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

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.

Sunday 21st April

Hello, friends welcome to The Sunday Sock. A very happy Easter to those who celebrate. What a lovely week it has been here in East Lothian with the weather heating up nicely and giving us some nice sunny days. I have been scooting along with a new purpose in my knitting and crochet. I have joined in with the Stash Knit Down Ravelry group's Race to the Bottom challenge in which you give yourself a goal to have gotten through a yarn amount of your choice in the next 18 months. The categories have different yarnie names and amounts ranging from Dryer Lint, (1000 yards) to Yarn Shop, (150.000 yards). I have signed up to attempt Cashmere, (30,000 yards). This amount will make but a small dent in my stash but it is something to aim for and I have set up a ticker in the side-bar to track my progress.
Also, new this week, Lucy of the Attic 24 blog released a new crochet blanket pattern and I was smitten. The Dune blanket uses 15 different colours and is made up of rows of shell stitches. I immediately forgot all the other wip's and trotted off to stash dive and find some suitable yarn. I came up with this palate for a blanket of my own.

FO's

I have finished 2 items this week. First up is this fun wee tea cosy which was a commission from a friend. This item takes us to Oldmeldrum on our trip around Scotland's burghs.

It was so difficult to photograph without a teapot but I'm sure you get the gist.

Secondly, taking us back to the coast of Aberdeenshire, and the fishing port of Peterhead, is this baby blanket for charity.

Both of these projects were quick and easy and satisfied the instant gratification that crafters sometimes crave. 

WIP's

As mentioned earlier I dug out some yarn for the Dune blanket and have completed 5 stripes.

I am just loving how this is crocheting up. There are 100 stripes, (2 rows per stripe), in the pattern and I think I am going to aim to do one per day.

Next, on the needles is the Downtown Chicago cowl, (paid pattern), for my aunt.

I do have other wip's out there but have no photos at present to share. 

Incoming

Nothing this week, much to the delight of my ever suffering DH.

Outings

I will be out and about with my Knitty friends for lunch at Joli, Longniddry on Friday 26th April at 12 noon. I am hoping the weather stays lovely and we can have lunch al fresco and get some nice photos of crafting in the wild for next week.

I think that's it for this week, other than to say if you don't want a huge spot appearing on your chin a la teenage angst, don't read The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole. Have a great week and happy crafting.

Mary

Sunday April 14th

Hello friends, welcome to The Sunday Sock. I hope you have all had a good week. My week has been mixed with a lovely day out to my old work with my friend Robert from Northern Ireland. It was fun to see things through the eyes of a visitor and great to see my old colleagues again. Then came the not so good when a migraine hit and I was floored for almost a full three days.  Knitting was the furthest thing from my mind and I just mostly slept. Also this week hubby and I decided to see what all the fuss is about Game of Thrones. We have never watched it so started at the beginning as luckily we have Sky box sets available to us. Three episodes in and I still don't see the attraction but hubby seems to like it.
Now for some yarn crafts.

FO's

Two things were finished this week. One I can show and one I will have to keep for later. The one I can share takes us to Huntly on our tour of Scottish burghs and is a wee crochet blanket for charity.

This simple granny square was fun and quick to make and I finished it with a round of crab stitch for a neat edging. I used a 4mm (G) hook and Stylecraft Special DK in White and Rico Baby So Soft Print in Candy. The whole blanket used just 1 ball of each yarn.

WIP's

Of these, I have a few. I have another charity blanket on my hook.

This is a granny c2c blanket which I am finding a lot easier and quicker than the usual c2c.

Last week I showed you the yarn I had chosen for the Downtown Chicago cowl and it is now wound and cast on.

Finally this week I have cast on a hat. 

This was because I needed something really simple to work on whilst watching TV. 

A really short round-up this week as I can feel my headache creeping up again. 

Have a good week everyone and hopefully next Sunday I will have a bit more to share.

Happy crafting

Mary

Sunday 3rd March

Hello friends, welcome to the Sunday Sock.

I hope you have all had a good week. My week has been very mixed thanks to a cough on Thursday which sent my back into spasm and left me in severe pain and having to use a walking stick to get around. This severely curtailed my knitting time.

Being that this is the first Sunday of the month it is time to share my progress on the Happy Scrappy Blankie.

The top is the start of Feb and the bottom is now.

As you can see Penelope Penguin has moved on a little.

Other knitting has been limited as I have been very monogamous working on just one project.
On Monday I found my missing ball of yarn and finally decided to cast on a Still Light Tunic. I knitted this pattern back in 2014 and it is one of my most worn handknits, so I decided it was time for another.

I have gotten through the yoke section and have divided for the sleeves. The pattern is written to knit the body first, but sleeve island is my nemesis so I am working them first.
This very wearable garment looks great worn with leggings or jeans and is so wearable. The fact that it has pockets is a huge bonus. Although it is a paid for pattern it is very well worth the money as it is so well written and to my mind it is an ideal introduction to knitting a top-down garment for beginning knitters. I have just under 3 weeks to finish this if I hope to wear it to EYF.

The Sunday Sock will be out and about in East Lothian on Wednesday 6th March. I will be at Archerfield Walled Garden having brunch with my good friend Sheena. We will be there from 10.30 am till around 12 noon. If you are in the area come and say hello.

Until next week, happy crafting

Mary

Sunday 27th January

Hello friends, I hope you have all had a great week. Firstly this week I would like to wish a belated Happy Birthday to two ladies who had milestone birthdays this past week. Annie had her day on Friday and Marjory yesterday. I hope you both had a lovely time and were blessed with yarny goodness.
Now the eagle-eyed among you may have noticed a shift in the number on the tracker at the top of this post. I have totalled up the number of rows completed in the last 4 weeks and added 2251 rows to the challenge.

This means there has been a little movement along the map. I only managed 390 rows this past week due to being flattened by Sciatica. I can honestly say I have never had such bad pain in my legs before, all I could do was take the painkillers and sleep as they knocked me out.

I did manage to finish one sock this week. This is a gift for the daughter of a friend.

I am knitting a mash-up of patterns for this pair. Toe-up, I have used Rye Light for the foot, a short row garter stitch heel and Molecular Orbitals for the leg, both are free patterns. I will be casting on the second one just as soon as I finish with this post.

Last week you will remember I cast on my Happy Scrappy Blankie with Penelope Penguin keeping track. I am just loving the mindless knitting and have managed about a foot width.

Lisa, who's pattern it is has finished hers and has kindly allowed me to share her photo of the finished blanket with you.

 And in this one, she looks so happy wrapped up in it.

Thank you, Lisa, for letting me share your pictures.

Now it is time for me to go and cast on that sock whilst listening to 1Q84, an epic listen at 40 hours.

Until next Sunday
Happy crafting

Mary