I was on Ravelry and looking for some knitted soakers to make because they are a great baby gift. I ran across this pattern on the blog Cast a Drift for some soakers with a great structure. Interested, I tried them out with some extra wool I had in my stash. They turned out really cute. I wrote about them in a blog post a little while back. I got some good reviews and comments from some Ravelry members so I've decided to make another pair. This time I'm using Knit Picks "Bare" that I kettle dyed in a really deep eggplant color. There is minimal varigation in the yarn and I think it will look really nice. I haven't decided on the accent color. I have some grey in my stash that I don't have a use for and think it might look nice. But I'm leaning more toward black for my accent color. It won't have as much contrast as it would if I used the grey, but it might make it look a little more modern. I'll have to sleep on it. I've only achieved the ribbing and the first 14 rows of stockinette stitch so far. But the reason I'm posting this is for the new technique I used for the cast-on. The first time I knitted these soakers I used the recommendation of casting on with a size larger needle so that they have some stretch and immediately moved to the smaller needle for the actual ribbing. This time I decided to try out a stretchy cast-on technique. I googled "stretchy cast on" and got some results. After looking at a couple blogs and help sites I decided on Rosemary Knits Tutorials for her tutorial on a stretchy cast-on. She has a You Tube video and still photos as well describing the technique she uses. After watching the video 3-4 times (it's only about a minute long), I tried out the technique myself. She doesn't explain what the "blue" needle is - but I just used the same size needle as my cast-on (a U.S. 3). It was a quick technique to pick up and put under my belt (that is what knitting is after all... picking up new techniques and expanding your craft!) The stretchy cast on works well and is a great thing to know. I'm not really excited about the way it looks not being worn - a little bumpy and slightly disheveld, but when stretched like it would be when it's worn, it looks nice. Try this technique out on your next project that you need stretch - a hat, mittens, etc.
I'll post my finished knitted soakers in the next couple days...
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