FO-Twinkletoes

Ballerina's are huge in the life of a four year old girl. So, after Knitty came out with the pattern for the Twinkletoes, I had to make them for her. These are the Child size pattern. M wears a size one and these fit her well. I think they'll stretch with her for a while. I also made a pair for GOAM's daughter Toddler sized in purple Lion's Brand Wool-ease (LBWE). I gifted them before I took a photo. I have to admit that I liked knitting with the LBWE better than with the Plymouth Encore. The LBWE might have more wool in it's makeup because it didn't have that strange acrylic feel while knitting it up.

Super fast project by the way. I was able to get two pairs done over the weekend!

I had one skein left over from knitting her an Easter basket that didn't felt so I used that. I made these out of the Joann's brand Sensations Tesoro Yarn in pink (100% wool-which is really wonderful on the hands!). I also used this yarn because I know it's washable. Of course I didn't have enough to finish the pair, so I rushed out last night and got another ball. I lost another project (my first SnB Devil Hat) to the washer recently, so I'm a bit cautious when it comes to hand wash yarns.

I think I need to have an experienced knitter sit down with me and go over picking up the wrap for short rows. My pick ups look very sloppy and I think I'm either not wrapping the yarn correctly or am twisting my pick ups.

I also had to do a provisional cast on for this. Initially I tried doing it with a scrap yarn piece, but that just didn't work out well. So I went over to my handy dandy Knitting Help dot com to see if there was a better way - there is. I used a circular needle. It worked out great because I used the same size needle as what was called for in the pattern so when I was knitting in the round. Very handy. I will always provisionally cast on for this. The only thing I figured out was that when you cast on this way, your loops will be twisted so I had to adjust knitting across them when I went to knitting in the round. In other words, I had to alternate knitting regularly versus knitting through the back. You more experienced knitters probably understand what I'm talking about. As C, my neighborly knitting guru preaches, pay attention to how the loops are while you're knitting.

I barely used any yarn (I was on the second heel when I ran out, damn it!) with the second ball so I'll use it to knit her a replacement Sphery. Mel ate her other one early this year and she's wanted a replacement (in pink) ever since. That's all she really wants from me for Christmas (GLEE!!).

Oh, and did I tell you how much I LOVE knitting backwards for purl rows? For a left handed yarn holder, it's a really terrific method and saves the wear and tear on my hands.