How to Make Your Own Sock Blockers

Have you ever gotten a sock done, only to find that you don't have the correct size sock blockers for it? Or have you simply discovered that $40 for a nice pair of wooden ones is just not in the cards at this time?

You can make your own sock blockers with a few minor ingredients, and things that you most likely already have, being a knitter.

You will need:

-A plastic placemat (a cheapo one from Target will do, one without an edge)

-T-pins (you do block your items, don't you?)

-craft scissors (the ones NOT for fabric cutting or yarn cutting)

-a machine made sock in the correct size that you don't care much about (surely there is still one in your drawers somewhere...)

-a permanent marker

-an emery board

To begin:

Lay your placemat out on the work surface, and pin your machine made sock to it, paying attention to keep the sock perfectly flat.  You will most likely need to kid-proof the area, as some of the cutting process can be a little...sharp.

Grab your T-pins and your machine sock that you don't care about, and lay it on the placemat. You will be pinning the sock to the placemat with the T-pins, in order to form an outline of what your sock blockers need to look like.

Once it is pinned SECURELY, you will trace around the sock with a permanent marker. This is your stencil.  If you get permanent marker on it...well, that's why we want you to use a sock you don't care about.

Now that you have your template for the first blocker traced out, grab those craft scissors and carefully cut out your blocker.  You will want to cut inside the lines of the blocker, so that they don't end up bigger than the intended socks.

Now that you have one sock blocker cut out, you can use it to trace the next one.  Make sure you have that first blocker at the exact dimensions you need, and then trace it onto the remaining placemat piece.

Cut out the second one, and now you have a pair!  You aren't done yet, however.  You will need to clean up those edges with the emery board, because I know you do not want to snag a nice handknit sock on a sharp edge!  All you need to do is file the edges so that they are slightly rounded and won't snag on any yarn-y goodness.

After the filing, you will want to test your blocker on that sock-you-don't-care-about so that you can make sure there are no missed rough edges.

Once you are done, give your blockers a rinse to get the file shavings off of them, and put them in a box for safe-keeping.

Total cost for this project: $3 and 20 minutes of time, on the assumption you have t-pins and scissors already.

Happy blocking!

Coming Soon: Make your own sock bags

I have the fabric. I just need to get the step by step written instructions done and get the pictures going. Stay tuned!

How to Finish those Looming Knitting Projects

It is often at the point when you have the back and a sleeve of a sweater done that you do not wish to work anymore upon it.  You get the itch to cast on something else.  You know that you shouldn't, so instead, all of your projects languish on your needles for weeks, even months with nary a thought in their direction.

The solution? Get creative with your work.  Let's say that you are working on the garter stitch scarf from hell, and would really like to work on some socks instead. 

First, knitting is a pleasure hobby.  Go ahead and cast on those socks, but also lay down the terms of agreement in order to get your scarf of doom done.

Rule #1: Work twice as much on the scarf as you do on the socks.  Set an egg timer, so if you have 15 minutes to knit, work 10 minutes on that scarf, "I will work until the egg timer goes off, then I will switch to my other project" and then work 5 on the socks.

Rule #2: Carve out time every night for working on the scarf.  You can easily set aside 10 to 20 minutes every night before bed to work on the scarf that needs to be done for little Tommy's birthday.

Rule #3: If you can, grab some audio books from your local library, put them on your mp3 player of choice, and knit for a few chapters.  At this time, that garter stitch scarf is an easy project that doesn't really require concentration, and you can be entertained while you work.

Rule #4: Set up a reward program.  Let's say that there is some uber soft squooshy Jade Sapphire cashmere that you want to make mitts out of, but wouldn't normally buy it for yourself.  Turn your garter stitch scarf into a pay as you go project.  Let's say you pay yourself $2 into a jar for every 4 inches you get done on that scarf.  By the time you reach the 4 feet that you need for a passable scarf, you will have $12 towards that cashmere loveliness.

Rule #5: Promise yourself that you will recognize that any progress on that scarf is good progress, and that you will work every day on it, even if it is only for a few minutes.

All you need to do is recognize that your time is valuable and that you need a reward system to get those looming projects done.  Since garter stitch is relatively mindless, you can do it anywhere.  If you happen to be working on a sweater with charts that are the size of Texas, you can always use the time before bed to work on it.

And reward yourself for your work.  New yarn is always a motivation to get other stuff in the stash done. :)