October 2022

Hello friends, since learning to knit socks around 10 years ago they have been a constant project on my needles and never more so than this month. They have been all I want to knit and I would seem to have found my perfect pattern. This simple almost vanilla top-down sock has been making my heart sing all month long and I want to cast on all the yarns and enjoy my own personal Socktober and beyond. 

Off the Needles

All my socks are knitted using the magic loop method and a simple 3 x 1 rib. Clockwise from the top left we have

Schoppel-Wolle Zauberball Crazy in colour Cloud No 8 

James Makes Yarn in Popping Candy

DropsFabel Print in Forest

Cascade Heritage Prints in Sea Morn

On the Needles

Still ongoing are the Dustland Sweater for hubby, the body has now been reworked and fits beautifully and I am on to the sleeves. Four pairs of socks are in progress, with a fifth pair set to be cast on today, seeing as it is Sunday. 

I have abandoned my Stephen West Twists and Turns MKAL as the pattern just was not turning out to be my cup of tea. I have seen many beautiful pictures of shawls in progress but they are just not floating my boat. I have in my mind to use the yarn for a Winter Lights Shawl as I adore that pattern. 

Finally, the first pattern from the Curious Handmade Knitvent 2022 collection is actively being worked on. I was resisting purchasing the collection of mystery patterns until the lovely Chris, from The Sunday Sock Ravelry group, posted a picture of the Anthology Throw, the first pattern, and I was sucked in. The entire collection is themed around using up mini-skeins or leftovers so I grabbed my bag of scraps and was off.

Acquisitions

I have had quite a blessed month with a few goodies arriving through the post. First up is this gorgeous skein called Witches Brew from Twinkknits, this is an 80% Merino 20% Nylon sock yarn. I was craving some Halloween yarn this year and this certainly fits the bill. 

Next, is this amazing skein from The Border Tart called Lollipop. This is a BFL/Nylon blend and again sock weight. 

Then I was gifted this Scheepjes Whirl in Cotton Candy Man. It is a 4-ply cotton/acrylic yarn in a huge 220g cake and I am sure it will become something amazing.

Finally this month after knitting the wonderful Popping Candy socks, shown above, I could not resist when James Makes Yarn brought out his autumn colours and this skein of Falling for You fell into my basket. It is similar to the Popping Candy but has a more peachy than the pink base. 

That's it for October, it has been a productive month overall and my knitting has given me so much pleasure. More details of my projects, both finished and ongoing, can be found on my Ravelry project pages and yarns on my stash pages. 

I hope you all have a delightful month ahead and keep hale and hearty, I have my flu and Covid booster jabs next week so am expecting sore arms for a day or two.

Happy crafting

Mary

A Week of S's, Sadness, Socks, Sweater and a Shawl

In amongst the sadness of this past week, my knitting has brought me great solace and comfort. I was, to be honest, quite astounded at the emotions which played through for a woman whom I have never met, nor was ever likely to. Whilst watching the news coverage the peaceful rhythm of the stitches moving along the needles kept me grounded and connected to the life I have around me. 

So what have I been working on?

Needing something easy I cast on a toe-up vanilla sock. 

I am using the free Milkshake pattern by my friend, Fiona D Tulloch, the yarn is by James Makes Yarn in the Popping Candy colour.

I have two more socks on the needles, the first is the Heel Toe Do Si Do which has seen a little work 

More details about this sock can be found in a previous post or on my Ravelry project page.

The second is my Sunday Sock, a pattern I made up myself inspired by the sweater I am knitting for Bill.

The yarn here is Cascade Heritage Paints in the colour 110 Sea Morn.

As mentioned earlier, the sweater has seen some steady progress with separation for the sleeves and the 19" slog of the body now on the go. I am sticking to 4 or 5 rounds a day so as not to bore myself and I am delighted to see the progress keeper getting further away each day until it gets moved on a Sunday after I have shared it with you.

Finally this week the project which has seen the most work is my Shawlography. I have finished both wings of section 9 and am at last making progress with section 10, the brioche.

I say at last, as this is my second go-round of the brioche as I cocked up spectacularly with my first attempt. It really was my own fault as I did not read the instructions properly. I should have known something was amiss as previously I did not have too much trouble with this technique. Yesterday afternoon was spent frogging this section and re-knitting it correctly. 

That's it for this week, time to pick up the needles.

Happy crafting.

WIP Bingo

 When it comes to my knitting I am totally disorganised and have way too many works in progress. I am very easily seduced by the new shiny yarn and/or pattern. This has led me to re-evaluate my knitting practices and with the upcoming Westknits MKAL I know I want to free up a project bag, needles and notions so I can have everything together. To that end,  I have joined some fun threads in the Stash Knit Down group on Ravelry and this led me to discover how to make a bingo card of my WIPs to try to concentrate on just a few this month.

Some of these, most of the socks, are not yet cast on and I don't have a current photo of my Bits and Bobs blanket but here are photos taken this morning of where I am with the others.

Shawlography

This is the second time I have knitted this glorious Westknits pattern. I am on part 9 of the shawl on the right-hand wedge.

The yarn is all Ripples Crafts Burras a gorgeous single-ply merino yarn dyed in the northwest highlands of Scotland. The colours are Peat, Moonshine, A Slice of Lime, Crushed Blaeberries and A Cerise that Demands Attention.

As I mentioned this is my second time with this pattern, the first one I gave to my Mum for Christmas.

Dustland Sweater

Bill's sweater is now at the most amount of stitches on the needle stage and is slow going. I make myself knit 4 rounds each day and I enjoy seeing my progress when I take my Sunday photos.

For the yarn details see When it all Goes Horribly Wrong.

Dust of Snow

The wrap is going very slowly, partly due to my concentrating on other things and partly as it has still been a bit on the warm side to work with mohair. There has been some progress though, and I am about to start on colour 6.

Heel Toe Do Si Do

These socks for a friend have only just passed the heel turn on the first sock. This is my only real deadline project as they need to be done by the 28th of the month.

I do hope this system helps keep me on track and that my enormous pile of WIPs sees some reduction over the coming weeks.

Remember to Be the reason that Someone Smiles Today, and have a fun week.

How Is It The End of August?

 I am baffled and bamboozled to discover that we will be in September next week. This year has simply flown by, and I have achieved so little. My knitting got off to a languid start this year as I only wanted to work on scrappy blankets which I then did not like and sent off to the frog pond. It was March before I knitted a sock and even then my mojo was still lacking. Things picked up in April and have been motoring along since but I still feel I am way behind where I ought to be, especially with my charity knitting.

This week I have, however, finished a pair of socks.

I knitted these using a motif from the Dustland Sweater and just made them up as I went along. The yarn is Ripples Crafts Reliable Sock in the Learning to Swim V2 colour which was a fundraiser for the RNLI overseas division, so sadly is no longer available. I used a 2.5mm ChaioGoo fixed circular for magic loop.

As soon as these were cast off I started a new pair.

These are for a fellow East Lothian Carers Panel member who has expressed a desire to learn how to knit socks. I am more than willing to teach her but suggested she try a pair first before she falls down the rabbit hole that is sock knitting and spends money. These are the Heel-Toe-Do-Si-Do pattern by Crazy Sock Lady Designs but knitted toe-up. The yarn is Stylecraft Head Over Heels Colours of the World Shade 1161 Sa Pa and again it is my faithful ChaioGoo 2.5mm fixed circular.

The re-knit of the Dustland Sweater got some love this week and I am powering through the yoke.

I am really liking how it is looking this time and hope to get to splitting for the sleeves in the coming week. That's it for actuall knitting this week, however there is some dream knitting to plan.

It's that time of year again!!

I have taken part in the last two years and have loved evey minute, now I cannot afford to buy a kit from Stephen and Penelope but I will stash dive and possibly even purchase a yarn or two to make my own unique kit.

I think that's all for this week, I leave you with a phrase which has been banging around my head since I saw it, and cannot help but think the world would be a better place if we all could make it happen.

BE THE REASON THAT SOMEONE SMILES TODAY

When It All Goes Horribly Wrong

 Sometimes, no matter how well prepared you are, things go awry. This happened this past week when the jumper, (yes I know, I am knitting an Aran weight jumper in the hottest summer on record) I was lovingly knitting for his nibs turned out way too big. Now I had done my homework and knitted a swatch and all was well with that and I had happily ploughed on with the pattern until the body was finished. Bill duly tried it on and OMG it was enormous. I don't know what went wrong but something very obviously did. There was nothing else to do but frog it. He did however love the pattern so it was agreed that I would start over, and I have. I am knitting a smaller size Med instead of Large and using 1 size down needles.

So here we have the Dustland Sweater, pattern by Stephen West, take 2 being knitted in Stylecraft Life Aran in the Natural Nepp colour on ChiaoGoo circular needles size 3.5mm and 4mm.

It looks so much better now, and we are both happier with that.

I had to buy a new needle to be able to restart the jumper so while I was sulking and waiting for it to arrive I cast on a pattern I had in my library for a while, the Dust of Snow Wrap by Curious Handmade. I really had no business casting on something new as I have WIPs galore but as I said I was in the huff with the jumper. 

This beautiful asymmetrical rectangular wrap was designed as an Advent Calander project and so I am using the 4 boxes of beautiful mini-skeins Bill gave me for my birthday, from Ruffles Crochet Crafts on Etsy, and holding it with Drops KidSilk in Moonshine from Purple Sheep Yarns, using a ChiaoGoo 4.5mm fixed circular. It is going very slowly with some subtle colour changes so far but I am delighted with it.

No socks this time round but there will definitely be some soon.

Happy Crafting

Mary

Relief, a Surprise and a Mystery

 Hello friends, I am delighted to report that with the removal of the offending upper tooth my mouth is now pain-free. What a relief! I have also had my first Covid vaccine and other than a little swelling and tenderness all went well.

My surprise came in the form of a little windfall. Last month I had an e-mail from the local carers centre inviting applications for a carer's break grant. This money was available to help give a boost to the health and wellbeing of unpaid carers. Although I have been registered with them for many years due to being the sole carer of my disabled husband I have never asked for any help and was of the belief that I would be turned down should I apply. I did, however, decide I had nothing to lose so gave it a go. I asked for much less than half of what may have been available to me and imagine my surprise and delight on Wednesday morning when I opened the e-mail to find my application had been successful. I had asked for and am spending the money on an instant sock yarn stash from the wonderful Ripples Crafts. 

And finally, the mystery. One of my favourite designers is Ambah O'Brien. Imagine my delight when she announced an MKAL starting on April 2nd. The Caladenia Shawl will be released in 5 weekly clues and people from around the world will be knitting it together. 

The aforementioned Ripples Crafts has put together a few colour sets for the project, which can be found under new products, although I think there might just be one or two left. I was lucky enough to snag this gorgeous BFL combo.

From left, Cladonia, The First Summer Rose, Crushed Blaeberries and The Weathered Fairy.

If you want to join in the MKAL, there is still time to get the pattern for a reduced price until Apr 1st and you will also receive a bonus pattern of the Caladenia Cowl free.

FO's

In the last two weeks I have finished 2 pairs of socks, first up is Hattu by Nicola Susen. These top-down socks have a very different construction from any I have knitted before and I can see why the description says they are ideal for those with a high instep. These socks are also great if you don't like picking up stitches as it doesn't happen, very unusual with top-down socks.

I knitted these for hubby who has very odd shaped feet due to bunions and he has declared them wonderfully comfy. 

My second finish is my 4th pair of Heel Toe Do-Si-Do socks by The Crazy Sock Lady. I simply adore the simplicity of this pattern and the results it gives.

That's all for this week, stay safe and enjoy your crafting

Mary

Not Just Socks

 Hello friends, I have had a painful couple of weeks battling two dental abscesses, one in the lower jaw and one in the upper which is just not playing the game with the antibiotic and I think it will be another trip to the dentist tomorrow. Also this coming week, on Wednesday morning, I will be getting my first vaccine dose. Never before have I looked forward so much to a jab in my arm, it is one small step towards our new normality whatever that proves to be.

On the knitting front, this week I have stepped aside a little from the socks and finally opened up my 12 Days of Christmas box from Rosie's Moments.

I spent a considerable amount of time deciding what to knit but kept coming back to the Edie tee by Isabell Kraemer. The pattern, published in 2015, does not have a huge size choice but it is well written and I have cast on for the XL using Chiagoo 3.5mm circular needles. I am not very far into the project but already I can see it is going to be colourful, just what is needed this year.

I have the next mini wound and ready to add-in.

 Incoming

After speaking about my needles last time it struck me that I hadn't checked Etsy. A quick search and I discovered RachelGreenCrafts had some lovely options. After browsing for a while I spotted this

Knitting cats, well, what's not to love? Pennies duly paid this beauty arrived two days later and as you can see is already in use.

Also arriving this week was the second mystery sock box in Rosie's Moments around Britain series. This month took us to Cornwall and as usual, the box was packed with the most thoughtful goodies.

I really don't know how she does it.

A short post this time as I am struggling with the news of the sudden passing of a dear friend, hopefully, normal service will resume next time. Until then stay safe and healthy,

Mary

Needle Talk

 Hello friends, this past couple of weeks I have spent some time evaluating my use of knitting needles. I learned to knit on straight needles which I found cumbersome and unwieldy, especially as I was under 10 and therefore quite small. I all but gave up in my early twenties and when the bug finally caught in my early forties I was astounded to discover the magic of circular needles for any project. They were simply perfection, small tips and a cable to take the weight of the work transformed me from a reluctant to a passionate knitter. I felt ready to tackle anything and I did, lace, garments, and finally my beloved socks. Over the years I have tried many brands and while they all have some virtues I have come to the conclusion that my favourites are ChiaGoo, whether fixed or interchangeable they have what I need in a needle. Points sharp enough for lace or picking up stitches, a cable that stays put and doesn't curl all over the place, always smooth joins allowing the stitches to glide and best of all for me, nickel free. Sadly I cannot afford to buy a set but I have a plan. I will ask for a fixed circular needle case for my birthday and I will buy the sizes as and when to build my set up.

Picture from The Little Knitting Company Website

And then last Sunday, this happened

Yep, the needle tip and cable parted company in a way that cannot be fixed. Now, this is the third time this has happened to me with this brand so I have rescinded my request to hubby for the above needle case and have asked instead for a set of HiyaHiya Steels in the small size with 5" tips.

A to Z of Socks

I am delighted to say that more folks have joined in with my mad idea. it would seem that others also want to expand their sock collections and with no deadlines or particular requirement to knit in alphabetical order, folks are attracted to the simplicity of the KAL.

That said, I have personally started in alphabetical order and have completed my A socks which I talked about in the last post.

Ash Socks

I have also completed my B pair.

Bark socks

The free pattern for Bark socks by Wei S. Leong caught my eye and the simplicity of the textured design was a joy to knit. I used an MCN sock yarn from a past mystery box from Rosie's Moments, the colour was Pig Robinson at Sea from the Beatrix Potter series. These lovely socks knit up very quickly and I was just about finished the second when the above needle mishap occurred. Luckily I had a spare needle and was able to rescue the stitches.

The Handmade Sock Society 4

Serendipity struck with the release of the first pattern in this collection in that the socks are called Curling Mist. I cast on the day the pattern was released and yesterday finished the first sock.

I am knitting these on a ChiaGoo 2.25mm 100cm needle using magic loop and I am doing the medium size with 64 sts. The yarn is EasyKnits Big Boy in the Fields of Gold colour which I was gifted some time ago. 

Other FO's

Nothing at all.

Incomings

Well, as I mentioned above I asked my lovely hubby for the HiyaHiya steel needle set for my birthday which is not until June and he very kindly said why wait until June, get them now and so I did a little research and found them on the Fig Tree Yarns website. I ordered on Wednesday and on Friday morning the package arrived from Jersey.

It looks too beautiful to use. I also ordered a 2.5mm 80cm fixed circular to complete my most used sizes. 

Race to the Bottom

My figures as of Feb 1st

Total knitted - 2,380 yards
Current Level - Dust Bunny (1,000 - 4,999 yds)
Goal - Cashmere (30,000 yds)
% of goal reached - 7.93%
Yards to go - 27,620

Books

As with my knitting monogamy is also not a strong point with books and I have a few on the go so I can listen to whatever takes my fancy.

In My Ears 

1. Gargantua and Pantagruel (Librivox) Still on book 2 waiting for book 3 recording to be completed
2. Love in the Time of Cholera (Audible)
3. Don Quixote (Audible)
4. The Complete Little Women (Audible) Now on Jo's Boys
5. A Room With a View (Audible)

On My Kindle

The Inferno - Henri Barbusse

Finished in the last Fortnight

• The Return of the King - JRR Tolkein, whilst I enjoyed the series I can honestly say I did not love it. Hence it took me 3 years. Fantasy is really not my preferred genre and I can take it or leave it.
• Pere Goirot - Honore de Balzac, I did enjoy this sad tale from a Paris of long ago. I will admit to shedding a few tears along the way.
• The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn - Colin Dexter, I have watched all the Morse episodes multiple times but the books bring so much more depth of character.

Well, I think that's it for this week, time for me to cast on my second sock since it is Sunday, a very Happy Valentine's Day to you all.

Stay safe and healthy

Mary

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

Happy New Year

 Hello friends, a very hearty welcome to 2021. Never I think have I been so glad to see the back of a year as I have 2020. Although we stayed away from the dreaded Covid, we suffered heartbreak 4 times last year with the passing of our twin cats, Frankie in April and Connie in July, my Aunt in June and Bill's oldest sister in October. It really tore us apart mentally with each passing. So the hope for the coming year is no more loss, more joy and with the vaccines on the horizon the ability to return to some sort of normality. 

For the blog, I am fervently hoping to post fortnightly. Weekly is a bit too much as I find I struggle to have something to say and frequently there is not much progress on projects to share so with that in mind I think fortnightly is the way to go. For anyone who wants more frequent news hop on over to The Sunday Sock Ravelry group where I check in a few times a week and you may see things there which I forget to post here.

To give my knitting year a kick-start I have joined a couple of KAL's and signed up for Race to the Bottom 4. The KAL's are both in the HawthornCottageCraftPodcast group and Race to the Bottom is in the Stash Knit Down group both on Ravelry. 

The first of the KAL's is Knit the Books. Kate has set the challenge to choose a pattern from one of those books we all have sitting on our shelves that we have looked at but never gotten round to making something from. I have had the Knit Swirl book for over 10 years so I have chosen that book.

The pattern I have chosen is Forest Fiesta.

Now, since I am on a budget, I have chosen to knit using yarn from deep stash and I made it my New Year cast on. I am using Sirdar Colourwheel, 80% Acrylic 20% Wool, in the Flower Garden colour. I did buy a new needle for this project and choose a ChiaGoo 4.5mm 120cm which I got from The Little Knitting Company. As of today, I have completed the very long cast on, joined in the round and the second welt. My goal is to knit one welt a day so as to give myself time to work on other things. If all goes to plan I will finish well before the March 31st KAL deadline.

KAL no.2 is a lucky dip. I have hidden 6, I didn't have 12 bags, skeins of sock yarn in paper bags and Bill will choose one each month for me to knit up. 

As I use each baggie I will refill it so my KAL lasts the whole year.

Race to the Bottom is an 18-month long personal challenge to knit the stash and try to hit a yarn themed goal. I have chosen to aim for Cashmere which is 30,000 yards. I was doing very well in the last race until I stopped counting when life got too much so this time I am more motivated to reach my goal. The group moderators have done a fantastic job setting up an easy to use Google spreadsheet to which you just add in your used yarn and it does all sorts of magic to show your progress and how far you still have to go. The chat in the thread is also so supportive and positive, and everyone is going at their own pace, that it never ever feels overwhelming.

Other WIP's

Other things on the needles and being worked in rotation are

1. Socks
2. Caramel Cardigan 
3. A Hat
4. Habitation throw
5. Winter Lights Shawl

I will have photos of everything in my next post in 2 weeks and hopefully, some will even be FOs by then.

I think that's it for now, stay safe and healthy

Mary