progress

sari for lack of posting recently, but here’s updates on some current projects:

Granite Socks

pattern: Baby Cable Rib by Charlene Schurch (from Sensational Knitted Socks)
yarn: Regia Line Steps Color shade 5371 Granite
needles: 2.5 mm bamboo dpns

Finished at last, after being on the needles for over 2 months.  I don’t think I’ve ever taken so long to complete a pair of socks, they were sidelined by the pressures of various presents.  I like this pattern and will probably make it again, good for man socks (just don’t tell them the name of the stitch pattern has ‘baby’ in it).

GM Mouse

pattern: based on Easy Peasy Catnip Mouse Toy by Meelai
yarn: Patons UK Spirit, shade 4503 Bracken
hook: 5 mm

Because Sparky seemed to like playing with soft toys as big as himself

Shap Blue Socks

We went to Rivington again this weekend and I got some knitting done under a tree in the Japanese garden.

Decimal

Body & sleeves finished, now just the button bands to do (ugh) and the sleeves to seam (once I’ve learned mattress stitch).  I have gnawing doubts about the fit but won’t find out until it’s all blocked …. fingers crossed.

I love to go a-wandering

Lack of posting recently reflects a bit of a  lack of knitting (and the one project I have made some progress on is currently embargoed).  Monday being a bank (= public) holiday I was hoping for traditional bank holiday weather so I could curl up on the sofa with my knitting.  But it failed to rain so I had to go out in the Fresh Air and take my Shap socks for a walk around Rivington Pike.

This week looks like being similarly blog- and knitting-light, as I have an assigment due soon.

accommodations

Deciding on which socks to knit next can be a tricky business. You have to try and make sense out of what you want to knit, what your yarn wants to be and what the wearer will wear. It took me a few false starts to work out which pattern was going to best with the black yarn DrM chose for his next socks, but now we are getting along fine

And I finished my bamboo socks, which are a perfect union of yarn and pattern.

pattern: Undulating Rib Socks by Ann Budd, from Favorite Socks
yarn: Violet Green Solemate in Chameleon
needles: 2.75 mm (leg), 2.5 mm (heel & foot) Clover Takumi dpns
love love loving the greens

And now my Owlings are cast on hurray

I’ve said it before

and I’ll no doubt say it again, and it can never be said enough:

I bloody love ravelry

I’ve been swapping again, and received the most amazing box of lurv from my swap partner, including yummy sock yarns cute stitch markers, a squidy bag and a gorgeous hansigurumi octopus.

I love cephalopoda so much, must get around to knitting up the hansigurumi squid pattern I have.

My partner in the same swap has now received her goodies from me and loved them too, and now I can share a couple of small makes I did for the swap.

pattern: Deep Sea Flower Dice Bag by Nina Hyland
yarn: oddment of Noro Kureyon

made for swap and various other cats of my acquaintance
pattern: Easy Peasy Catnip Mouse by Meelai
yarn: random oddments

In between the sewing, I have managed to get in some knitting time too, enough to finish son’s bee socks:

pattern: basic sock, 54 st, leg in k7p1 garter rib
yarn: Opal Rainforest shade 1613 Bee
needles: 2.5 mm dpns

turn the heel on my second bamboo sock and cast on a new pair of socks for DrM. And I am desperate to cast on a pair of Owlings, after meeting Lucyvanp’s cashmere pair at knit night. I have a single ball of alpaca from a swap, and some matching beads.  When my bamboo socks are finished my Owlings are starting.

procrastiknition

I have a big project on at work that must be finished this week.  So obviously this is an ideal time to blog about some recent knitting progress.

Odessa is a great pattern and goes up quickly. I know pretty much exactly how long it took me to make this one for Mel – one round trip to my parents’ (2 x 90 mins) plus two 6 Nations matches (2 x 90 mins, yay for Ireland and boo for England).

pattern: Odessa by Grumperina (available as a free ravelry download)
yarn: Noro Silk Garden Lite 2032

and then on Sunday I made good progress on my undulating rib socks while watching a third 6 Nations match (let’s not talk about Scotland mmkay?). Have the first one finished now and am love love loving the vibrant greens of this VG solemate (shade = Chameleon). In fact am very loving greens in general right now, maybe it’s a spring thing?

sock fail

so, I frogged my Salto socks.  I tried them on after turning the first heel and had to face the fact they were just too small for my traditionally-built calves.  I will definitely make them again, either on larger (2.75 mm) needles or adding stitches,  and also shorten the leg.

Played my joker for the VG-along instead, my frosted berries hat.   I did originally cast this on before the KAL start date but have frogged it back a couple of times and the final version was only cast on after 1st Jan.  The original pattern uses two strands of yarn (one ‘plain’ and one kidsilk haze) but I just used one strand of variegated BFL.  I love how this stitch pattern works with variegated yarns, it really shows them off  (and stops pooling).

pattern: Dusted Hat by Evi T’Bolt (96 st)
yarn: hand-painted Blueface Leicester Aran by Violet Green
needles: 4 mm

Oh and now that my mum has escaped from hospital and got home to open her Christmas presents, I can finally share her Christmas socks (which she says she loves but ‘they’re too good to wear’).

pattern: Monkey by CookieA
yarn: Stroud Supersock in ‘Reason’ Violet Green
needles: 2.5 mm

My current W-i-P is the Chapeau Marnier for a friend.  It’s in the round and I’m two rounds in and already hating the circular needle I’m using.  I hate it when the stitches ’snag’ at the join between the needle and the cord.  Am in That London later this week and hoping iKnit have addis in the right size in stock ….

out with the old, in with the new

my final FO of 2008, finished on 31st Jan Dec, a shawl for my mum who has been in hospital for a bit and looked like she could do with something to keep her shoulders warm while sitting up in bed.

pattern: La La’s Simple Shawl by Laura Linneman (free ravelry download)
yarn: James C. Brett Marble Chunky in 07 Autumn
needles: 6 mm

…. and the first project I cast on in 2009, salto socks for the Violet Green group’s knit-a-long.

This was the progress I made on the first day. Then I realised I’d mis-read the pattern and had to frog most of it out. I am nearly back to this point now …

is it next year yet?

Am looking forward to tomorrow so that I can cast on for the VGAlong – the Fans of Violet Green Ravelry group’s first knit along, any VG yarn and/or VG pattern.  I’m going to do Salto socks in soft green Socrates from the stash.  I have everything ready and am itching to start.

the inevitable knitting blog post-Christmas Christmas gifts special

Now that Christmas is over and most gifts distributed to their intended recipient I can at last show off the things I’ve been working on for months.  I actually started knitting for Christmas back in the summer (that was my excuse for slacking off studying to knit -  it wasn’t slacking off it was getting ready for Xmas).

As this is going to be long and picture heavy, I’m using the fold so click on ‘more’ if you want to wade through everything my friends and relashuns got for Christmas (apologies for some poor quality pictures due to grabbing last minute shots before wrapping)

did I mention …

…. how I can make it at home for nothing? Passed one of the northern quarter’s fine geek emporia while on my way to Abakhan today and saw this in the window

s’not as cute as mine.

Still mostly all about the Christmas knitting at the moment, but it’s nearly over, only a quarter of a scarf left to go.  There has been a little non-Christmas knitting, my neighbour broke her ankle so I’ve made her a festive cast sock from stash oddments

And once I have the final scarf finished and blocking (hopefully some time tomorrow) I’ll be starting a shawl for mum, hence the trip to Abakhan for more marble chunky.