Latvian Mittens Get Me Out of a Rut // Casual Friday #11

In this week's Casual Friday, I discuss my ongoing sock heel investigations, and talk about the unexpected delightful experiences you can have when pushing yourself out of a rut (even when things don't go as planned).
My knitting designs: www.ravelry.com/designers/rox...
Support me by buying me a coffee on Ko-Fi! www.ko-fi.com/roxannerichardson
Introduction 0:00
Yarn experiment: 0:24
What I did this week (heel research): 2:29
Storytime: 13:03
Latvian Mitten Exhibition Facebook page: / latvianmittensexhibition
The pattern for my scarf is Leftie, by Martina Behm: www.ravelry.com/patterns/libr...
If you have questions about this video, or suggestions for future videos, please let me know down in the comments or on social media.
Facebook: / roxknits
Twitter: / roxmpls
Ravelry Group Rox Rocks: www.ravelry.com/groups/rox-rocks

[@TheSuzberry]

This story about visiting Yorkshire reminds me of my first visit to the UK 40+ years ago. It is so sweet.

[@TheSuzberry]

Hope you get back to the V&A again.

[@lisadriscoll6264]

I found this episode while searching for Latvian Mittens. It was quite enjoyable, I loved the travel story. I want to get 2 pairs of socks off the needles before I start the Latvian Mittens I purchased a lit for.

[@orlaghmartin6267]

I live in Ireland, it was new to me your reaction to bees buzzing and to see lots of sheep and lambs. I woke up the other 1:48 morning and The Dawn Chorus was so amazing and we have loads of sheep and lambs. Lambs are very playful specially if there is a little hill, they will jump and play and make their own games. I am going to try and knit a pair of Latvian mittens.

[@annmorris6575]

You’re such a good storyteller.....I look forward to Friday’s! Thank you!

[@juliapaisley1516]

You look absolutely amazing in that scarf. You should definitely model on the cover of a knitting or craft magazine!

[@shoelessmonk1941]

the stories in your life are so interesting and you tell them so well. thank you. food for my thoughts and a gentle nudge is what i needed. perfect timing.🧦

[@sandygrogg1203]

Oh my goodness... You have become the best part of my podcast week.. You have such an enquiring mind... I always feel that I am having my very own private lecture ...and I’m always fascinated. By whatever the dau’s topic is... I never remember when other podcasts come online...but I always look forward to Casual Friday... It’s a treat. Thank you again, for taking the time to do this for us. Sandy from Cincinnati... where we always believe Spring will happen in March...but it never does... 😊

[@DixieGirl9876]

I can relate to the excitement over the unexpected knitted glove, once in a museum I came across a painting of two young girls knitting and was so excited to see that even. I have a Latvian mitten book I plan on trying a few of the patterns soon, so it was lovely seeing the ones you shared.

[@kimberlymiller8150]

Thank you thank you thank you. I love your podcast. I always take away something and I always feel like I have learned something.

[@sandramarshall7712]

Great stories! I just love your stories! Thank you.

[@lorrainehedlund208]

Rox, I always feel like you're talking to me on casual Fridays. You're the best. And that scarf, wow, gorgeous.

[@tyotyadionysia]

Your wonderful videos are very informative and your style is so down to earth. Thank you!

[@sheryltisdale]

This is so cool, I have recently been trying to knit these kinds of mittens! and then I look and that is the theme of you video this week! Wow, thank you, I have actually started one mitten, gotten half way through, stopped and went back to knitting on a sweater I need to finish.

[@Jess-ix8do]

I love knitting socks so hearing about the different heels is awesome :) thank you! I was always a heel flap and gusset person but I'm getting ready to cast on my first afterthought heel. Let's hope it goes well

[@sandraponte3121]

What a treasure trove of knitting information you are accumulating...thank you for sharing all your knowledge!!

[@RoxanneRichardson]

You are so welcome!

[@GrainneDhu]

I am really enjoying these casual Friday videos! Just in case no one else mentioned it--the Romans invaded Britain on three major occasions. Twice under Julius Caesar in 55 BCE and 54 BCE, both unsuccessful. In 43 CE, Augustus Caesar ordered the conquest of Britain and it succeeded. The Romans stayed in Britain until 410 CE, when Honorius famously replied to an appeal from the British for help with various raiders and invaders (Saxons, Picts, Scots and Angles): "look to your own defences." Which was, naturally, the end of Roman government in Britain. The Romans are estimated to have built over 1000 miles of roads in Yorkshire; close to 500 miles of those roads are still evident or can be plotted with reasonable certainty. Henry VIII didn't just suffer from an obsessive urge to sire sons, he also had an itch to build or acquire residences. Something like 55 of them. Both of his pursuits ended up being quite expensive for him, which may have been a secondary factor in his seizure of Church holdings, which he flipped to private buyers on a massive scale.

[@gailspangler9024]

A born story teller!!

[@MsFitz134]

Hooray it's casual Friday again! Those mittens are so beautiful! I am always drawn to the textiles in museums too. The Natural History museum here in Salt Lake has a display about Native American spinning and weaving that I have to see at least once a year while my kids whine about being bored. 😅

[@sandramarshall7712]

I totally get what you are talking about re working/tweeking the different heel shaping.

[@catherinemcgrath5561]

You inspire me to leave my comfort zone and go out and explore!

[@RoxanneRichardson]

Do it! :-)

[@NinaKeilin]

Great stories! Love this

[@marylou1934]

Love your technique videos

[@carolharper268]

The glove was knitted in the 15th Century, which means it was knitted in the 1400’s, that makes it 600 years old. That’s even more amazing. Thank you for sharing. Xx

[@BigShelley]

Your videos seem to be suspiciously synced with my life! This is the third time your video content directly relates to what I'm working on or researching at the moment. I actually started this video in the background when I was googling sock heels, and then you started talking about them!

[@cathyinmt]

Great video! Thanks!

[@beagare2197]

Love that scarf :)

[@Jo-Anne.Clarke]

I love story time!

[@nicolelafontaine1720]

Thanks for all your great lessons, I sure learn a lot from you !!! This time you are wearing such a nice scarf, is there any way to get that pattern, I sure would be willing to pay for it. I live in Quebec Canada.

[@RoxanneRichardson]

That pattern is called "Leftie" by Martina Behm and can be found on Ravelry here: www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/leftie

[@danielmidwinter7182]

Really enjoyed this - as a Brit I found a lot of it very funny, especially the flask situation

[@RoxanneRichardson]

Every time I think I have the lingo down, some other word pops up that I scratch my head over! I've been watching a lot of Escape to the Country on NetFlix, and the real estate lingo is a whole new thing. I keep pausing to look things up!

[@juliemartin1736]

I love the swatch of the cable in chainette-it really pops! Any chance you could show us what it looks like when it’s washed and blocked? Also, you make that scarf look great!

[@judyhbaker]

Love your scarf!

[@RoxanneRichardson]

Thanks! I like it, too! ;-)

[@rosepaul9681]

Your adaptation of the strong heel looks like Vanilla is the New Black by Anneh Fletcher. I've been trying out different heels as I knit more socks. Just tried garter stitch short row and then the fleegle heel. The short row heels fit my foot better. As you note, the fleegle is too loose for some feet. I really enjoy some of the different heels by Wendy Johnson, especially where the gussets are on the bottom. Love your podcasts.

[@RoxanneRichardson]

I think trying different heels to find the one that fits best is so important (also, fun!). I often use socks as mindless knitting, which is one reason I got myself into a heel rut!

[@lynnrobertson3940]

Very interesting

[@marshad1686]

I always enjoy your podcast. I am a proponent of the Strong Heel because I like the way it fits and because I think it's the easiest heel to work in an on-the-go sock project. Additionally it is mindless to do when working TAAT with Magic Loop and is an excellent heel to use with self-striping yarn as it maintains the stripe sequence without pooling. I first found the pattern in Knitters Magazine but it has since been published in “The Sock Knitter's Handbook” where it includes the triangle variation that you showed as well as instructions for multiple sizes.

[@RoxanneRichardson]

Thanks! I just took a look at a preview of the book online, and it looks like the variations are all based on the same formula, with no instructions for adjusting for fit issues that come from differing heel diagonals. That's always the key for me, because of my fit issues. Given that the Strong Heel fits me so well, I'd like to be able to predict how to adjust it for people whose foot architecture is perhaps more standard, or more flat-footed. I think I've come up with a way to predict it, but I'm still testing! :-)

[@marshad1686]

Roxanne Richardson If you are looking for heels that address fit issues Lucy Neatby has a short row garter stitch heel that is worked on 60% of the total sock stitches instead of the usual 50%. She says the change in proportion creates a good heel for several heel-fit issues. It can be found in her book “Cool Socks, Warm Feet” (page 24) and also in one of her Craftsy Classes. If you don't have access to either of those look for the free pattern on Ravelry, “Ruffled Garden Socks” which uses that heel.

[@RoxanneRichardson]

My interest is in addressing the fit issues myself, so that any knitter can use any heel and know how to modify it to fit. The guidelines I have found (such as using 60% of the sts for a SR heel) are helpful to some people who have fairly average feet, but so far, I haven't knit socks for anyone with average feet! The SR heel/peasant heel situation in particular took me a long time to address, because I really dislike trial and error in order to get a good fit, when I can do calculations that will make a much better prediction. I stuck with the heel flap and gusset, because getting a good fit really is much easier the first time around than with other constructions, but even then, you have to get away from those rules of thumb that help to make a sock without thinking, but don't always make a sock that fits!

[@marshad1686]

Roxanne Richardson I get it. I suppose the same people who have difficulty getting socks to fit also find it frustrating getting shoes to fit. In any case I have confidence that you will find the answer for the sock heels!

[@NinaKeilin]

Fiber artists must go to the V&A! I also went to the Patricia Roberts knitting store near there. It's not what it was 30 years ago, though.

[@nicolelafontaine1720]

Hello Roxanne, I did buy the pattern "Leftie" by Martina Behm and of course strated to knit it, it is lovely, but I have a little problem with it. I see you did not, can I ask what you did to avoid the dark color to show at the beginning of the leaf. The pattern calls for a kfb at the end of the Row1 of the stripe and leaf pattern, it produces a tiny (but annoying) color blip on the leaf. I used quit contrasting colors, red for the body pattern and black and dark grey for the stripes and leaves. I see on the photos of the pattern she also gets that effect, so I supposed it is not my knitting, but since you do not have that on your scarf, you must have done something different or knitted differently. Would you accept to share your secret ?

[@juliegogo2941]

Love the scarf. Who did the pattern? Found your list of forwarding the pattern of the scarf.. Thanks

[@GrandmaMarlayne]

I like the reverse strong heel, but use different types of heels. What is your favorite yarn and what size needle do you use for socks?

[@jennyandjerryyoneji7735]

I should have looked through the Comments more carefully. I just found the name and location for the scarf/cowl. Thank you.

[@marilynpannell20]

I don't know if you've seen it, but the Jan-Feb issue of Piecework magazine has some fabulous traditional stockings from various countries, along with recent recreations, with written patterns of the latter. I'd forgotten how recent purling is. And as an aside, in case you're interested, there's a European painting (can't remember who by) circa 1400 depicting Mary knitting a tunic for Christ.

[@RoxanneRichardson]

Yes, I've seen than painting, which is why I was trying to do the math in my head! I kept saying that the glove was 500 years old, but the label listed it as 14th century (so, the *end* of the 14th century? Maybe?), and I was trying to remember when those paintings were painted, and if knitting would have made it up to the German countries. Most of the knitting history I've read focused on Spain and Italy, and the craft coming to England, so Germany wasn't even on my radar. Regardless, it was a thrill! :-)

[@RoxanneRichardson]

Also, I'll have to look for that issue of Piecework. Thanks for the heads up! :-)

[@marilynpannell20]

Yeah, probably very late 1400s. And I can imagine the thrill of seeing that exhibit in person -- and the white glove. -- That knocked my socks off, and it was just on my computer screen. I can't imagine seeing it in person. By the way, have you looked into nalbindung? That's a VERY old method of using 'thread' to make garments and other things. Very Western Europe I believe, Scandinavia, and maybe Germany. I was a member of the Society for Creative Anachronism for many years, We re-create pre-17th cent. western culture. (primarily)

[@marilynpannell20]

no prob. I just discovered that magazine.

[@RoxanneRichardson]

Yes, that was the method most likely used for the very oldest stockings found in Egypt, that are often identified as the "first knitting."

[@jennyandjerryyoneji7735]

Is there a pattern for the cowl you are wearing? Thank you.

[@lynnecampbell5608]

Is there a pattern for your scarf? I love it!

[@RoxanneRichardson]

There should be a link down in the description/show notes.

[@rosalindnewman1254]

Your scarf is gorgeous. What is it? Thank you for your wonderful videos.

[@RoxanneRichardson]

Oh! I meant to put a link in the video description, so I've updated it. It's Leftie, by Martina Behm. www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/leftie

[@GrandmaMarlayne]

Love this scarf, but have heard it is difficult.

[@Eddyzmom]

I just “stumbled” across your podcast. I loved it, so much information and wonderful life stories. I am very interested in your adaptation of the Strong Heel. I love making socks and am always interested in “different” heels. (To be honest, I have never heard of the Strong Heel) It has really peaked my interest!

[@nicolelafontaine1720]

Hello Roxanne, I did buy the pattern "Leftie" by Martina Behm and of course strated to knit it, it is lovely, but I have a little problem with it. I see you did not, can I ask what you did to avoid the dark color to show at the beginning of the leaf. The pattern calls for a kfb at the end of the Row1 of the stripe and leaf pattern, it produces a tiny (but annoying) color blip on the leaf. I used quit contrasting colors, red for the body pattern and black and dark grey for the stripes and leaves. I see on the photos of the pattern she also gets that effect, so I supposed it is not my knitting, but since you do not have that on your scarf, you must have done something different or knitted differently. Would you accept to share your secret ?