Meanwhile, back at the ranch... (plus, sewn bind-off)

I did run the ties through on Hey, Teach! but I haven't redone the buttonband yet, so will wait until I'm done to show you 'after' pictures. Meanwhile I haven't been idle! I finally picked up Rob's socks, which you last saw back in March. I had finished one sock, determined that it fit, and then never started the other one. Well, it's actually a bit nippy these days and Rob could use those socks! So I got about an inch into the ribbing on sock #2 last night. These poor socks were started in 2006 (!!!) so it'll be a wonder if I can even make the 2nd sock match the first given the weird way I take notes. We'll see...

I also snuck in and knit a pair of Debbie Bliss' Two Tone Baby Socks. They're very cute but SO many ends to weave in for such a small pair of socks! Then again, it's not like a baby's going to make a lot of miles on these things.



Finally, I'm making progress on Rob's gansey! After some screwups, I finally got the neck done, so it is a complete sleeveless vest at the moment:

The pattern said to bind off neck in pattern (that is, 2x2 rib), but that looks so messy to me, so I decided to do a sewn bind-off. If you haven't done this before, it's really easy. You make a tail 3-4 times as long as the area to be bound off, then put a needle on it and do this:

1. First, pass the needle and yarn right to left (purlwise) through the first two stitches on the needle and snug up (don't pull tight);
2. Then, pass the needle back left to right (knitwise) through the first stitch only and snug up;
3. Finally, drop the first stitch off the needle.


Repeat until you have bound off. It makes a really stretchy bind-off with a lovely look, much nicer than binding off in rib.