Upcoming Events.....

Ok, so the last post was a shameful 2 years ago..... A lot has happened in that time. My husband took me to Hawaii, I went back to school, and I've scaled back my online retail selling and have focused on family. Its been great, but I thought I would start blogging a little again.

Upcoming events.....

I've been working on a few new patterns, which I will hopefully release later this year.

Michigan Fiber Fiesta - May 14th

Mid-Ohio Fiber Fair - August 20th & 21st

Non fiber events......

Steps for Courage 5K - April 23rd

Food Allergy 5K - May 7th

I'll definitely be adding more 5K events. Not sure if I'll be at any more festivals or not. Will keep you updated!

Perfection Pants updated!!!!

Sound the Alert! Sound the Alert!
Coming on March 17th:
the beautifully updated Perfection Pants pattern!

See a few more of the lovely photos from the pattern over here: Wooly Wonder on Flickr - http://www.flickr.com/groups/woolywonder/

The new pants pattern will be available in the wooly wonder shop http://www.woolywonder.com/store and also in my ravelry pattern store http://www.ravelry.com/stores/pamela-grossman---wooly-wonders on Tuesday! The new pattern will be selling at the recession-adjusted price of $12. Additionally, there are some deals...

Deal #1: Current pattern holders will find a coupon code in the Wooly Wonder Perfection Pants Pattern Support forum. You can purchase the pattern at a discounted price. Thank you for your continued support!

Deal #2: Social Networking Discount Experiment: Place the information shared here onto your blog (cut and paste the whole thing, including the picture), facebook ("share on fb"), twitter (just place a link to this blog entry) or other social networking location, forum, etc (be creative!) and email me a link or screen shot... I will email you a coupon code of your very own to use in my shop. (And they told two friends, and they told two friends,and so on...)

The pattern won't be available for download until Tuesday, so thank you for your patience and for helping me spread the word! Knit your own darn perfect-fitting baby pants -- now with an updated, beautified, clarified, but still chatty and loads o'fun pattern.

Price Increases

It is with a heavy heart that I share with you that I must increase my prices. Beginning October 1st, 2008 my prices will increase. The new prices are up on my Hyenacart and can be viewed here: NEW PRICES

The reason for my price increases is simple - In three years of business, I have not once increased prices. The cost of yarn, shipping and supplies, however, has continued to increase. I have kept my prices where they were as long as I possibly could, but in the interest of fairness to myself and to my family, I have to raise them.

I hope everyone understands. I tried to keep them as fair as possible and still at a reasonable range for those of you that can't afford to spend a lot on knit goods. I also offer layaway/payment plans, so if you're in need (or want) of wool but can't afford it all at once, just let me know and we'll work something out.

Thank you to everyone for understanding and your support.

Bottoms Up: Anatomically Correct Toes for the Toe-Up Sock Knitter

I just love this pattern for knitting sock toes. The only problem is that its for top down socks. So, I decided to adapt the pattern for toe-up sock knitting. Now there is no excuse for those of you that want shaped toes for your socks. No matter what pattern, either set of directions will help you shape those toes!

Anatomically Correct Sock Toes (For Toe-Up Socks)

Notes:
-- The directions assume you have knowledge of basic knitting techniques and sock knitting.
-- For directions on provisional cast-on method, please see here.
-- Directions are written for knitting on 4 DPNs. Feel free to adapt to 3 or circular knitting.
-- To determine the correct even number of cast-on stitches, use the following formula:
Pattern Stitches -minus- 34 stitches -divided by- 2 = number to cast-on.
Example: Foot area is worked over 60 stitches. 60 - 34 / 2 = 13
Cast-on must be an even number, so you would cast on either 12 or 14 stitches.

Right Toe Directions:

C/O XX st.
Stockinette stitch for 3 rows.
Insert Needle (#2) into provisional cast-on stitches and remove provisional cast-on yarn.
Divide stitches equally among 4 needles and begin knitting circularly.

Needle 4: Knit (this places your yarn at the beginning of your round.)

Round 1:
Knit all stitches.

Big Toe Increases
Round 1, 2, & 3:
Needle 1: Knit to last st, m1, K1
Needle 2: K1, m1, knit to end
Needle 3: Knit to last st, m1, K1
Needle 4: K1, m1, knit to end
Round 4:
Needle 1: Knit
Needle 2: Knit
Needle 3: Knit to last st, m1, K1
Needle 4: K1, m1, knit to end
Round 5:
Repeat Round 1

Little Toe Increases
Round 1:
Needle 1: Knit
Needle 2: Knit
Needle 3: Knit to last st, m1, K1
Needle 4: K1, m1, knit to end
Round 2:
Knit all needles

Repeat these two rounds until you have increased to the number of stitches required for your pattern. End with Round 1.

Begin knitting according to your sock pattern.

Left Toe Directions:

C/O XX st.
Stockinette stitch for 3 rows.
Insert Needle (#2) into provisional cast-on stitches and remove provisional cast-on yarn.
Divide stitches equally among 4 needles and begin knitting circularly.

Needle 4: Knit (this places your yarn at the beginning of your round.)

Round 1:
Knit all stitches.

Big Toe Increases
Round 1, 2, & 3:
Needle 1: Knit to last st, m1, K1
Needle 2: K1, m1, knit to end
Needle 3: Knit to last st, m1, K1
Needle 4: K1, m1, knit to end
Round 4:
Needle 1: Knit to last st, m1, K1
Needle 2: K1, m1, knit to end
Needle 3: Knit
Needle 4: Knit
Round 5:
Repeat Round 1

Little Toe Increases
Round 1:
Needle 1: Knit to last st, m1, K1
Needle 2: K1, m1, knit to end
Needle 3: Knit
Needle 4: Knit
Round 2:
Knit all needles

Repeat these two rounds until you have increased to the number of stitches required for your pattern. End with Round 1.

Begin knitting according to your sock pattern.

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Below is an image of both techniques. Top down is the blue sock on the left. Toe up method is the green sock on the right.

Happy Knitting!