Oolong knits

We've finished working the heel turn in the last post of this series, so now we'll start working the main part of the foot. First, what we'll do next depends on whether we've used a different strand of yarn to work the heel or not. In the first case, cut the yarn and leave it to weave-in the end later, we'll be working with the main strand from now. Of course, you'll notice that to do this you'll have to slip some stitches around in order for the stitches on the needles to be in the right position. If you have been using a single strand just continue to work with the strand you have. Now, because in the first case we're in a different position than the second, the order we'll do the next section of work will differ, but the result should be the same. The idea is that we have to pick up stitches from the side of the heel flap and join these stitches with the stitches of the front of the foot and the stitches of the heel turn in a single round. I hop...

The beautiful Stephen West is one of the most popular designers at the moment. His designs are very original and full of fun and mischief. He tends to use very risqué colour combinations, but if you're are a lot less flamboyant than Stephen (you probably are), you can always use your creativity and change the colours according to your taste. Stephen is the first to knit his patterns with different colour combinations , so you're just following his example. Metalouse is one of his most subdued and unoriginal (if I may so) patterns. I chose it because it is my favourite pattern of his that is free . I'll probably choose one if his non-free patterns in the future, but I'm going to have a real hard time choosing. Stephen produces a great deal of eye-candy.

I've often written on this blog about women's part-blame for the sexism which pervades society, so I couldn't help adding a post about this article on BBC News . A recent study has found one of many possible scientific proofs that women are as misogynistic as men. No surprise for me there. This is why it is so important, in this matter as well as in every other matter involving intolerance and discrimination, that we finally stop the we vs. them rhetorics and start to focus on actions: a teacher who favours boys when grading, is as sexist whether she is a woman or he is a man. A parent who gloats over a son's achievements, while ignoring the daughter's ones, is as sexist whether it is the mother or the father. A manager who promotes a man instead of a more competent woman, is as sexist whether she is a woman or he is a man.  To say "Jews smell" is as wrong as saying "Muslims smell" or "Negroes smell" or "Chinese smell". A b...

Aidez by Cirilia Rose is quite a popular pattern and, as you can see from the photo on the right, this is not only because the pattern is actually free . The front of the cardigan is almost as beautiful as the back, just follow the link and check it out.

Only one week ago my husband noticed that he was seeing a lot of Leave-supporters campaigning in the streets, but none of the Remain-side. "Why is this?", he asked. I told him that Yorkshire is very strongly on the side of Leave, according to the polls, and he asked back "Are you saying no one supports the Remain-side here? That can't be true." I answered that No, I believe there are plenty of Yorkers who will vote Remain, even if they're in the minority, but the Leave side is so aggressive and intolerant that probably they are afraid to campaign here. I can't believe that I posted my magic-ball predictions on the outcome of the EU referendum only one day before the death of Jo Cox and I very much wished my answer to my husband's questions had not been proven right in such a terminal way. Today I'm a lot more pessimistic than I was two days ago, and I think that not fear but hatred will win the referendum. Even if it were true that it is bet...

History is in the making here in the UK and I'm not going to tell you my opinion on what is happening as I don't want to offend an entire nation and the men (and some women, but mostly men) that have been chosen by its citizens to represent it. My preference for the referendum results? I confess I have mixed feelings about it. I have reasons in favour and against the UK leaving the EU, and I'm not conceited enough to have the illusion of knowing what the consequences of both options will be in the long run and whether or not the benefits of the Brexit will eventually outweigh the economical turmoil that will be obviously generated in the short term. So this post is a little bit of a joke. I'm boldly making my own guess of what the outcome of the referendum will be, before it happens. I want to see if I've guessed right when the results come out next week. My prediction is that the winner of the referendum will not be remain or leave , but fear . What I mean by ...

La Maison Rililie is by far one of my favourite designers (we definitely share a love of stripes). I had a hard time picking up only one of her designs for this post, and don't be surprised if, given enough time, all of her designs eventually get a post on the candy series. I don't think she has ever designed anything I wouldn't love to wear. Rhombingaround , the pattern I chose to illustrate her work, doesn't involve much stripes (which is unusual for her), there are only a few on the sleeve cuffs, and it is not even one of her most popular. It is however the pattern through which I discovered Rililie's work and it can easily turn out to be the first sweater of hers I'll chose to knit. The only thing holding me back is the endless hours of work involved in knitting a sweater at such fine gauge. I'm a bit of a slow knitter and this is too much of a challenge, I fear. On the other hand, I'm getting a bit disappointed with the results I get using chunky...

Now, if, like me, you're knitting socks with self-striping yarn , you'll find that you've got a problem at the heel. Here is what happens: when working the heel, you leave the front stitches alone, you knit the heel, then you join the heel stitches and the front ones and proceed to knit in the round. The problem is that when you finally join the stitches and restart knitting the front stitches, you are in a completely different section of the colour pattern of your yarn, so you get a (possibly quite ugly) irregularity on the stripe pattern exactly where your sock is the most visible. There are a few ways to deal with this problem. No fix (aka extremely lazy) solution: if the stripes on the yarn you're using are quite irregular, and even if they're not, you can always choose to ignore this problem and proceed as if it does not exist.  partial fix (aka the one I've picked) solution: pick a new strand of yarn to work the heel. You can use the same yarn (this i...

I'm not sure it is the stitch or just the yarn, but I really love this photo. It's from the That Nice Stitch by Susan Ashcroft pattern. You must absolutely use a nice variegated yarn for this. It's easy, fast and pretty. Pick up your needles.

This posts describes the process of knitting the heel of the sock. If you're using self-striping yarn, there is an issue with obtaining a regular stripe pattern in this section. This problem, and how to avoid it, will be discussed on a later post. Now we've finished the leg, it is time to work the heel flap . It's quite simple, all we have to do is divide the stitches in two equal parts, the one corresponding to the front of the leg is left unworked on the needles, while we knit a square with the other half. This means this section is worked flat. Tip: Everyone says the heel flap is a square, but don't pick up a ruler when comparing its width and height. The truth is that if you knit a perfect square, the flap will turn out a bit too tall. There is a funny visual effect that makes the flap look like a square when it is still a short rectangle, that should be the best size for it, unless you have an unusually high heel. Often, people like to knit it in a diffe...