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October/November 2009 Footie Projects with Marilyn VanKeppelTo join the Yahoo Knit Along Group (optional), please go to the KAL Home About Marilyn VanKeppel (photo at left) : I’m a retired professor of mathematics and have been knitting for over 50 years. I enjoy knitting, weaving, spinning, natural dyeing, cooking, travel, playing the piano (mostly Bach), reading, and walks with my Jack Russell terrier. I attend Meg Swansen’s Knitting Camp each year, and one year I discovered a book of shawl patterns written in a strange looking language. Intrigued, I wanted to make some of the shawls and found a dictionary to help me translate some of the terms. Unfortunately, the library eventually wanted their book back, so I went to the Faroe Islands to buy a dictionary of my very own. And I felt from the first moment there that I had found my spiritual home. When I returned home with my dictionary, I knitted my way through the Faroese Shawl Book, translating each pattern as I went. Schoolhouse Press has published my translation, as well as my translation of the Icelandic shawl book, Three-Cornered and Long Shawls. © Marilyn VanKeppel, Schoolhouse Press. The information contained on this page is copyrighted by the designer; it is for personal use only and may not be distributed. Questions may be directed to Schoolhouse Press. Faroese Footlets (October 21st, 2009)
As is common throughout Scandinavia, the Faroese do not wear shoes in the house. They leave their shoes at the door and pad around indoors in woolen "footlets." They may also be worn under boots for warmth, or even over boots to help prevent slipping on the ice. And, of course, they make excellent bed socks. Many of these look like socks without cuffs. Others have a more unsual modular construction. We shall consider both types, the second type is "Eli's Footlets." Materials: Wool: A total of 3 oz worsted weight yarn for the pair of slippers, plus (optional) 2 oz contrasting color worsted weight yarn. Needles: US #5 set of four DP needles or 2 circular needles, 16" or 24" long--whatever You use to knit circularly. Other Tools: Crochet Hool (3.75 mm, US F) and Tapestry needle. Gauge: Plain-- 4.5 to 5 to the inch. (The red footlets below measure 5 to the inch. The purple icelandic measure about 4.25 to 4.5 to the inch.) Color Pattern-- 6 to inch.
Post 1, October 21st : Cast On, Heel Flap, Turning the Heel, Knitting the Foot
NOTES FOR PLANNING YOUR PROJECT: You may make these footlets using two circular needles or four double-pointed needles. You may use straight needles for the back-and-forth portion of the footlet. We will cast-on and knit the heel-flap, turn the heel, knit up along the selvedges and work back and forth towards the toe - with or without a color pattern. Once the stitches are joined, the rest of the foot and toe may be worked in the round. Color Pattern: A small pattern in contrasting color may be incorporated into the stockinette part of the knitting. However, if you do so, be aware that this is back-and-forth knitting and will require knitting the pattern on the purl side of the work. One effective pattern is simply alternating rows of the main color with rows of a pattern of K1 main color, K1 contrasting color. Many books of Norwegian designs have charts of the star pattern, and the book of Faroese patterns by Hans Debes has many small patterns that are seen in Faroese knits. Meg has charted a star motif for you to use if you wish.
Faroese Footlets with I-Cord Edging: The purple footlets (see image above, at right) were knitted with a double strand of Icelandic unspun on US size 6 needles. These are just a bit different from the ones with the crochet edging along the top. Because of the larger grist of yarn, the heel flap is 3” x 4.” At the end of the back-and-forth knitting, just before joining and knitting in the round, I ended on a knit row, rather than the purl row as stated in the directions, and I cast on 2 stitches using backward loops at the end of this knitted row. This was to reduce the bulk at this point. I arranged the stitches so that there were 22 stitches across the bottom of the foot and 22 (or 11 on each of 2 needles) on the top. The rest of the instructions were followed as written until the edging at the top of the footlet, where I-cord will replace the crochet border. For the I-cord edging: With the I-cord yarn, pick up and knit 1 row of stitches around top of footlet beginning at the left edge of the heel flap. Cast on 3 stitches, place on left needle, and work 3 stitch I-cord around (K2, K2tog tbl, replace 3 stitches on left needle). Weave beginning of I-cord to end. One of the purple footlets features just the I-cord edging. The other footlet features an added “Speed Bump”, invented by Meg to prevent an I-cord edging from curling. So if your I-cord edging shows a tendency to curl, or just to add a decorative flourish, work as follows: Between I-cord and body of the footlet, pick up and knit around, then immediately cast off. Cast on: 18 stitches (19 stitches if you need an odd number of stitches to center a color pattern) Heel flap: Knitting back and forth, work two ridges of garter stitch (4 rows of knit), then 14 rows of stockinette (knit one row, purl one row 7 times). (The flap should be approximately 2 ½ inches by 3 ½ inches.) Turn heel: Row 1: K 13, K 2 tog, turn. Foot: With the right side facing, knit across the 10 stitches on the needle, then pick up and knit 16 stitches along the side of the heel flap, twisting the stitches where necessary to tighten up the holes. Purl back; then pick up and purl 16 stitches along the other side of the heel flap, for a total of 42 stitches. Work back and forth in stockinette until five inches from center back of heel, ending with a knit row. Using backward loops, cast on two stitches at the beginning of the next row. (If you cast on 19 stitches, at this point cast on only 1 stitch.) You will now begin to knit in the round. If using double points: Distribute stitches on three needles, putting the first 10 stitches on needle #1, the next 22 stitches on needle #2, and the remaining 10 stitches and the 2 cast on stitches on needle #3. Post 2, October 26 : Toe, End, and Finishing (For Color Pattern & Icord See above) Toe: Work around in stockinette stitch until 2 inches from end of toe, as measured from the center back of the heel, ending with the top circular needle or the DP #1, ready to begin the bottom of the foot stitches. K 1, K 2 tog, K to last three stitches, Sl 1, K 1, PSSO, K 1. Repeat this across the top of the foot stitches. Knit one plain round. Repeat these two rounds until eight stitches remain on both the top and bottom of the foot, ending with a plain round. End #1 Using three-needle bind off, bind off the top and bottom eight stitches together. End #2 Graft toe stitches together. End #3 Run the end of the yarn through all stitches and gather together. Fasten off. Finishing: Starting at the left edge of heel flap, work a row of single crochet along the side of the foot, across the two cast-on stitches, along the other side of the foot, and across the heel flap. Work into every stitch for a loose, stand-up edge or into every other stitch for a snug fitting edge. An optional second row may be worked across the side of the foot, across the front, and along the other side of the foot. Fasten off. Weave in ends and block. Project 3: Eli's Footlets (Begins November 2nd)
Icelandic unspun pencil roving is a very good choice for these footlets, although any all-wool yarn will work well. Fulling the finished footlets is usually done, in order to provide a thicker, more durable fabric. These footlets are an excellent way to use up small leftovers from other projects (perhaps from Project 1). Four colors are used. The amount of yarn used, the needle size and the gauge will vary, so a gauge swatch is necessary. The first block of this footlet will serve as our gauge swatch. A story about "Eli's Footlets" from Michelle: During our summer knitting camp, Eli (my 8 yr old son - Meg's grandson) was kind enough to help us with our Scholarship raffle. He sold raffle tickets, made change, and dutifully kept all the money in order. As a treat, I gave him $5 to spend on raffle tickets. He dropped his tickets in the various buckets for the generous prizes donated by our campers. One of the first prizes to be raffled was a pair of the Footlets designed by Marilyn VanKeppel, knitted and donated by Linda Lutz. Lo and behold, Eli's ticket number came up---he won! He was thrilled beyond belief, as the footlets were the first thing he had ever "won." Since the contest, Eli has worn his footlets constantly (even in August). And on a recent trip to Canada when I unzipped the bag he had packed for himself (having had instruction to pack very lightly and only essentials) accessible on the top of the pile were his footlets. Eli's enthusiasm has prompted Marilyn to name (lovingly) the pattern after Eli. Thank you Marilyn, and thank you Linda Lutz for donating this treasure. Eli’s Footlets Notes for Planning: Four colors are used, labeled here A, B, C, and D. As mentioned above, the amount of yarn used, the needle size and the gauge will vary, so a gauge swatch is necessary. The first block of the footlet can serve as a gauge swatch. Gauge and Construction: Measure the length of the foot, L, for which the footlet is intended and aim for a block that is 40% of L in width. With a gauge of about 6 to the inch (sportweight yarn), a good place to start is 20 stitches. With a finer yarn you will need more stitches, with a thicker yarn you will need fewer. Use a needle size recommended for your yarn or slightly smaller (a denser fabric works well for this slipper). Each block is of garter stitch, with the number of cast-on stitches equal to the number of ridges. Construction: There are 8 blocks in the footlet, six knitted as a strip, with 2 knitted onto the side of the strip. In what follows, assume that n represents the number of stitches that you have determined will give the correct length. Knitting:Using a provisional cast-on (see images below) and yarn A, cast on n (see gauge and construction above) stitches. Work even in garter stitch (knit every row) for n ridges (2n rows). Cut yarn, leaving a tail for sewing up. Begin knitting with yarn B, and again work a block n ridges long. Cut yarn, leaving a tail for sewing up. Continue in this manner, making a strip of six blocks as shown in the diagram, with the color sequence A, B, C, A, B, D. Lay the strip down with the top block being the first (the A) block and the bottom block the last (the D) block. Now on the right side of the second A block (as it faces you) pick up and knit n stitches with color C. Work in garter stitch for n ridges and put stitches on a holder, leaving a tail for sewing up. Similarly, on the right side of the second B block, pick up and knit n stitches with color D, and work in garter stitch for n ridges, putting the stitches on a holder and leaving a tail for sewing up.
Cast On Drawings: At left: Provisional Cast On Crochet, At right: Twisty Wrap Provisional Cast On, Elizabeth Zimmermann
Sewing Together:
Note: Sew the seams from the inside. Also, if using Unspun Icelandic: Thread the sewing up needle and twist it (i.e. spin the wool before sewing). Re-twist as necessary. Using the diagram below as a guide, sew the blocks together along the seams indicated (e.g., the side of the first block labeled “s 1” is joined to the side of the second block labeled “s 1”). There are seven such seams, and the tails left when changing from one block to another may be used for the sewing. Finally, the unattached edges of the two “D” blocks have a crochet edging attached, using one of the four colors. A simple single crochet may be used, or a more decorative edge such as a simple picot or crab stitch. Just remember to allow some ease when going around the corners of the square so that it will lie flat. Of course, a 2 stitch I-cord may also be used to finish the raw edges.
Fulling: If you find that the footlets are just a bit more roomy than you wish and if you have used a wool yarn that will felt, you may full them by wetting thoroughly and tossing in the clothes dryer with a towel or two for a several minutes. Be sure to check VERY often, as once the fulling begins, it can proceed quite rapidly. Also, if you find that your seams don’t lie as flat as you would like, you may steam press them.
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