Sock It To Me

 Hello friends, in the past couple of weeks when the knitting world has been taken by storm by Bernie Sanders' mittens. I have had socks on my mind. Ever since I discovered the beauty of magic loop and the magic of turning a heel I have been a sock knitting addict. I have, however, in the past few years become stuck in a bit of a rut knitting all my socks toe-up and mostly the same pattern over and over. This year I have decided that it is time to change things up and challenge myself somewhat. My second and third pairs of socks this year have been knitted top-down with heel-flap and gusset so I have made a start. I have revived an A-Z thread in our Ravelry group, and have been joined by five intrepid knitters, to knit 26 pairs of socks, a pattern from each letter of the alphabet. I have also purchased The Handmade Sock Society 4 by Curious Handmade. I have not, however, gone the whole hog and joined Sock Madness, nor shall I. I like to knit at my own pace rather than have a deadline or trying to be first.

There is still time to join in the Sock Society at the reduced price of £9.95 (UK) for all six patterns, one each month until July, before the first pattern is released on Thursday, Feb 4th. 

I have my yarn wound, Easyknits BigBoy in Fields of Gold from deep stash, and bought a new 2.25mm needle so I am all set to cast on the first sock on Thursday as soon as the first pattern comes out.

A-Z of Socks

My A socks are well underway. I chose the free Ash Socks pattern by Jenny Love. I have had the pattern in my queue for a long time and finally took the plunge to cast on.

I have the second sock well on the way now too. The yarn is 75% Wool 25% Polyamide by Regia and I am using 2.5mm Chiagoo circular needles for magic loop.

Incomings

Just the one incoming since I last blogged and it is a beauty. The first mystery sock box from Rosie's Moments Around the UK in 12 boxes 2021.

Based on Somerset, her home county, the box is full of goodies representing the area. 

• Postcard of her village
• Apple soap
• Swans travel mug
• Sour apple candy
• Glastonbury Tor pin badge
• Apple blossom yarn

I am always blown away by the thought and beauty of these boxes and, yes, I have already bought the next one.

Books

I was so excited last evening to find two Kindle collections of classics with a total of 100 books for just £1.50, 75p each, these will be my bedtime reading for many, many months.

In my ears as I knit I have these 4

1. Gargantua and Pantagruel (Librivox) down to 1 chapter per day as the book is still being uploaded
2. The Complete Little Women Series (Audible) On Little Men now
3. The Return of the King (Audible) 1 chapter each evening as I fall asleep
4. Don Quixote (Audible) 5 chapters per afternoon, I have to say I am loving this. 

I think that's it for now, my socks are calling, stay safe and healthy, see you in two weeks

Mary

Monday Musings

Today is known as Blue Monday, according to theorists for many it is the most depressing day of the year.  I take issue with this theory as I for one would not choose a Monday. Monday is the start of a new week it should be a day that brings hope that the week ahead will be all it can be. Now Tuesday is an altogether different beast. What is the point of  Tuesday? It is neither the start, middle or end of anything. It is too far from the weekend to be like Thursday with it's tickle of frisson that the weekend is just around the corner. Nope, Tuesday is a non day, good for nothing and this year it will be Blue Tuesday for me.

The last few days here have been particularly blue of their own accord. Since Friday evening I have been floored by some nasty bug, so much so that my best friends have been, in no particular order, sock knitting, Lemsip and Audiobooks. I lost nearly all of Saturday racking up just 38 steps in 24 hours on my Fitbit, I was out of it. Every time I turned over in bed it felt like I had been hit by a monster truck. Luckily by Sunday I was able to sit up and I got stuck into one of my favourite sock patterns.

Knitting 

This is my progress on the socks. Not too bad for feeling so poorly. The pattern is Socks on a Plane a freebie on Ravelry. Not being a fan of cables this pattern is a surprise favourite of mine. It knits up so quickly using a 6 row repeat and simple short row heel.

The yarn I am using is Reliable Sock from RipplesCrafts. It is my go to sock yarn, hand dyed in gorgeous colours in Assynt which is in the North West of Scotland. 

Books

When I feel awful the last thing I want is anything too heavy or grizzly so at times like this I turn to lighter reads. This was one of those times so I chose A Holiday Yarn from my Audible wishlist. This is the 4th book in the Seaside Knitters series and Sally Goldenbaum's words are once again beautifully read by Julie Mcay. 

The story does have a murder or two in it but the setting of Sea Harbour and the knitters themselves with he wonderful food they share is like a balm to the soul. When listening I feel swept up in a warm and safe haven and I am looking forward to many more mysteries with the four knitting friends.

Busted Some Stash

Another week and a bit has gone by, how quickly the days pass! I must be having fun.
Knitting is moving on apace and the basket dash I mentioned last time has begun. I have filled my basket with a few WIP's and some skeins to continue my 24 pair sock challenge. It seems to be working for me as within the first week (the dash began on Wed 15th) I have completed my first project.

The pattern is Ridge and Furrow Rainbow Triangular Shawl which is free on Ravelry. I can see how the pattern may be daunting to some as the original uses 54 different shades of Wollmeise yarn which can be like hen's teeth to find, but I just used one main background colour (Drops Alpaca) from stash and then some of my sock leftovers. Doing it this way made it a great stashbuster project as it used 993 yards and I managed to move 4 yarns into the "all used up" tab. Another thing that was mentioned to me was the huge cast on, the shawl is knitted bottom up, with 655 stitches. To me this is not really an issue as once you get past the patterned border as the rows make easy TV knitting and of course they reduce as you go on.

Of course I don't just watch TV as I knit. My other challenge is continuing also. I finished listening to The Fellowship of the Ring from The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Although I enjoyed the book I felt I needed a break from Tolkein for a while so used a random number generator to choose the next book from the list. It's stuff done the book chosen was The Once and Future King by TH White. I must admit that this is a book I have never heard of before. The story, an Arthurian fantasy, explores the childhood of King Arthur. This I am enjoying immensely. A bonus is that 33 hours long the book is a real bargain with my Audible subscription.

Also in the past week we have had an interloper. This gorgeous tint puss came into out house and our hearts.

We have named her Abby and she is settling in well having made particularly good friends with Gibbs our big boy.

Other than that life just passes day by day.

Stay safe and happy crating
Mary

It Has Been a While

Gosh, how time flies.I am having difficulty believing that I last posted in January.
However I am still here knitting away and dreaming up new challenges for myself to keep life interesting.
One of the things I have challenged myself to I have been thinking about for a number of years and now I have finally figured out how to take it forward and continue with my main passion. Way back in 2003 the BBC commissioned a year long survey to find the nation's favourite books, full list of the top 200 can be found here, I have often thought about trying to read as many as I can but was foiled by the fact you cannot turn pages or read words and read patterns and knit at the same time. The bingo! a solution came to me. I have an Audible subscription, why not have the books read to me whilst I relax with my sticks and string thus combining two of my favourite things.
I took the plunge and started at No 1. The Lord of the Rings. I have now finished the first of the 6 books and am a way through the second. You may find it hard to believe, especially with all the hype there has been in the last few years, but this is a book I have never read nor have I seen any of the films. I will admit that at times I am struggling to stay focused with the story but I will persevere and I am sure I shall enjoy it.
Another challenge to myself is to knit 24 pairs of socks this year. To many folk that will sound a lot but in my mind it is 2 pairs a month, not so bad. So far I have 7 pairs completed so am bang on schedule.

To keep things interesting I am trying to use a different pattern for every pair. My Ravelry queue has expanded madly as I have added nearly 500 of the free sock patterns available. In my mind this equates to roughly 20 years of socks. Hey, we can but dream.
I am not just knitting socks though, I have a few other projects on the go and one of my Ravelry groups has a basket challenge about to begin. This involves filling a basket, real or imaginary with yarn, or wip's and trying to do as much as you can from that basket within a set period of time. It is a great way to stay focused and work your way through the stash.
Speaking of stash, mine has taken a bit of a giant leap in the wrong direction twice already this year. Firstly when a dear friend was de-stashing and I got some gorgeous yarn and a very good discount and secondly when I took myself along to the Edinburgh Yarn Festival. What a wonderful day out that was. Over a hundred stalls packed with yarnie goodies of all descriptions. It was heavenly. However being me I was like a deer caught in the headlights and there was simply way too much to choose from. I ended up just buying yarn from my favourite hand dyer and a beautiful basket for my basket challenges.

The dates for next year's festival have just been announced and I have already made a promise to myself that I will branch out and try some new yarn.
Other than that I have no major planned yarn purchases this year so it is time to climb back on the sheep and work my stash down. I will however have one skein of yarn arriving each month as my wonderful hubby gave me the most amazing gift this past Christmas. He has signed me up for the Yarn Notes from Assynt yarn club which includes a skein of hand dyed sock yarn, a beautiful picture card and some very well researched and written information about the area around the picture. The first 4 months of this club have been a joy to receive and I look forward to each and every parcel arriving.
That is all I can think of for now.

Stay safe and happy crafting
Mary