I know I know...
It seems as if I have been in a sock knitting frenzy lately - but my sock ramblings shall be kept in check for the next year (here you have quite the original New-Year resolution)!

But I really had to post this follow-up article on my latest one,  the free SpiralSock Pattern!

My good friend and tech-editor Kate, actually made a great suggestion after she checked the first version of the pattern ( the one published this Christmas). There was not time to rewrite the pattern back then, but I really wanted you guys to know about Kate's great idea!

(Quick disclaimer:... It seems that her idea is a known adaption to heel-less sock patterns, but we both didn't know about it and re-discovered what others will most probably already know for decades!)
Anyway, since I know that there must be other sock-ignorant people out there like me, who are very entertained by this kind of knitting-technology, I still thought that this follow up post and addition to the pattern itself, might interest some of you.

So, well... Kate's new and improved method was to work a Star-Toe (or also a round toe) with the SpiralSock, so that it can be worn without having to adjust the toe in any way, since there is no need for any adjustment in any direction because there simply isn't any - the star toe is the same on all sides, as is the tube for the heel-less sock!
With this toe, one would be able to keep the heel part of the sock even longer in shape, since it never will be put on in the exact same way and therefore the whole area will be worn out over a longer period of time.
Cool, isn't it?

So I played around with a star-toe with a progressive ratio of increase and even rounds and of course I have updated the sock pdf and now there are both toe variations in there for you to choose!

To work this star toe though, we need to cast on our stitches in a circle and there are many ways to work the same circular cast on techniques: One is the crochet technique, which uses (as you have already guessed) the extra tool of a crochet... not a problem in itself, if you can be bothered with looking for it in your messy studio (not that I speak out of experience here....)
Or then there is the excellent "disappearing loop method" by the famous techknitter, whom I consider my biggest teacher and mentor, that also uses knitting needles only and is using a similar technique as for the tubular or invisible cast-on.
 
But I do prefer the one I am showcasing below, since it not only has the advantages that no extra tools are needed (and the messy studio can be sufficiently ignored) - but it also does immediately provide the knitter with two casted on rows. Therefore there is an actual "lower row" stitch to work into right away - a feature, which is especially handy for hidden increases in the very first round after casting on.
(Here I like the hidden increases because they provide a discreet way to work immediate repeat augmentations - on every stitch and/or directly on top of each other on subsequent rounds, as we are doing here to provide a less pointy toe)

On another note: I wonder, do you guys prefer my printable photo-tutorials (which I find are easy to reference later on or to file) or do you like videos better?
Is there one medium you strongly prefer over the other, or does it all depend on the technique itself (like in this case, where the tutorial is easier to understand when actually seeing the movement)?
Please do tell me and I will try my best to adapt to what you guys like most!
oh...
​...and have a wonderful and strong New Year! ✨⭐️

Allow me to describe my though-process and incentives about this pattern in this lengthy post:
I was searching for this perfect but elusive accessory for years!
It must have been right after I learned knitting socks, when I whipped up my first typical run-of-the-mill shorty. I was and remained disappointed while periodically continuing with experiments to knit a sock with a low top section, that not only would hide perfectly in my shoes, but also remain put and make for an elegant and flattering footwear, if I'd needed to take my shoes off while visiting friends. (I don't know about you, but I did find that all those other short socks with the horizontal "cut" across the ankle were not the best option for a long-leg-and-slim-ankle look).

Only after many trial socks later, I finally had found a way to produce a low top sock with my favourite kind of heel (a gusseted short-row one). This sock was constructed with a new kind of decrease - especially developed for this pattern, because I didn't like the look of the gusset stitches after turning the heel. I therefore tried to produce sturdy and symmetrical decreases that still had some "plush" feel and style at the gusset-heel edges.

But all of these ideas and new systems, as also the extensive (ab)use of german short-rows in the pattern made me insecure and afraid that people would hate my construction and find it much too cumbersome for such a tiny sock! So I did hold off with publishing it for quite some time and only after getting wonderful feedback from my talented testers I felt brave enough to make this strange little sock pattern public. I was immediately blown away by the amazing response and my fears were completely quelled! I even noticed that many of the other knitters out there shared many of my own quirks and slightly neurotic "preferences" in relation to short socks.... who knew!

No recommended yarn was used for this pattern either, although there were many options of beautiful sock yarn for me to choose from!
The reason was simply that I wanted to showcase that this pattern lends itself wonderfully to use up any of the accumulating bits and pieces, that seem to take up our yarn stash. Small lenghts of yarn, which we don't want to through away but still don't know how to use up!.
It's quite easy to use yarn rests of similar weight here: First find the colours you'd like to combine and then just weigh the yarn rests. Work half or less for one sock and you'll have enough for the second sock!

Finally the last technique that provides a good fit to this special little sock is the customisable cast off, which securely hugs the backside of the ankle while giving a looser fit at the instep section, which needs to be more elastic.

As you can see from the pictures, I have already knitted up quite a variety of those socks - and I have only worn this kind during all of last winter! Standing next to all the youngsters on snowy pavements, wearing sneakers and even short booties - I too, kept my ankles fashionably naked!

You can find the pattern either on ravelry or here on my site
(on ravelry you can even check out many of the wonderful socks that have been already knitted up by knitters all over the world)

After having gifted a very special hand-knitted item to a beloved receiver, the most dreaded thing for a knitter to hear, is: "Oh... it's so cute, I love it - but I have to admit that I never wear it because it really doesn't fit / is too big / much too long / not really my size...! Well, thanks anyway"
- I had the pleasure to hear something similar after asking my mother if she wears the ShellSock in yellow I gifted her about a year ago. I made her this pair because she liked the ones I did for myself (based onthis free pattern here), but I never saw her wearing the socks, when I visited.
So... after wondering why she didn't tell me sooner and without me asking about them, I immediately started "The Operation ShortSock".
It's nothing groundbreaking in terms of newness or innovation. No, it's simply a cut-and-graft shortening of the sock's foot-tube. But since many knitters seem to be afraid of such "invasive treatments" and since I thankfully remembered to take pictures during "surgery" (a rarity in my case), I thought that I might show you the complete procedure below - step by step - and maybe it will seem less daunting to some! It's the idea of cutting that frightens more than the act itself, believe me.
​
So - first of all we had to do an evaluation-field trip: Mum tried on the sock and we established how much exactly we would need to shorten it, so that it'll fit comfortably.
​Try to keep in mind here that the fabric is elastic and that it will stretch a bit, but avoid to take out too much and make a sock that will be too snug and tight. Just fold over a section, try it out and mark the extent that needs to go.

Then I cut into one stitch of said contrast round in white (the first round of the section we intend to remove right above the needle of the toe area) and proceeded to take the whole round out stitch by stitch until the toe was separated completely from the rest of the sock.
You can click on the pictures to see a bigger version of them, if you like.

Then I found the tail of the grey main colour and just unraveled it until I got bored... and grabbed the cute little scissors I have from fringesupplyco to quickly cut all the excess away - without of course hurting any of the stitches already positioned on the needle - or myself - or others... 

Then the fun part began: The actual grafting and re-connecting of the toe to the foot! If you are one of those knitters that fear this step, rest assured that it is not at all hard to do. You just need to take your time and keep an eye on your tension, while following a good tutorial, if you don't already know the grafting mantra "knit, slip, purl... purl, slip, knit" by heart.

After neatly hiding all tails and such, the old-new shortened sock was ready to be worn for the first time and it successfully had been saved from a dark and boring life in the sock-drawer!
Both me and my favourite knit-recipient were quite glad about it...
You are welcome, mum! 

Probably the number one question that knitters ask me, is how to tighten up the last double-stitch when working German-Short-Rows in the round. This final turning point from the last short row - the last double-stitch to be worked when starting knitting in the round again - is slightly turned to the other side and ends up big and funny looking when it's knit as usual.

Insert the right needle (or an extra DPN needle if it's easier to handle) into the right leg of the stitch, that is positioned 2 rows below the first stitch on the left needle (as shown above)...

Work like this towards the left, stitch for stitch and carefully move the extra yarn from one stitch to the other and let the yarn travel to the side in this way. The idea here is to try to pull out a tiny bit less excess while working each stitch, so that your pulled-out loop gets smaller each time because every stitch "absorbs" a small fraction of the excess until it is all gone. You don't want to end up with all the length on the left side of your double-stitch and just transport the huge stitch itself from one side to the other. 
What you need is to have this extra loop of yarn distributed all over the 3-5 stitches towards the left, or until it isn't visible anymore (it doesn't need to look perfect at this stage).

On the picture on the right, where I have continued knitting about 4 stitches more, you can see clearly that the big double-stitch has been transformed into a normal sized stitch, while the extra length of yarn has been "incorporated" into the smaller stitches to the left, making those stitches larger in size and the difference between all of them less pronounced.

There are other methods where you are working this last short row stitch differently as the others before, to "make it behave" (sometimes by knitting each leg of the ds together with other stitches, for example).
I am personally not a big fan of this idea - even if it might be quicker to work.  It can distort the stitch more if not done right, make the fabric pull in at that point instead of letting the natural flow of the stitches open up during blocking, leave the smaller stitches in their tiny misery or add bulk to a section where we want to keep things nice and flat.

2. Eliminating larger stitches, even after having completed the project:
Good news is that you can manually repair the tension to get rid of all big, distorted stitches in your knitting - not only the short row double stitches discussed here - but also when you have strange laddering going on in magic loop knitting, strange holes near the underarm cast-on in top down knitting or the occasional giant stitch making an appearance.
If you already have finished and blocked your project and you still want to get rid of any stitch that looks too big, or if you still find that the above tip didn't yield a perfect result, even after blocking, this "Post-Production" process will surely be of interest:

You will need a smaller sized needle, good lighting and some patience to make this work:

I find that we knitters sometimes forget that we are just working with sticks and a long length of string, which makes up a fabric of interlocked loops. A fabric that one can influence at any given time by shifting the amount of length in the finished surface - during but also after knitting.
This fact actually opened up a whole new way of thinking to me; on how to handle my knitted fabric and to understand a lot of things about the flow of the stitches in knitting.

As I said the logic behind all of this is really simple - too simple maybe and not at all dramatic - but it does the trick every time: With just a little patience and an even tension, all "non-conform" stitches, ugly double-stitches or other unwanted distortions in our knitting can be successfully remedied and persuaded into shape.

I am sure that this isn't the only way to eliminate this kind of problematic stitches - it is the way I prefer for years now and I am very happy with it because it allows me the freedom to repair any unevenness that might have escaped me during knitting.
But maybe you have another method that works better for you?

... our crafts-teacher showed us a very cool and simple method for a looser long-tail cast on. 
It allows you to work the first row easily without fighting to insert your needle in some tightly wound CO stitches .
I just remembered this recently (together with some other not-so-useful school memories) and thought that maybe not everybody is familiar with this easy trick to achieve a friendly start to their knitting. So I thought I'll share this "fond memory" especially for the ones that love the look of the long-tail cast on, but never get it to be elastic enough...

And there you go: The needle that is left inside your knitting is now holding a nice set of loose stitches - that are big, open and stretchy and ready to be worked into.

Apropos circulars: 
If you use long circulars for a smaller project you can "fold" them in half and use the two needle tips as the straight pair above. Just make sure that you don't loose the stitches when you try to get the one needle-tip out of them by pulling on the cord end... for larger projects this might get very fiddly!
You theoretically need a cord that is a little longer than double the length of the casted on stitches to accommodate them when folded in half, so this is why an extra pair of circular needles in the same needle-size would probably be a better idea for a larger project (and much easier to pull out of the CO after it's done).  

This Twin-Needle system is producing a kind of an elongated, oval needle tip and not a round one - so your loop is long while the stitch underneath rests still neat and less bulky  - that's really a detail though and probably too much of information.

In Pictures:

This little post might be helpful if you need to work increases on the sides of an existing textured piece, a patterned shawl or any other project that wants to grow at the sides outwards  and you don’t know how to continue working your stitch pattern or chart when adding new stitches to each side of your work.
It might get especially difficult to work armhole increases in a top-down textured sweater that needs you to follow a chart with pattern repeats and extra stitches and edge stitches (as often encountered in flat knitted patterns).
Does this description already induce a headache? 
Well, lets say that you might encounter the following issues:

• How to continue working a given pattern or chart, while adding new stitches to each side and not loose the overview of your stitch pattern? 
• What shall one do with all these new stitches and how can those be integrated in the motif?

The whole process becomes quite easy if you visually separate your newly increased stitches with the help of removable markers until you can safely integrate them into your existing pattern repeat!
The idea is to use markers to separate the complete chart you have been following before (not only the pattern repeat itself, but the whole thing) from those increases that are worked gradually and over quite some rows, so that you can continue following the chart instructions without worrying about how to start each row, since you are increasing the needed amount of stitches on the outside of your chart.

So now you might wonder why in this first increase row the M1L and M1R increases are placed at the “inside” of the markers and not at the outside: It is so that those newly increased stitches can safely replace the edge stitches of the chart.
This allows you to just follow your chart as a whole and as written in between the two markers and to increase at the outer edges of the markers on the following rows: 

Like this you can actually see how many new stitches have been added at the beginning and the end, next to the markers. These increased stitches are worked in Stocking stitch until a whole pattern repeat is added at each side (in the pictures it’s a 4 sts repeat), which we can then safely integrate into our existing textured pattern and start again with the next set of increases, where the markers are placed once again as in step 1-4. 

So the whole idea is that with the help of the markers you don't bother about the increased stitches until you can add those to your growing textured section. The markers also help you to work the chart normally during the increase section (since they show you where to start and end the complete chart), so you don’t need to "read your knitting" at all and to guess which stitch goes on top of the other, if you aren’t comfortable in doing so.

While working the increased stitches next to the markers in Stocking stitch you get a wide and clean band on the sides of your work, as you can see in picture 6. If your pattern repeat is much more than 4 sts wide though, you might want to start getting comfortable with "reading your knitting" after all, so that you learn to immediately integrate the new stitches in your stitch pattern and don’t need to wait until you have enough new stitches to work with.

But that’s totally up to you, to work it as you like and feel comfortable with.

About two weeks ago I showed you a method of working a stretchy applied i-cord (or i-cord bind off) which doesn't involve going up a needle size or change the look of your stitches. 
That technique can also be used to work with finer yarn than the one of the main project. 
I called it the "spaced-out" applied i-cord and I am glad that so many of you liked it!

So, let's imagine that you finished up your i-cord bind off on your neckline, hem or cuff - and it thankfully looks great and doesn't pucker - and now you want to close it up to finally be able to try your garment on and admire your hard work...
What do you do? Don't say that you are going to sew the ends together like that, hoping that nobody will notice the harsh line or bump right in the middle of your perfect, smooth, round and even i-cord edge??!!??

Well, as the title already gave away, in this post you can find the answer about how to graft the two ends of an i-cord invisibly together. 
For the ones that aren't already familiar with this technique, I prepared the following photo-tutorial to round up on the i-cord subject (for now): 

(Click on the pictures below to read the high-resolution PDF and download it for further reference if you like and find more tutorials here)

So... no more unsightly sewing lines, gaps or bulky connections in our i-cord universe anymore! 
And no need to avoid i-cords in general. This method might take much more time than a simple bind off, but it is so much more beautiful, isn't it?

...an i-cord edging!
I don't know if you ever had this problem of working either an i-cord bind off or an applied i-cord all around your magnificent, wonderful project just to find out (after 3 hours of uninterrupted labour) that it was worked too tightly and that instead of providing the most professional finishing for your hand knitted marvel, it is now sitting tensely on the edge, puckering and firmly drawing the fabric in.
This is not a nice experience, believe me (especially not when one ruins perfectly well fitting necklines like this)! 
After talking (and lamenting) about it numerous times with knitting friends I thought about a way to counteract this tight i-cord edging phenomena:

So... another tutorial was in order and here it is: Say hi to the spaced out, applied i-cord!
As always you can click on the pictures below to go to the high resolution document and actually be able to read this thing (or download it as a PDF).

This method to space out an added edging and to provide length and therefore more stretch can be used for all i-cord edges (not only the applied kind that is showed here on the sides of a knitted fabric, but also for binding off live stitches at the end of one's work).

One could even use a totally different, lighter weight yarn for the i-cord and cast off a project worked in DK with fingering or lace weight in this way...
...just play around to find out!

I do hope that now there are even more possibilities out there for you to stash bust, since you get more options to combine yarns and use your luxurious one skein of sock yarn only for the neckline and cuffs, for a really professional finishing this time.
Even if you'd need to work quite a lot of i-cords to diminish your stash, I am sure...
;)

Oh... and if you haven't seen my other tutorials you can always find all of them here.

...or how to have a good excuse for playing around with balloons as an adult!

I just finished my new hat yesterday and thought I'd try out this trick I remember reading about somewhere. It allows you to block out stitch patterns on a hat, without getting folding lines at the sides (something that usually happens when laying it on a flat surface to dry after washing). 
Entrance.... 
The balloon!

And now the real fun begins! Wet the hat up until it's completely soaked in water!!!

After the wool is completely dry, fluff the badly treated pom-pom up a little bit with your fingers before taking the air out of the balloon.... And then admire your hard work: Bloomed stitches and a neatly blocked out hat without folding lines!!!!

The hat is worked in Shibui yarn (Maai) and will probably become a pattern soon...
The pom-pom was made by following my latest tutorial crush in this youtube video.
The balloon on the other hand has been thrown away quite unceremoniously...

These are the short-rows I always use as a knitter, but I suggest them also in my own patterns as a designer. Whatever the instructions may be... the german short-rows simply are the most discreet and incredibly easy to work, in my humble opinion at least!
Until recently there was this great tutorial on the socktopus website about how to work this rather amazing technique. I used to put the link to said tutorial in all my patterns that used the german short-row method (as a quick explanation for knitters that weren't familiar with it) - but recently the domain went down and this had as a result that all my patterns were pointing to a "blank" page!!!

I myself have made some tutorial in the past and I generally prefer to make photo-tutorials that showcase something new, something that is not already to be found on the internet: usually about innovative methods that I have came up with or, in some rare exceptions about already known methods, where I couldn't find a tutorial that was clear and concise enough. 
For one, I think that there is no point in having a ton of different tutorials about the exact same technique on the net. But I also believe that it is a nice gesture of appreciation for the hard work of knitters that create informative tutorials and videos to link their sites in patterns or on personal blogs and to provide traffic and make them known to a wider audience.
That's what I thought until recently.... (and I still do)...
But I didn't think of the possibility that these great tutorials can just simply disappear, like in the case of the german short-row technique on the soctopus-site... 
(RIP soctopus and thank you!!! It was a great informative read)!

Well.... Since I will need to change all the related links in my patterns in the next days, I decided that I'd have to write up my own tutorial about this method - which hopefully will stay online for a looooooooooooooooooong time!!! 

Edit: If you choose to work this technique by following a pattern that uses the Wrap & Turn method (which is a different short-row technique commonly used in Anglo-Saxon regions), you would need to work one stitch more than indicated in your pattern:
The slipped stitch of the German Short-Rows is equivalent to the W&T stitch.
(thank you Love2stitch for this clarification!)

Click on one of the images below, to open up a big, high resolution version of the Tutorial.

As usual, you can find this tutorial together with a bunch of others on this page here, where each PDF is also downloadable for further reference.

...And on a completely unrelated note: there is an interview Robin did with me on her blog. 
And I am very excited about this!!!!
You can find it here if you are interested to read something about me!