I am so excited to have finished this stocking. It’s a few firsts for me. It’s my first completed time using colour work. It’s also the first time I did an afterthought heel. It’s the first time I did a swatch. Plus it’s the first stocking I have actually finished.
I have been a long admirer of Arne & Carlos. For those who don’t know Arne and Carlos are a pair of Norwegian designers famous for their Scandinavian designs. They are particularly well known for their colour work designs much like this stocking. Their patterns are beautiful and I have a soft spot for them because they also happen to be sock knitters. They even have their own sock yarn range thanks to Regia.
The stocking starts with the toe and it is cast on using the magic cast on method that I mentioned in my last post. The pattern links to tutorials on this done by Arne & Carlos themselves which is very helpful. At the time I hadn’t planned my archives post on my zig zag sock. While I knew I had done this cast on before I couldn’t remember when and I also needed to watch the tutorial to remember the how. Once the toe is knitted up and you have all your stitches you then begin the pattern which is done in a lovely chart. If I have bought a pattern as a PDF I don’t normally print it out. I did in this case though as I thought I might need a highlighter in order to ensure that I followed it correctly. As it turns out I didn’t need to do that but I did have to concentrate.
This is because colour work is new to me. I had a class on fair isle knitting years ago but I have never actually used it in a project. For this reason I did my first swatch and I was very proud of it. I did it on the round with my DPNs as I would with the stocking. Once I felt comfortable with what I was doing I cast off and tied off all the ends and gave it to the cat to play with. I hoped it would prove to be an alternative to trying to attack my knitting. She did actually play with it for a while.
My colour work was actually neater on my swatch than it was on the stocking. However, I followed the instructions and steamed it once complete and it actually made a huge difference. I still need more practise but I am happier with the end result. I also loved doing the afterthought heel. So much easier than I thought it would be and I can again thank the tutorial link on the pattern. I’m not sure I see the benefit of an afterthought heel on a normal pair of socks but with this it meant that you didn’t have to pause in the colour work to do the heel. Probably has a huge impact on tension.
The yarn is by Rowan and it is a worsted weight. It’s called Pure Wool Superwash. I went by the colours used in the original pattern which were Rich Red, Soft Cream and Granite. The yarn is beautiful to knit with and it knits quickly because it’s so chunky. I love Rowan yarn and I am glad I went with the recommended yarn. The only problem I had with it is that I have noticed that the red has begun to bleed into the white and that was before I had steamed it.
If you are looking for good tutorials you should head over the Arne & Carlos YouTube page. Or if you are looking for a fun knit this Christmas I recommend this. I just need to decide now who gets it.
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