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.

Yummy Yarn and a Couple of Mysteries

 Hello friends, I have a couple of mysteries to share. First up is the new MKAL, Slipstravaganza, from the talented and fun designer Stephen West. This is the 11th year that Stephen has designed a Mystery knit along for October, and whilst by no means have I done them all and certainly not during the KAL, I have knitted a few. This year I have decided to bite the bullet and take part. So being somewhat thrifty I dug through my stash and came up with this yummy quartet.

As you can see I have gone for some luxury with the Cascade Heritage Silk. My main colour is the Marine with, Snow and Sunflower. This brings me to the second mystery, the wound ball is a gift-a-ball from Rosie's Moments in the Flower Power Fund Forget-me-Not colour. This beautiful ball of yarn has lots of lovely surprise gifts hidden inside and was sent to me by a mystery benefactor. I have absolutely no idea whom it is from but needless to say I am very thankful. Having this special gift will make the KAL doubly fun as I find the gifts inside along with seeing the shawl develop, and every day I knit I will be thankful for the surprise yarn.

Slipstravaganza begins on Oct 9th so there is still plenty of time to join in and knit along with me and hundreds of others, there is a group on Ravelry which can be found here to join in all the fun.

Until next time, stay safe

Mary

Getting Hygge with it, Scottish Style

 Hello friends, sorry for the absence, my health has been playing up and I have been put on a new medication to try and get my diabetes under control. Whilst I have been dealing with this I simply haven't been able to find the words to chat with you. I am now going to make the blog posts more sporadic and more spontaneous, writing when I have something to share rather than putting pressure on myself to come up with something weekly. 

With the turn of the season,(it's really starting to feel autumnal here), and in an effort to reduce my stress levels I have been reading up on all things Hygge and I find the idea of being content with what I have in my life to be somewhat liberating. Whilst not going the full Danish hog, I have dug out some candles and light them daily, put on some of my favourite perfume, even though I am not going anywhere, and have started listening to the wonderful Skinner series of books by Quintin Jardine whilst wearing snuggly knitted socks and comfy clothes. It really is making a difference to how I feel and I am even knitting with more thought and relaxation. 

The Candles

I love candles, and whilst the Danish go for unscented, I have only scented. I also have an electric wax melt so the room smells beautiful. I find the flame so mesmerizing and when I feel a wee bit stressed simply looking at it for a few seconds grounds me and I instantly feel more relaxed.

The Books

The Skinner series is in no way a cosy mystery series, in fact, the total opposite. They are gritty and full-on making Edinburgh and it's environs sound like a very dangerous and hostile city. It is neither, I always felt very safe in my home city and in my time I have visited every part. That being said, hubs and I find them easy listening and truly enjoy the narration by James Bryce. We have made it to book 9 of 31 and are enjoying the series very much all over again.

The Knitting

As always I have a sock on the pins but my main project is the wonderfully relaxing and meditative Woollsia Shawl by Ambah O'Brien which I am knitting using Scheepjes Whirl in Coral Catastrophe.

Simple garter stitch and eyelets made more impressive by the beautiful gradient yarn. 

That's it for now. Thanks for letting me share with you, stay safe

Mary

Sunday 9th August 2020

 Hello friends, another week has gone by. Don't you think this year is going faster than those before? I am finding that one day just rolls into the next and I forget where I am in the week. We have had a very strange week here in East Lothian, on Tuesday and Wednesday it was so dark and dreich with incessant rain that it felt like winter and then yesterday the sun was so bright and warm again, our weather has gone mad. Perfect knitting weather though staying in the house and keeping dry and cosy. As usual, I have way too much on the needles I really must try to get my head around monogamous knitting but sometimes I just want to knit something different, I don't know how other folks do it.

Finally Finished

Two weeks ago I promised you pictures of my Stillness Shawl by Helen Stewart, here it is in all its glory

This 5-week mystery knit along was simply a joy to knit. I used my Christmas present from DH which was a 3 skein yarn club package from Ripples Crafts in her reliable sock base. The colours were Green Grass on the Turn, Steel Grey Skies and The Gathering Storm and were dyed by Helen from the inspirational photo at the bottom of the picture.

The shawl is a half-pi shape and grew beautifully over the five weeks.

Week 1

Texture and stripes of colour

Week 2

Some simple lace and more stripes

Week 3

A section of star stitch and rows are getting longer

Week 4

Colour and eyelets and long rows

And we finished up with the simple lace and bind off you see in the finished shawl. The final sections were long rows with over 500 sts on the needles but somehow were so relaxing that it did not seem a chore at all. It was a joyous knit and I am looking forward to wearing it.

I would highly recommend this pattern for any knitter who has a little lace knowledge as there is nothing at all difficult and as with all Helen's patterns it comes with the percentage checklist which really spurs you on to do a little more. 

I think I will leave it there for this week but keep a lookout as there may just be a sneaky post midweek as I have more to share.

Stay safe and healthy

Mary

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 26th July 2020

Hello friends, sorry for being MIA last week, we had an awful week after finding our old lady cat Connie passed away on the living room floor just a few weeks after we lost her twin brother Frankie. Coming on top of everything else I simply did not have the wherewithal to get the words out to you all. Luckily as always, I had my knitting and my stash to keep me sane.

The Knitting Toolbox

As a new segment, I thought I would give you a glimpse into my knitting toolbox, having the right tools for the job is an important part of any tradesman's ability to do the job well and it is the same for any knitter who wants to be able to expand their skills.

This week we start with the box itself,

I got my multi-layer hobby box from Lidl a few years ago but you can find similar at hobby shops or on Amazon and such like websites. Next week we will start to delve deeper and find out more about what I have in there, much like a ladies handbag you just never know what we might find.

On the Needles

As per usual I have way too many things on the needles to show you everything, like many knitters I have different projects on the go to suit my mood at any given moment. 

I joined a new group on Ravelry last week called The Testing Pool. This is a group where designers put a call out to ask people to test knit their patterns and check for any mistakes and such before publication. Within a few hours, I was lucky enough to be accepted to test the Jupiter Shawl by and new to me designer, Sambaknits, from Chile. Into the stash I dove and came up with this beautiful combination

The top yarn is from the Natural Dye Studio and is a Merino/Alpaca blend in gorgeous primrose yellow tones and feels divine to knit with. This was a gift from a good friend and had arrived just a few days beforehand so it felt very serendipitous to choose this yarn.

Below is yarn from one of last year's Rosie's Moments Beatrix Potter mystery boxes. The yarn is Merino wool and Donegal Nep in the Mr. McGregor's Garder colour. It is also a dream to knit with.

I have completed Section 1 of the pattern and am about 3/4 through Section 2

I must say that it is a very enjoyable experience so far and I will have a beautiful shawl at the end.

Finished Items

I only have one finish to share this week, or rather 12. 

Hubs and I nipped into our local wee Scotmid on Tuesday afternoon for a couple of items and we were speaking to a staff member who was saying how their ears were hurting with the pressure from the elastic on the masks we all have to wear here in Scotland when in shops. It is very easy for us shoppers to not realise how it must be for them as we can take our masks off after we have shopped but the have to wear them for many hours. I had seen these mask extenders popping up all over Ravelry in the last few months and decided that in the spirit of local support I would knit a few. They were so easy with each one taking just 30mins to complete that I managed a full dozen. Now hopefully wearing a mask for many hours will be much more comfortable.

Coming to my Needles Soon

Next week I will be able to share with you the full glory of the Stillness Shawl MKAL which came off the needles yesterday. I had such a good time knitting it that I really wanted to do another straight away. Luck must have been on my side as up popped Casapinka's The Sharon Show MKAL. This one will certainly be fun as it is not designed by Casapinka herself but by Sharon from Security her 1-year-old cat. I duly joined her group on Ravelry and will buy the pattern tomorrow. There will be 6 weeks of clues beginning with the first on August 7th, which gives me time to finish my test knit, and I have already chosen my yarn which has also been approved by Sharon herself.

I really love the colours and am chomping at the bit to get started but will have to be patient for a while longer. 

I think that's it for this week, thank you for reading my ramblings and happy crafting,

Mary

Find me on Ravelry as mazbil and on Instagram as The_Sunday_Sock

Sunday 12th July

Hello friends, I hope this week finds you happy and healthy. Yesterday was handknitted sock wash day for me and for once I did not lose a single sock. I put this down to procuring a basket into which I put my socks after wearing and once I have collected a few pairs it is time for a mass wash. Because most of my socks are knit with superwash yarn I do them in the machine on the rinse and spin cycle with some Eucalan wool wash added to the fabric conditioner section of the drawer. So easy to do, then I hang them up in the wet room to air dry. Sadly we have no outdoor drying facilities so wet room it is.

Now for a wee segment about how I avoid SSS.

The 7 Day Sock

If, like me, you are a regular sock knitter and know how many rows it takes to knit the socks to fit this will be so easy for you to do. If not this can be an easy way to avoid the dreaded second sock syndrome and have your pair of socks finished just one week after completing sock 1. The theory is very simple, it just needs a little simple maths to create your daily target. For the socks below I added up how many rounds in total it took to knit the first sock, I did not include the short rows for the heel as these are very quick and I count it as just the two full rounds knitted. In this case, it is 184 rounds, then you divide that number by 7, which gave me 26. 28. Being as I am somewhat anal and like even numbers, I rounded it up to 28 rounds per day to finish my 2nd sock in just 7 days. easy peasy and so effective.

Day 1 gives a toe and the start of the foot

Day 2 continues the foot

Day 3 finishes the foot and begins the gusset increases

Day 4, gusset, heel turn and start of leg

Day 5 continues up the leg

Day 6 end of leg and beginning of cuff

Day 7 finish cuff and cast off

And so, in 7 days I have a matching sock to the first one and my pair is complete

These are my own wee in my head pattern for socks that can be worn two ways as you can see. I call them the long and short of it socks.

Other knitting has been happening this week too, I am keeping up with the Stillness MKAL and am dying to share it but am being good so as not to spoil the mystery. I also signed up to the Curious Handmade Spindrift Shawl workshop, this fabulous series of e-mails has taught me a great deal about what to do to get the best out of your yarn and all the processes of shawl knitting. We are never too long in the tooth to learn new things. I will share my progress on the shawl next week. 

I think that's enough for this week, stay safe and healthy

Mary