Mixing it up

I love variegated and hand dyed sock yarn. Sometimes I am not quite as happy with what it looks like once it is knit up. Sometimes the skein is prettier than the finished product. I love to experiment by finding stitches and techniques that change the way the colours emerge.

One of my favourites is to slip every third stitch - with the yarn in front - knit 2 rows plain and then more the slipped stitch over by 1 each time. The slip stitch brings the colour up from the previous row and the yarn in front changes the "normal" flow of colour.

Another favourite is a "quilted" stitch. Slippping 5 stitches with the yarn in front which leaves a strand of yarn lying across the front of the fabric. 3 rows later, you pick the strand up and knit it with the stitch in the current row causing another chang ein the "normal" flow of the yarn's colour. You can offset the threads by 1 or 2 or 3 or have them all stacked on top. Have fun and experiment and see how it turns out.

Modular is fun too - in squares (all the same size or different sizes) or lines and I am working up one in entrelac that I am loving - spurred on by Lady Eleanor's Stole from Scarf Style and the Noro Entrelac sweater still on the needles.

Its all fun and games and makes for interesting socks too!

Both pics are self striping yarn - the squares are Fortissima Mexiko and the stripes are Scheepjes Invicta.

The techniques work for hand dyed yarns too:






Not that there is anything wrong with a good basic pair of socks knit in a pretty self patterning yarn. Great to knit when watching TV or on the bus or at the doctor's office.