Twitching without Socks and Advent looms.

 Hello friends, after my profound realisation in the last post I have discovered something else about myself. I get twitchy if I have no socks to knit. I am like a bear with a sore head. I have been trying very hard to free up my knitting time for upcoming Advent projects but yesterday I just had to cast on some socks for me. It was a compulsion and no matter what else I tried my brain kept screaming you must knit socks. 

Advent Knitting

When I was little a highlight of the year was the Advent countdown to Christmas day. I got a new Advent Calendar every year which had in those days pictures hidden behind each door. As time went on the calendars started to have tiny chocolates hidden in them, now we have Advent calendars for everything you could think of. There are coffee, tea, gardener's, beer, toiletries, lego, toys, tools, you name it and I bet there is one to find and of course, there are yarn Advent calendars. In the year we have had where it seemed at times all hope was lost I have been given the gift of hope by having been the lucky recipient of two yarn calendars.

The first of these is EasyKnits 10g lux which has some beautifully intriguing boxes to open each day with a full skein for Christmas morning.

With this kit, I am hoping to knit a Habitation Throw by designer Helen Stewart. This pattern from last year is written for 10g mini-skeins and with Jon's dyeing I am sure it will be a colourful addition to my home.

My second kit is from a favourite dyer of mine, Rosie's Moments. This is my third year of Advent kits from her and they never disappoint. Rosie packs so much love into everything she sends that you can happily know whatever you order you will be more than delighted.

This kit came with a mystery wrap pattern which I am sure I will enjoy knitting and will love the finished item. Rosie also notes that Christian Advent officially begins today with the first Sunday of Advent and has added two little extra gifts to open today and tomorrow. 

Finally, I have my homemade effort. Each year the wonderful Australian designer, Ambah O'Brien, hosts a fabulously fun Advent knit-a-long in her group on Ravelry. She designs new patterns each year especially to knit with your Advent calendars. Her Advent bundle can be found here, there are 11 patterns to choose from and this year I was especially drawn to the Radvent Cardigan. 

This cardigan was designed to use a 25 x 20g advent kit plus an extra full skein for ribs and cuffs. Now whilst I desperately need a new cardi I could not afford a kit that size so I have made my own using yarns leftover from the various socks and other things I have knitted this year. My cardi will be full of memories and full of fun as I have put all these leftovers in a bag and my dear hubby will draw out one each morning to be used that day.

I think that's all for this week and hopefully, I will be back next Sunday with some knitting to show and progress on my Advent projects.

Stay safe everyone

Mary

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

Dreaming of Pink

 Hello friends, it has been somewhat grey and gloomy around these parts recently and I have been craving some brighter colours, pink in particular. Whilst socks and blanket squares are still high on the agenda I really wanted to start getting to grips with some languishing  WIP's. The one that instantly sprang to mind was my Breathing Space which I started at the end of June 2019. 

As you can see I haven't got very far and I have no idea why I set it aside. I worked out where in the pattern I had reached, which was surprisingly easy considering I have no idea where my notes are and have resumed the project. I am sincerely hoping that this time I will keep it going and very soon will have a fabulous jumper on my shoulders instead of on my needles.

Mary

OCS 2nd November

 Hello friends, these 5 beautiful squares for an OCS blanket were sent all the way from New York state. Thank you, Barbara, for taking the time to support the OCS knitting community.

Today I am concentrating on knitting a hat to help keep someone cosy in the coming winter months.

I am using a super simple pattern which was only released yesterday, Warmest Regards is written for 3 yarn weights and best of all its free. The designer asks that in return for her offering her pattern to the knitting community you knit a hat for charity. That box is ticked here and the yarn was a donation from the wonderful Ripples Crafts. Helen has been a wonderful supporter of the initiative from the beginning 3 years ago and her yarn is a delight to knit. This particular yarn is Doubly Reliable Sock in an Assynt Storms colourway. 

Back to the knitting now,

Stay safe and healthy

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.

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