Mariner Toe-Up Knit-A-Long (KAL)

For the last two weeks, I have been involved in a KAL for a pair of toe-up socks with a fairisle motif of anchors, hence the name Mariner.  Katalin Beth had a 5-day toe-up sock challenge, along with videos and written instructions, she also included Facebook live instructional guides.  A good time was had by most, if not all, participants.  Then she offer us a discount on a new pattern called Mariner, and the rest is history.  I  previously blogged about choosing the color combos, but now I will share my progress through words and pictures. Mostly pictures.

My final color choices

 March 10

I did have to start my first sock over
a couple of times, because working with navy blue yarn took a toll on my eyes.
Then there was the first set of fairisle charts and I had to do a bit back up and start again (a couple of more times). But I wouldn't let it beat me and I finally got started on the striped part of the foot.

March 12

March 14

A few more stripes and I was ready for the Afterthought Heel- Part 1, putting a provisional row of stitches in so you can go back later and add the heel.
Then more stripes.

March 15

March 16

More stripes and another set of fairisle anchor motifs, then the cuff and the Very Stretchy Bind Off. I did change to size 2 needles for the cuff.  And then for the Afterthought Heel-Part 2, which has another little motif of flecks. The color combination was reversed making the yellow the main color with navy flecks. One sock done and one to go.

March 19

March 20

I wasn't about to let second sock syndrome settle in, so I jumped right back on the horse and kept going.  Sock number two started out a bit better, than sock one and progressed faster as well.
Plugging along and trying to make it to the finish line. Fairisle to stripes, then the part one of the heel.

March 21

March 22

After the afterthought "zipper", more stripes, fairisle and the cuff.  Again a bit tight, even though I tried to knit the fairisle part loosely below the cuff.  I may trade up to a size 2 for the whole sock next time. Once I get my foot past that section the socks fit great. So as you can see below I have two beautiful socks.  I think they look pretty good. I had a great time knitting them.


So if you would like to try toe-up socks with a little a little nautical motif, these are the socks for you.  They can be found at Katalin Beth's website.  You can also find her on Ravelry at http://www.ravelry.com/designers/Katalin-Beth.  She also has a Facebook group called Katalin Beth Fibre Central, where she hosts challenges, knit-a-longs, test knits and all manner of fibery fun. It is a private group, but you can ask to join and be admitted to the party.

March 23- TahDah! My socks!

Skein Shop Spring-A-Long & Mariner Toe-Up Sock KAL

I'm currently engaged in two a-longs......

Skein Shop is having a Spring-A-Long, which as long as it is a spring theme, it's okay.  It can be knit, crochet, or even weaving.  I am working on a design, but I haven't shared anything yet. Soon though! I've been having a little designer block.....I just can't get the idea to gel.  Swatching some lovely CoBaSi from HiKoo.  Lovely spring colors, in this cotton/bamboo/silk blend in a fingering weight. It's not too late to participate...go to their Ravelry group here to sign up, but don't wait too long...it ends April 16th.

I am also taking part in a KAL with Katalin Beth.  She's an indie designer/yarn dyer out of Australia.  You might recognize her name from the 5-Day Toe-Up Sock Challenge. This is a toe-up sock pattern called Mariner with stripes and a fairisle motif of anchors (making me use those fairisle skills from the last challenge). You should check out her website at Katalin Beth Designs.



These are some of my earlier color choices, but as you can see they didn't quite work out the way I had hoped.  I went with two contrasting solids finally, a navy blue and butter yellow as seen below.
I'm using Cascade Heritage Sock yarn. I like them together and think they look good, but I'll show you that in my next post.

Colorwork Catalyst Workshop with Francoise Danoy of Aroha Knits

Francoise Danoy aka Frenchie of Aroha Knits just release several colorwork patterns using mosaic knitting and other colorwork techniques.  She has a great bundle of patterns that you can buy as a group on Ravelry or at her website Aroha Knits.  She recently hosted the 5 shawls in 5 days challenge in January, but this was a more casual arrangement.

We got a lesson in selecting colors based on a color wheel.  We were challenged to pick several combinations before settling on one that we wished to use for the workshop. I chose these, but settled on one finally. That was Day 1.

Day 2 was reading colorwork charts.  We received examples of colorwork charts and saw a video on how it works and our homework was to work with the numbers and learn to follow the patterns.

Day 3 had a video and swatch for us to knit using Intarsia, which involves using little bobbins of color. We were lucky that our homework only required two colors. Intarsia involves blocks or spots of color in the middle of area.  Yarns are twisted so that you don't have gaps or holes.  They are good for designs requiring individual or multiple splotches or blocks of color.  I chose to work with the heliotrope and light lime.

Day 4 had another video and more homework.  Mosaic knitting is worked one color at a time and is knitting stripes in a fancy slipped stitch pattern. If I did it again, I might have chosen garter stitch only because stockinette curls.  I took a real close up,  because otherwise my swatch was sort of ugly with curled edges and all.  Mosaic also uses more yarn than I imagined.

Day 5 took a couple of days,because stranded knitted is best worked in the round.  Instead of a swatch, I decided to knit a hat that I could send off to my favorite place to send warm things. The Pineridge Reservation.  I have a series of pictures that shows the progress of my hat over a couple of days. This type of knitting also uses much more yarn, carried across the back as floats.  That will provide extra warmth in those areas, especially if you are using wool.

Overall, I had a great time with this workshop, which was more casual and worked at your own pace. I'm not quite so nervous about the types of colorwork any longer.  I will probably knit these types of colorwork again in the future, but now I'm not afraid of it any longer.

Thanks, Frenchie! You helped me get over my fear of colorwork and gave me a gentle kick in the pants to get off my duff and give it a try.💖💙💚💛💜