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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The postman arrived this morning whilst I was waiting for a colleague to come and pick me up to give me a lift to work (the car broke at the weekend) and he brought me a parcel.

I had to hurry to open it before they arrived as there was no way I could go to work and not know what was in it. I was so excited when I opened it and realised it was my first parcel from my new Sockret Pal.

I rushed to find the camera and took some pics so here they are -

She wrote me a lovely note explaining why she had sent the things she did and she’s obviously been lurking here finding out all about me!

what’s in the parcel? Well first out was a fantastic book … 

combining my two favourite things - knitting and reading - has to be good.

The patterns in here are fabulous and should provide lots of inspiration…especially as I found quite a lot of lace weight wool when I was sorting the stash at the weekend

next was  this

that’s a skein of Posh Yarn Lucia Sock yarn in Passion which may become socks but on the other hand may become some lace. The colours are very me and I think it’s most likely to become socks as the colours are perfect to go with my clogs 

and I’ve been looking for some yarn to knit some clog socks for months! On the other hand a lovely lacey scarf/shawl to wear with my clogs would be fab too….I really would look Victorian then…off t’ mill wi’ ma clogs and shawl!!!!

Finally in my sockret parcel were these

The two things on the left are handmade toiletris specially for people training to walk/run any distance (to soothe my aching muscles from my Moonwalk training) there’s ”Marathon Bubble Bar Slice - refreshing, warming, minty bubbles to help you warm down after exercise” and “Wiccy Magic Muscles Massage Bar - essential oils for serious aches and pains” They both smell wonderful.

I have to stop my hubby eating the mini-eggs now……

Once again - thanks so much to my sockret pal….you know me far too well it’s quite scary.

I promised a while ago I would post some pictures of the finished socks I knitted for my God-Daughter last week.

The yarn is Sockotta (recieved from my lovely Sockret Angel) knit on 2.5mm needles and the pattern was a patchwork of the cuff from Rolling Thunder on www.knitty.com and a scaled down version of the Golfing Sock from Knitting Vintage Socks, model is my lovely G-D.

Sorry the colour isn’t brilliant I’ll try and get some action shots in daylight with the roller-skates!

On the needles at the moment- I decided on Monkey for the Sockret Pal Hot-Sox and they’re looking pretty funky -

I promised a while ago I would post some pictures of the finished socks I knitted for my God-Daughter last week.

The yarn is Sockotta (recieved from my lovely Sockret Angel) knit on 2.5mm needles and the pattern was a patchwork of the cuff from Rolling Thunder on www.knitty.com and a scaled down version of the Golfing Sock from Knitting Vintage Socks, model is my lovely G-D.

Sorry the colour isn’t brilliant I’ll try and get some action shots in daylight with the roller-skates!

On the needles at the moment- I decided on Monkey for the Sockret Pal Hot-Sox and they’re looking pretty funky -

Before leaving my in-laws in Cornwall today to come home I managed to complete my first pair of socks of the year.

These were knit with the Socks that Rock “Xmas Rock” wool that arrived in my Sockret Angel package on Friday (see my earlier post) and the pattern was the Lichen Ribbed Sock from Knitting Vintage Socks.

I love the way this yarn has patterned up with the spiral stripes round leg and foot and the big pools round the gusset - and they are so comfortable. I’ve decided that the Star Toe of Three Points used in this pattern is my favourite toe - it obviously suits my foot shape as these are the most comfy fitting socks I’ve knit so far.

The rest of the day was spent on the A38, M5 and M40  travelling from Cornwall back home to Buckinghamshire in torrential rain-

This evening I managed to get a bit more done on my Vintage Socks KAL January Challenge Sock which is the Shell Pattern sock cast on at midnight last night! I’m knitting it in hand-dyed merino yarn from the Natural Dye Studio.

Progress so far is the cuff and 2 and a half repeats of the pattern in the leg.

not my fault this time, I looked yesterday but Rachel forgot and didn’t post till today so here we are -

1. Have you finished anything since last week? Nope, as last Friday was the Friday before Christmas and since then I’ve been busy cooking turkeys, making plaster models with my God-Daughter and playing Lego Star Wars II not much knitting has been done. However I started a sock this morning with my Sockret Pal yarn (Socks that Rock) and I’ve finished one….however as it was done today it doesn’t fall in the week ended Friday…

2. Any fiber related resolutions? to knit some things for me rather than for everyone else.

3. What about your amount of fiber? Enough? Too much? Not enough?is it possible to have too much??? I have bags of sock yarn but would like some chunky yarn to knit some jumpers (sweaters)

4. What are your next projects in the works? hmmmm socks for my God-Daughters 6th Birthday - pink to go with the roller boots she got for Christmas. I have some Rowan Chunky that I want to make a jumper for me with. I have Binary for J to finish (barely started really) and I’m getting ready to start Shell Pattern sock for the January Challenge on the Knitting Vintage Socks KAL group.

5. And what are you working on now (again)? socks for me with the Socks that Rock yarn my Sockret angel sent.

Here’s an update picture -

Yarn: Socks that Rock “Xmas Rock” 100% Superwash Merino
Pattern: Knitting Vintage Socks adapted from the Lichen Rib, k3 p1 ribbed sock with Welsh Heel and Star toe
Extras: The box is a box of Sees Candies all the way from San Francisco which J’s uncle brought over for me. They definitely help with the knitting process!!!!

I am so excited - I got a package from my Sockret Pal Angel (and I apologies in advance for any typos in this post as I have had two glasses of wine and am at my in-laws having had a huge dinner)

This morning we left our house at about 9.45 to head off to Heathrow to pick up J’s uncle who was arriving from San Francisco. As I was backing the car out of the drive I noticed the post man coming along in his van and as he drew up towards us he started flashing his lights and beeping his horn. At first I thought he was protesting at me for blocking the road as I reversed out and put my seat belt on. Then I realised he’d jumped out of the van and was waving - “I think he might have a parcel for us” I said, so J got out to investigate.

“no.57?” asked the postie - “Yes” replied J.

“I saw you reversing out and thought, I’ll catch you - here’s your package”

As J walked towards the car I could see an Amazon logo on the box, had I ordered something for someone for Christmas and forgotten about it? As he got in the car I could see another label on it and realised it was from someone recycling the Amazon box.

“Where’s it from?” I asked. “Buffalo” says J. Hmmm, well I do know someone in Buffalo but she couldn’t possibly be sending me another package. Hang on - maybe it’s my Sockret Pal!!!!!

But we have to get to Heathrow to meet the plane! I have no time to go back in the house and open it!!! I’ll open it in the car when we get there.

Except the traffic is fairly heavy and by the time we get to Heathrow we have to go straight in to the terminal to meet the uncle and cousin. No chance to open the package. And it would be rather rude to get his uncle in the car and say “Do you mind if we just sit in the car park for 10 minutes whilst I open my parcel?”

So now I have to drive 250 miles down to the in-laws in Cornwall - with the package sitting on the back seat taunting me every time I look in the rear view mirror.

Finally at 4.30 we arrive in Cornwall, unpack the car, make frienfly noises to the in-laws and then at last I can sit in front of their fire and open my parcel and it was like Christmas all over again. I am so overwhelmed - thank you so much to my wonderful wonderful Angel.

Pictures -

This is me sitting on my mother in law’s sofa about to finally open my parcel

What’s inside????

All these little packages - a little pink tissue paper package. A sweet little carrier bag marked “The Elmwood Yarn Shop” and 3 (yes three!!!) little colourful gift packages that look like they probably contain yarn. What to open first?!!!!!

(btw - perfect place to open surprise parcels is in front of a real fire in a house in Cornwall above the sea with the wind and rain howling outside and a glass of wine on the table)

Inside the Elmwood Yarn carrier were all these goodies

…a “d-fuzz-it” comb to de-fuzz my woolies, a little knitting reference book to keep in my knitting bag, a bottle of lavender woolies wash, a tape measure (a girl can never have too many of these especially when she has a habit of leaving them in the bag with a WIP and forgetting where they are!), Udderly Smooth udder cream (this is heavenly), a needle gauge (perfect as I just lost mine), the most amazing pair of little scissors ever - they look like a pen but take the lid off and there you have a pair of snips, fantastic!!!, and finally and best a little box containing 3 aromatherapy roller balls - Adjust you Tension, Nimble Fingers and Knit Wit (for aching shoulders, creaky fingers and fuddled brains).

and there’s more -

This is the contents of the little pink tissue paper parcel. Four bars of Buffalo chocolate “Fowlers” - Caramel, Peanut Butter, Toasted Almond and Krisped Rice. These may not last much beyond tonight……..

So finally I come to these three intriguing little parcels and inside them is……

…and this is from the top -  Socks that Rock “Xmas Rock”, I want to start knitting with this RIGHT NOW!!!!!! Sockotta in a lovely pink (this may not be socks for me as it is my God-daughter’s 6th Birthday in a week’s time and I want to knit her socks to go with some great pink roller boots she got for Christmas) and a new yarn on me - Cascade Yarns Fixation - cotton/elastic yarn in a lovely burnt orange

I am so pleased with all this and want to send a HUGE thankyou to my angel in Buffalo  for making me feel loved once more!

THANK YOU!!!!

This is a meme for Sockret Pal - my 5 top sock patterns. As I’ve only been knitting socks for a few months and have not knit many pairs so far I don’t know if I have 5 but here are the socks I’ve enjoyed knitting so far -

Jaywalker by Grumperina which I knit with Opal Prisma in an orange colourway. The patterning was lovely and is great with the stripey yarn.

Gentleman’s Sock in Railway Stitch from Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush. I have actually finished one sock but don’t have a photo yet. The pattern is very simple but gives a lovely thick fabric. This is knit wit Regia 4ply.

Shell Pattern sock from Knitting Vintage Socks again. (I only have the one book of sock patterns!)

I’ll add to this when I try some more, the ones I want to knit at the moment are - Baudelaire from Knitty (I started this but didn’t like the wool I was using so unpicked but now have some Opal I want to use), Bayerische which I have started, will post a picture soon, appeals to my love of aran and cables.Snickett on magknits, and Anna from Rowan 40  I want to find a really nice pattern for knee-length or over-knee socks to wear with my clogs and skirts this winter so if anyone can suggest anything let me know….