I love to see what crafter extraordinaire Mark Montano makes, so when I saw that he had a video on how to melt marbles in a microwave kiln for jewelry I needed to share it with all of you. For anyone unsure of whether they want to get into fusing glass this is a great stepping stone. I’ve written about the microwave kiln before and feel like it’s a great beginners tool. Once you start here it’ll only be a matter of time before you take the next step…Mark has written many books, and is most famous for The Big Ass Book of Crafts!
Have you read?
A Whimsical Sock Pattern to Blow Your Mind
You probably know by now if you’re a regular reader (and if you’re not, welcome!) that I love a knitting pattern that’s a little silly or a little different from the usual. Classic patterns are great, too, but sometimes you just want to make something with a bit of whimsy. And when it’s super functional, too, that’s even better.
That’s the case with the Bananen-Socken pattern from Susanne Shahin. These banana socks are one of those patterns no one seems to be totally sure where it came from, and this free pattern on Ravelry explains how she makes them based on how she learned it.
It’s a sock that’s curved and when not on a foot it looks rather like a banana. There’s no heel, and you can use whatever number of stitches you need to make it fit your foot. If you’ve knit enough socks to know how many stitches you like you can just use that number, or the pattern notes include sizing charts to help. (It needs to be multiples of 2 for the ribbing.)
After working a traditional cuff, the body is made with ribbing on the back and welts (or what the pattern calls horizontal ribbing) on the front, which is what gives it the curved shape. There’s no heel, but there is toe shaping, but for the leg and the foot you just keep working the same pattern as long as you like.
I’m a little skeptical about how these socks will feel with ribbing on the bottom of the foot, but I’m definitely intrigued and will probably give them a try.
The pattern notes are available on Ravelry in English, German, French, Italian and Spanish. If you head to the pattern page you can see a photo of what it looks like on a foot, and it just looks like a normal sock.
Have you ever knit banana socks or do you want to now? I’d love to hear your thoughts!
[Photo: Susanne Shahin]