Saturday, November 26, 2016

EZ and me, the Moccasin Sock Part One

I have a huge admiration for Elisabeth Zimmerman ( and copies of all her books) which are available from Schoolhouse Press.  She shaped the wild and woolly way I knit, and sometimes I am a blind follower, the Baby Surprise Jacket for example.

These knee socks are a variation of the Moccasin Sock from The Knitters Almanac.

Available from Schoolhouse.Knitter's AlmanacI am asked in person when wearing them and on Ravelry when I post pictures and I always say they are EZ's pattern,  Copyright, intellectual property is very important, this is a issue of justice for creative people.  So I have never written notes that amount to a pattern or my version of the full pattern.  Buy the book, it's an incredible value.

But I was asked again, and the knitter is buying the book, so these are my variations on one of the best sock patterns ever, it's the only one I knit.  Because I don't actually like knitting socks, I love wearing hand-knit socks but I don't delight in the process.  Read the Yarn Harlot she is both poetic and interesting on the subject of socks.

Buy the book, read the pattern, maybe knit it as EZ writes it,  but visualize carefully what is going on.  Oddly because EZ was passionate about knitting in the round this sock is knit flat.  It is two quite separate pieces, the leg and the top of the foot are one piece and the heel, toe and bottom are then knitted on.  This was designed so that nylon could be added to the parts that wear and so that the whole bottom could be ripped off and completely re-knitted, which works by the way.  It is a very adaptable by size pattern too, there are parts where one just knits until it long enough.

Like EZ I cannot remember the series of mental fireworks I went though but the first is that there is no good reason to knit the leg flat,  knit in the round, magic loop or double points to the point on page 121 that she says put 3 stitches on holders, put 6 stitches on a bit of string and proceed.  I've asked and no one how was close to EZ has any idea why she choose to knit flat and sew up the back.  If you do please comment on it.

The Second is the knitter can create that flat piece vertically, IE around the leg from a back seam.  I want to use Noro Silk Garden but I did not want this.  Those are nice socks but I don't like horizontal stripes.
Image result for noro silk garden sock

I want my socks to look like this, these are the first pair knitted this way many year ago.

The colour variations show the different parts .



Here is one leg. Using a tentative case on around string.

Search You Tube for Invisible Provisional Cast by Beth Brown-Reinsal, 

The calf is shaped by short rows, the 2 sides are grafted together, then knit the foot.

Pick up stitches around the top, a multiple of 4, and rib 2 X 2 until it right up to the knee.

Foot modifications to come.