It's Totally Tubular, Man!

Doesn't it seem like the word 'Man' needs to follow Totally Tubular?  Well that's my newest sock pattern - Totally Tubular by Samantha Roshak.  The pattern is only $2.00 and comes with video links.  It's kind of cool!  The premise is that you can knit a total tube from cuff to cuff, snip to unravel in half, then add a toe to each half, then add an afterthought heel.  It sounds complicated but it's very easy and a great sock to take along.  Here are my results:

 That one was for my daughter and I didn't get a picture before she headed back up north.  She did say tho, that she loved the feel of the heel - which is just a toe.  As you can see in this pair for my son-in-law, they look kind of funky with two toes, but they both say they are very comfortable!

Then I made another pair for my son.  On all these socks I borrowed from Cat Bordhi's book, 'Personal Footprints' the method of cutting out a pattern of their foot on the inside of a cereal box.  It's so nice to have that on hand to add the heel in the right place. 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

All in all, I really do like this Totally Tubular way of making socks.  I like doing an afterthought heel.  The drawback was, though, that there are a lot of ends to weave in.  But, as I now am enjoying making contrasting heels and toes, there are a lot of ends to weave in doing that the traditional way, too. 

One thing that may help if you try to use this method.  The 2nd cuff.  Binding off a cuff needs to be very stretchy.  I used a method I saw in the Let's Knit 2gether video podcast.  It was in the March 2009 show.  I'm adding a link, but the website is http://www.letsknit2gether.com/  Here's the link I use:  http://letsknit2gether.com/2009/03/  I use the first one, but I'm not a very tight knitter.  She has a few to try, pick the one that suits you!

 

Behind the yarn:  This is my section of things I'm doing that don't use yarn.  I got a new gadget, or toy.  It's a Soda Stream Soda maker!  It carbonates water and you can make your own sodas.  I tried their brand of syrups to add to the soda water, but I wasn't super impressed.  I like to drink plain club soda with lime and this works great for that.  I can make it fresh and it doesn't lose it's fizz by sitting around in a big 2 liter bottle.  I also love GingerAle - the real stuff.  I found a great real GingerAle recipe online at http://www.jeffreymorgenthaler.com/2008/how-to-make-your-own-ginger-beer/  .  I tried it, with first making his recipe for simple syrup, then using my juicer to make the ginger juice, and it was fantastic.  I'm a fan of Reed's Ginger Beer and I just hadn't found something I could make similar until now.  This GingerAle has just the 'bite' I was looking for and I love it!  If you like Ginger, then this recipe is for you.  All in all, again, I think my soda maker was a great buy and works well for us.