The Sunday Sock: December 2020

Sunday 20 December 2020

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

Sunday 6 December 2020

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.