Kate Davies Designs – Page 2

Reunited

Posted on August 29, 2024 by Laura Kate

Earlier this month, the Oklahoma sock was reunited with the Wisconsin sock in a rustic cabin at Shell Lake, WI. There was jubilation from the affected parties.

That was a few weeks ago. Life has been out of the ordinary for most of the month. The passing of my dad on August 10th brought about an eight-day visited to Ohio, where I spent time with my mom, siblings and assorted relatives while celebrating Dad’s life. Upon returning home, we were immersed into rental house repairs, as we continue selling off our Oklahoma real estate. Our plan is to leave Oklahoma for the more temperate climes of the upper Midwest. The presence of grandchildren is a powerful motivator.

Getting back to the socks, pictured above. Readers may recall that the pattern is Mary Delany by Kate Davies, and the yarns are Hawthorne by Knitpicks and Ultimate Sock by Malibrigo. The red is a leftover pulled from my stash along with the other two yarns.

I’m so pleased with the look and the fit. Next week is the county fair. This project will be entered, along with the little knitted new-born jacket and the Japanese knot bag.

My only entry in the quilting category this year is the Migration World wall hanging.

Thanks for stopping by. As I get back into a normal routine, I will have more objects to write about. (Hint: I expect that there will be a resumption of watercolor painting.)

knitting

Finished Object or no? A Tale of Two Socks

Posted on June 1, 2024 by Laura Kate

Yesterday I got to the top of my second Mary Delany sock. Today I cast it off. While technically, I am finished knitting the pair, there is a small geographical glitch.

Sock no. two hanging in the garden, clipped to a tomato cage. It looks pretty good.

One foot cozy and warm, one left out in the cold.

Sock no. 1, found under a chair in the living room of daughter’s house in Madison.

(sigh)

The fault is my own. I had pulled out the completed sock to compare to the one in progress while I was visiting our loved ones. Apparently, I failed to stuff it back into my project bag before packing up.

There’s good news on all fronts. It was found and daughter agrees to mail it to me. If the U.S. Post office fails to deliver it, I have enough yarn to knit sock no. 3.

If you have a hankering to make a pair like this, the pattern is by Kate Davies, and can be found on her Ravelry site here.

knitting

Cast-on Monday: A Kate Davies Sock

Posted on April 22, 2024April 22, 2024 by Laura Kate

Summer is on its way, and that means knitting small, portable projects. Reaching into my yarn closet, I brought out a stashbuster bag all ready to go, using Kate Davies’ sock pattern Mary Delany.

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/mary-delany

I purchased this pattern on Ravelry a few years back when KDDesigns was offering a sale. This will be my second cast- on using it. The first time I followed the pattern pretty closely, but substituted a more “manly” looking chart, since I was knitting socks for dear husband. This time I happily followed Kate’s stranded pattern of little flowers. So far, it has been a joy to work.

My yarns are acquired from three different companies. The beautiful deep tonal blue is Malabrigo Ultimate Sock in a color called Azul Profundo. I purchased it from Jimmy Beans. The aqua tonal yarn is Knitpicks Hawthorne. I’ve mislaid the band and so don’t know the colorway. And the tiny bit of red to be used in the toe and the ribbing is from Hobby Lobby. The box store briefly offered a line of wool + nylon fingering weight yarn in various colors. It turned out to be not-so-good and has since disappeared from the shelves.

Here’s my start. I cast on using the winding cast on method. It is described perfectly in Kate’s pattern, and I had no trouble at all finishing the first toe.

Yesterday while watching PBS, I managed to get most of the foot finished. It now measures 8 and 1/2 inches long.

**Back of foot showing the heel increases**

This pair of socks will be for ME. Wearing hand knit socks makes me feel pampered. It is a small and affordable luxury.

What new project are you undertaking? Do share.

knitting

ThWIP Thursday – SOCK!

Posted on November 30, 2023 by Laura Kate

Back from Wisconsin and fresh off my no.1 cable needles is this fancy sock – the first of a pair for my beloved husband. It turned out to be a pretty good travel project, as long as I confined my knitting to daylight hours. Under artificial light, the tiny stitches were very difficult to navigate.

I used Kate Davies’ pattern for the Mary Delany sock, with some significant modifications. The first was to make it wider to fit a man’s foot. Fortunately, choosing a larger needle got me most of the way there. I also substituted a 6 st. by 7 row stranded pattern for Kate’s 37 stitch diamond flower pattern.

This pattern is found in 750 Knitting Stitches, the Ultimate Knit Stitch Bible. It worked up beautifully with a light solid and dark-to-medium variegated yarn.

This sock is knit from the toe up. When I got to the cuff ribbing, I switched from a size 2 to a size 1 needle. For a looser bind-off, I went back to the 2..

Now to quickly cast on its mate, before losing enthusiasm for the project!

If you’d like to try this pattern, here is the link.

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/mary-delany

knitting

Cast-on Monday: World Traveler Socks

Posted on November 20, 2023November 17, 2023 by Laura Kate

Here we go a-stashbusting among the leaves so red. Fall is here in all its glorious splendor. I am working my stash again – this time to eke out a new pair of socks for Bill. He is down to one pair of LauraKate knit socks, the poor man.

This time I have three (3!) skeins from the stash. I am working from a Kate Davies pattern called Mary Delany.

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/mary-delany

This project’s yarns originate from three different continents.

My North American selection is a multi-hued beauty purchased at the farmer’s market in North Madison three years ago. Two skeins were acquired from a British native who was rearing sheep in Wisconsin, spinning and dyeing the wool. In 2020 I worked one skein into a hat called Rose Window.

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/rose-window-2

I honestly do not know anything else about this yarn, except that it is a two-ply sport weight. I know that the maker eventually returned to her native land.

My South American yarn is an alpaca blend from Peru.

I was given several skeins by friend Kathy who is allergic to wool. Its composition is alpaca, wool and acrylic. This may be my third project using this yarn. I do hope to high heaven that I can finally use it up.

And from Europe comes the remains of a skein by West Yorkshire Spinners.

I purchased this in Madison also and made Bill a pair of socks last year. He absolutely loves them. There is enough left of the skein to form the toes and ribs of this pair.

This sock is constructed from the toe up. I am using the 2-needle system, superior to working with four straight needles in avoiding dropped stitches.

I found that the stranded pattern used in the Delaney socks was too feminine looking for Bill’s taste. Instead, I chose to use Diamond Link and Dot from the 750 stitches ultimate knit bible – my well-thumbed reference book for stitch patterns.

I marked out the chart onto big graph paper to make it easier to use. This will become important when I’m travel knitting, something I see in my near future.