Planning for the Coming Year Q1

 Hello friends, I have spent a happy Sunday afternoon thinking about what I would like to knit in the first quarter of 2021. Once again Kate of Hawthorn Cottage Crafts podcast has inspired me with her Knitting the Books KAL which will run from Jan 1st to Mar 31st, and I am going to use up some deep stash to knit the Forest Fiesta swirl by Sandra McIver. My mum gave me this book the year it was published, 2011, so I think it is about time I knitted from it. I would truly love to use the recommended yarn, but sadly this is not in my budget, so I will use this Sirdar Colourwheel, colour Flower Garden, which I have had for many moons,

I have treated myself to a new needle though and I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of a 120cm, 4.5mm ChiaGoo fixed circular from The Little Knitting Company.

Of course, socks will be on the needles and my first two pairs of the year will be gifted to two very special people in my life. 

Baby boy knits will also feature strongly in Q1 as I found out a few days ago that a lovely friend is expecting and is due in April.

Of course, expect the unexpected as my knitting can go off at a tangent at any time when I spot something fabulous, and with Scotland heading back into lockdown on Dec 26th you just never know what might happen.

Wow! Two posts in one day, not like me at all.

Mary

The Mohair Bug Bites and an OCS Update

 Hello friends, after a busy few weeks with my hook making up your donated blanket squares the lovely Peter from Crisis came on Monday afternoon and picked up two boxes and two bags of blankets, socks, hats and mitts from here. Sadly my phone was on charge when he arrived so I didn't get a picture but I do have one of the finished blankets

The amazing generosity of folks from all over made these possible and Carol and I would like to thank you all from the bottom of our hearts. 

Now that I have more personal crafting time I re-evaluated my advent knitting and decided that the cowl was not what I wanted to knit with my Advent calendar, it was time for the frog pond. Luckily I was watching some Vlogmas on YouTube and I fell in love with the project that Kate of the Hawthorn Cottage Crafts was doing. She is knitting the Caramel cardigan by Isabell Kraemer, a free pattern, using her minis held together with mohair and it just looked fabulous. That was it, the search for mohair was on and I found what I was looking for at Purple Sheep yarns. I chose Drops KidSilk in the Vanilla colour for my project and was amazed when it arrived next morning, the post has been taking much longer than usual this year.

I duly cast on with a main colour from my Rosie's Moments stash and from that time I was hooked

The resulting fabric is unbelievably soft and using the mini skeins you just want to keep on knitting the next and the next. I have now caught up to day 15 of my calendar and hope to have a cosy, soft and snuggly cardigan to wear on Hogmanay.

That's it for today as my mohair is calling, stay safe and healthy and have a very Happy Christmas however you celebrate.

Mary

The First Week of Advent

 Hello friends, the days are getting so short now and the hours of darkness so long it's hard to feel motivated to get anything done. This is where for me at least, Advent knitting comes into its own. Doing just a small bit each day and seeing some progress is so inspiring. The beautiful colours are bringing me joy and happiness. Speaking of joy I found a newly released pattern on Tuesday and decided straight away that it would be perfect for my Rosie's Moments Advent yarn. The Finding Joy Shawl can be found here.

Each day I have been sharing my progress on Ravelry but here it is for you too. The daily goodies will always be from the left, lucky dip leftovers for my Radvent Cardigan, EasyKnits 10g lux for Adventurer Cowl and Rosie's Moments with which I am adding Drops Baby Alpaca Silk for the Finding Joy Shawl.

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

I've still to open today's surprises so will include those next Sunday. I hope you all have a great week, stay safe everyone

Mary

Twitching without Socks and Advent looms.

 Hello friends, after my profound realisation in the last post I have discovered something else about myself. I get twitchy if I have no socks to knit. I am like a bear with a sore head. I have been trying very hard to free up my knitting time for upcoming Advent projects but yesterday I just had to cast on some socks for me. It was a compulsion and no matter what else I tried my brain kept screaming you must knit socks. 

Advent Knitting

When I was little a highlight of the year was the Advent countdown to Christmas day. I got a new Advent Calendar every year which had in those days pictures hidden behind each door. As time went on the calendars started to have tiny chocolates hidden in them, now we have Advent calendars for everything you could think of. There are coffee, tea, gardener's, beer, toiletries, lego, toys, tools, you name it and I bet there is one to find and of course, there are yarn Advent calendars. In the year we have had where it seemed at times all hope was lost I have been given the gift of hope by having been the lucky recipient of two yarn calendars.

The first of these is EasyKnits 10g lux which has some beautifully intriguing boxes to open each day with a full skein for Christmas morning.

With this kit, I am hoping to knit a Habitation Throw by designer Helen Stewart. This pattern from last year is written for 10g mini-skeins and with Jon's dyeing I am sure it will be a colourful addition to my home.

My second kit is from a favourite dyer of mine, Rosie's Moments. This is my third year of Advent kits from her and they never disappoint. Rosie packs so much love into everything she sends that you can happily know whatever you order you will be more than delighted.

This kit came with a mystery wrap pattern which I am sure I will enjoy knitting and will love the finished item. Rosie also notes that Christian Advent officially begins today with the first Sunday of Advent and has added two little extra gifts to open today and tomorrow. 

Finally, I have my homemade effort. Each year the wonderful Australian designer, Ambah O'Brien, hosts a fabulously fun Advent knit-a-long in her group on Ravelry. She designs new patterns each year especially to knit with your Advent calendars. Her Advent bundle can be found here, there are 11 patterns to choose from and this year I was especially drawn to the Radvent Cardigan. 

This cardigan was designed to use a 25 x 20g advent kit plus an extra full skein for ribs and cuffs. Now whilst I desperately need a new cardi I could not afford a kit that size so I have made my own using yarns leftover from the various socks and other things I have knitted this year. My cardi will be full of memories and full of fun as I have put all these leftovers in a bag and my dear hubby will draw out one each morning to be used that day.

I think that's all for this week and hopefully, I will be back next Sunday with some knitting to show and progress on my Advent projects.

Stay safe everyone

Mary

The Power of One

 Hello friends, there comes a time in every knitter's life that no matter how many needles one has nor how much stash you have beyond SABLE he or she realises that evolution has stopped at just one pair of hands. No matter how many projects are cast on and in varying stages of progress said knitter can only work on one at a time. That rarest of breeds, the monogamous knitter, realised that very early on and casts on one item and doggedly continues until the end. I am not one of those knitters. I am of the majority, the knitters who are tempted by that oh so shiny new yarn or pattern and want to start immediately throwing aside all else just to get high from the yarn fumes or the buzz from seeing an exciting new pattern emerge on the pins. Reading posts on Ravelry proves to me that this is how the majority of knitters choose to work, some may be in denial I am not. I just know I have too much on my plate at times. Today I realised I had to come up with a plan to combat my addiction. So you ask, how on earth am I going to achieve this? I have a plan, I am not going cold turkey, that would never work. I am going to limit myself to just one item of each at any one time from the following

1. Socks
2. Shawl
3. Hat
4. Jumper
5. Cowl
6. Blanket

I have chosen these 6 as they are what I mostly knit, or sometimes crochet. I am hoping that given the variety of items I will be satisfied at all times and be able to resist the pull of something new. 

OCS

The first OCS blanket has been assembled

I had to lay it out on the floor to make sure I got all the squares in. It is fabulously warm as I found out whilst putting it together and will surely be a great comfort to whoever receives it. It is currently being gently washed and will go into the huge box once it dries. Onward to the next one tomorrow.

For the rest of today, it will be sock knitting for the cause, it is so dreich here today that I am glad my yarn is bright and happy

Have a great day and stay safe

Mary

Dreaming of Pink

 Hello friends, it has been somewhat grey and gloomy around these parts recently and I have been craving some brighter colours, pink in particular. Whilst socks and blanket squares are still high on the agenda I really wanted to start getting to grips with some languishing  WIP's. The one that instantly sprang to mind was my Breathing Space which I started at the end of June 2019. 

As you can see I haven't got very far and I have no idea why I set it aside. I worked out where in the pattern I had reached, which was surprisingly easy considering I have no idea where my notes are and have resumed the project. I am sincerely hoping that this time I will keep it going and very soon will have a fabulous jumper on my shoulders instead of on my needles.

Mary

OCS 2nd November

 Hello friends, these 5 beautiful squares for an OCS blanket were sent all the way from New York state. Thank you, Barbara, for taking the time to support the OCS knitting community.

Today I am concentrating on knitting a hat to help keep someone cosy in the coming winter months.

I am using a super simple pattern which was only released yesterday, Warmest Regards is written for 3 yarn weights and best of all its free. The designer asks that in return for her offering her pattern to the knitting community you knit a hat for charity. That box is ticked here and the yarn was a donation from the wonderful Ripples Crafts. Helen has been a wonderful supporter of the initiative from the beginning 3 years ago and her yarn is a delight to knit. This particular yarn is Doubly Reliable Sock in an Assynt Storms colourway. 

Back to the knitting now,

Stay safe and healthy

Mary

How the Heck is it November?

 Hello friends, at last, I am back after having the most awful October with the sad passing of another family member. This time last month we had hope which rapidly faded with each passing day. It really knocked us both for six. The words to write to you just would not come and I spent the month trying to keep hubby and me together in some sort of normality. Once again throughout these most trying of times, knitting and my friends in the yarnie community kept me from going under. I only managed to finish one project in the month but I worked on lots more.

Finished

The one finish was the Woollsia shawl by Australian designer Ambah O'Brien. 

This was pure joy to knit and I have plans for at least one more in the future. I knitted this using Schjeepies Whirl in the Coral Catastrophe colour and love how the hues transition seamlessly from light to dark. I made my shawl larger as I wanted to use as much of the yarn as possible. This was easy to do as the pattern is a simple repeat of garter and eyelet rows, suitable for a beginner knitter with just basic skills. 

Talking of Ambah, a new yearly tradition of mine is to take part in her Advent KAL. She has designed lots of patterns to make use of the gorgeous yarn Advent Calendars that have become available in the last few years. Normally I make up my own calendar using leftover yarn but this year my wonderful hubby has surprised me by treating me to a "proper" one from EasyKnits. The box arrived on Friday and I am beyond excited for December when I can start to open these intriguing little boxes.

Operation Christmas Stocking

Regular readers will know that throughout the year I have been knitting socks and hats for this amazing initiative. I still have a few pairs of socks to finish and more hats to do but here is what I have achieved so far.

I've got to the stage where my brain is screaming "gonnae need a bigger box!"

Parcels of blanket squares have also started to arrive one from the USA and one from Edinburgh 

and I have started to join the squares together. The first strip has been completed and I look forward to a busy month assembling the blankets. There is still time to knit a square if you want or if you would rather help in another way Crisis has an Amazon wish list which you can access here.

That's it for now. 

Stay safe and healthy

Mary

The OCS Blanket Square

 Hello friends, today I have a plea and a pattern to share

The plea comes from Crisis the homeless charity and I will copy here the message our Operation Christmas Stocking co-ordinator, Carol, posted to Ravelry.

Due to the situation this year the charity that we are knitting for, Crisis UK, in Edinburgh, is changing it’s approach at Christmas time.

The vast majority (theoretically all) of the people who had been rough sleeping have been offered some kind of temporary accommodation (B&Bs, hotels, hostels etc). The charity will also have a base open during the day to provide support during these challenging times. This should mean that everyone they engage with over Christmas has a roof, although likely a temporary one. They will then be supporting people in temporary accommodation into more secure housing.

This should mean that their guests will have more space of their own, and larger items such as blankets, and scarves and hats will be gratefully received as well as socks this year.

They won’t be running a physical Christmas centre this year with foot treatments etc. They will instead be offering delivered food, and “wellbeing packs” for their guests, which will include any items we make, both knitted and crocheted. Handmade items go a long way to letting our friends know that people are thinking of them at a difficult time of year, and help to build this essential sense of connection. They are planning to include various other items in their well being packs such as toiletries, underwear, gift items etc.

The charity is also planning to offer chat phone calls and digital activity sessions to try and provide some of the connection and support that their guests can expect from Christmas.

Thank you so much to everyone who has volunteered already to be involved. Your help will make such a difference. If anyone else wants to join in and help in some way by making any of these items please let us know here or PM me if you prefer.

Some of us have been knitting socks, hats ane the like all year to donate but I for one was slightly concerned when blankets were mentioned with only a couple of months to go. After a few discussions with friends we decided that blanket squares would be a good option, at that point the OCS blanket square was born and I happily offered to assemble the blankets from any donated squares. We decided on a 12" (30cm) square so that 20 squares would make a decent sized blanket and involve minimal making up due to time constraints.

The OCS Blanket Square

Yarn 

DK weight, leftovers from projects are ideal. Or

2 strands of sock weight yarn held together

Needles

4mm needles

Notions

A tapestry needle to sew in ends.

Abbreviations

K - Knit

KFB - Knit into the front and back of stitch (one stitch increased)

K2tog - Knit 2 stitches Together (one stitch decreased)

K3tog - Knit 3 stitches together (two stitches decreased)

S1 - Slip stitch purlwise with yarn in front

Pattern

Cast on 3 stitches

Row 1 - S1 KFB K to end of row

Repeat row 1 until you have 80 stitches on the needles and the side measures approx 12" or 30cm

Row 2 S1 K2tog K to end of row

Repeat row 2 until there is 3 stitches left on needle then K3tog fasten off and sew in ends.

And that's it your square is done.

For those knitting for OCS please message me on 

Ravelry - mazbil or

Instagram - The_Sunday_Sock

for my address to send completed squares for me to assemble into blankets.

Thank you all in advance for helping this wonderful cause.

Yummy Yarn and a Couple of Mysteries

 Hello friends, I have a couple of mysteries to share. First up is the new MKAL, Slipstravaganza, from the talented and fun designer Stephen West. This is the 11th year that Stephen has designed a Mystery knit along for October, and whilst by no means have I done them all and certainly not during the KAL, I have knitted a few. This year I have decided to bite the bullet and take part. So being somewhat thrifty I dug through my stash and came up with this yummy quartet.

As you can see I have gone for some luxury with the Cascade Heritage Silk. My main colour is the Marine with, Snow and Sunflower. This brings me to the second mystery, the wound ball is a gift-a-ball from Rosie's Moments in the Flower Power Fund Forget-me-Not colour. This beautiful ball of yarn has lots of lovely surprise gifts hidden inside and was sent to me by a mystery benefactor. I have absolutely no idea whom it is from but needless to say I am very thankful. Having this special gift will make the KAL doubly fun as I find the gifts inside along with seeing the shawl develop, and every day I knit I will be thankful for the surprise yarn.

Slipstravaganza begins on Oct 9th so there is still plenty of time to join in and knit along with me and hundreds of others, there is a group on Ravelry which can be found here to join in all the fun.

Until next time, stay safe

Mary

Getting Hygge with it, Scottish Style

 Hello friends, sorry for the absence, my health has been playing up and I have been put on a new medication to try and get my diabetes under control. Whilst I have been dealing with this I simply haven't been able to find the words to chat with you. I am now going to make the blog posts more sporadic and more spontaneous, writing when I have something to share rather than putting pressure on myself to come up with something weekly. 

With the turn of the season,(it's really starting to feel autumnal here), and in an effort to reduce my stress levels I have been reading up on all things Hygge and I find the idea of being content with what I have in my life to be somewhat liberating. Whilst not going the full Danish hog, I have dug out some candles and light them daily, put on some of my favourite perfume, even though I am not going anywhere, and have started listening to the wonderful Skinner series of books by Quintin Jardine whilst wearing snuggly knitted socks and comfy clothes. It really is making a difference to how I feel and I am even knitting with more thought and relaxation. 

The Candles

I love candles, and whilst the Danish go for unscented, I have only scented. I also have an electric wax melt so the room smells beautiful. I find the flame so mesmerizing and when I feel a wee bit stressed simply looking at it for a few seconds grounds me and I instantly feel more relaxed.

The Books

The Skinner series is in no way a cosy mystery series, in fact, the total opposite. They are gritty and full-on making Edinburgh and it's environs sound like a very dangerous and hostile city. It is neither, I always felt very safe in my home city and in my time I have visited every part. That being said, hubs and I find them easy listening and truly enjoy the narration by James Bryce. We have made it to book 9 of 31 and are enjoying the series very much all over again.

The Knitting

As always I have a sock on the pins but my main project is the wonderfully relaxing and meditative Woollsia Shawl by Ambah O'Brien which I am knitting using Scheepjes Whirl in Coral Catastrophe.

Simple garter stitch and eyelets made more impressive by the beautiful gradient yarn. 

That's it for now. Thanks for letting me share with you, stay safe

Mary

Sunday 9th August 2020

 Hello friends, another week has gone by. Don't you think this year is going faster than those before? I am finding that one day just rolls into the next and I forget where I am in the week. We have had a very strange week here in East Lothian, on Tuesday and Wednesday it was so dark and dreich with incessant rain that it felt like winter and then yesterday the sun was so bright and warm again, our weather has gone mad. Perfect knitting weather though staying in the house and keeping dry and cosy. As usual, I have way too much on the needles I really must try to get my head around monogamous knitting but sometimes I just want to knit something different, I don't know how other folks do it.

Finally Finished

Two weeks ago I promised you pictures of my Stillness Shawl by Helen Stewart, here it is in all its glory

This 5-week mystery knit along was simply a joy to knit. I used my Christmas present from DH which was a 3 skein yarn club package from Ripples Crafts in her reliable sock base. The colours were Green Grass on the Turn, Steel Grey Skies and The Gathering Storm and were dyed by Helen from the inspirational photo at the bottom of the picture.

The shawl is a half-pi shape and grew beautifully over the five weeks.

Week 1

Texture and stripes of colour

Week 2

Some simple lace and more stripes

Week 3

A section of star stitch and rows are getting longer

Week 4

Colour and eyelets and long rows

And we finished up with the simple lace and bind off you see in the finished shawl. The final sections were long rows with over 500 sts on the needles but somehow were so relaxing that it did not seem a chore at all. It was a joyous knit and I am looking forward to wearing it.

I would highly recommend this pattern for any knitter who has a little lace knowledge as there is nothing at all difficult and as with all Helen's patterns it comes with the percentage checklist which really spurs you on to do a little more. 

I think I will leave it there for this week but keep a lookout as there may just be a sneaky post midweek as I have more to share.

Stay safe and healthy

Mary

Sunday 2nd Aug 2020

Hello friends, how the heck is it August already? This year is running away and for obvious reasons, it has been such a sucker. It has been hard on everyone and I really hope you are all keeping safe and healthy. 

I have an apology straight away as I promised to show my Stillness shawl this week but it is still not blocked so I have no pictures to share. I have however spent the morning taking photos of the socks I have so far completed for Operation Christmas Stocking. For those who haven't heard of it, we are now in the third, (I think), year of providing hand knit socks for the homeless in the Edinburgh area at Christmastime. They also get a free foot treatment from a podiatrist and our hope is that they realise that someone truly cares for them. I am slowly but surely filling a box with the socks.

I am using a hybrid pattern of Fiona Tulloch's Milkshake toe-up sock and the ever-popular Vanilla Latte. This is such an easy and intuitive sock to knit and they just fly off the needles. It also works with all yarns whether they be solid, variegated, or self-striping.

I have slightly modified the vanilla latte pattern to centre the strips of purls and love that the pattern is unisex. Both patterns can be found on Ravelry and are free.

 The Knitting Toolbox

Since we are talking socks this week I have chosen my two favourite sock knitting tools from the toolbox. First up is something which was a true gamechanger for me, the sock ruler.

This simple gadget, which I found on Etsy has made knitting the right size socks so easy. As I knit toe-up I just pop the ruler into the toe and can see at a glance how much further I have to knit to get to the heel. For you top-down knitters you simply pop it in the heel and measure towards the toe. 

The second item is my sock blockers

These are Knit-Pro blockers which I think I got from Wool Warehouse a few years ago. I have the large for man-size socks and the small for ladies. I use them mostly for taking photos as the make the socks look so good. There are many types out there from plastic to metal and hand-cut wooden ones.

On the Needles

I was catching up with the Grocery Girls podcast on YouTube and Tracie showed her Sweet and Tartan socks which is a pattern she released around the start of the lockdown and I fell instantly in love so bought it there and then. I could picture using the leftovers of my Stillness Shawl to knit a pair. I cast on right away but haven't got too far.

This is a great pattern for using up leftovers, and I am knitting these as a treat for me. 

Hopefully, I have not bored you to bits, that's all for this week. Stay safe and look after yourselves

Mary

Find me on Ravelry as mazbil and Instagram as The_Sunday_Sock

Podcasts I am watching, The Grocery Girls, and listening to, Curious Handmade.

Sunday 26th July 2020

Hello friends, sorry for being MIA last week, we had an awful week after finding our old lady cat Connie passed away on the living room floor just a few weeks after we lost her twin brother Frankie. Coming on top of everything else I simply did not have the wherewithal to get the words out to you all. Luckily as always, I had my knitting and my stash to keep me sane.

The Knitting Toolbox

As a new segment, I thought I would give you a glimpse into my knitting toolbox, having the right tools for the job is an important part of any tradesman's ability to do the job well and it is the same for any knitter who wants to be able to expand their skills.

This week we start with the box itself,

I got my multi-layer hobby box from Lidl a few years ago but you can find similar at hobby shops or on Amazon and such like websites. Next week we will start to delve deeper and find out more about what I have in there, much like a ladies handbag you just never know what we might find.

On the Needles

As per usual I have way too many things on the needles to show you everything, like many knitters I have different projects on the go to suit my mood at any given moment. 

I joined a new group on Ravelry last week called The Testing Pool. This is a group where designers put a call out to ask people to test knit their patterns and check for any mistakes and such before publication. Within a few hours, I was lucky enough to be accepted to test the Jupiter Shawl by and new to me designer, Sambaknits, from Chile. Into the stash I dove and came up with this beautiful combination

The top yarn is from the Natural Dye Studio and is a Merino/Alpaca blend in gorgeous primrose yellow tones and feels divine to knit with. This was a gift from a good friend and had arrived just a few days beforehand so it felt very serendipitous to choose this yarn.

Below is yarn from one of last year's Rosie's Moments Beatrix Potter mystery boxes. The yarn is Merino wool and Donegal Nep in the Mr. McGregor's Garder colour. It is also a dream to knit with.

I have completed Section 1 of the pattern and am about 3/4 through Section 2

I must say that it is a very enjoyable experience so far and I will have a beautiful shawl at the end.

Finished Items

I only have one finish to share this week, or rather 12. 

Hubs and I nipped into our local wee Scotmid on Tuesday afternoon for a couple of items and we were speaking to a staff member who was saying how their ears were hurting with the pressure from the elastic on the masks we all have to wear here in Scotland when in shops. It is very easy for us shoppers to not realise how it must be for them as we can take our masks off after we have shopped but the have to wear them for many hours. I had seen these mask extenders popping up all over Ravelry in the last few months and decided that in the spirit of local support I would knit a few. They were so easy with each one taking just 30mins to complete that I managed a full dozen. Now hopefully wearing a mask for many hours will be much more comfortable.

Coming to my Needles Soon

Next week I will be able to share with you the full glory of the Stillness Shawl MKAL which came off the needles yesterday. I had such a good time knitting it that I really wanted to do another straight away. Luck must have been on my side as up popped Casapinka's The Sharon Show MKAL. This one will certainly be fun as it is not designed by Casapinka herself but by Sharon from Security her 1-year-old cat. I duly joined her group on Ravelry and will buy the pattern tomorrow. There will be 6 weeks of clues beginning with the first on August 7th, which gives me time to finish my test knit, and I have already chosen my yarn which has also been approved by Sharon herself.

I really love the colours and am chomping at the bit to get started but will have to be patient for a while longer. 

I think that's it for this week, thank you for reading my ramblings and happy crafting,

Mary

Find me on Ravelry as mazbil and on Instagram as The_Sunday_Sock