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Can you be the first person to send your opponent to Sock Hill?  Will you be the last sock knitter standing when the Showdown is over?  Join in Showdown at Sock Hill and you’ll find out. 

HearthStone Knits, a yarn shop is south St. Louis County, in cooperation with Southwest Trading Co., is hosting a sock knitting competition as a fund raiser for Heifer International.  Our entry fees and contributions will provide a Knitting Basket, consisting of a breeding pair each of llamas and sheep.  The wool from these animals becomes almost like currency:  woolen yarn, fabric, and clothing to market to pay for food, medicine, and schooling.  As the animals breed and give birth, the family’s economic prospects improve, as do conditions in the village.  Recipient families agree to pass on some of the animals’ offspring as well as the training they have received in economically sound agriculture.  HearthStone Knits welcomes your contributions whether you’re knitting in the Showdown or not.  Round up all your sock knitting friends and help us help Heifer while we all have some fun!

Here’s how the Showdown at Sock Hill works:

Come in (11429 Concord Village Ave.) or call HearthStone Knits (314.849.YARN) by March 25th to register and pay a $5 entry fee which goes to Heifer International.  You will need to give us the following information: name, phone number, email address, mailing address for finished socks, shoe size or length of foot in inches, ankle size (medium or large).

Purchase materials: 100g of sock yarn (Tofutsies by our sponsor Southwest Trading is recommended) and size 2 needles (or size needed to obtain gauge of 8 sts per inch).

The evening of Saturday, March 29th, you will receive an email containing the sock pattern for the Showdown and the particulars of the person for whom you’re knitting.  There will be a Showdown Kickoff Cast-On Party at HearthStone Knits from 7-9 p.m. on the 29th where you can receive the same info and cast on with other participants.  Western attire is optional, but why not?

We strongly suggest not revealing the identity of your sock receipient.  It’ll be more fun!  Also, they will probably not be the person knitting for you.

When you complete your assigned pair, mail them to your opponent and tell us at the shop that you’ve “socked” your person.  We’ll display their tombstone in Sock Hill, and they’re eliminated.  (If you want mailing documentation, the Postal Service offers delivery confirmation options.)  The first person to send their opponent to Sock Hill will receive a HearthStone Knits gift card.

When you’re eliminated, keep knitting!!  If you don’t finish your person’s socks, they will win by default.

The last person standing is the winner of the Showdown at Sock Hill and will receive a great prize provided by Southwest Trading — as well as the title of “Sock Slinger of the Year.” 

We’re constantly asked for classes in various sock knitting techniques, so this spring our classes are covering the most popular.  Socks are for everyone — even those who are wool sensitive.  We have sock yarns that do not contain wool, so be sure to ask us to point them out.

Socks on 2 Circular Needles [Tuesdays, 7-9 p.m., March 11, April 1, and April 8; Instructor - Georgia; $50 plus materials]  People are curious about this technique.  Once you’ve tried it you’ll find many uses for it besides socks.  If you can’t make friends with your double-pointed needles, this class is for you!

Toe Up Magic Loop Socks [Wednesdays, 7-9 p.m., April 9, 23, and 30; Instructor - Georgia; $50 plus materials] This class is for the experienced sock knitter interested in expanding her options or for the confident knitter who is a “newbie” to socks.  Magic Loop technique uses one long circular needle to work in rounds.  We’ll discuss other applications for this knitting technique and the advantages of working socks from the toe up.

“Falling Hearts” Lace Scarf [Tuesdays, 7-9 p.m., April 15, April 22, and May 13; Instructor - Georgia; $50 plus materials] This project is a wonderful introduction to lace knitting.  The yarn in fingering weight, making it easier to see and manipulate.  The pattern is written in chart form but also includes row-by-row verbal instructions, so it’s an excellent vehicle for learning to understand charted lace.  Additional techniques include a provisional cast on and a picot bind off.

Super Seams [Tuesday, May 6, 6:30-9p.m.; Instructor - Georgia; $20 plus advance preparation]  Mattress stitch is the key to beautiful seams.  In this class we’ll practice seaming on garter stitch, ribbing, stockinette, and reverse stockinette.  This class will give you confidence no matter what fabric you’re seaming.  This class requires knitting several swatches in advance of the class. 

Lists of materials and required preparations will be provided at time of registration.  Prerequisite knowledge for all sock classes: must be able to knit, purl, increase, and decrease.  Previous experience working in the round is helpful.  We keep our class sizes small, so be sure to register early!  Contact HearthStone Knits at 314.849.YARN(9276) or visit our shop at 11429 Concord Village Ave., Saint Louis, MO 63123, on Tuesday-Wednesday-Friday-Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Thursday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

I’ve begun knitting the Peacock Feathers Shawl from Fiddlesticks for our daughter to wear over her wedding gown in September.  It’s a delightful project!  I’m using Zephyr Wool and Silk in Vanilla which is a perfect match for her dress.

It is such fun to knit this pattern!  The charts come already blown up so I didn’t have to struggle with that detail; I could just open the pattern and cast on.  The directions and chart notations are easy to follow, and I’m just zooming along.   I’ve been working on it for about 3 weeks, and I just completed chart 4 of 7.  The pattern keeps me interested because it gradually changes from small feathers at the top of the shawl to large ones at the bottom — just the way the feathers on a peacock enlarge into the tail.

The yarn is yummy, too.  It knits up beautifully, and I can tell how nicely it will block at the end.  I’ve always been a devotee of Addi’s Natura (bamboo point) circular needles, but I tried Addi’s Turbo Lace needles for this project.  I’ll never knit lace with anything else!  The points are just perfect for lace decreases.

Most pleasing of all is how delighted Daughter is with the shawl.  I can’t wait to see how it looks on her.  Maybe I can sneak in a little extra knitting time this week…

My first post!  I’m so excited!  Hope you enjoy sharing these ideas with me as we knit our way down the road.

Every year I knit a pair of socks as a birthday gift for my sister.  She lives out of town and is only able to visit at Christmas.  It’s always a busy time while she’s here: Christmas shopping, movies, visits with friends and family.  We can really pack a lot of activities into those few days a year! Sometime during her stay we sneak away to the shop, and Sister chooses a sock yarn for her birthday socks.  This year she chose Regia’s Kafe Fassett sock yarn in browns with an occasional splash of navy.  It was a pleasure to knit, like all the Regia sock yarns, and it turned out great.   Kafe’s sock yarns come in striped and “random” patterning like the one Sister chose.  She’s thrilled with them, so I’m a happy knitter!

When knitters at the shop start making socks, we always warn them not to knit socks for anyone unless they’re willing to knit socks for that person forever more.  In fifteen plus years of sock knitting we’ve only heard of one or two people who’ve been lukewarm about receiving handknitted socks.  Everyone else starts asking for more:  “Could you make me a black lace pair?”  “A cotton pair for summer would be sooo comfy!”  “Red lace would be such a blast for Valentine’s Day and Christmas!”  Beware, ye generous knitter, lest thine own toes suffer!  I try to make sure that at least every third pair is for me, especially now that the socks I knit for myself ten years ago are finally starting to wear out.

Socks are my favorite portable project.  They fit beautifully into my tapestry accessory bag which is a great size to grab for a trip to the doctor’s office or to a friend’s house for after-dinner conversational knitting.  I usually make a variation of our shop’s free pattern — the one I used on Sister’s socks above.  I’ve knitted it so many times I have it memorized!

What sock yarn shall I cast on next?  Hmmm….