KDO 2011

We knitters had a fabulous time at Knitters’ Day Out again this year!  First, a shot of all the hats… it always impresses me to see them together like this: Here are the ones knitters submitted for judging: There were some really interesting ones there, like this rasta-style hat: Here’s Judy’s sweet little baby hat: And I really liked this Minion hat, as well (so does Boy 2, so this may be in my near future): Now, on to my class report.  Judy and I took Strick-ly Socks from Candace Eisner Strick, and we had the best time.  If you have a chance to take a class from Candace, jump on it.  She is an excellent teacher.  She planned our time well, paced the class just right, displayed perfect classroom management skills, and best of all – she was funny.  We laughed a LOT during class, which created an ideal environment for learning.  This was good, since we packed a lot into 6 hours.

We learned a new cast-on: the Channel Islands cast-on (provisional).  This was counterintuitive for many of us, so we spent time practicing the hand setup – time well spent.  We also learned a new bind-off: the tubular bind-off.  We learned Candace’s way of starting a sock with the toe, but not with the tip of the toe – instead, we started at the top of the sock just before the toe decreases begin.  We worked flat to the toe tip, then turned the picked up stitches while increasing to create the toe “cup.”  Then the foot is worked in the round as normal, and the heel is created just like the toe.  Here is the top of my toe cup (it’s huge because I used worsted weight yarn):And here is the bottom of my toe cup.  It looks different than the top because it doesn’t have those strong decrease lines: Here’s how it looks along the picked up edge:

The resulting sock structure is not that different from how I make my standard Felici stockinette sock with afterthought heel, but the way it’s accomplished is different.  We also learned how to create a small gusset to accommodate large ankles or a leg stitch pattern that pulls in some – that will be extremely useful!  Look how intensely Judy is concentrating – you can SEE the learning happening: Candace brought samples from her new book and scattered them around the room for our reference. This was really helpful.  I immediately recognized this sock, which was the Spring 2011 issue of Knitcircus earlier this year: I love those slanting ribs and plan to make the sock.  Note the cuff edge at the bottom of the photo – see how the 1x1 rib just sort of disappears into thin air?  That is the result of the tubular bind-off, which was really cool.  here is my sample with tubular BO (the color change is just because I ran out of grey yarn): This is achieved through a Kitchener-like maneuver that is fun to do.  Candace sat on the floor and had us huddle around to learn it:One sock that really impressed me is this completely reversible cable sock.  Here is one side: Then I turned it inside out and put it back on the blocker – here is the other side:Like a magic trick, isn’t it?

We had fun eating lunch with our KDO group of friends, which included me and Judy, Kris, Julie and her sister Allison (who always comes down from Brooklyn for this event), Judy’s two quilter buddies, Kris’s knitting buddy from church (Hi, Pru!), and Connie who I met at that Anne Hanson class in Frederick a couple years ago.  I didn’t manage to take any pictures, though – of the wonderful company, their class projects, OR the marketplace (my BAD!).  The market was bustling and full of interesting things, as usual, but somehow I kept my wallet in my pocket this year.  I think this is partly because I’m still shocked at how much good loot I amassed at Sock Summit, and partly because I had a yucky cold that left me not much in a shopping mood.

We had a great day and I am super pleased with my class choice this time.  If I see Candace teaching anything in the future, I won’t hesitate to take it.  She gets 5 stars from me in the teaching department (and you KNOW I’m tough with my teaching stars). 

Now if Lorilee Beltman and Candace Eisner Strick ever co-taught something, I think I’d just die.