Even though I’ve been very distracted* this week I managed to cast on and work the first four rows of Irish Moss. As you can see I used plenty of markers to keep track of stitches.

Yes, that’s all that I’ve done in one week. Kind of pitiful, but the pattern is much more difficult then most and takes all my attention when I’m knitting it so I haven’t attempted to take it along on the bus. That’s why I haven’t gotten very far.
Here’s the project that I’ve been knitting while on the bus. I got this Pretty Comfy Sock pattern via Emma’s blog in May.

I tend to be a tight knitter and ended up using 3.5mm needles to get the correct gauge. Just like Emma, I’ll be using PGR’s short-row heels.

Back in the days when I had time to read the Socknitters list, I saved a post by Maggie Dicey that mentioned using coil-less safety pins (like the ones in the Irish Moss photo) to mark the working yarn instead of doing yarn-overs. Here are her exact words.

“The purpose of the YO is to make the turning thread from the previous row(s) available to be worked with the following stitch. You can achieve the same thing by hanging a coil-less safety pin or a length of waste thread over the working yarn close to the needle when you make the turn. Then when you get back to the turning point, lift up on the thread or pin and slide the loop(s) onto the left needle and proceed as above.” She then goes on to mention that this is known as Japanese short-rowing.

As some of you might remember, I took a Japanese short-rowing class recently and this is exactly what the teacher had us do. I asked her if she had tried it on socks and she hadn’t. I was curious because I remember reading in one of PGR’s books that that Japanese short-rows should only be used if there are a few stitches between each turn. I can’t remember why but I’m sure she tried it and would have mentioned it in her sock book if it could be done.

So I bring this short-row thing up because I’m going to try a new twist on this technique by using the coil-less safety pins to hold the yarn-overs in an effort to keep the stitches very tight. I’m about to start the heels so we will soon see how it works.

*I’ve been thinking of what to do with the purple wool & silk fiber that I spun a few weeks ago. I’ve been looking for the perfect pattern but might just attempt to design a hat or a mobious scarf.