And knit the toe section

Just a note or two on this aspect of the pattern. Magic Loopers know that you have the two needles facing to the right, and the knitting can ride on the cable of the circular needle, with the cable "loop" at one end separating the "front" needle and the "back needle". But since at the very beginning, the two sides are connected at the center, it can be difficult to visualize front and back needles. This is compounded by the purl side which wants to pop up and be dominant.
So to begin, I saw my needles as upper and lower. The lower (working needle) has the working yard trailing - the upper (holding the next stitches) needle is the one you will knit in to. After a row or two it looks as if you are knitting a flat piece, even though the two ends really are connected. And if anyone knows a better way to describe this, feel free to offer suggestions! After one or two rounds, you can start increasing, according to the directions, and the needles can be more "front" and "back" as they normally are in Magic Loop.

My Interpretation of Knit Picks Toe Up, Two at once, Magic Loop Socks - cast on

This drawing only shows the cast on for one sock on the cable of the circular needle, but you should have two sets of 12 cast on "stitches" (the half hitch knots on the needle.) Since you will

be picking up 12 stitches (knitwise, so all the "bumps" are on the "wrong side") and there are only 11 spaces between each hitch, add a stitch

to the working needle by bringing the yarn down and making a twist and slipping it on the needle. Then you will be lined up to reach through the space created under the cable of the needle and over the loop that connects the hitches. Pick up 11 more stitches and you are ready to commence with the toe section.

One photo showsthe back side of your casted on stitches - with the purl bumps showing. The other photo shows the "right" side - with 12 "stitches" on each side, ready to start knitting the Magic Loop method.

You can use symbols, normally used for formulas

instead of colors. The trick is to type the symbol, then immediately click on the check mark on the formula bar to enter the symbol without making a formula. This gives a lot more keyboard options for charting patterns and stitches.

I have Microsoft Office Excel on my computers and use it to chart patterns, and plan colorways.
With a new workbook, I format the row and column width toform small squares. The Row height stays the same as the default. The column width is changed to about 2.43. Now my page looks like graph paper would.
Using the basic border, select an area and put borders on each cell.
Go to "Tools" - open the menu and select "Options" and in that menu, select the color tab. You can now create your own palette, by clicking on a color within that menu, and selecting "Modify". Your next choice is "Standard" or "Custom". On the lower right is a block that shows both your old color and your new color for comparison.
After choosing my colors, I plan the design. If the repeat has 6 stitches, starting at the right (because I knit right to left) I number 7 cells (squares) at the bottom of my bordered area. To the right of my grid, I also number from the bottom up, the number of rows it will take to make the pattern. The section of grid needed to make one pattern repeat gets a fat border around it to isolate it.
The illustration shows a very simple pattern to give the general idea. The method can also be used to chart stitch patterns, using wing ding or zbat fonts instead of color to denote stitches.

Mikey

We have a new great grandson! Mikey Abel.

Sierra's Third Birthday

Wishing all a blessed New Year!

It's hard to believe it has been almost a year since the picnic in the desert in Brawley. We need to do it again!

Old Man Winter must be napping today - the sun has sneaked out and the lake is glowing. I need to take pictures of the herbs in the garden that are surviving the freeze. Rosemary is doing well in the greenhouse, while Lavendar, Dill, Chives, Parsley and others are making it fine. The lemon balm has some frostbite on the taller leaves, but all in all looks to be making it.

I have been working on socks - knitting them with 100% wool for slipper socks. The pair in progress is for Marta. She is always complaining that her feet are cold. I did order some "SuperWash" wool and nylon blend. It's a fine, fingering weight, so whoever gets them will be able to wear them with regular shoes, and wash and dry them in the machines. I suppose the variegated yarns are so popular it is hard to find the blend of fibers that I want in a solid color.

Nuff for now. Perhaps the next time I will get the picture of Jimmy's hat up.