The Joy of Socks

I on a bit of a sock binge at the moment. I have finished the Monkey socks which are a fantastic pattern to make. Have yet to block them and take pictures. I have blocked the Snicket socks:

I really like the cuff on these where you knit through the back of the stitch to make a raised column. The lattice pattern can be a bit fiddly to do but looks really good so is worth it. I used King Cole Zig Zag which felt a bit rough but then really softened up after washing and blocking.
And yes I have cast on more socks. Two pairs in fact. I was only intending to start one, but then I watched The Knit Girllls podcast and they happened to say that the Opal Vincent Van Gogh sock yarn is being discontinued. I have been meaning to make a pair of sock out of this yarn for ages, so of course I quickly went and brought some in the Sunflowers colourway. I am just doing a plain vanilla sock toe-up and with an afterthought heel.
While waiting for the Opal yarn to arrive I cast on for a pair of  Business Casual socks by Tanis Lavallee. I am using Woolcraft Superwash Sock Yarn in a mottled brown and black colourway.
I also had to buy a new 2.25mm circular needle as the plastic tubing broke just where it connects to the bamboo needle on my old ones. I prefer using bamboo needles as I get quite a bit of pain in my hands and metal needles seem to make it worse. So I looked for something a bit stronger than bamboo but not metal and came up with Knit Pro Karbonz. So I ordered one and so far seem to be getting on ok with it. They are bit more expensive than other similar products but are well made and I am happy with them. The join between the cable and the needle does catch a bit, but the cable is very flexible with no memory and the metal points make it easy to see dark coloured stitches. This is why I didn't go for the wooden Symfonie needles. I brought a set of Symfonie dpns and found it really hard to see the stitches against the coloured wood. And it's difficult to find the small sizes in plain wooden circulars. I may have to get some metal needles for doing lace though as the points need to be sharper and I haven't seen any pointy needles that aren't metal. I shall stick to socks for now.

Not so lazy!

I finally finished spinning the merino for my partner's mother's birthday on my drop spindle. It's take a while! I split it in two and and now starting to ply the two together. Again on my drop spindle! I was hoping to have the spinning wheel ready by now, but it still needs some work on the wheel shaft. The bobbins came though!!! They are brilliant, and I really must thank Joan and Clive Jones from Woodland Turnery for the excellent job they did. They even managed to repair the broken one I sent as a template for free! Can't wait to use them.

To help with the plying I made my own Lazy Kate. It's just three old knitting needles pushed through the basket I use to store my fibre in.

I also got around to making a drawstring bag this week. I have had the material for ages, and have been meaning to make it for ages! Even though I hand stitched it, it made up pretty quick.

Knitting-wise I have finished the knitting part of the new kitchen clock, but then found that the clock mechanism I got for it does not have a long enough shaft to go through it! So have had to buy a new one, and will have to wait till next week to finish the project.
As I had finished the Snicket socks I decided to start on another pair of socks. I wanted to try out doing an afterthought heel. So I watched the afterthought heel tutorial by The Knit Girlls on YouTube and then cast on for a pair of Monkey Socks by Cookie A. I have done one sock and am half way through the other. The afterthought heel is brilliant. Very easy and fits my heel well. Much nicer than picking up stitches for a gusset. The Monkey sock pattern is very quick to knit up too, and looks much more complicated than it is. Will have to decide what to knit next sooner than I thought I would!



Snowdog!

I made a Snowdog!!!

I am seriously impressed with myself! He is totally adorable!!! It's taken me a while to make him because of all the sewing together of parts, but it was totally worth it. He is from a pattern by Louise Watling I came across in a Woman's Weekly magazine I was given.
I have finished the Snicket socks,but they need blocking before I can take pictures. Also finished another Age of Steam and Brass shawl for a friend's birthday prezzie, again it needs blocking. Then because I have been good and finished three things I cast on to make a knitted clock from a pattern in 'Simply Knitting' by Kyoko Nakayoshi. Our kitchen clock died ages ago and I have been meaning to replace it but couldn't find one I liked. Then I saw this and immediately wanted to make it. My other half already has a record clock to go with his record collection, so now I will have one to go with my stash!

If you go down to the woods today...

I actually got out of the house!!! Though I must confess that this was a week ago, and I have been really bad and in bed for the past several days. Still it was worth it to get out in the spring sunshine. My partner and I popped over to the next village to help one of the elderly people he cares for with his new Sky box remote control, and then went up to the local chapel for a bit of a walk. We followed a short foot path and found a lovely wood with bluebells.

 

 



I really enjoyed myself. A walk, for me, normally consists of my partner pushing me down the road and back in my wheelchair! So even a five or ten minute walk like this means a lot to me. Now that the weather is improving I hope to be able to go out a bit more.

Knitting-wise I have finished my Mum's Bunty Mitts:

I'm also making steady progress on my mitred square cushion cover for the iMake KAL:

I am still working on my Snicket socks, and have started a new Mulberry Wrap by Colinette using their Tao Silk and mohair Parisienne in the Toasted Macaroon colourway. So soft! I made one last year in their Madras and Oyster Blush colourways. I got he yarn as a birthday present to myself when we went to the Colinette shop  near Welshpool a couple of years ago. It was really good with some absolutely gorgeous yarns. The also do little tours around the dying area which we managed to get to do while there as well, and was really interesting.  I'm not sure if the family have plans to go to Wales again this year. Am keeping my fingers crossed. x

An octopus's garden

My oldest friend's son will be four on June 1st, which is a good excuse for toy making. Yes I know I hate the making up part, so I found a crochet pattern with minimal making up. Last time they came over to visit he had a crochet octopus toy that my friend had brought him, and I boastingly proclaimed that I could have made him one of those! So then I had to live up to my boast. Which I think I have.

Isn't he adorable! My partner loves him too, I think I'm going to have to make him one too! I used up some cotton DK that I had in my stash for this pattern, which is called Octopode Pandemonium by Pepperkitty.

WIP wise I am working on a pair of Bunty Mitts by Ella Austin for my mum's birthday, and have started another  Mulberry Wrap by Colinette for me. Also I am making a mitred square cushion cover as a part of the KAL with Martine from iMake. I have had to put my Snicket Socks on hold as I needed the needles for mum's mittens. I could have used DPNS but am having a love affair with the magic loop method at the moment.

Fibro and ME wise I am on an even keel at the moment, which is to say I am awake during day and not bed-bound. My concentration even improved enough this past week to read a couple of books! Yay! I love books, I cannot stress enough how much I love books. My first job after Uni was as a library assistant, and if I get well again that is what I would love to go back to. I have read ever since I can remember, and am a very fast reader too. But since becoming ill I have found reading difficult in terms of concentration and making sense of the words. I have found that if I do read a book I tend to go back to ones I have already read and are familiar to me. I only take on a new read if I am feeling really well, and as that is not often I have not read many new books. The two books I read this past week are from the Ruth Rendall Inspector Wexford series which I have most of.

I have been winding some mustard coloured laceweight up into cakes this week. My partner got it for me when he went to the local Sunday car boot sale. Bargain! As there was a lot of it and I was getting tired he very kindly offered to wind it for me. So I sat back with a cup of tea and relaxed. Until it came time to take his first cake off the ball winder. It wouldn't come off. He had tensioned it so tight that it was stuck on the ball winder! We had to un-wind the whole (LARGE) cake and start again! Needless to say I watched him like a hawk after that!

Spinning wheel happiness!

I have been away for a few days with my partner and his family to Kings Lynn on the East coast. We had a great time, and the weather was really good. It is why I haven't blogged for a bit though as I have been recovering from the holiday. You tend to over-do things to keep up with the holiday spirit, but you do pay for it later sadly.

But that is not what I want to write about today. I have a spinning wheel!!!

I am so excited about starting to spin using a wheel, but am having to be patient because it needs new bobbins. I have found a man in a shed in Wales who makes them and am sending one off as a template so that is no problem. And would you believe that this wonderful machine, in almost perfect working order (apart from the broken bobbins, and the metal crank which is slipping and needs welding at our local garage), cost me just £30!!!!!!!! Are you jealous? Apparently there are bargain's to be had in antique shops still. I have replaced all the cords and given it a good clean. My partner is going to take it to the garage to get it spot welded tomorrow if he has time. Though he does want me to go with him so the mechanics don't laugh at him! Then it's just waiting for the new bobbins. It's really hard having a new toy and not being able to play with it!

My first lace shawl!

Have finished my first ever lace pattern shawl! Yay! It's the Ashton Shawlette by Dee O'Keefe and is a chart pattern written for those new to working form a chart. It takes you step by step through the chart, and helps you understand how to read the chart. I found it very helpful as I had not really worked from a chart only pattern before. The pattern itself is not difficult and very pretty, I really enjoyed making this. I did make a couple of mistakes and had to frog back, but that was because I was tired and not concentrating properly. I hadn't made a shawl that needed pinning out to block it  so needed to invest in blocking mats. I really needed blocking wires as well, but one thing at a time. I found some reasonable children's interlocking play mats on E-bay which work brilliantly.

I used a ball of cotton yarn that I had plied to 4ply from a large lace weight cone and dyed with Dylon in Antique Grey. It's lovely and soft, and the stitch definition is great.

I seem to be on a bit of a shawl kick at the moment, and socks too. I have also gotten around to blocking the Trilobite Socks. I really loved making these. I learnt four new techniques in one project so am really chuffed with myself. I learnt the Turkish cast on, using the magic loop method, toe-up socks and Jenny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bind Off  (which was surprisingly stretchy!) I used King Cole Zig Zag self-stripping, which doesn't really show the pattern to the best advantage, but I love the colours so am very happy with it. Will be doing this pattern again anyway so will go with a plain yarn next time.

Hope you like these FO's. Head on over to Tami's Amis to check out more FO's. x