Maggie’s Tomten is getting a collar this time, not a hood like last time. You can’t really tell but the collar is done, and the very next thing I will do is start the first sleeve!

I’m knitting this from the pattern that appears in The Opinionated Knitter. The yarn is Cascade Ecological Wool and on a US 8 needle it’s knitting up at 4 sts/inch. Therefore, I am following the pattern almost exactly as it appears in the book. The finished size should be about 27″ and Maggie’s actual measurement is 22″, allowing for positive ease and room for growing.

I’m following the cast on numbers, but I have have made a few small modifications. My pockets are 18 sts wide (the pattern says 14; I wanted them bigger). Also, as the pockets are wider, I needed to make them longer, too. The pockets are 15 ridges, and I inserted them at 22 ridges. I made the body longer by 8 ridges to accommodate my growing girl. I always say that she has a long torso, but I really have no idea if this is true or not. It seems as if she has a long torso so I made the sweater longer. I also calculated how long the sweater would be if I followed the pattern, measured Maggie from her shoulder to her waist, and decided two more inches would be perfect.

EZ directs you to cast off the underarm stitches, but Meg’s note on the page says she leaves them on a thread and incorporates them as she knits the sleeves. That’s what I’m going to do.

You can see the red yarn that I’m using to hold stitches; I think I will use that color for an i-cord edging and to finish the pockets. I really can’t wait to finish this and try it on Maggie. It’s such a cute sweater. I am perpetually amazed by the genius of Elizabeth Zimmermann. Garter stitch FTW.

• I love wool.
• I love garter stitch.
• I love colorwork.

If I had to choose a favorite, I would be at a loss. I equally enjoy all three of those things. When it came time to design my new pattern, I was able to combine all three loves and the result is balanced, simple, and wearable (another three things I love in knitting).

The pattern is Graveyard Socks, and the idea came about when I read about the Socks Revived Contest on the Exercise Before Knitting blog. This is my entry for the contest.

Knit from the cuff down, and combining elements of colorwork, plain stockinette stitch and a reinforced garter stitch heel, the socks are a good balance of “I need to pay attention to the chart right now” and “All I want to do is watch TV while I knit”.

The decidedly macabre motif was scribbled on graph paper, then transferred to my charting software while Jerry was watching over my shoulder. It came time to save the file, and I mumbled something about needed a name for the socks. Jerry, who is 7, noticed the similarity of the chart to a graveyard, and the name of the socks was born.

The heels are knit using garter stitch short rows, and two strands of the yarn are held together for extra reinforcement. If you’re worried about garter stitch ridges digging into the bottom of your feet, I urge you to try this technique. The stretchy nature of garter stitch makes for a very comfortable heel.

The toes are French (or at least that’s what Nancy Bush says). There are three lines of decreases, rather than the usual two, and the stitches are gathered at the end instead of woven.  It was the first time I tried this toe shaping, and I really liked it!

My foot model, as usual, was Lisa (here and here, her new education technology blog). I can’t thank her enough for helping me with the photo shoot. I had her climbing under the picnic table (not easy!) and taking directions like: “Try to look more dead.” (see first photo) Thank you, Lisa!

Graveyard Socks – $6

Yarn: Nature Spun Sport
Needles: Size 1 (2.25 mm)
Gauge: 8 sts = 1″ (2.5 cm)
For more specific information please visit the Graveyard Socks page, or the Ravelry page for Graveyard Socks.

You can find more pictures in the Graveyard Socks Flickr Set.

As always, thank you for supporting my designs!!

The dates for the pictures are below each one.

Just learning to walk. January 14, 2007 (original post)

Still zipped (from the “Zipped, Unzipping, Unzipped” Series) September 11, 2007

How big is Maggie? SOOO BIG. (post about the mittens) December 3, 2007

Tire swinging. April 7, 2008

Big snow, with Tomten (you can see the hood) under the coat for warmth. January 20, 2009

Still fits. January 9, 2010

What a sweater! It’s part of Maggie’s life, and a dear part of my memories. She hasn’t worn it much over the past year, but I’m pleased to see it still fits. It desperately needs some zipper attention. When I put the zipper in, more than two years ago, I had not yet developed my patience for finishing.  If I were to fix the zipper, I think I would take it all the way out and start over.  Do it right this time. Maybe even get a better zipper.

I wonder, will it fit in another year? I hope it will. Good old Tomten.