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Socking News!

24/4/2014

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Since I have knitted my first pair of socks one and a half years ago I never have been without a sock-project in my knitting bag. There is something utterly soothing and nice when knitting a small project like this.
Socks on knittingtherapy blog by Rililie
It is portable: which means that I can throw it in a smallish (for my standards at least) handbag and take it out quickly at any time without having to cope with too much bulk (at a train station for example) and put it away equally quick (when said train is rolling in). 
It's perfect for traveling and can be very easy and repetitive if a simple pattern is chosen, so that I don't even bother taking a pattern with me most of the time.
There is always a sock WIP in my bag and when it's finished I immediately cast on another sock, to have it ready when needed.
When working on my socks I like the simple aluminium DPNs the most, they bend and are flexible (which is especially handy for the toe-up version I prefer, when starting with Judy's magic cast-on) and in my opinion slide much quicker and make for smoother, rhythmical knitting.

I have quite a lot of these in 2mm and 2,5mm sizes and since they are fairly cheap I am less sad when I frequently loose some here or there....
Socks on knittingtherapy blog, by La Maison Rililie
When traveling by plane I tend to use bamboo DPNs (most companies don't allow metal needles on board), but I quickly remove them when I get off, since I find it annoying to knit with them. At least in the 2mm size they tend to be too flexible, don't let the yarn slide off as smoothly and my knitting tends to look much more irregular! 
So I quickly get quite irritated by them...

I have tried the carbon DPNs in the same size and found them great - but after some use the metal tips loosened up a little (at least it got like that on my pair) and the yarn snags at the connection of the tip to the carbon body, which is no fun at all. So I got back to my old, bended, cheap aluminium version and I am happily knitting my socks again.
Socks on knittingtherapy blog, by La Maison Rililie
My preferred construction is the toe-up version I am describing in this free recipe here. I find the fit of the gusseted heel perfect for my feet: so I play around with the texture or colouring of each project but keep the main construction the same. In my last 2 pairs I have purled the gusset stitches which not only looks nice but also has the added bonus of making stitch markers for the gusset stitches redundant, since one can see immediately how many of them have been worked already!
To keep things even simpler I don't keep notes at all, but put safety pins to mark rows or crucial points I need to remember for the second sock. 

Like this I can see immediately when exactly I started the gusset increases by counting the rows on my first sock until said safety pin, or how many rows I added after the toe increase and things like that.
I also bring the cast-on tail to the RS after knitting some rounds, so that the yarn end that hangs on one side tells me where my rounds start - again without having to use any marker!
(It seems that the elimination of stitch markers makes me incredibly happy!)
Socks on knittingtherapy blog, by La Maison Rililie
The last one and a half year I am exclusively wearing home-knitted socks and I really hate store bought ones with a vengeance! It is such a difference to wear a sock that just fits you perfectly (without having it slide into the shoe when walking and producing a huge wedge underneath one's foot) and they are so much warmer and dryer and just pure bliss and perfection when worn!!!!
So, after all this sock-talk I wan't to know: 
What do you think of knitted socks? 
And do you have a preferred method or pattern?
Socks on knittingtherapy blog, by La Maison Rililie
Hm? By looking at my latest 4 pairs I seem to notice a preference for grey toes (and heels)!?!


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Dessine-moi un Mouton.....!!!

14/4/2014

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..."Draw me a sheep!", these were the first words uttered by the little prince to the narrator in Saint-Exupéry's magnificent book!
Dessine-moi un Mouton Pattern by La Maison Rililie
I was listening to the audiobook when I was knitting up my design and was totally carried away to the fragile universe of this lovely character, when I noticed that the colours I chose for my project bore an uncanny resemblance to the colours of the beautiful illustrations that the author had sketched up himself! Even without having seen any of them for a long time (since audiobooks don't come with illustrations... yet!), I subconsciously adapted my choice to the little prince's taste - thus I just had to give my new pattern a name that was borrowed from a quote of the little highness himself!

The fine and sensitive book must have further inspired me to make a delicate little garment, worked out of fingering weight (and therefore being extra light) and with a simple texture that breaks up the striping with a playful repetition.

The boxy form of the pullover keeps it comfortable while a very slight waist-shaping allows for a flowing, feminine drape. To balance the larger body out the neckline is wide and rounded and more reminiscent of a ballet-neck, while fitted sleeves make the whole look more refined.

Dessine-moi un Mouton Pattern by La Maison Rililie
Dessine-moi un Mouton Pattern by La Maison Rililie
I had fun experimenting with the lower part of the sleeves: they are supposed to be a new take on the fancy renaissance cuffs. Less floppy and much more discreet, they add a nice feature and keep the whole jumper in accordance with the little prince's sensitive attention to detail.
Dessine-moi un Mouton Pattern by La Maison Rililie
This project also makes quite good use of rests in fingering weight yarn (that everybody of us seems to have lying around in abundance)! These can be used for the 7 different contrast-colours. 
The main concept that was followed in my own sample for combining cool and warm hues, as also low and high contrast colours, are explained in the pattern itself.

You can buy the pattern on my website here, or directly at ravelry
Dessine-moi un mouton - Le monde est triste sans imagination


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Mothers Little Helpers

10/4/2014

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We all have our little methods and preferences when working on a project, that become second nature when knitting: from simple little things that help us remember repeating occurrences up to complicated systems that are the fruit of years of experience...
Simple row counter: safety pins! Knittingtherapy-blog by La Maison Rililie
... well, today I thought to share a homely, unsophisticated but vital preference of mine - an item that is always to be found in my dotty "knitting-tool-box": one I always use when knitting a garment and which helps me keeping track of repetitions or points of reference without the need to note things down on bits and pieces of paper (that I am too likely to loose anyway)!
use safety pins as row counters, Knittingtherapy-blog by La Maison Rililie
Safety pins are my best little buddies when it comes to  simple row counting: either to mark important points in the project, with the row number "tagged" on the pin (like in the picture above), or when working repeated increases or decreases, that need to happen every x rows, many times over.
use safety pins as row counters, Knittingtherapy-blog by La Maison Rililie
By pinning my tiny friends on every row in question, it is immediately visible how many repetitions have been worked already and when the next one is due...
... even if the project is pulled out of a neglected corner, after many months of hibernation!
Having all these points marked out help me keep track of instructions that occur at the same time (as so often is the case with garment patterns) and to be able to check my work at one glance!

I also use the kind of safety pins with the rounded bottom (some call them bulb pins) as normal stitch markers. They'll always be my favorites, even if they are not the cutest out there, since they are removable, lightweight and very fine (and therefore don't leave any ladders or unsightly marks in between my stitches).

use safety pins as row counters, Knittingtherapy-blog by La Maison Rililie
I am sure that you all have some similar small devices and methods to keep track of your work, don't you? What are your favorite little helpers hidden in your tool box?
By the way, the project you see here is my next summer top (hopefully) that I am working out of Holst Coast in Redcurrant and Fairy.
Edit June 2014: I finally found these coil-less or bulb safety pins here at Fringe Supply & CO, which has the most gorgeous knitting tools and accessories you can find!
You might also like to take a look at the Fringe Association Blog, where Karen posts many interesting things related to knitting!

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Late to the Party

3/4/2014

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instagram love
I didn't have time to prepare any of the blog posts I had in mind (or do any serious work) because I discovered - extremely late I have to admit - the wonder that is called instagram!

Since yesterday I am browsing and following really cool people there. 
I have also bought two new photo editing apps for my iPad and I am flooding the poor souls that decided to follow me with tons of pics - and it doesn't seem that I'll stop soon....


...this is pure addiction!!!!!
I can see me using this social-media-platform much more than twitter (which I never really understood, never knew why I should write anything in the first place and which left me feeling quite stupid more than once) - instagram is more "me" as a purely visual + creative form of communication.... 

Good news is that I will be able to forward any posts on twitter, so that any followers there without an instagram account can still find out what I am up to (and I can feel much more productive when using my twitter account)!

If you do have an instagram account though, you can look me up by clicking on the tiny camera below:
Instagram

And with the help of another little widget I can show you the latest of my instagram pictures, right in here on the right....

Ah... today I am happily indulging my very own geeky moments!!! 

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    Rililie

    This is a blog about knitting stuff - patterns and the like (the therapeutic part will come after diving into the needles... promise!)


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