Chaos

You know those days where everything is so unorganized, and you yearn for some order to come from the chaos? Well it was on one of those days that I decided to design chaos, to remind me that sometimes, what appears to be random and without reason, is actually a structured and logical thing.

Chaos is based on the digits of Pi. These have been proven to be random in their order, but put them all together and they not only make one of the fundamental principals of mathmatics, but they also make a pretty beautiful pattern when knitted.

This is a shawl scarf, It's knitted in a light yarn, and knitted wide, so you can wrap it round, or use it as a scarf with equal comfort.

Yarn: 4 skeins of Chameleon colorworks in Figgy Pudding
Needles; 4mm
Gauge; not important

To get the same pattern effect I did cast on 120 stitches, however casting on varying amount of stitches will create equally varied patterns.

There are 2 rows that make up this patter, all even rows are
*Kx, k2tog Yo* (repeat to end)

All odd rows are purl

I have detailed 400 rows, but you may not need this many. Knit until you are happy with the length, or you run out of yarn. Then block to the desired size.

Rather then write out every row, you simply replace x in row one with each of these numbers in turn; Where the pattern shows K, knit this row

2,0,3,0,4,8,1,5,4,2,4,7,8,6,8,2,1,1,7,3,5,1,5,3,2,2,7,2,1,6,8,4,k,1,7,7,3,0,8,6,0,5,8,2,8,8,
2,6,4,0,k,4,7,1,k,8,7,3,8,3,3,4,8,1,2,k,6,7,0,5,3,k,5,1,7,5,1,k,7,8,8,7,5,1,7,k,2,3,7,1,4,2,3,1,0,0,6,k,
5,6,8,7,1,0,3,7,k,7,5,4,0,2,1,7,1,2,k,5,5,3,6,k,8,2,7,3,3,5,k,8,4,4,k,4,7,1,1,2,0,6,1,4,2,4,8,3,k,
7,0,1,7,3,7,0,0,0,6,3,4,k,1,7,3,0,k,1,6,k,0,8,2,7,4,1,0,0,k,4,4,4,8,5,3,3,5,1,1,8,3,7,8,4,3,8,2,k,2,7
0,8,5

Avalon Socks

Yarn: Cygnet wool rich
Needles: 2.5mm dpn's

There are 4 main rows to the pattern; ribbing row; *k1tbl, p1* repeat for 1.5" pattern: *p1, k1tbl* 7 times, p1 Pattern reverse *k1, p1tbl* 7 times k1

Cable: p1, slip next 5 stitches to cable needle, hold to back, *p1 k1tbl* twice. knit stitches from cable needle as follows; *p1, ktbl* twice p1

Cast on 60 stitches, work as follows

Ribbing row 10 times
Round 1-6; k44, Pattern
Round 7: k44, cable
Row 8 - 20 k44, pattern
Repeat rows 7-20 three times more

Heel flap
k37, place last 30 stitches knit on a stitch holder,
*k7, cable, k7
p7, pattern reverse, p7
k7 pattern reverse, k1
repeat last two rows 4 times more
p7, pattern reverse, p7*
repeat *to* once more
p7, pattern reverse, p7
k7, pattern, k7
repeat last two rows twice more
p7, pattern reverse, p7

Heel turn

k14, k2tog, sl1 turn
p1, p2tog sl1, turn
k2, k2tog, sl1, turn
p3, p3tog, sl1, turn
k4, k2tog, sl1, turn
continue in this manner until all stitches have been knitted,
k to last 2 st, k2tog (14 stitches on needle)

Gusset,
pick up 15 stitches up side of heel flap, k30 from stitch holder, pick up 15 stitches down side of heel flap, k7 stitches to center of heel, mark this as center of round. (74 stitches)

Gusset decreases
Round 1: k20, k2tog, k30, ssk, k20
Round 2: k51, k1tbl, k to end
Round 3: k19, k2tog, k30, ssk, k19
Round 4: k50, k1tbl, k to end
Row 5: k18, k2tog, k30, ssk, k18
Round 6: k49, k1tbl, k to end
row 7: k17, k2tog, k30, ssk, k17
Round 8: k48, k1tbl, k to end
row 9: k16, k2tog, k30, ssk, k16
Round 10: k47, k1tbl, k to end
Row 11: k15, k2tog, k30, ssk, k15
Round 12: k46, k1tbl, k to end
Row 13: k14 k2tog, k30, ssk, k14
Round 14: k45, k1tbl, k to end

Foot
K all rows until sock reaches ball of foot. Knit your favorite toe, or use this atanomically correct toe from persnickety knitter, or this plain toe

Tea & Coffee Dying

In May 2007 I knit a pair of socks for my Brother in law, These socks in fact;
The yarn was Trecking un-dyed, and so I decided that Tea & Coffee would be a bit of an adventure. It wasn't, if anything it was far too easy! so here's the stupidly simple instructions on what I did!

Materials

2 big pans
a jar of cheap coffee
a bag of cheap tea bags (why waste the good stuff right!)
a large jug of white vinigar
100g undyed yarn, tied in a meter skein

How to do it

1. Put your yarn in a bowl to soak, you need enough water to cover it, and a 1:5 solution of vinigar, leave it there while you start getting everything else ready

2.in one pan, disolve around 4 tblespoons of coffee, with a good 3 second glug of vinigar, in the other put in around 10 tea bags with a similar amount of vinigar

3. Bring both pans to simmering point, giving the tea bags a good simmer to make sure the tea is stewing

4. put one end of your skein in one pan, put the other end in the other, you should have some yarn in the middle, between the 2 pans that is not immersed.

5. start spooning the tea up the un-immersed yarn on the tea side, and the same for the un-immersed yarn on the coffee side (spoon coffee onto it...the solution not the granules ;). Keep this up for around 5 minutes, or until you can see some colour on this section of yarn.

6. Make a mug of your favorite tea or coffee, sit and drink for about 40-50 minutes, going back and ladling some more tea and coffee on the exposed yarn around ever 10 minutes (you only need to make sure that there is some colour going into the yarn, you don't need to stand there for 5 minutes each time)

7. IMPORTANT POINT the yarn will not take up all of the colour of the tea and coffee!
after about an hour, take the yarn out and leave it to cool somewhat.

8.once the yarn is cool enough to touch, rinse it in water the same temperature as the yarn,

and voila, tea & coffee yarn!