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 3rd February

Hello friends, I hope this Sunday finds you all well and warm or cool depending on your part of the globe. I know parts of the world have been suffering extremes of weather and must admit that while it is cold here we have been lucky with just a light dusting of snow so far.

At the end of last month, I made a life-changing decision. I handed in my notice to the job I have been in for nearly 10 years. Whilst I have loved my time there and my job, my recent health issues and the deterioration of my husband's health means that I have had to look long term at my ability to be a functioning and reliable staff member and sadly I know that I can not now be the person they need me to be. The loss of an income means that I will now have to be extra careful with my pennies. Luckily I have an extensive stash collected over the years from which I can personally shop but you know how it is, there is always a shiny new yarn you want to try out of a local yarn festival to visit.

Now that I am not earning I have been looking at new ways to fund my yarn habit, yes I have an addiction, and I think I have found my answer. Whilst perusing Ravelry I stumbled across a post which detailed a type of yarn savings account which you keep yourself. You pay yourself a small amount for finished items and used up yarn from your stash. I have decided on the following amounts.

• Small items, hat, baby item etc. - £1
• Pairs, socks or mitts - £2
• Large items, sweater or blanket - £5
• Each ball or skein used up - £1 

I am hoping that by doing this I can save up my pennies for EYF and the smaller St Abbs yarn festivals and my kitty bank is ready to collect my earnings.

Given that I will have a bit more time on my hands I hope to listen to a few more books this year. I have a few under my belt already and this week started listening to a non-fiction epic. The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon is 126 hours long so I am listening to a chapter a day. So far this insight into this period of history is fascinating and informative. Alongside this, I will listen to various other books and am currently enjoying The Chalk Pit by Elly Griffiths.

This week I have mostly been working on my EYF sweater. I have made it through the waist decreases and am heading rapidly to the bust increases.  As I am knitting from stash and using a different yarn from the pattern and I have different quantities of colours available to me I am using the pattern more as a guide to shaping and fit than doing the colourwork in the original.

My ZickZack scarf has moved on a little too with the first mini skein nearing its end. This is such an easy pattern with such stunning results. I have been blown away with some of the finished projects on Ravelry and hope my effort works as I imagine it.

I have a couple of finishes to show you too.

Continuing our journey around Scotland's Burghs we have come to the last big city burgh of Glasgow. The biggest city but not the capital lends its name to a wee pair of ankle socks I finished early in the week.

These were knitted from leftovers from other socks I had knitted and are currently keeping my tootsies warm.

My other finish this week takes us north to the first of the Aberdeenshire burghs. Inverurie, a Royal Burgh, is the name I have given to this stranded hat.

 This free pattern, https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/the-easy-ombre-slouch-hat is a good introduction to stranded knitting if you have never tried it before. Using only two colours of DK and 4mm needles, it knits up quickly and gives a very pleasing result. I used an unknown yarn cake from my stash and knitted a fixed doubled brim for the lower portion then added Stylecraft Special DK in Boysenberry for the top.

Finally this week I have a new gadget to share with you. I am always on the lookout for any tools which make my crafting easier and lately, I have seen a lot of adverts for neck lamps with LED bulbs. I did a bit of research and finally chose one from Amazon.

The lamp came very quickly and it is a fabulous addition to my tool kit. As it is the season of long nights it is especially useful, allowing me to knit longer without adding eye strain. I can also see it being very useful if you are knitting with very dark colours all year round. I have tried to capture a photo of it in use to give you the idea of how you can train the light on your hands. It weighs very little and after a very short while I forgot I had it around my neck.

I am still getting used to it for knitting but can also see many other uses for around the home and out and about. I have a feeling some of these may turn up in Birthday presents this year.

That's it for now, until next week happy crafting

Mary


Rows - 334

A Handy Tool for Your Knitting Pleasure

Sometimes a pattern asks you to decrease (or increase) x amount of stitches evenly across a row. Now I don't know about you, but there are times when my brain just will not compute. I have however through the wonder of the Internet stumbled across just the page for these scenarios and here it is How to Reduce Stitches Evenly Across a Row. All the maths has been done for you and this handy calculator is just what the stitch fairy ordered in times of need. It is so simple to use and to me has been a godsend. There is also a link to the increase calculator on the page. Suffice to say I have this page pinned to my bookmark bar for quick reference and I would suggest you do it too. You just never know when you might be in need.

Stay safe and happy crafting

Mary