I seem to be going through something of a “Purple Patch”, I was uploading photos to flickr and when I looked at them all on the screen it was just a sea of purple! And then this morning I got this -

- my final “reveal” package from my Sockret Pal who turned out to be Ruth, and it’s an extravaganza of purple/blue/pink! Ruth was also my spoiler in another blog and that plus an accidental email she sent me a little while ago had tipped me off that she was probably my Sockret Pal, but that’s ok, I still got a surprise with what she was sending me and she’s really spoilt me this time by sending all this stuff

First, my handknit socks which are just perfect.

Child’s First Sock from Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush in Lorna’s Lace “Iris Garden”- anyone who reads my blog regularly will know Ive knit this pattern a couple of times but always for other people, now I have a pair for me and they are so comfy and soft

Next out of the box was this -

Ruth tells me these are from The Yarn Yard, yet another UK online yarn seller she has pointed me at (you’re doing nothing for my bank balance you know !!) They are both 4ply 75% wool 25% polyamide and don’t they look perfect together? Have to find something special to knit with these.

The third package was -

a pencil case - to use to keep my dpn’s, and crochet hooks (Ruth knows I’ve been learning to crochet) and inside a really useful notebook, some Brittany Birch 2.5mm dpns and (the best of all) some sew in labels that say “Handmade by Wendy”.

I’ve been wanting some of these for ever and actually saw some on Ruth’s blog and asked here where they came from!!! - she wouldn’t tell me

My gifted items are going to look so professional from now on.

The next packet out of the box was more (yes more!!) yarn

A ball of Tofutsies which I have been seeing cropping up on blogs and been intrigued by, can’t wait to try. The other ball is the remainder of the Lorna’s from the socks “in case of alterations” as Ruth put it - no alterations needed however…so this could become some more squares in my “memories” afghan I’m planning

The last package was ….

…this beautiful book. Ruth and I were in an afghan square swap a little while ago and I have been talking with her about crochet squares as I’ve been trying to learn so this will be great for practise and inspiration.

Aren’t I just the luckiest Swapper anywhere?

Adding to my purple day is my second try at a scarf for ISE4, the first just doesn’t seem right for my pal….can’t say exactly why but it’s just “not her”. So yesterday on our way home from Cornwall when we stopped at Trago Mills in Newton Abbot for decorating supplies (don’t ask me to explain Trago Mills, it’s a West Country thing!) I had a quick look in their arts & crafts department and found some Patons Spirit mohair blend in a purple self-striping colourway -

I took it along to my Knitting Group when we got back to Marlow last night and cast on with 6.5mm needles and just used a basic “old shale” stitch pattern so it isn’t just straight striped. I’m much happier with this. It’s coming out pretty big - 41 stitches and 6.5mm needles means it’s about 11″ wide and so far with a little bit of the first ball to go it’s about 18″ long. I have 4 balls in total so that would give a completed length of at least 72″. My partner says she likes long scarfs so hopefully that would be long enough!

Despite being wide and long, the mohair and the stitch pattern mean it’s very light and very soft - should be a lovely warm scarf I think.

I was asked about the Old Shale knitting stitch, it is in a really old book of traditional knitting stitches which I have and in that book is used in a shwal. Here’s the pattern for my scarf (such as it is!) knit in any yarn you like using the appropriate sized needles and casting on as many stitches as needed to get the width you want. I’ve given the directions for what I did using Patons Spirit which is a mohair/acrylic blend with a ball band tension of 13sts/17rows to 4″ on 6.5mm/UK 3/US 10.5 needles.

Cast on 40 sts (or any multiple of 6 plus 4 edge stitches).
Row 1: knit
Row 2: k2, p to last 2 sts, k2
Row 3: k2, (k2 tog) 3 times, *(yo k1) 6 times, (k2 tog) 6 times* repeat from * to * to the last 8 sts, (k2 tog) 3 times, k2
Row 4: knit (this gives a garter st ridge which just added a little bit of texture, if you prefer the alternative is to repeat Row 2 and keep the whole thing in st st)

These 4 rows form the pattern and are repeated until (1) the scarf is long enough (2) you run out of yarn or (3) you get bored - whichever comes first!

Finally this post, I promised pictures of the gifts I was given visiting our friends in Cornwall on Saturday. So here they are -

Lucy painted me a beautiful Springtime picture with chicks and eggs, as you can see it has pride of place on our kitchen notice board

She also made me a sequinned Easter Egg which is so pretty and is now hanging on my tealight tree

Lucy is not feeling very well at the moment as she developed Chicken Pox on Monday - right at the start of school holidays for Easter - Get Well Soon Lucy xxx

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William Morris (one of my personal heroes) famously said “Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful” - well this fulfills both criteria!

This is my new yarn swift made for me by my fil Lord Nibbo in mahogany - isn’t it pretty? You can see the making of shots here on his blog.

Spending the weekend in Cornwall with my in-laws so got to collect this - and immediately put it into action to wind this….

…into….

…this!

“this” is DK Camel from www.poshyarn.co.uk which was purchased to use for ISE4 but I am not sure if it is quite right for my pal. I’ve started knitting Brooke’s Column of Leaves scarf and it looks lovely in this yarn -

The camel yarn is unbelievably soft - very close to the Garnstudio Alpaca I knit a while back. I just don’t think this is the right colour for my pal so it may well end up being a gift for someone else…have to look for something different for ISE4…..hmmmmm….

(btw - note the use of my new antique point protectors!)

Other projects here on holiday in Cornwall are -

Snicket Socks - the pattern is by Sabine Riefler and is published on www.magknits.com. I’m knitting it in the Lucia Sock yarn from www.poshyarn.co.uk which my Sockret Pal sent me. The colour is Passion and I’m loving it in this pattern.

These are holidaying with two real Newfoundlands as well as this smaller version.

This sock is the Fancy Silk Sock from Knitting Vintage Socks knit in Lorna’s Lace Shepherd Sock i the Desert Flower colourway. These are a commission from my friend Emma - if you’re reading Emma I’m about to turn the heel on the first sock so should have this finished soon, I need to check it on your foot before I finish the toe so I’ll call when I get home!

The pottery was made by my multi-talented hubby when he was doing “A” level pottery at school. On the left is a Bellarmine Jug with a Red Indian head and on the right a twisted vase. In the photo on the right you should be able to see the sea at Talland Bay but it’s a bit grey today and it burnt out a bit on the photo.

We’re hoping to get out walking tomorrow, we’re chilling today to get ourselves working on Cornish time - everything’s done “dreckly” (directly, which means sometime in the next year, no hurry!!!)

Have a good weekend.

technorati tags:ISE4, socks, poshyarn

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…..I feel as if my feet haven’t touched the ground! Monday I spent the day with my mum in London - lunch at the Victoria & Albert museum and a leisurely stroll around the textile exhibits. Unfortunately a lot of them are shut as they are being rearranged. Then over to Covent Garden for some shopping before tea and then the event of the day - Mamma Mia at the Prince of Wales Theatre. This was a Mother’s Day treat for my mum and we had a lovely day.

However, the journey home was a nightmare - took us half an hour to get a cab back to Paddington, I flagged one down and some horrible rude man nearly knocked me down barging past and jumping into it! It was freezing cold as well - we’d been dodging hail storms and sleet all day! Finally got to Paddington for the last train home which got to Didcot at 12.45 at which point I still had to drive back to Marlow.

The rest of the week has passed in a bit of a blur since then …. it was my birthday on Thursday however and I got some lovely presents -

My hubby bought me all this knitting loot!

Jaeger Extra Fine Merino DK in “Cocoa” which is a beautiful shade of brown, 3 pairs of Brittany Birch needles (I love them), Clover antique point protectors and stitch holders and the Stitch ‘n’ Bitch Handbook. Can’t wait to put all these together to make something wonderful…hmm, what will it be?

He also bought me this gorgeous jewelry, it’s made by a friend of ours and was designed especially for me. Check out her website www.juiceglass.com which has details of the beautiful things she makes in glass, thanks Carli - I love it…

Sorry the photos aren’t very good, I’ll get J to take some better ones when it’s sunny.

I also got a birthday card from my Sockret Pal - which was a lovely surprise - thanks Pal!

For my birthday J took me to a very posh restaurant here in town, however I only made it through my starter before I started feeling very unwell, J managed to get his main course whilst I stood outside getting some air. I felt as though I was about to faint so J decided he’d better take me home….my lovely romantic birthday meal ended at 9.00 and I was home in bed by 9.30. Spent all of Friday with a pounding headache so I think it was the start of that.

My headache had pretty much gone by the afternoon so I cast on for the Round 2 socks for Sock Madness, the pattern for which was sent out Thursday night (our time) - they were such an easy pattern to knit that I finished them really quickly and here they are -

The yarn is from The Natural Dye Studio Blue Faced Leicester “Apple Blossome” - just waiting to find out if I’ve made it through to the next round now.

Other knitting I’m working on at the moment is this ribbed cardigan in bright red Debbie Bliss Merino DK. The pattern is from Debbie Blisss Cashmerino DK reproduced in Simply Knitting Magazine but I’m using Merino DK instead. It looks very odd unblocked as the rib is all closed up so it looks really long and thin - this is the back but it looks more like a sleeve!

The cabling detail pulls the waist in to give a fitted look without decreases and increases. Colour doesn’t look quite right under electric light but it really is bright “pillar box” red.

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Well, the first round of Sock Madness came and I completed my fastest ever pair of socks…they were a simple knit in stocking stitch using stripes of solid yarn and variegated yarn.

I cast on when the pattern arrived in my in-box at 11.45am Saturday and grafted the toe on the second sock at 1.15pm on Sunday (and yes, I did go to bed, and eat, and do washing….)

Pattern - Mad Cow by Jennifer Booker-Young - Sock Madness round 1

Yarn - Opal Uni in sky blue, Opal Petticoat shade 1295 (left over from Katy’s Chocolate Sundae socks).

Needles - faithful Addi bamboo 2.5mm dpn’s

The combination of the sky blue Uni and the self striping Petticoat in shades of pink, apricot and chocolate works much better than I had expected. It reminds me of floral summer fabrics (in fact I have a summer dress in just these colours)

As you can see the sun was out when I took the finished pictures…yesterday was a perfect Spring day here in Buckinghamshire. I even managed to hang washing to dry OUTSIDE!!! Now that to me is a sign that Spring has arrived! Hooray, no more wet washing hanging on clothes horses and radiators all over the house! Hooray, clean clothes that smell fresh and haven’t used up electricity in the tumble dryer!

The weather was so lovely that J and I just had to get out in it so we walked down to Higginson Park which is on the side of the River Thames in Marlow. I did warn J that everybody else in Marlow was going to be there but he didn’t believe me till we arrived and from about 200 yards away could here the screams of thousands of children on swings and climbing frames -

Still, it’s a big park and if you walked past the play area and the ice-cream/coffee shop and further down to the river you can lose the crowds a little

The river is really high at the moment and running very, very fast but there are hundreds of swans, ducks and geese around. The geese are migrating northwards at the moment to the Arctic circle where they breed and spend summer but many stop off in England for a rest on their way.

The swans are busy preparing themselves for the arrival of this years cygnets and glide around gracefully amongst the visitors. You can see they are the locals telling each other “you just can’t move for tourists at this time of year, can you? And they’re so rude! They push in front of you, not so much as an “excuse me”, take all the best food. Really, I’ll be glad when they’ve gone”

This is just how we feel in the summer when you can’t move in town for the tourists!!!!

A local swan and a visiting Greylag Goose

The water meadows alongside the river are flooded and the sun coming through the trees looked lovely

If you want to see more photos they are on flickr

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No - not me (well actually, maybe me…) this is the name of the first pattern in Sock Madness which arrived in my email inbox at 11.45 this morning GMT. I cast on about noon this was progress by 2pm

and this was about 4

grafted the toe about 5 minutes ago, 8.30pm

I’m really pleased with the colour combination and it was a very fast knit. I am a little worried that I may need to unpick the toe and put in another repeat of pattern as there has been much discussion about how many repeats there should be.

I read “Repeat 6 times” as meaning IN TOTAL not reading the rows setting out the pattern then repeating “6 MORE times”. So not sure if I’ve knit enough repeats…..hope not as it fits quite well as is….

technorati tags:sockmadness

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Sock Madness begins today. WTF?? I hear you all cry….go check here for the details but basically it’s a sock knitting contest.

There are four divisions in the competition and the first round is a simple time trial against everyone else in my division, there are 34 in my division and the first 16 to finish in the first round will go through to the next stage. After that it’s a knockout competition competing one on one with another knitter in the division with the winner of each pairing going forward to the next stage…..like a knockout football competition.

The pattern for each stage is released on a set date and then it’s knit, knit, knit to try and finish a pair first. The first pattern for round 1 is released today between 8am and 9am E.S.T which is (I think) 6 hours behind G.M.T so I have till about 2 this afternoon.

We’ve been told that the sock requires a skein of solid and a skein of variegated so I spent yesterday evening searching through my stash looking for good combinations

This is the Sock Yarn Stash - isn’t it pretty? We have, from l-r,

top row - 2 balls of Opal Uni (sans ball band), 2 balls of 4ply Sock Yarn from Angel Yarns, 5 balls of Opal Rodeo in various colours.

2nd row - 2 skeins Artyarns Supermerino colour 139 (swap goodies), then there are four skeins of sock yarn from The Natural Dye Studio - 2xalpaca/merino “liquorice”, 2 x Blue Faced Leicester “Apple Blossom”, 2 x Alpaca Silk (Feb’s sock of the month), 2 x Blue Faced Leicester (Jan sock of the month I think), then 4 skeins of Posh Yarn - Lucia “Pop”, Saskia “Heroine”, Lucia “Passion” (from my wonderful Sockret Pal) and Lucia “Fizz

Last row - Sockret Pal yarn from Scout’s Swag, Cascade Fixation and 2 balls of Italian Sock wool.

After much deliberation and consulting a colour wheel , these are the possibles

This is Opal Uni in pale blue and Natural Dye Studio Alpaca/Silk - this was the February yarn in the Sock Yarn Club. This combination makes me think of summer flowers or sunshine in a blue sky…

Next is more Opal Uni, this time in green and Posh Yarns Saskia in “Heroine”. The picture doesn’t do either of these justice, the green is much brighter and lusher and the Posh yarns positively shines. Not sure if this might be too busy?

Finally,

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/163/416419707_af44fe4bc4.jpg?v=0

4ply sock yarn from Angel Yarns in “Denim” and this months Sock of the Month from Natural Dye Studio - Alpaca/Merino in a colour Amanda describes as “Liquorice” - it does remind me of liquorice alsorts!

I have to say, this last combination is my favourite - I’ll have to wait to see what the pattern is like, if it’s something I really like then I’ll use the Denim/Liquorice, if not then I’ll save that combination for something else.

In a flurry of joining I have also signed up for International Sock Exchange 4 and expect to receive my swap partner on the 15th March. This is the same day that I will get my swap partner for Secret Pal 10 - this will run from March to June.

I am about to send out my last package for the Sockret Pal swap - the “reveal” package. Getting my last few bits ready for that then I need to write a little note revealing who I am to my pal. I’ve enjoyed this swap which is why I’ve signed up for 2 new ones as this is ending.

I’m now sitting with baited breath awaiting the start of Sock Madness!!!

technorati tags:socks, sockmadness, knitting

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Last night I finally made it along to join the girls of the George & Dragon Knitting Regulars, thanks to everyone for making me feel welcome.

A very pleasant evening sitting knitting in the Pub, the landlord now refers to the group as his “knitting regulars” and asked if they had been knitting themselves some new members as there appeared to be more people than previously!

I had only intended staying a short time as I was late out of work yesterday evening and had only called in at home very briefly to grab something to eat and go….however 2 hours seemed to go by without me realising and suddenly it was almost 10.30 and time to leave.

I took the second of my Monkey socks with me to finish and knit almost to the end, finishing it off today. Then I discovered that it is much bigger than the first one I knit and I am at a loss to know why! I am sure I knit the first sock exactly to the pattern and so did the same for this second one however, it looks as though my tension is much, much looser on the second sock. I can’t think that I would have used smaller needles and my tension never varies.

Looking at the pictures I posted of the first sock in progress it looks as though I was knitting on aluminium dpn’s, which makes it almost certain I knit on the needles as given as I only have 2.5mm aluminium dpn’s - my only 2.25mm are birch.

Which brings me to the only conclusion which seems likely, the second sock was knit on bamboo 2.5mm dpn’s and I can only think that my tension on bamboo’s is looser than on aluminium - does this seem likely?

The difference is about 1stitch over 2 inches (sock 1 has 16 sts and sock 2 15 sts over 2″) the second sock feels “thinner” the fabric just isn’t as dense. I’m trying to decide if I can block the difference out or if it isn’t noticeable once I’m wearing them…..I really don’t want to unpick a whole sock.

I did make one change to the pattern as set when I knitted the first sock, which I forgot about with the second however…I changed the toe from a flat toe to as star of three points toe….whoops, guess I’ll have to redo that anyway. I think that may have added to the impression that the sock was looser as well as it doesn’t decrease as quickly

It also looks like I may not have knit as many rows in the heel flap and possibly not picked up and therefore decreased as many stitches in the gusset. The heel looks shorter on sock 1 and you can see that the pooling of blue on sock 1 (on my right foot above) is not as big as the pooling on sock 2.

I have put them aside to think and have now cast on for a pair of socks for my friend, Emma. She came to a dinner party we had for J’s birthday on Saturday and picked out some yarn from my sock yarn sack - Lorna’s Lace Shepherd Sock in a pink and blue colourway (I’ve lost the band and can’t remember what it was) and a pattern - Fancy Silk Sock from Knitting Vintage Socks.

I think she’s chosen a good combination there and hope to enjoy knitting them.

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Firstly, yes I have been knitting but no, I have not been blogging. Unfortunately work has been hectic (year-end, audit, staff leaving) so I’ve been getting home late and last week worked Saturday. Also, some of the knitting I’ve been doing is for gifts for people who may read this blog so I can’t post about them!

However, this post is a catch up on everything I’ve been working on since my last post nearly a fortnight ago.

This -

is what I did with the Winter Scarf Knit Kit I posted about in my last post. It’s a super long. super warm scarf in the wonderful Manos del Uruguay. Evelyn suggested the “my so called scarf” pattern but (sorry Evelyn) I decided I have lots of shorter scarves and fancied a really long one but also a scarf that was reversible so I just improvised with a rib pattern from an old knitting book.

this was knit on 8mm needles (US 11), cast on 24 sts (any number divisible by 6 works)

Row 1 (k3 p3)  to end

Row 2 (k1 p1) to end

repeat these 2 rows until the wool runs out, cast off.

I added a fring by just pulling through doubled lengths of wool and knotting.

I really love this scarf and it knit in 2 evenings, I’ve been wearing it ever since. The colours go with so many things - blues, reds, browns, purples…..

My second completed item is another scarf, this was also wool received in a swap - the Magic Yarn Ball Swap - the wool was Garnstudio Drops Alpaca in a lovelyn shade of blue. This wool was SOOO nice to knit with, it’s very, very soft and it just slips over the needles.

The pattern was from the Garnstudio website and is one that my swap partner, Embla, printed and sent along with the yarn ball. It was a very easy repeated pattern to remember and so great knitting for watching tv. I knit it over the past 3 weeks in between other things. It was on quite small needles so took a litle while.

This scarf is wonderful to wear as it is so soft and, being quite long, it’s easy to double up and wrap around so very cosy.  I like the way the pattern bunches up and looks like tree bark -

This was one of my projects for Project Spectrum.

Final finished object is another Halfdome hat

A friend of ours is having radiotherapy at the moment and has lost a lot of hair so just shaved his head. We’ve been having some cold weather and he needed something to keep his head warm but that would be soft on skin made sensitive by the treatment - he needs all the TLC he can get!

I had knit J a Halfdome a few weeks ago and knew it was a super-quick knit so ordered some more Cashmerino Aran which is very soft and knit this in one evening.  Hoping to deliver it tomorrow.

Several UFO’s still going strong …

…yes, that is the second “Monkey” sock in the Sockret Pal yarn finally on the needles.

I have also been continuing to teach myself to crochet, I have been practising with simple granny squares using left over yarn. These three were the tiny bits of yarn left over from knitting socks (l-r, Socks that Rock “Xmas Socks“, Natural Dye Studio “Jewel” and “Cherry Blossom“)

I intended to just use these as practise but I like the way they are turning out and am thinking of making a crocheted blanket from squares made from left-over yarn from other projects as a sort of “Memory Sampler” to remind me of things I’ve knit. Will post more as I complete them.

All of this crochet practise was intended to enable me to complete Jasmine which I am still confident of doing but I’ve also decided to start a crochet project as a surprise gift (can’t say too much - blogs have ears you know!)

This is a sneak look at the yarn and a few completed squares - 

Well, there you go - I haven’t just been sitting on my hands! Off now to decorate J’s birthday cake and prepare for the dinner party we’re having tonight to celebrate. 8 people for dinner - I must be mad.

technorati tags:crochet, knitting, scarf, socks

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I nearly got them finished for Valentines, just had the toe to do which I managed to finish at lunchtime. J seems very happy with them, I’m pleased with how the stripes arranged themselves on these socks, particularly round the heel and gusset.

These socks are for the Vintage Socks Knitalong - Feb/March sock was this, the Gentleman’s Plain Winter Sock. I really enjoyed knitting this sock and it’s perfect for self striping wools. The unusual Dutch Heel looks good and J says it fits well. I think he’ll probably wear these a lot, which is good. This is definitely a pattern I will knit again.

I made one mod to the pattern - I used the Kitchener graft on the toe whereas the pattern says to simply draw the wool through the stitches and pull up. I didn’t like the way that looked and it didn’t look good on the foot.

I am also submitting these socks to Project Spectrum, the Feb/March colours being blue, grey and white.

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First the socks - these are for the Knitting Vintage Socks KAL I’m part of. The Feb/March sock is the Gentleman’s Plain Winter Sock and I am knitting this in Opal Rodeo. It’s knitting up really fast, I cast on late on Saturday night and did the cuff (which is very long in this sock) and a few rows of the leg. Sunday evening I got to the heel flap and yesterday I finished sock no 1.

This is me modelling the sock, it’s actually for J and I’m wearing it over a pair of slipper socks!

J tried it on last night and it fits perfectly and he actually said “I like that” so hopefully it will be something he’ll wear - wasn’t sure about the stripes….anyway. If I can manage to knit sock no 2 as fast as no 1 I should be able to give them to him on Valentines.

On to swaps - and a bit of a moan. Is it just me or do you think it’s rude when you give someone something and they don’t say “thank you”? I’ve been involved in several swaps over the last few months - anyone who reads my blog will have seen me showing off the goodies I received - and have sent and received lots of parcels.

For me about 70% of the fun of the swap is putting together a parcel for someone I don’t know, finding out about them from their blog or emails, going shopping, packaging it all up and sending it off - and waiting to hear whether they liked the things I chose. So when you send off a parcel into the world…and then never hear anything it’s very disappointing.

Some of the people I’ve sent packages to as part of these swaps have emailed me to say thankyou and several I have since built something of a correspondence with. However, in nearly half the cases of parcels I’ve sent I have never even heard whether the parcel arrived…..when you’ve spent time either buying, or worse, making something specially for a person you at least want to know they got it….even if they hated it!

Moan over….won’t mention it again.

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