Knooking, all the time, sigh....

So, I just HAD to get the Knook Kit and I just HAD to start, rip out, start over, rip out....until I finally got - it finally clicked! Now what have I been doing? Yep, KNOOKING! The kit came with 3 knooks or modified crochet hooks and 3 satin cords or rat's tail. The knooks are a size G or 6, an H or 8, and an I or 9. These are all much larger than I use and require worsted weight yarns which I have a ton of, I just don't make anything with it? Right, I know, most of it was given to me by a dear friend who no longer had the time to knit because of work, school and kiddo.

So, I start knooking a Hexipuff like I've been making on size 3 needles with sock yarn to "patch" together and create a "quilt" but the puffs were so much larger that I decided to create a baby size blanket for my buddy Robin's little girl Madison Marie. I will need 600 or so for my quilt but not so many for her's! Here is what I have so far! It is already 21" and the stem isn't as long as I want it. A row or row .5 of green, the pink flower and a blue background (sky)with little duplicate stitch white fluffy clouds floating around. I also chose not to stuff these puffs with polyfill mainly because of the size but also---Texas---don't need a double thick blanket stuffed with polyfill, ever...

Then I decided to put the flower blanket down and try a pair of socks which are my true love anyway.  Knooking in the round didn't come to me right away.  I had to try several different times before I managed to get the cuff to work.  Again, since these needles/hooks are so much larger and require thicker yarn I chose a sleep sock or slipper sock pattern from Ravelry.com  -(click here for pattern) Moonlight SlipperSocks. I've knit these before and they are really quick even with the little bit of intarsia on the ankle/leg and heel.  I've never tried to add a second color in while knooking (yet!) so I omitted the colorwork and will go back after all is complete adding them back in via duplicate stitch.  I chose these initially because of the little crescent moon on the heel so..

These are anklettes or short socks so here is the cuff, leg and most of the heel flap from behind.

This is the front with the heel flap worked.  The instep stitches are on a knitting needle waiting while the heel is being made, I'm not cheating, I swear!!

I'll keep you posted with my progress.  I did all of the above while watching TV last night so still faster than knitting! 

Heel Flap completed and Heel Turned.

See the nice little cup the turned heel creates?  I actually did create the Turned Heel and not a short row.  I had to incorporate 2 other cords (I used scrap yarn) to use the knook as intended and I didn't take a picture but since I do NOT know anything about a short row heel I decided to fiddle with the knook and do what I knew rather than try and learn something else on top of.  Worked just fine.

All stitches picked up along the side of the heel flap.  Knitting these will create the Gusset.

ALL stitches picked up, first row knit and everything sitting nicely on the knooking cord.  I've tied little pieces of  yarn in a different color at what would be the beginning of each needle when knitting these.  To form the gusset or the little triangle right under your ankle bone you must decrease at the end of the needle every other row so I need this marker to let me know where to put my decreases.  Also, there is a marker in the middle of the heel which is now the very beginning of the sock.

Folded flat you can see the different sections of this sock so far.  The top or Cuff, the leg section (very short on these anklettes) the heel flap, the heel and the instep.  Now to create the Gusset and in doing so the foot then on to the toe.

 Now to FrankenNeedle me a crochet hook small enough for my Grace Ennis Socks and I'm set!!  I did find a set of interchangeable Crochet Hooks called Symfonie Interchangeable Tunisian Crochet Hooks in a rainbow wood finish with the Sock size hooks but they are not sold in the US and so far I haven't found an outlet willing to mail them to me.  =(   There's always Ebay!!