 Here is something to think about that will make things go faster: can you go up a half size or a whole size in needles? I almost always use size US 1.5 (2.5mm) needles to knit socks. On these socks, I decided to go up to a US size 2 (2.75mm) and just see what happens. They are for my son so I think they will be fine and, with this Hawthorne yarn, it is working great so far. Just something to consider; it won't work with every yarn or every project but if it will work, it will speed up your sock knitting!
Here is a another tip for faster knitting - use great yarn. It doesn't have to be the most expensive, "indie" or hand dyed yarn. It needs to be nice & "bouncy" and plenty of commercial yarns are excellent. My top two favorite mid-priced yarns for socks are Hawthorne and Brown Sheep Sock.   Another tip to knit socks (or anything, really) a little or a lot faster: scrunch up those stitches on the left needle!! If you control the stitches with your index finger, they won't fall off the needle. If they do, not the end of the world - take a deep breath and slowly and carefully pick them back up (bonus tip - keep a smaller knitting needle or big sewing needle handy to use when you need to pick up a dropped stitch or two - genius!). Click below for more great tips to speed up your knitting!
A simple but crucial tip: check your work often. Just pause and look at what you have done for the past couple of rows. Why you ask? Well.....I was working on this very simple 1x1 ribbing for a sock cuff. I thought it was going great - what could be easier, right?? Then I just stopped and looked at what I had done. Yep, you guessed it, there were 2 purls together 2 rows back which of course threw off everything going forward from there. Sigh. I picked back the stitches one at a time and started again. The photo above is after recovery - I was too disappointed to feel like taking a photo of the actual errors.
So, fixing errors will NOT make your sock knitting faster. What will make it faster is not making (obvious) errors in the first place. Carry on & knit, fellow brave knitters.....:)  Here's another little tip - decide on the heel flap pattern you like and stick with it. Don't waste time deciding which type of flap to do - pick one & stick with it! When you are someplace you can't knit (can't imagine where that would be) you can explore the various options for heel flaps. Use your knitting time to knit those socks - not to make design/style decisions! ;)
 More tips to speed up sock knitting! Two things: metal needles (especially HiyaHiya - so smooth!) and small circulars (I use 9-10"). Will you lose a few stitches on the metal needles until you get used to them? Yes, you will, but ONLY until you get used to them! Take it slow at first but know that you will get used to it! Fast, faster, fastest! GO!
 Need to knit socks faster? Here are a couple more simple tips for you! (Click here to see the first tips to knit socks faster!)
Tip: pick a toe style and stick to it! The wedge toe is maybe the most popular toe shape but there are lots of others - I am currently using the rounded toe and plan to stick to it for every pair of socks I knit (Click here to see the simple sock toe pattern.) Tip: Knit a little looser - don't fight the stitches! If your needle slips right into the stitch easily, your knitting will be faster - it's a known fact! Need heirloom quality silver stitch markers for knitting? Click here to see the markers (and some project bags, too!)
Always trying to knit faster? Need to get to the next beautiful yarn in your stash? YES! me, too. Here are a few tips for knitting socks a little faster!
First, pick a simple pattern. It doesn't have to be vanilla socks; it could be a simple pattern that is easy to memorize. Example? Ribbing is easy, especially if it includes a lot of knits & not many purls....like knit 5, purl 3! Easier/faster than k2,p2, right? Second, pick a heel turn style and stick to it for all your socks. Don't waste time searching a lot of different heel turns - google "most popular heel turn" and stick to it! Boom - time saved!!! (Most popular? The French Heel - just do it & stick to it!) More tips to come - stay tuned! Need some beautiful last-forever stitch markers? Try these handmade ones in sterling silver!  These earrings have suddenly become quite popular in the shop! I don't know if it's the size (they are the largest I make in this earring style) or if it's the fact that they are silver AND gold - what could be better? Goes with any other jewelry, right? Perfect!
Click here to shop these earrings! Even the desert flowers are so beautiful. We were lucky enough this year to be in the desert when there had been some rain and flowers were everywhere! We also stopped by the Petrified Forest National Park (too hot to leave the car much) and also a place called Paria near Kanab, Utah, one of our favorite places! SO HOT!!!
Such a wonderful trip to Oregon and Washington to visit family (long overdue) and sell jewelry at two of the wonderful art shows in Oregon. It was unexpectedly hot (115 degrees!) but we had a wonderful trip! More photos to follow! Want to see the most popular earrings at the Oregon shows?? Click here!  These silver "triangle" earrings were inspired by the slot canyons in southern Utah & other places in the western, which are incredibly dramatic and beautiful. I have missed traveling so much over the past year - looking forward to visiting a few of these remarkable canyons in just a few weeks!!
Painted my nails is this SO COOL lavender color specifically to photograh these silver square earrings but then realized.....my cuticles are not "pretty enough". Bummer. Just crop it!!!  With family in town, we decided to go to the Aquarium of the Americas in New Orleans. It was wonderful as always and, as usualy, the jellyfish exhibit was one of my favorites. (Followed closely by the albino alligator and the pregnant seahorses!) Here are the earrings inspired by those oh-so-cool jellies!!
These little earrings were kind of accidental. I had a new shaping tool and was playing around with it using some large jumprings I had on hand - when this fun shape happened, I loved it so much. I textured them, added a tiny jumpring at the top (for those who don't like their earrings to "flip"....) and, Bob's your uncle - new earrings! Click here to shop these new silver earrings!  What a gorgeous day it is here in south Louisiana! We have had a TON of rain this week....I think here in Baton Rouge we had something close to 18 inches of rain. Lots of flooding of roads, homes and businesses. Not us, thankfully. Our home is in a very old neighborhood in Baton Rouge so it relatively "high" for this area! These are brand new earrings made in the "jacks" style but I added this beautiful faceted blue opal "quartz". Some people call it quartz but I think it's more likely manmade. Whatever it is, it's really wonderful. It reflects whatever color you are wearing, sometimes blue, sometimes pink or another color!  These silver and quartz drop earrings are really hard to photograph, I think because of the crystal clear quartz. I love quartz - it has always been a favorite of mine. I was born and raised in Arkansas, which is where a lot of quartz occurs. So, I grew up with quartz all around me - it's one of the reasons I like rocks of all sorts - I guess rocks remind me of home! (Here in Louisiana, few to no rocks anywhere!)  More from the brand new (and still developing) National Parks Collection! These silver earrings were inspired by the National Parks of the U.S., especially Arches National Park in Utah! Freshwater pearls or clear quartz crystals! Arches are one of the most important architectural discoveries in human history and they can be seen in any city in the world!
 Missing being able to travel! National Parks are kind of a passion for us and we have not had our "fix" of parks in over a year. With that in mind, these earrings were designed as a tribute to those fabulous archways that occur in so many National Parks in the western U.S.
If you want to see others in this collection, click here and here!  Part of my new collection, inspired by National Parks of the US. I have missed (and still miss) traveling so much over the past year and a half. One of the things we love to do is visit national parks in the western US.
One of the natural features you see in many of the parks is the archway. Eye candy! Plus, two of my favorite "gems" - freshwater pearls and "opals" (in all honesty, these are called "opalized quartz but, between you & me, I think they are glass but, who cares, really. They are amazingly beautiful!!). Want to shop the look? Click here!  See those little silver balls at the ends of these fish drop earrings? I LOVE those little balls and they can only be made successfully with a specific types of sterling silver wire. Oh, I guess it's possible with traditional sterling silver but my success varied so much that I went with argentium sterling silver. Argentium is legit sterling silver with just a dash of something called "germanium" which, besides allowing these lovely smooth silver balls to happen, also makes the jewelry tarnish resistent! WIN!!
Click here or on the button below to shop these fun "fishy" earrings! |
 Hello!I am Laura Teague, a metal smith, knitter and sewist living and working in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and traveling the western US whenever I can! Categories
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