Knitting Heaven

 Knitting socks has been my evening activity of choice for the last two weeks. I am using up some of the 4ply 50% wool 50% acrylic which was used for my last fair isle knit. They won't be the most hard-wearing of socks but I am not sure if the recipient will actually wear them in boots or just use them for drinking wine in on the sofa.

The pattern is from The Knitter issue 170 or you can find it here. It has a twisted pattern which is made without using a cable needle but by doing a knit2tog stitch. Very easy to do after you have done it a few times. It is called 'Repose'.

I have had to estimate the foot length because it is bigger than my size. In reality they are not exactly the same, rather perfectly imperfect and made by me for my friend.

Strike one on the Christmas present list. The sock wrap says 'not too brag, but I made these' Which sums me up completely and will make my mate smile.

You know you have hit the dizzy heights of knitting heaven when your twelve year old asks for, "another hat like the old one that that you made which is too small for me" Bingo!

It is truly one of the most satisfying things to make in terms of speed, versatility, boys or girls, scrapbusting potential and final lovely outcome. It is a free hat pattern on ravelry called the Scrappy Ski Hat. It does have one disadvantage, and that is the amount of ends to sew in!

She chose the colours from my aran scrap bag to go with her camo coat. She wasn't so keen on the peach but it was the only aran I had that was not wool for her forehead however, once it was knit up she thought it was a good harmony of colours. I offered a peachy or grey fur bobble salvaged from old hats and she went straight for the grey one.

On a final knitting note, I popped over to Ravelry to get the links for you folks and I had a message from the designer Outi Kater!!!! She sent me a message to say how much she liked the Jory fair Isle sweater I made for Heidi and could she use the photo for her feature page. Well what a knitting triumph. 

On to some quilting this week for a birthday deadline.

Are you making for Christmas?

Night Time Sock Knitting

 I have lost my knitting/crochet mojo of late. I knit every evening and when we lived in a freezing cold house there was a never ending list of things to knit to keep us warm but now we live in a super insulated new house the 'purpose' seems to have gone from my knitting.

Anyway, I can't seem to not knit in the evenings so I did what I know soothes the evenings along and cast on some socks. This pair is based on the January socks from Colourful life blog by Christina. I added a little side run of garter stitch just to keep me awake and on my toes as it were.

There is snow in the distance on these photos but today we had some too. The socks were very cosy in my wellies while I sledged with the girls. You see, I like my knits to have a purpose.

So there you have it, matching sweater and socks. The yarn for the sweater is held double because it is a 4 ply Araucania merino yarn given to me by an old friend. I still have some left but that's for another day.

I am thinking maybe I need to be branching out into summer knits, perhaps that is where my mojo is waiting - mmm I am off to ravelry for some inspiration.

Jo xxxx

Rainbow Socks

 In the period between lockdowns we did our shopping quite locally all masked up but keen to get out and support local people. Little one wanted some hand knitted socks because since we have started living on a small holding she has lived in wellies. She chose this yarn from Yarn in the Hills in Church Stretton.

Sometimes a variegated yarn is disappointing when it is knit up but not this one - it is a real corker.

I was in no hurry to knit them, just half an hour here and there.

The pattern is from A Colourful life blog. I like Christina's no nonsense sock pattern and for this one I cast on 60 sts instead of 64 and adjusted everything accordingly. The sizing worked out perfectly for a Child's UK size 2 shoe.

I'm off to look for some DK yarn in my basket to make myself some more welly socks.

Stay Safe. Jo xxxx

Pretending to be on Holiday

I haven't posted in a while eh? We were supposed to be on holiday in Switzerland this last week but it was cancelled like many people's holidays. Instead we had a pretend holiday at the farm. Highlights include:

Some sock knitting by the fire. These are simply to use up some Drops Fabel so they are a little off the wall but still an enjoyable knit.

The children actually packed a suitcase to travel 8 miles in a bid to pretend we were really going on holiday! They slept in a tent in the field to add to the excitement.

They made sandcastles in some building sand.

We went on a much needed two hour walk one evening in the warm weather.

There was some light shopping in Church Stretton to buy cakes and books from a quaint book shop.

They played in a nearby stream which they absolutely loved.

Andy and I really knocked a hole in our snagging list on the house build. Some of the carpets were laid along with adding curtains, lampshades and some furniture. Hot water is so close I can smell it.

Meg asks on a weekly basis when we will put her new bed together so now that her carpet is down we all got stuck in.

I gave the house a really good clean up now that the dusty carpentry work is finished then in the end no one wanted to go back to our actual home! 

So we had a holiday of sorts. A break from work, the normal things that bug us and a proper change of view.

I just about managed to crawl over the end of term finish line last week where I have been working full time for a while during lockdown. It has made me realise why I don't do it anymore. I love teaching children but not all the other dross that seems to go with it. I am happy to work part time and enjoy family and friends as part of a balanced life.

Time for some sewing I think. I haven't been near the machine for over four weeks so I am getting tetchy.

I'm off to catch up on all of your news now. 

Thanks for dropping in. Jo xx

Shattered, Socks and Showers

What a week! It has been my first time teaching the same class full time since 2009 and I am shattered. I shouldn't be really: there are only 15 in my group and the curriculum is more basic than normal but with the heat and then returning home to help my girls with their school work, I sure was ready for the weekend. Only three weeks to go.

With this new normal in mind, I cast on a pair of socks two Sundays ago. I know it isn't really the weather for socks but I felt that I could do a bit of simple knitting in the evenings and know what to do. It is the fastest I have ever knit a pair of socks! 

Even after a few years of sock knitting, I still get a tiny ladder at my DPN corners. Luckily, it disappears after the first wash.

I used the January pattern from Christina's blog A colourful life. I love her sock patterns; so easy to follow. The yarn is Drops Fabel in bright greens and oranges. Pattern wise....

I nailed it! If I stood up straight of course.

Carefully, I took out a little section of the second ball to get the match and I am thrilled with it.

Thank you for your lovely comments on my jumpsuit. Time to try and dodge the showers on the building site tomorrow.

 

Hope you are all well. 

Jo xx

Always wanted...

I have wanted a pair of long boot socks for a while. I use my farm boots to walk the dog and often when we go outdoors but short socks keep pooling in the wide ankle area;problem.

This pattern has been on my radar for a while because now that I have mastered basic sock knitting, I can mess around with harder patterns. I decided to give them a go. With these on my mind, I was particularly on the look out for a lush DK yarn at Wonderwool in April. 

This yarn was in a sale bin, however it was still £10 a skein and I needed two. The merino superwash was really soft and I loved the colourway. I treated myself and bolstered my purchase by thinking that people have golf clubs and don't even play golf.

The pattern was easy to follow from a chart and on the whole most cables crossed over in the direction they should, but not all - I can live with that because they are inside my boots after all. 

Socks knit with double knitting yarn appear so much more quickly than sock yarn so I enjoyed that progress could be seen on a grand scale. Just remember you need to be able to get DK socks on with wellies or boots. I can't wear these with some of my other leather boots.

I changed the seed stitch on the sides for stocking stitch so that I could concentrate on the calf shaping and cables.

Inside the cables there is seed stitch and outside the cables there is garter stitch.

The heels have the pattern running down them as well although on one I appear to have a thicker stocking stitch line but I did make them with a break in between so I lost a little continuity.

The pattern book is really good too. 25 designs for accessories. It is the first thing I have made from it but I can see lots of gifts along with stash busting opportunities galore so I will be dipping in and out of here again soon for hats, scarves, gloves and more socks.

Thanks for dropping in. 
From swimsuits to winter socks, whatever next??
Jo xxx