I finished Erik’s neck warmer thingie the other night, and I want to show you how I made the top hem (the cast-off edge) look identical to the bottom hem (the knit-in one). There are plenty of tutorials on the web for the knit-in hem, so I won’t go into it here, but I haven’t seen the identical sewn-up version anywhere, so here you go. As always, you can click the photo to see it larger.

Here is the knit in hem, as viewed from the front.

Here is the knit in hem, as viewed from the back.

Now to set up for the sewn-in version, knit your garment to the desired length, knit your turning row to match your knit-in hem (if you have one), and knit your hem to the desired length LESS ONE ROW. You will be sewing your final knit row. Finally, cut your yarn with a very generous tail–at least long enough to go around your work four times. Better to be safe, than too short. Thread your tail onto a blunt needle, and proceed as follows:

Step One: Pass needle through first stitch as if to knit. Take the stitch off the knitting needle, and pull yarn all the way through.

Next, fold up hem and stitch up through back of matching stitch.

Third, stitch down through adjacent stitch to the left, and purlwise back through first knit stitch that you removed from the knitting needle. Pull yarn all the way through, and repeat from first step, moving one stitch to the left.

Tada!

It looks identical, because structurally it IS identical. Yay for twins!

Even though most of my fun stuff is packed away already, I do have a couple little projects stashed around the house to work on. Erik wanted a new beanie and neck warmer thingie (I don’t know if it is spelled gaitor or gaiter, so thingie it is). I love a man who can’t go to war without some tactical hand knits. I’m using Wool-Ease yarn, because it’s so perfectly suited to the harsh abuse I know it will get. It is easy to wash, and the wool helps the garments maintain their shape and loft (fluffiness) much better than acrylic alone. It is also less sweaty than all-acrylic.

I tried something new for the top of the beanie. Instead of fastening it off like normal, by drawing yarn threw the last few knit stitches, then drawing it up and weaving in the end, I grafted the last 12 stitches together using Kitchener stitch. It made a nice flat secure top. It will be comfortable under a helmet, and I don’t have to worry that a hole will form.

The thingie is just a simple tube. It can’t be tight, or it will be uncomfortable, and the edges need to have a bit of stability or they’ll curl and be bulky. A knit in hem seemed to be the best answer. I have a few more inches to knit on this, then it will get crammed into Erik’s sea bag with the rest of his couple hundred pounds of gear.

Yesterday really was a glorious day. The pictures yesterday didn’t come close to capturing it. We ended up with a little cloud cover, so it got easier on the eyes to knit in the afternoon. I finished Erik’s socks just in time for him to wear them to bed. He’s wearing them today, too. It’s hard to get a man to model his feet, so I’ll keep trying to get a good shot of the finished socks today.

I’ll give you the quick pattern now, then I’ll write up a proper pattern for you this evening.

Cast on 60 stitches, work k3, p2 ribbing for 40 rounds, then k2tog, p2 around (now you’re down to 48 stitches). Continue in k2, p2 ribbing for 30 rounds, switch to k around for 10 rounds. Work short-row heel down to 8 working stitches, then k around for 50 rounds. Work wedge toe down to 10 live stitches, graft. (I was getting a gauge of about 5 stitches/inch using size 2 (2.75 mm. dpns.)

And now a little something for all you would-be sock-knitters. Ann Budd has written a book for you! I haven’t been in the knitting book market for a while, so I didn’t notice when this book came out in the fall, but it looks like a wonderful introduction to sock knitting. It has gotten many excellent reviews. In general, you can trust anything written by Ann Budd or published by Interweave Press to rock your… socks. Just click on the picture to get to get to the Amazon page.

One sock down… I haven’t grafted the toe stitches together yet (that is something best done after the children are in bed so I can finish without losing my mind–I mean rhythm). It’s always a little bit tricky to fit Erik’s socks. I can calculate my gauge and take measurements all day long, but it really comes down to trial and error and personal preference. Erik wears a size 13 shoe, and likes his socks to be very snug. Luckily for me, the first sock fits him great. But I also tried it on, and it fits ME great… I wear a size 10 ladies shoe, but I like my socks to fit exactly, or be slightly long. How convenient that we’ll get to share!

Olga is already asking me to make her a new pair of socks, too, but she wants *red* ones (or rojo as she now says). So it looks like I’ll be doing a little bit of wool dyeing in the near future. Erik’s socks will have to be black or green if he’s going to wear them for work, and I’d really like to have an orange pair myself… Gavin could probably care less what color his socks are… maybe I’ll knit him a pair with all of the multi-colored scraps we end up with.