Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Dancing Robot Socks

This is part of an ongoing project I've been working on:
I was on a mosaic knitting kick and thought I'd try my hand at a robot design. I got this far before I realized that my asymmetric little dancing dude didn't transition well into the foot of the sock. Oh, dismay!

So I have to start over. And in a smaller gauge, I think. Something in light fingering, on #1 US needles, or smaller. I don't want to lose detail!

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Bootie Time!

I've been on a bootie kick lately, thinking about how such seemly fundamental knits are, in fact, often quite devious. I'm determined to crack them.

I'm starting with a vintage bootie from one of my magazines:
They seem like a no-frills, garter stitch affair, but their construction reminds me a bit of folding origami.
With these, I started by casting on for the center of the sole, then shaped for the heel. (That's the slight rounding you see at either bottom, outer corner.) The zigzagging along the top is shaping for the toe, and the space at center bottom is for the ankle. You can see in the first photo that I've started the ankle, which is made by picking up stitches around that ankle inlet and working flat.

I foresee a certain amount of seaming in my future.