My 2019

I decided to make a collage of all my makes this year and share it that way. I had no idea I created to little and all of them (pretty much) are socks. How dull. I did go through long spells of not knitting at all which made these photo’s harder to find among all the cat photos. Speaking of the cat. I started the year by finishing a crochet blanket using scraps of sock yarn. It was for her tree which I got her last Christmas. It’s the only item of crochet I have done this year. I really should make her some more. The second photo is my favourite socks this year. The patter in called Anniversary Socks by Nancy Bush (one of my favourite sock designers). The yarn is by Mermaids Purse. It has a donegal base which is also my favourite. I need to knit these again as I gave this pair away to our ward Clark after she told me she loved knitted socks. It’;s always nice to find a new recipient. The only other one I will mention is the stocking which I loved knitting. I’ve already posted about that though.

The bulk of my knitting was done in a very short period of time and was for charity. Again, I have already posted about this. Since I did seven pairs of socks out of 400g of yarn and in less than 2 months I felt it only right that it should be hosted here too.

Lastly here are four pairs of socks all done in my Zig-Zag lace design. I have plans to publish this pattern via revelry by the end of January. That’s the hope anyway. I just need to knit one more pair in a solid sock yarn and I also want to get some sock blockers for the photograph. 

This year I also discovered podcasts. That is knitting podcasts. Why has it taken me so long to do so? They are so inspiring. As a result of watching these podcasts I have a few challenges for the New Year. That will be for my next post but I am hoping that  the result will be a less boring post when I show off 2020.

I hope all of you had a more interesting year and I can’t wait to see what everyone plans for 2020.

Last Make of the Year

I hope that everyone had a lovely Christmas. Ours was quiet spend with family and the cat (who loved the day but not the journey). No crafting gifts but I was thoroughly spoiled with lots of other goodies. Self care will be very easy at the start of this year anyway. I’ve also got a lovely cookbook to try which happens to be healthy. Looking forward to that. My dad also got me some loose Rose tea which I have been dying to try and all the tools needed to make it. I can now highly recommend Whittard’s English Rose tea. 

I have finished the last make of the year. In fact I managed to finish it before Christmas which is good since it’s a Christmas present. I once again used my zig-zag lace pattern. I promise this is the last time you will see it before I put the official pattern out. I wanted to see how it would look in a variegated yarn. To be honest I’m not a fan. While the yarn doesn’t drown out the pattern I don’t think the pattern does the yarn any favours. This would look so much prettier on a plain sock. I’m not sure if the same would be true if I picked out a sock with a longer striping effect. It would be interesting to see. These socks are for a friend in work. I just hope she likes them better than I do.

I love the yarn itself. It is a sparkle sock yarn by Orange Jellyfish Dream. i am sure I have mentioned this hand dyer before. The dolour way is called Lightening Strike. It’s beautiful in the skein and I am sorry that I didn’t give it a chance to shine. The yarn is a merino/nylon blend and has a lovely texture to it. I loved knitting with it. Orange Jellyfish Dream is an American based Indie Dyer. The last time (which was a long time ago) I ordered yarn I was charged a fortune when I went to collect it from the post office. No fault of the dyer but I haven’t ordered any more since and I am trying to buy more locally with my yarns. It’s a shame though as it is a lovely yarn.

I do have a few other projects on the pins. I am working on my secret gift for my sister. Yes, I have missed the deadline. I am over halfway but it is taking me a lot longer than I thought. I don’t see how I will get it finished before the New Year. I am also working on a hat for myself. This is purely a project to work on when my sister is over. It’s a lovely pattern and yarn and I can’t wait to show it.

My nest post I plan to show off some of the things I have done this year as an overview. My first post of 2020 will be about my plans for the new Year. I may be a bit adventurous there but OI’m optimistic that I will manage some of what I plan if not all.

In the meantime please tell me I wasn’t the only one who has a gift unfinished.

A Trio of Reviews

It has been some time since I have reviewed anything here. Let’s be fair, until recently it had been a while since I had done anything here. However, I felt it was time I reviewed something. Mainly because I can’t show any of my gift knitting yet. Yes, less than four days until Christmas and I am still gift knitting. Not unheard of but two of those days will be spent working on a busy ward. It’s unlikely the gift will be finished. Thankfully I have an understanding sister.

Yesterday I was returning from work. I was actually there to hand something in and not actually on shift. I timed it well so that the station was busy. Rather than get on the short train I decided to wait for the longer route and much quieter train. It made sense to go look at books and magazines. I came across a copy of The Knitter while I was there. I thought this magazine had stopped publishing. I used to love it. My mum and I would buy it every month and read it together. I picked it up because I was feeling nostalgic but actually I found myself enjoying it.

I loved the cable jumper shown on the cover. I normally like a longer jumper and I suppose you could lengthen it but actually this looks good in the shorter length and I can see myself one day attempting to knit it. There is also a good section on colourwork with various designers writing about their inspiration and their top tips. I actually recognised these designers and have admired their work in the past (thank you fruity knitting). There is also a pattern for a lovely colourwork jumper. The colours are all bright and not really me but that’s the great thing about these things. You can change them to suit. There is also a mini project to try your hand at colourwork and a beautiful beret which I have put on my to do list. I need to look out my old copies of this magazine and I will definitely be picking it up next month.

My sister spotted this book in the library. It’s a little late to be doing any of them now but there is always next year. There are some great patterns in there at varying levels with lots of different techniques to keep you interested. I haven’t actually knitted any of these but the patterns look to be well written out. They are broken down into sections which is always helpful. My particular favourites are the little ornaments at the back. I especially like the mini ski sweaters (I realise these aren’t stockings).

I have a new obsession. I am in love with fair iris. I wish that I was good at it but I guess that just takes practise. This book by Monica Russel was also from the library. It’s a good beginners book. The first section goes over technique with some clear photographs. YouTube will be hard to beat for technique but this was pretty well done. It then shows some charts used for borders and there are a few easy patterns to get you started. It then goes on to show more complex charts and these are my favourites. There is a fair isle dress in there that I especially love.

I’m not sure that I will buy either of these books but they were definitely worth borrowing from the library.

Lainbow’s Zig-Zag Lace socks.

Or should they be called the brightest socks in the world? After over a year of having this yarn that Lorraine had bought especially for me to knit her socks I finally did it. Since it was a semi-solid colour I decided to use my zig-zag lace pattern. Obviously I made sure Lorraine was happy with that. I’m glad she was as I am really pleased with how it turned out. It’s difficult to see here but the pattern suits the yarn. I don’t think it would work out with a self striping yarn. It might be interesting to try it though.

I showed the yarn on the last post. It’s by Hedgehog Fibres and is a merino/nylon blend. The colour is such a bright pink and I love its name, pinky swear. It was fun to knit with so I’m glad my sister chose it. The texture of the yarn is a little rougher than I expected. perhaps due to the amount of dye used. However, it knits up well and the texture is actually perfect for socks. They feel sturdier as a result.

I have plans to try out the pattern on variegated yarn to see how it goes. I have my doubts that it will work with those. The yarns I plan to use are all from my stash and I have picked them out already. In the New Year I will knit the pattern up for a final time which will be used in order to publish the pattern. I hope you won’t be sick of the sight of it by then.

Stephen & Penelope

Every time I go somewhere I like to plan a trip to a local yarn shop. Not that I am well travelled. This year was a special birthday and I was taken to Prague. I’m a little sorry to say that I didn’t look out any local yarn shops. The year before we went on a family trip to Amsterdam. I love Amsterdam. I have been there at least 5 or 6 times and I am never bored of it. I love the culture, the atmosphere and the history. It was nice that we were going as a family and this time I was especially looking forward to one thing. I didn’t care what I did so long as at some point I got to visit Stephen & Penelope. A yarn store which is rather famous among knitters. Mainly because of Stephen is none other than Stephen West of  West Knits. One of my favourite knitting designers.

On our last full day there we did indeed make it to the famed store. It’s in a lovely area with lots of nice stores. Thankfully also a cafe nearby where my dad and uncle went so that I wouldn’t feel rushed. The store is lovely inside and out. Filled with beautiful yarns, books, kits and accessories. I was in heaven. The staff were lovely too and from what I could gather it seemed to be popular with locals as well as visitors like myself. If you are ever in Amsterdam you have to go. Just be prepared for the fact that you won’t leave without buying something.

Along the road from our hotel there was also a lovely little quilting shop. There was one day my sister and I had the morning to ourselves as there was a museum we wanted to visit and my dad and uncle had something else planned. Since my sister likes to sew too we couldn’t not pay it a visit. The shop is called Original Dutch Fabric and it is actually a lot bigger that it appears on the outside. The shop is filled with a fabulous choice in fabrics as well as quilts made by the owner and her friends. They were so beautiful and the lady who owns the shop was lovely and happily chatted away. 

While both my sister and I did buy some fabric I have put mine away with all of my other fabrics. I haven’t had the chance to look it out. Of course I also bought some yarn at Stephen & Penelope. My sister wanted to buy me some sock yarn. I only agreed to it if she picked and bought yarn for what would become a pair of socks for herself. She chose the pink. I picked out and bought the grey and I have plans to use that in the new year. I have purchased Hedgehog Fibre yarns before but it’s not the same as buying it in the shop.

I would have happily bought kits and books and spent a small fortune. Instead I limited myself to a couple of cute accessories. A little key ring that also acts as a needle gage. I have a few of these but none in the shape of a Dutch building. I also got these cute little bicycle stitch markers to add to my collection.

Even if you are not a knitter or a sewer I would still recommend Amsterdam. It’s a beautiful city which has a lot to offer all types of visitors. Even though I didn’t go to any yarn shops in Prague I would also recommend there too. It’s also beautiful with lots to see and do. I would suggest going during the week as wee did to avoid the stags and hens.