Skeinspotting

Las Calacas Danzantes


Designed by Erssie Major
Modelled by Jennifer Gwiazdwoski
Photography by Stevie Savage of Raid Zero
Knitted by Erssie Major (turqoise)

My latest knitting pattern is up on the Anticraft site in their Samhain issue 2008, you can download it from there. If you need a little reminder on how to do Kitchener stitch, then you can see the instructions on my previous post


I have a love of these socks. They look so nice when done, but you really get involved with them when you're making them and each stitch has to be lovingly laid down. The heels were easier to do than it looks. The issue had a dia de los muertos theme hence the Dancing skeletons with their sombreros and there was also an option to duplicate stitch little cherries and stalks onto the skellies on the charts. I also have another socks pattern Pequenos Relojes de Arena, and a Skull & Cherries chart and and Calavera Naranja orange skull chart in the same issue. I still have another project on the go, to come as a surprise around Halloween on the Anticraft too. Seems like a lot of stuff, but I did design these things over quite a few months which is how they accumulated.



To avoid any confusion with reading charts I recharted the design for each size. The skeleton motifs remain the same, but I plotted out little Fair Isle style dots cascading down in the same yarns used on that line so that there are floats in between the motifs.


Whilst knitting this I deliberately did NOT twist or catch any of my yarns at the back. I literally dropped the colour and picked up the next loosely stranding across the back. With a 100% fleece type yarn, those strands will stick to the backs and bed down with time so why bother knitting in the floats. Also, if you have ever tried to knit socks with colour stranding you may find that when the stitches stretch apart on your legs, the twisted yarns are in danger of peeking through.


If you like sock pics and want to see more go to the Flickr album

I used Artesano Alpaca 4ply in various shades to make the turqoise version above, Kate Blackburn knitted up this other version below in Regia Clown that is self striping



Also, for a Samhain Halloween theme as well as this dia de los muertos theme, I have a free Dancing Skeleton Chart with Top Hat and Motif available in my list of PDFs, so click on the sidebar then scroll down my list of patterns and upload it is
FREE.



I have another skulls chart with the same theme, but it is not just a single motif it is a whole wallpaper of them charted out so you can use on a blanket, or perhaps on some stockings like I did. It is called Tessellating Skulls and is also in my list of pdfs