuSl, k16 (16, 18, 18, 20), [unwrap] twice, wrap, turn, p across, turn.
>
>PuSl, k18 (18, 20, 20, 22), [unwrap] twice, wrap, turn, p across, turn.
>
>PuSl, k0 (20, 22, 22, 24), [unwrap] twice, wrap, turn, p across, turn.
>
>PuSl, k0 (0, 0, 24, 26), [unwrap] twice, wrap, turn, p across, turn.
>
>K21 (23, 25, 27, 29), [unwrap] twice, k1. (ending at little-toe side)
>
>Finish toe box (where sock becomes either a right or left sock)
>
>For right foot: Undo provisional cast on and
>divide sts on 2 dpn, 12 (13, 14, 15, 16) sts on
>each needle (bottom of sock); place 24 (26, 28, 30, 32) sts on 1 dpn (instep).
>
>For left foot: Undo provisional cast on and
>place sts on 1 dpn, 24 (26, 28, 30, 32) sts
>(instep); divide sts from other needle onto 2
>dpn, 12 (13, 14, 15, 16) sts on each needle (bottom of sock).
>
>Note: As you k across cast-on sts, be careful not to twist them.
>
>Hint: For 1-color socks, weave in tail as you go
>and you'll only have 1 tail to weave in when sock is finished.
>
>Knit 4 rnds.
>
>INSTEP/ARCH
>If working contrast toe, change to MC.
>
>Knit 5 rnds.
>
>Work in k1, p1 rib on bottom sts (optional), k
>top sts until foot measures 1 1/2 (1 1/2, 1 3/4,
>2, 2) inches less than desired length.
>
>Knit 5 rnds.
>
>HEEL
>For contrast heel, change to CC. Move 2 (2, 2,
>4, 4) sts from each end of instep needle to each
>bottom needle. 3 needles will then have 14-14-20
>(15-15-22, 16-16-24, 19-19-22, 20-20-24) sts.
>
>Next row: K28 (26, 30, 36, 38), wrap, turn, p26 (24, 28, 34, 36), wrap, turn.
>
>Rep last row, reducing number of sts k and p by
>4 sts each time, until p sts = 10 (8, 12, 10, 8).
>
>K8 (6, 10, 8, 6), wrap, turn, p6 (4, 8, 6, 6), wrap, turn.
>
>K6 (4, 8, 6, 6), unwrap, wrap, turn, p7 (5, 9, 7, 7), unwrap, wrap, turn.
>
>K8 (6, 10, 8, 8), [unwrap] twice, wrap, turn,
>p10 (8, 12, 10, 10), [unwrap] twice, wrap, turn.
>
>Rep last row, inc number of sts k and p by 4 sts
>each time until p sts = 18 (16, 20, 26, 30).
>
>K20 (18, 22, 28, 32), [unwrap] twice, wrap,
>turn, p22 (20, 24, 30, 34), wrap, turn.
>
>K24 (22, 26, 32, 36), [unwrap] twice, wrap (last
>st on needle), turn, p26 (24, 28, 34, 38),
>[unwrap] twice, wrap (last st on needle), turn.
>
>Sl 1 st to right needle, k28 (26, 30, 36, 38),
>unwrap, if making contrast heel, change to MC, k22 (20, 24, 22, 24).
>
>Unwrap first st, then k 8 rnds.
>
>TOP
>Sample is worked in k2, p2 rib. Use whatever
>pats or colors you like. Work until sock top is same length as foot.
>
>Using needle 2 sizes larger than sock needle, bind off all sts in pat.
>
>Rep for 2nd sock, setting up for other foot at end of toe section.
><https://ssl.drgnetwork.com/ecom/hwb/cgi/subscribe/order?org=HWB&publ=KD&key=KDE8>
>Hopefully you enjoyed the eighth and final part
>of our series. Whether you love the idea of
>stitching something from your dog's fur -- or
>not -- this shows how creative knitters are. Now
>that you know the secrets, tips and techniques
>of knitting the only question is, "What will your next project be?"
>
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>Part 8: Special surprise from Creative Knitting magazine.
>Click
><http://promotions.drgnetwork.com/eduseries/kn/pg/Toe_Socks.html>here
>for a larger view of the socks.
>
>Dog Yarn Knitting
>By Sue E. Hotovec
>
>Max was the world's sweetest dog. Every spring
>he would shed bales of the softest, downiest
>undercoat. I would brush him and think to
>myself, "This would make an incredible sweater.
>Someday, I'm going to have to learn to spin and
>knit so I can make a sweater out of this." So I
>learned to spin yarn -- dog, sheep, cotton, milkweed, llama -- then to knit!
>
>When people hear about my hobby, it almost
>always generates a lot of questions.
>
>Why pet hair?
>It's not practical for me to keep traditional
>fiber animals like sheep or llamas. But it is
>practical to have a dog that, in addition to
>loving companionship, provides me with a ready
>source of fiber to spin. Long after my beloved
>friend is no longer here, I will have this pair
>of socks or that fuzzy hat as a memento.
>
>Doesn't it smell?
>Some dogs smell more "doggy" than others, but
>once the yarn has been washed, it usually
>doesn't have a noticeable smell. There are
>exceptions though. Someone once gave me some
>hair from a wolf-dog hybrid that reeked. Even
>after multiple washings, it still smelled
>horrible. The yarn was gorgeous, but I asked the
>person not to save me any more hair.
>
>What kinds of pet hair can you spin?
>You can spin almost any hair as long as the
>hairs are at least one and a half inches long.
>Most dogs are double-coated with stiffer,
>coarser guard hairs outside and soft, downy
>undercoat next to the skin. For dogs, a slicker
>brush works well to collect the undercoat
>without getting a lot of the guard hairs too.
>Some of my favorite breeds to spin are sheltie,
>husky and Samoyed. You can also spin the hair
>from breeds without a double coat, like poodle
>or afghan hound. Longhaired cats work too.
>
>How do you turn the hair into yarn?
>There are a number of steps involved in processing hair into yarn.
>
>1. Collect the hair
>Naturally shed hair is best. Whenever I brush my
>dog, I collect the hair from the brush and keep
>it in a grocery bag. I don't recommend using
>clipped hair. Hair clipped from double-coated
>breeds will have a lot of guard hairs in it that
>will have to be picked out. Also, people
>frequently have their pets clipped because the
>fur has gotten matted, which can't be spun.
>
>Note: Some state and federal laws prohibit
>possessing, buying or selling anything made from
>domestic cat or dog. These laws are designed to
>prohibit the killing of pets for their flesh or
>pelt, however, the wording of some laws is broad
>enough to include items made from shed or
>clipped hair as well. It's a good idea to check
>the dog and cat protection laws in your area,
>especially if you plan to spin pet hair for other people or commercially.
>
>2. Pick and card
>"Picking" the fiber is sorting through the hair
>to separate the usable from the unusable. I work
>with 3 paper grocery bags: one for the collected
>hair, one for the guard hairs, twigs, matted
>clumps, etc that get picked out, and a third bag
>to hold the fiber for spinning.
>
>"Carding" uses a pair of paddles with rows of
>small, bent-wire teeth (they look like oversized
>slicker brushes) to comb the hair so that the
>fibers run parallel to each other. Sometimes the
>picking process will make the hair fluffy enough
>that it doesn't need carding. If you want to
>blend the pet hair with another fiber, like
>wool, to modify the properties of the resulting
>yarn, you need to card them together.
>
>3. Spin
>Spinning twists the hairs together to form a ply
>(single strand). Two common spinning tools are
>the drop spindle and the spinning wheel. A drop
>spindle has a weight at one end of a shaft (my
>first drop spindle was a pencil stuck into a
>foam rubber ball). You set the spindle turning
>in the same way that you would spin a top. A
>spinning wheel has a foot treadle to keep the
>wheel turning continuously. With both tools,
>it's the rotation that supplies the twist.
>
>Two things control the thickness of the yarn:
>the amount of hair twisted into an individual
>ply and the number of plies in your final yarn.
>A single ply will coil back on itself and is
>very difficult to work with. You generally need
>at least two plies to make a workable yarn. You
>make yarn by spinning two or more plies
>together, in the opposite direction from which
>they were originally spun. For example, if your
>individual plies were spun clockwise, when you
>ply them together to make yarn, spin the spindle or wheel counterclockwise.
>
>4. Wash, set and dry
>Wind the plied yarn into a hank by wrapping the
>yarn around and around, hand to elbow, the way
>you might coil up a long extension cord or phone
>cable. Tie the hank loosely in about four places
>with lengths of string or other smooth yarn to
>keep the hank from getting tangled.
>
>Submerge the hank in very warm, soapy water. I
>usually add a healthy amount of an inexpensive
>shampoo directly to the water for most house pet
>yarns. If the hair is particularly dirty, or
>from an oily-coated breed, I may use a
>grease-cutting dish soap like Dawn. Don't
>agitate the yarn or change the water temperature
>or it may felt, just let it soak for 10-15
>minutes, then drain. If the water was very dirty, repeat the soaking process.
>
>Rinse the hank by submerging it in clean water
>that is at least as hot as the water you soaked
>it in. Continue the submerge-and-drain process
>until all traces of soap are removed. Carefully
>squeeze as much water as you can from the hank,
>never wring it. Roll the hank up in a towel to
>blot out more water. Hang the damp hank
>somewhere out of the way with good air
>circulation until it is completely dry. Don't
>use anything made of metal, which may rust a bit
>and stain your yarn, or wood that may be damaged
>by the moisture. I hang damp hanks from the
>plastic shower curtain rings over the bathtub.
>Hang a small weight from the bottom to
>straighten the hank. When the yarn is completely
>dry, wind it into a ball and it's ready to use.
>
>What is the yarn like?
>That depends on the fiber used and how you
>processed it. Dog undercoat yarn will be very
>soft and fuzzy; most people mistake it for
>angora. Yarn made from single-coated breeds like
>afghan hound will be smoother and not have the
>fuzzy "halo" that an undercoat yarn has. Cat
>hair yarn, Persian or Himalayan for example,
>will be very soft and drape well. Since pet hair
>doesn't have the crimp that wool does, it tends
>to be inelastic. Some pet-hair yarns will felt
>and some won't. I once had an object lesson in
>this; I knit a sweater vest with Samoyed and
>afghan hound yarns When I hand-washed the vest a
>little too vigorously, the afghan part felted
>and the Samoyed didn't, so one part of the vest
>is now dense and shrunken while the other part is still light and fluffy.
>
>What can you do with it?
>Pretty much anything you can do with commercial
>yarn. As with commercial yarns, each yarn has
>its own characteristics and you need to pair a project with a suitable yarn.
>
>One final thing to keep in mind: dog hair is
>much, much warmer than wool. I had to give up my
>original dream of making a Max-hair sweater.
>After I started working with the hair, I
>realized that if I made a whole sweater with it,
>l'd never be able to wear it. I've made a number
>of head bands or hats for people out of their
>pet's hair and I'm told they're too warm to wear
>... but they still treasure the item made from their pet's hair.
>
>Toe-Up Socks
>Click
><http://promotions.drgnetwork.com/eduseries/kn/pg/Toe_Socks.html>here
>for a larger view of the socks.
>
>It's easy to try on these socks at any point to
>be sure you make them the right length. Right-
>and left-foot toes mean they'll fit perfectly.
>
>SKILL LEVEL
>Experienced
>
>SIZE
>Will vary with yarn and needle size
>Instructions are given for smallest size, with
>larger sizes in parentheses. When only 1 number
>is given, it applies to all sizes.
>
>MATERIALS
> * Sport weight wool blend yarn: 4 oz in one
> color for solid socks, 2 colors for contrast
> heel and toe, or more colors if you want stripes or other color pattern
> * Set of 4 double-pointed needles in a size
> appropriate for yarn (samples knit on size 2)
> * Tapestry needle
>
>SPECIAL ABBREVIATIONS AND TECHNIQUES
>PuSl: From RS, pick up sl st from straight edge
>with right needle, move first st from left
>needle to right needle, sl picked-up st over, leave on right needle.
>
>Wrap (k side): Wyif, sl next st to right needle,
>yarn back, sl st back to left needle.
>
>Wrap (p side): Wyib, sl next st to right needle,
>yarn forward, sl st back to left needle.
>
>Unwrap (k side): Sl wrapped st to right needle,
>reach left needle under wrap, pull wrapped st
>out and onto left needle. Sl wrap back to left
>needle and k st and wrap tog tbl.
>
>Unwrap (p side): Sl wrapped st to right needle,
>reach left needle under wrap, pull wrapped st
>out and onto left needle. Sl wrap back to left needle and p st and wrap tog.
>
>Provisional cast on: Using a length of smooth CC
>yarn, cast on needed number of sts and work as
>instructed. CC yarn is later removed so the resulting sts may be worked.
>
>PATTERN NOTES
>These socks have toes and heels shaped with
>short rows. There are no seams, no grafting,
>only one tail to work in at the end of the solid
>color socks, and a ribbed arch for snug fit.
>Since they are worked from the toe up, you can
>try them on at any point or make to any length.
>The socks can be made in any size with any sport
>or sock weight yarn. For a good fit, you must knit a swatch first.
>
>Sizing: Knit at least a 4 x 4-inch swatch and
>figure your sts per inch for your chosen yarn
>and needles (gauge). The larger your initial
>swatch, the more accurate your gauge will be.
>Measure around the foot at the arch/instep.
>Using the gauge from your swatch, calculate how
>many sts you need for this measurement. The
>number needs to be a multiple of 4, so round up
>or down to the nearest multiple. This is your total st count.
>
>Measure foot length.
>
>Instructions are given for a total st count of 48 (52, 56, 60, 64) sts.
>
>For contrast heel and toe, use CC, otherwise use MC throughout.
>
>SOCK
>First half of toe box
>
>Provisionally cast on half of total st count: 24
>(26, 28, 30, 32) sts on 1 dpn, k22 (24, 26, 28, 30), wrap, turn, p across.
>
>Sl 1, k19 (21, 23, 25, 27), wrap, turn, p across.
>
>Rep last row, k 2 sts less each time, until
>there are 3 (4, 4, 5, 5) wraps on left edge.
>
>Sl 1, k15 (15, 17, 17, 19), wrap, turn, p14 (14, 16, 16, 18), wrap, turn.
>
>K12 (12, 14, 14, 16), wrap, turn, p10 (10, 12, 12, 14), wrap, turn.
>
>K8 (8, 10, 10, 12), wrap, turn, p6 (6, 8, 8, 10), wrap, turn.
>
>Other half of toe box
>K4 (4, 6, 6, 8), wrap, turn, p4 (4, 6, 6, 8), unwrap, wrap, turn.
>
>K5 (5, 7, 7, 9), unwrap, wrap, turn, p6 (6, 8,
>8, 10), [unwrap] twice, wrap, turn.
>
>K8 (8, 10, 10, 12), [unwrap] twice, wrap, turn,
>p10 (10, 12, 12, 14), [unwrap] twice, wrap, turn.
>
>K12 (12, 14, 14, 16), [unwrap] twice, wrap,
>turn, p14 (14, 16, 16, 18), unwrap, turn.
>
>PuSl, k14 (14, 16, 16, 18), [unwrap] twice, wrap, turn, p across, turn.
>
>PuSl, k16 (16, 18, 18, 20), [unwrap] twice, wrap, turn, p across, turn.
>
>PuSl, k18 (18, 20, 20, 22), [unwrap] twice, wrap, turn, p across, turn.
>
>PuSl, k0 (20, 22, 22, 24), [unwrap] twice, wrap, turn, p across, turn.
>
>PuSl, k0 (0, 0, 24, 26), [unwrap] twice, wrap, turn, p across, turn.
>
>K21 (23, 25, 27, 29), [unwrap] twice, k1. (ending at little-toe side)
>
>Finish toe box (where sock becomes either a right or left sock)
>
>For right foot: Undo provisional cast on and
>divide sts on 2 dpn, 12 (13, 14, 15, 16) sts on
>each needle (bottom of sock); place 24 (26, 28, 30, 32) sts on 1 dpn (instep).
>
>For left foot: Undo provisional cast on and
>place sts on 1 dpn, 24 (26, 28, 30, 32) sts
>(instep); divide sts from other needle onto 2
>dpn, 12 (13, 14, 15, 16) sts on each needle (bottom of sock).
>
>Note: As you k across cast-on sts, be careful not to twist them.
>
>Hint: For 1-color socks, weave in tail as you go
>and you'll only have 1 tail to weave in when sock is finished.
>
>Knit 4 rnds.
>
>INSTEP/ARCH
>If working contrast toe, change to MC.
>
>Knit 5 rnds.
>
>Work in k1, p1 rib on bottom sts (optional), k
>top sts until foot measures 1 1/2 (1 1/2, 1 3/4,
>2, 2) inches less than desired length.
>
>Knit 5 rnds.
>
>HEEL
>For contrast heel, change to CC. Move 2 (2, 2,
>4, 4) sts from each end of instep needle to each
>bottom needle. 3 needles will then have 14-14-20
>(15-15-22, 16-16-24, 19-19-22, 20-20-24) sts.
>
>Next row: K28 (26, 30, 36, 38), wrap, turn, p26 (24, 28, 34, 36), wrap, turn.
>
>Rep last row, reducing number of sts k and p by
>4 sts each time, until p sts = 10 (8, 12, 10, 8).
>
>K8 (6, 10, 8, 6), wrap, turn, p6 (4, 8, 6, 6), wrap, turn.
>
>K6 (4, 8, 6, 6), unwrap, wrap, turn, p7 (5, 9, 7, 7), unwrap, wrap, turn.
>
>K8 (6, 10, 8, 8), [unwrap] twice, wrap, turn,
>p10 (8, 12, 10, 10), [unwrap] twice, wrap, turn.
>
>Rep last row, inc number of sts k and p by 4 sts
>each time until p sts = 18 (16, 20, 26, 30).
>
>K20 (18, 22, 28, 32), [unwrap] twice, wrap,
>turn, p22 (20, 24, 30, 34), wrap, turn.
>
>K24 (22, 26, 32, 36), [unwrap] twice, wrap (last
>st on needle), turn, p26 (24, 28, 34, 38),
>[unwrap] twice, wrap (last st on needle), turn.
>
>Sl 1 st to right needle, k28 (26, 30, 36, 38),
>unwrap, if making contrast heel, change to MC, k22 (20, 24, 22, 24).
>
>Unwrap first st, then k 8 rnds.
>
>TOP
>Sample is worked in k2, p2 rib. Use whatever
>pats or colors you like. Work until sock top is same length as foot.
>
>Using needle 2 sizes larger than sock needle, bind off all sts in pat.
>
>Rep for 2nd sock, setting up for other foot at end of toe section.
><https://ssl.drgnetwork.com/ecom/hwb/cgi/subscribe/order?org=HWB&publ=KD&key=KDE8>
>Hopefully you enjoyed the eighth and final part
>of our series. Whether you love the idea of
>stitching something from your dog's fur -- or
>not -- this shows how creative knitters are. Now
>that you know the secrets, tips and techniques
>of knitting the only question is, "What will your next project be?"
>
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