I’ve Been Bad Part 3 (the final....for now)

 

I have been so bad at casting on new projects before finishing others. My Victoria top by West Yorkshire Spinners has been a victim of this. I had to rip out a few repeats of the pattern which put it on hold. Hundreds of stitches to frog in 2ply. I eventually did and I am at the point where I just need to finish the neck and then I can join them together before working on the sleeves. I needed time to be able to concentrate on that since this was only my second garment. So I worked on other things until I could do that and until I ordered a second stitch holder (since ordered and found other stitch holders). My Christmas knitting has put this on the back burner. Even my sister has commented on it and I’ve been told by her that I need to start working on it again after Christmas.

This zipped cardigan is the work in progress which replaced the Victoria. It’s called Franck by Bergere de France and is a delight to knit. I have been doing lots of other things in between and it’s surprising how fast I have been knitting it up. I even spotted a mistake in the pattern. Just a small one but since I am new to garments I am proud of myself. I am on the second sleeve. Next is the collar and then the sewing. I’m not actually dreading the sewing because I am so excited to see it finished. This will be part of my dad’s Christmas present.

My weekends have become dedicated to sock knitting. I’m sure I have mentioned this before. The Loveliest Yarn Company challenged the group to a sock knitting weekend and I have decided to keep it going. It means I can work on bigger projects during the week and still get to knit my beloved socks. For the most part it has been fine even when working. I have managed to knit quite a few pairs as a result. These cat socks though have proven to be a nightmare. Turns out I can only knit them during the day due to the black yarn. I’ve changed the lightbulbs in my lamps to cool in the hopes that it will help as I want them done for my sister. The second problem has been that when I am not working my sister has been spending quite a bit of her time staying with me (I’m her bubble). Today I might get the chance to work on them a little.

So, that has meant that I have been working on other socks. I knitted socks as part of a gift to my line manager since I would be leaving her. Then I was working on Christmas socks for myself and my sister. I thought it would be fun to do our own version of a Christmas Eve box with matching jammies, socks, snacks and wine. I finished the second pair last night.

Sundays became Study Sunday thanks to an idea from Stephen & Penelope’s Instagram account. I wanted practise on my colour work so bought this hat kit. It will also be a gift for my sister. I just need to attach the Pom Pom which I have yet to find the time to do.

I bought this beautiful set of yarn from For the Love of Yarn. Through Lisa’s instagram account I saw that she was making kits for people taking part in a MacMillan Knit a long. A charity that is close to me I signed up and ordered the yarn. The colours are beautiful and the pattern is lovely too. I’ve just not had the chance to cast it on yet. It looks like it will be a quick project so I am hoping to get it started and finished in time for Christmas. Maybe after I have finished my dad’s zipped jacket.

This scarf by Martin Storey has been the biggest victim. I started this at the start of the year as part of my project of trying new things and challenging myself. It took a back seat to my sock knitting due to lockdown. Then to my knitalong cardigan and then all the other projects I have started since. It’s almost finished too. I WILL get it finished.

I’ve Been Bad Part 2.

 

Part 2 of ‘I’ve been bad’ involves baking. I’ve been doing a lot of baking. The above tart is the one that I am most proud of. Remember I am new to pastry. However, I decided to be brave and give it a go. I decided to use Peter’s recipe from GBBO as it was there on the website. Plus it looked delicious. There were a lot of things new to me. Not only making the base but also the delicious (for it was delicious) fruity layers. This is a blackberry and lemon tart. I couldn’t have been more pleased as to how it turned out. If you can’t take my word for it then trust my sister who loved it. I am thinking of making it again for her birthday dessert. I did forgo the caramelised nuts for decorations because I just didn’t want to but I did do the rest. I think that I did need to add more of the gelatine (I used a vegetarian substitute). If anyone can tell me how to accurately work that out I’m all ears. 

I’ve also been baking banana bread (requested by work friends) and soda bread and right now I have just finished baking my peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies. You’ve seen all that before though. For bread week on Bake off I chose the steamed rolls. They just looked so good. Again I chose Peter’s recipe of Chicken Katsura rolls. However, I swapped out the chicken and used paneer instead. They don’t look pretty and I’m sure that Paul Holllywood would say they are a mess. But the tasted so good. I even have enough filling in the freezer to make more.

A wee sneak peak of the inside. I haven’t make anything for 80’s week, dessert week or patisserie week. Mainly because I’ve been too busy and I haven’t really been inspired. I have considered the quiche but not enough to do anything about it. Cheesecake is the only thing from dessert week that I would make and I’ve made plenty of those in the past. Pattiserie week it would really be the cubed cakes but I’m not buying moles just to destroy them once I’ve finished with them. Maybe I should try some patisserie I have always wanted to bake. Anyway, looking forward to the final tomorrow and I have some cookies to munch on while I watch. Sadly, I am working and don’t get home on time but thanks to All 4 I will only be 20 minutes behind.

I’ve Been Bad Part 1

 

I have been very bad of late. November I had planned to get in all my Christmas shopping. And actually, I am almost finished on that front. However, I did not plan to buy myself yarn at the end of October. But I did. I’m not even sorry. My bank balance probably is but I’m not. The lovely Lisa of For the Love of Yarn has been VERY busy of late. Go follow her on Instagram and you will see for yourself. With three children and her own business she is always busy but she’s been busy on the creative front. She brought out a new striped yarn base and she is calling it the Glesga Zebra. All of them are beautiful and all of them are linked to famous Glasgow slang. I picked this one because it’s called Ya Belter which is apt for this colour (because it is a belter).

It gave me an excuse to buy this yarn which I have been coveting for so long. The colour inspiration is my favourite soft drink, Irn Bru. If you are Scottish and don’t like Irn Bru there is something wrong with you (I’m including my sister’s BFF in that one). It’s such a vibrant yarn and it fits the drink perfectly. I can’t wait to knit with it. The problem is that both my sister and I will fight over who gets it. So I might have to design a pair of shorties or splash out on a second skein.

My Sea Creatures subscription also arrived and it it a beautiful purple. This is of course by Mothy and the Squid. Her inspiration this month is the Ochre Starfish. Mothy has also been busy of late which you can see from her Instagram (again she usually is busy). Just now she is working towards her own studio. She has signed up to Kickstarter and there are various ways you can help. I’ve signed up for a skein of sock yarn. Please go check it out or check out her Instagram.

Not from one of my friends I’m afraid. I have seen a few people knitting with WYS sock yarn of late and I’ve been a little envious. Sometimes it’s good to have a few of these in your stash for when you want to knit up something simple and effective. Although Christmas is up in the air for most of us at the moment I have one good thing about it. Thanks to my new job I will guarantee to have Christmas and New Year off. New Year I’m not so bothered about but I have always preferred Christmas off. It was my mum’s birthday and it was her favourite holiday. My family struggle at that time of year and I am still a huge fan. I try to make it a good time as I can which isn’t possible if I am working. So this year I will be in a new job and finishing at a reasonable time. We are assuming that we will not be going to my dad’s. So my sister is staying with me. She will be there on Christmas Eve and I have bought us matching pyjamas. I decided also to knit us matching socks and what better than to use Christmas themed yarn. My sister picked it from the name alone which is Candy Cane. I love it.                                     

   This one I didn’t purchase. I talk often about the Flower Power fund which raises money for Marie Curie. I have purchased yarn and patterns which have went towards this. Every so often the lady who runs it holds a raffle with dyers and makers donating items. Anyone who donates a pound to the just giving page is in with a chance of winning. A few weeks ago I had noticed I had a message from the organiser saying that I had won. I was tagged in the announcement post but didn’t see it. I never win these things so I didn’t expect it and winning is besides the point really. However, I feel privileged to have been the winner for this yarn by London House Yarns. The sock set is called Hermione and it is so pretty. I can’t wait to knit it up and I know who I will be knitting the socks for (of course it will be socks). I have never used London House Yarns before so I will be looking forward to that alone.

  Lastly this one is not yarn related. For the last few years or so I buy my sister an advent calendar because it was something my mum always did. My mum always bought us the Cadbury one which has the same thing behind the same doors every year (I know because timehop would show me). For a few years I got her the Loccitaine calendar and I would usually get myself a yarn one. Then I got it for us both and it was fun opening our calendars each day. Took us back to our childhood. Then last year I went for the paperchase as we both love stationary and I thought it would be a fun change. Which it was. There were issue with the delivery though and their courier recently let me down again so as much as I love the store I won’t be ordering from them unless they change their courier. I then saw that Nikki’s Supply Store was doing one and what could be more perfect. It’s still stationary so it is something we can both share and it supports small business. I can’t wait until December 1st.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

GBBO 2020 - Week - I Don’t Know

 

Apologies for not posting in a while. My mood hasn’t been that great. Nothing to worry about. Just stresses from work which is to be expected given the way things are. If you have followed me on twitter or Instagram then you might be aware that I have a new job and I finally have a start date. That job will get me back to doing what I love doing. Concentrating on my patients. I am already counting down my shifts. 

In the meantime, while I have been away from the blog, I have kept busy. I have been knitting and baking on my time off. I have also been reading more. I was sad to be behind in my Bake Off posts though. I have been watching every week and I have been enjoying it. We have had biscuit week, bread week, chocolate week and pastry week. There has been dramas where people haven’t agreed with who is being sent home. And someone is being accused of being an unfair favourite. This seems to happen every year. For me, I have been just enjoying the bakers and the baking. They seem to be a lovely group and they certainly keep you on your toes. They all failed miserably at the easiest of bakes - brownies. Then most of them excel at pastries. We have said goodbye to Mak, Rowan, Sura and Linda. As to who is leading, well there are a few stars but it’s not clear as to who might win.

I have continued to bake along with watching. I made the coconut macaroons from biscuit week. I chose only to do the chocolate ones and I used milk chocolate rather than dark which is just a personal favourite of mine. Sadly, I didn’t enjoy them. They just weren’t for me. Easy to make though.

For bread week I made Mark’s stout and chocolate soda bread. Again easy to make and I was chuffed on how it turned out. Not for me again though. This time I took it in to work and it was quickly devoured with everyone raving about it. Glad it was just me who didn’t like it but I wonder if sweet soda bread just isn’t for me.

Next I went to the Good Food website to bake a plain soda bread. It’s so easy to make. Definitely a good way of getting into baking bread. This time I enjoyed it. I have plans to make it again along with some home made soup at the weekend.

For chocolate week I really only had one choice. That was the week of the ill fated brownie. I’m not a huge fan of brownies anyway. Plus, I wasn’t going to make a three tiered white chocolate cake. So I decided to make the technical option which was the babka. I ended up using a recipe by Martha Collison which sounded very similar to the one on the show. It was actually fun to make. Not only did it turn out but I actually liked it. Would definitely make it again and I recommend the recipe I used. 

I am one recipe behind and that’s pastry. I had to order a few pieces of equipment for that but it’s items I have been meaning to pick up for other recipes (I can justify just about anything). After my three shifts on I plan to attempt a tart. I think that will be a challenging one for me but I’m excited about trying it.

The first image isn’t mine and belongs to GBBO. Most of the recipes you can find from there. If you go to the BBC Good Food app you will find the Irish Soda Bread. Definitely worth a try.

GBBO 2020 - Week 1

 

It’s that time of year again where I every week I watch bake off and actually want to bake. Actually, I didn’t watch it last year. I eventually came off my high horse of never watching it again since it moved channel. I got over that but last year I was just too busy and I never did get the chance to catch up with it as planned. This year though I will watch it and I am in the mood to bake along.

I was a little sad to see Sandy leave as a cohost but Matt Lucas has proven to be fun and I’m looking forward to watching him and Noel. I see he has already caused with his opening but I thought it was funny. The contestants themselves seem like a nice bunch and I am looking forward to getting to know them as the show progresses. Warning, if you haven’t seen this episode I suggest you don’t read any further.

The first week was cake week and the signature dish is battenberg. Didn’t realise how controversial a battenberg is. Most people love it or hate it. I’m afraid I myself am not a fan as I hate marzipan. My gran used to buy a battenberg to bring over for a cup of tea. I could tolerate it as the marzipan was so thin I could peel it off and the cake would just taste like cake. With the bakers versions though the marzipan looked so thick for most that peeling wouldn’t work. It was interesting though to see all the different flavours. The one above is by baker Dave and is probably the one that appealed to me most as it is a chocolate espresso martini. Seeing this I wish I liked it. I am pretty sure that this isn’t the first time this cake made an appearance on bake off. Wasn’t it a technical dish at some point?

The technical was a classic. Pineapple upside down cake. This was one of my mum’s specialities after her scones and her Christmas cake and dumpling. However, she didn’t make it like this. There was no caramel or whipped cream. Plus it was one cake and not lots of individual cakes. She also substituted the cherry for jam as she hated cherries. Still, it was an interesting take on the classic and I think most of the bakers seemed to struggle with it. Poor Dave though. His went flying through the air after poor Sura tried to swat away a fly and didn’t see Dave coming up behind her. I felt so sorry for her. If you fancy trying this recipe you will find it on the GBBO website. It’s a Paul recipe in case you were wondering.

Lastly was the show stopper and the bakers had to make a sculpture of someone they admired made mostly from cake. In other words they couldn’t cheat by using mainly rice crispy treats as a base (guess who has watched cake wars). This was hilarious. Some of the most disturbing sculptures were seen that day. The winner of the week was Peter who kind of cheated since he sculpted Chris hoy in his cycling helmet and glasses. You have to admire him for that though. Plus, all of his bakes turned out well so I think it was well deserved. It did make me wonder who I would choose to sculpt. I would struggle I think as some of the people I admire I think it would be seen as poor taste. However, I did think that Stephen King would be a good one since I think he would have a sense of humour about it.

Sadly the first contestant to go was Loriea. She wasn’t the only one to have a bad week to be honest so I think it must have been a difficult decision. I did honestly think that she has scraped a pass (despite using bubblegum flavouring but that’s just my personal taste). She doesn’t appear to be on twitter but you can follow her and see her bakes on Instagram under Loriea_cc.

As always with GBBO, none of these images belong to me but do belong to Channel 4 and the GBBO franchise.

So I had a go at my mum’s recipe. My dad had sent it to me along with her scone recipe many moons ago. I should have used a small tin and I should have added the cherries after it came out the oven (perhaps with jam as per my mum). However, it actually turned out well. It tasted just like my mum’s and the sponge was light. I will definitely make this again. I decided not to make the GBBO version because I didn’t have the little tins and I wanted to use my mum’s recipe. I’m pleased with the result. 

Happy Birthday To Me!

 

So my birthday was a month ago now and some of these purchases are not as a result of my birthday. But any excuse to buy yourself yarn goodies or show off your yarn goodies, right? So first up is the most recent goodies from the Sea Creatures club by Mothy & the Squid. This one is based on The Southern Blue Devil Fish. How beautiful is this? I love the deep blues and it matches the fish perfectly. I am also in love with the little coaster that came with it. Will definitely be using it.

So here is what I did treat myself to for my birthday. So, a friend of my sister asked what I had bought myself for my birthday. I hadn’t thought about it to be honest. I asked if paying my NMC fees (that’s right £120 to be allowed to do my job) counted. Apparently not. As luck would have it The Loveliest Yarn Company then posted that they would receive more copies of 52 Weeks of Socks published by Laine magazine and we could pre-order. I have been considering purchasing this book since it was first out for pre-order. As I had a lot of sock knitting books and was starting to design my own I held out. This is such a beautiful book though. Above all of my sock knitting books. It’s a solid hardback book with lovely binding. A book for the coffee table (if you like coffee table books). There are so many beautiful patterns in there. I know a few people are challenging themselves to knit them all. I might do the same but I am thinking that I will hold off until the new year. Something for me to look forward to. Now the question is do I start at pattern 1 or do I randomly choose what appeals to me?

Another book that has been on my radar is Cat Knits by Marna Gilligan. It’s the hat that I liked immediately and I thought my sister would love it. So I added this to my birthday shopping. It is another lovely book (not a coffee table book). Definitely only for the cat fans among you. There are quite a few patterns in there that I would knit. Plus my sister has already earmarked which ones she would like. I’m surprised she hasn’t done what she does when I get a new cookbook. Which is place a post it to ensure I know what she wants. I’m looking forward to it.

I saw this zipped cardigan in an issue of The Knitter and I really wanted to knit it for my dad. He has something similar (bought) which he wears all the time and I thought it would be nice that I knitted one. I know he had a jumper from my mum that he wore to death. Since I knitted my own cardigan he has been hinting (I say hinting, there was no real hint to it) that I knit him a 2ply colourwork vest. Keep in mind I am a beginner with large garments. My mum always refused to knit him this so I was quite happy also refusing his request. However, I thought this would be perfect. I ordered the yarn direct from Bergere de France. It’s actually fairly reasonable and it comes in lots of lovely colours. I have to admit that I had to reign in my excitement at the colours and remember who I was knitting for. I think my dad would have preferred a much darker grey. I decided to go with the lighter though as it suits him and I still need to knit it. I’m pleased to say that it is already on the pins and is knitting up well so far.

Lastly, I bought a hat kit from Toft. This is for my sister for her Christmas/birthday (haven’t decided which yet). I finally caught up with all the Fruity Knitting episodes and really liked the interview with Toft. The podcasters daughter had also knit this very hat as a way of practising her colourwork skills. I thought that would be perfect so picked out colours that I thought my sister would like. I love that the kit comes in a drawstring bag and the pattern is downloadable (which I have still to do). I think I will cast this on for #StudySunday.

Seed Head Socks

The latest socks I have finished are another favourite. These are the Seed Head Socks by Vikki Bird Designs. I have linked her Love Crafts page rather than the design on ravelry so that no one needs to worry about clicking on the link. She has some very pretty designs. I especially like her fox mitts. Please go check her out.

This pattern was designed for the Flower Power Fund and for a period of time proceeds wend to the flower power fund which raises money for Marie Curie. It was how I came across the pattern and the designer. I was immediately taken by the pattern because it looked so delicate. I also knew that there was something new for me to learn from it (such as the little seed heads). The socks are toe up. If you know me you will be aware (maybe) that I am not a fan of toe up. The first time I tried it I was taught by the lovely Ginnie (otherwise known as the sock lady). It was a basic sock and I found that it took so much longer than a cuff down. I don’t know why that would be since your not knitting any more than you would cuff down. However, with this pair and another (I think it was the Christmas stocking) I was learning a new method of casting on. I also had the added joy of knitting the design running up the centre of the sock. I was certainly not bored. It’s a beautiful knit and I enjoyed every second of it. The pattern was written well. It used both charts and written instructions which was helpful. Plus it linked to YouTube videos for the cast on and the seed heads. I highly recommend this pattern for anyone who would like to move beyond the basic pattern. What I will say is that I don’t normally block my socks. My sock blockers are purely for taking photographs. However, these socks do need blocking to show off the pretty pattern.

The yarn I used was a sock yarn by Countess Ablaze. The colour way is called “You look like a bag of spinach”. I initially was going to use a deep pink Donegal yarn. When this arrived though I knew straight away that this was the perfect yarn for the pattern. The delicate colours matched the pattern perfectly and that the two would harmonise rather than drown each other out. The yarn is lovely to work with. Initially I found it a little splitty but that was purely me doing a cast on method I had done only once before. Once I got into the pattern I had absolutely no issues with it and could enjoy it. If you saw last months haul post you will see I have another skein of yarn from Countess Ablaze and I just need to find the perfect sock pattern for it.

These socks (like the last pair) have already been given away. This time to my sister’s best friend. She’s a key worker within a care setting. She’s currently having to isolate for two weeks and my sister wanted to send her a care package and I suggested she put these in with it. She has liked the plain socks I have knitted for her so I think she will like these too.

Next post will probably be another finish as this weekend I am working on a pair of slippers (they are very sock like). I have fixed my Victoria top but couldn’t find my stitch holders and had to order more. I hope to get back on track with that. I have also started my Christmas knitting. Then there is bake off starting next week and I might start my weekly bake off posts again (I’ve gotten over the move to channel 4 although I didn’t watch it last year).

I hope that you are all staying safe both physically and mentally.

Whitethorn Socks

 

These socks are my latest finish from my regular weekend socks challenge. I’m not sure why I call it a challenge as I really don’t need an incentive to concentrate on socks. Anyway. I think that these are my favourites so far. I know I say that every time I finish a pair but at the moment it is true of these. First of all a little warning the link to the pattern will take you to ravelry. 

The pattern is called “Whitethorn Socks” by Lindsey Fowler of Lost and Found. It’s a beautiful pattern and one that I think changes with the colours you use. If you are able to do so you will see on the pattern cover that they are knitted up in a light coloured yarn which shows them off as quite delicate. I feel that this rich green gives them a chunkier, cosy look. I quite like a pattern that does that and I will be knitting these again as a result. The pattern itself is very easy to follow. The cables are an 8 round repeat and very memorable. I think so long as you have a little familiarity with cables this would be a good pattern for anyone wanting to move away from the basic sock.

The yarn is a sock yarn by Mothy and the Squid. It’s part of her Sea Creatures club and this one is inspired by the giant cuttlefish. I LOVE this colourway. I love how rich the greens look thanks to the subtle variations of the shades. I worried that a pattern would drown this out. However, I also felt that it was a little too special for just a plain sock. I am so glad that I chose the pattern that I did as I feel that the two compliment each other. This was a beautiful yarn to work with. I always love knitting with Mothy’s yarns but to have a pattern that you have fallen in love with two doubles that feeling. It was to the extent that I didn’t want to finish knitting them which I think is why it took a little longer than it normally would.

Now, I had promised myself that these socks were for me. I promised myself with the yarn and with the pattern individually. Then a friend in work gifted me some fudge she had made herself. If you follow me on Instagram you will have seen a photo of it. It was the most delicious fudge that I have ever tasted. My sister has said to me that my friend is her new best friend and will be forever known as fudge lady. I of course cleaned out her tub and was prepared to return it. I wanted to fill it though with something I had made before handing it back (has anyone heard of that? I thought it was a thing but seems I’m the only one who thought so). My oven is temperamental just now and while it’s fine for cooking not so fine for baking. I then decided to give her a pair of socks and I thought these were perfect for her. It wasn’t even painful to part with. She loved them and was showing them off all day. The added bonus was that green is her favourite colour. I must have instinctively known.

August Yarn Haul and the Last.

 

This will be my last yarn haul this year (planned yarn haul at least). My sock yarn stash has grown exponentially thanks to this and I need time to catch up. Also with the dreaded C coming up I need to plan for that. Which means back to project buying only.

The final yarn dyer to highlight is Countess Ablaze. I have never knit with her yarn but I am excited to do so now. I came across Countess Ablaze through watching podcasts by Fruity Knitting. The Countess came up a few times. The first when watching their backlog and they were having brief chats with various vendors at the Edinburgh yarn festival. While watching I take notes of various people to look up whether its books, designers, bloggers or yarn dyers. Countess stood out for me because of her story behind the yarns. I thought it was genius how she gives her yarns names. The second episode featuring Countess was an interview and by that point I was all caught up. I was excited to see an interview by someone I recognised from previous episodes and looked forward to it. If you haven’t seen this interview you should. It was so heartfelt, open and brave. I think a lot of viewers felt that way on watching it, judging by the comments. I already followed Countess Ablaze on Instagram at this point and was already a fan. Since COVID my admiration of Countess Ablaze has grown due to her work ethic and her prioritising her team and their safety. If I come across as being a bit of a fan it’s because I am and that’s without having tried her yarn. Go visit her website, visit her Instagram page and watch the interview. 

I found it difficult to choose a yarn to be honest. There were so many beautiful colours and so many fantastic titles. In the end I had to focus. I went straight for the sock yarn and looked at the colours that appealed to me the most. The two I picked out are from the Rebel batch - rare insults (how brilliant is that). This one is called “He Turned This Boy Into A Picasso Painting”. This is what I mean about these amazing titles. The colours are a beautiful range of purples and plumbs and the yarn base is a BFL/nylon blend making it perfect for socks. I might knit this one up for someone. I have someone in mind for a pair of socks and this colour might be perfect.

This one is my favourite for both its name and its colour. The yarn is called “You look like a bag of frozen Spinach,” and sometimes I do. I might have to use that insult. Like the Picasso the yarn base is BFL/nylon. The colour is so delicate and I have the perfect pattern for it. It might be used on my next sock saturday/sock Sunday. Although I think I said that with the last yarn haul. Regardless, this will selfishly be for me. Will be a nice change from all the bold colours I have been knitting with recently.

 

Lastly we have Augusts Sea creature club box from Mothy & the Squid. Although I will no longer be buying yarns to highlight businesses for the next few months I will be keeping with this subscription. It’s been nice having one again and I’ve been looking forward to it every month. I recently mentioned on someone’s photo that Mothy is an artist and she is. I love her inspirations. This months is my new favourite. I love a blue colourway and this one is so rich. It’s based on the Bluebell Tunicates and it’s just so pretty. When I knit with this it will also be for me. Selfish I know but I am not giving it away. Too pretty. I just need to find the perfect pattern for it. I love the little pin badge that came with it too. Would have been apt in my last speciality. I’ll still do a post to show off these boxes but it will have to be under a new name.

I have enjoyed making these posts and I have enjoyed looking out yarns and highlighting my friends as well as businesses new to me. I especially have liked all the socks I have managed to knit with my hauls so far. I am sure that my little blog hasn’t done much to boost anyone’s business but if it has inspired even just one person then I’m happy. I might do this again next summer.

My Orange Socks

 

These socks may now be my new favourite. You have no idea how much I love them. They are so comfortable. Just to warn anyone having difficulties viewing ravelry the following link will take you to ravelry. The pattern is called Tauriel Socks by Maven Crafted. Like all the patterns I seem to fall in love with these days I first came across it on Instagram. It seemed that everyone was knitting them and I knew instantly that I had to too. You have no idea how difficult it was since I had to wait as the first few times I saw it the finished knits were from test knitters and the pattern itself had yet to be released. Such a tease! It worked though as I purchased it as soon as it came out. I personally think it was worth the wait and the purchase. It’s a beautiful pattern to knit and uses a simple method for a very effective result.

I did go a size bigger than I normally would. I went for my usual size and the colours of the yarn were pooling badly. It was very noticeable. As I was determined that this yarn and this pattern were meant to be I upped the size and it resolved the issue. It also mean that I had a slightly bigger pair of socks than normal but actually that worked out too. These are so comfy to wear slouching about the house. I highly recommend. 

The yarn is called Jayne and is by Sealy MacWheely. This was the first time I have knitted with her yarn and I was so excited to do so. I think this colourway was meant for this pattern. I love it! It was very tempting to knit a hat with it (given the inspiration) but once I decided on this pattern I couldn’t imagine it with anything else. They yarn is beautiful to work with. Very soft and very cosy. If you have never used Sealy MacWheely yarn before I highly recommend that you do (she’s also the bestie of a very good friend of mine and so deserves the love for that alone).

My blockers were a little too narrow for the sock so it didn’t block very well but this is the design at the front (go to instagram and I am sure you will find far superior images of other finishes). It looks perfect on my feet though but I will not put you through a photo of those. 

These socks were knitted as part of my Sock Weekends. The first weekend in August I was working so I didn’t do my socks weekend. Basically, I had done the cuff of a new pattern and as I had yet to establish the pattern repeat I didn’t think it was a good idea to begin it while having my morning coffee. Instead I worked on my summery top. The weekend just gone I did very little but I managed to do a bit of knitting on the Sunday. Not much progress as I ripped it all out and started again. However, it’s another pair of socks knitted a little bigger. Another pattern and colourway that I am in love with. Can’t wait to share it.

July Yarn Haul

So, it would seem that I am not the brightest. If you follow me on twitter and instagram you would have seen that I was having issues with blogger. I was able to see my posts but not actually access the blog management side. I assumed that blogger was down at first. Then I remembered that blogger was changing its format and so I finally worked out how to be able to post. Hence, my July haul is late. Very late as August’s haul is already here but I’ll post that at the end of the month.

Anyway, moving on. As I said previously I was choosing a hand dyer that was new to me. I have ordered from her shop before but never her own yarns. I have mentioned The Loveliest Yarn Company numerous times so it was about time I tried their own yarn which is under the label Banshee yarns. The base is the party yarn range and the base is a merino/cashmere/nylon blend. This colourway is just so pretty . I love the contrast between the yellows and the greys. It’s called Koi gone awry.

This one is my favourite. I love the reds. I rarely buy sock yarn with red through it. I don’t know why as I always love it. I think my mum would have loved this one and I would definitely have knitted her socks with it. The title is very apt too as it would have appealed to her love of crime dramas. It’s called crime scene. I love it!

I also bought some yarn of which the money went to Marie Curie. This is by Eden Cottage yarn and it’s a merino/nylon/lurex base (in other words it has a sparkle). It’s called herb basket and I bought a sweater quantity. It’s going to be used for my next jumper. I’ll show more on that when I start it (not until I finish the Victoria top). I love it because it’s such a delicate colour.

Lastly here is July’s Sea Creature box from Mothy & the Squid. This beautiful yarn is inspired by the Giant Green Sea Anemones. It’s so beautiful. These are definitely my colours and I can’t wait to knit with it.

August will be my last yarn haul. I’ll be back to purchasing for specific projects only (other than the sea creature subscription).  As I said earlier, I already have that yarn and will be posting it at the end of the month. My next post will be my latest sock finish which was done on my sock Saturday/sock sunday challenge. I didn’t do the challenge at the weekend there as I was working. The weekend before I had just finished the cuff and I didn’t want to read through a new pattern with my early morning coffee. I didn’t want to risk mistakes but I will be back on it this coming weekend. Instead I worked on my Victoria top as it’s an easy pattern repeat. If you follow me on Instagram you will have seen those updates.

Yarn Shaming

I was planning on doing my monthly yarn haul post but considering all the chat on social media just now about yarn shaming and inclusivity recently I thought it might be a little insensitive. I started with a paragraph with my thoughts on it but then decided to do a stand alone post. I didn’t want to take the attention from the indie dyers I was trying to highlight which was the whole point in those posts during lockdown. I’ll post that one later in the week.

I personally think there is a big difference between yarn shaming and designers using specific yarns for their designs. I know that for some they see a yarn and want to see what they can create with it because the yarn inspires them. I have done that myself and I have yarn there that I bought specifically because I want to create a pattern for them. I also understand that some designers are hired by yarn companies/dyers to create patterns specifically for their yarns. I don’t have an issue with designers and their choice of yarns. I think that’s because most designers I seem to like have US based yarns associated with their patterns and so I have to find an alternative. Plus I mainly knit socks and so it’s relatively easy to find an alternative. Sometimes that hasn’t always worked out but I have learned from it.

With indie dyers I understand that it is a luxury for some people. I buy a lot from indie dyers but that’s my treat to myself. I hate shopping, I’m not a shoe person, I don’t buy expensive bags and I HATE going to the hair dresser. I don’t get my nails done (I can’t - I’m a nurse) and I don’t go out at the weekend much (pre-lockdown). My yarn is my treat. Don’t get me wrong, now that I am garment knitting I hesitate a little at buying the yarn required but again this is a treat and I want to support my favourite dyers. There are months I can’t do that and that’s okay.

What I hate is yarn shaming in general. I’ve been made to feel small or been shy to admit that I have and do use acrylic yarns. When I started out knitting I used acrylic yarn. I didn’t look at the content of the yarn. I looked at what I could afford in the colours I liked. Then I was a beginner and I was a student (the first time). When I crochet blankets I also go for lower cost yarns. My favourite blanket (which is still going strong) was done all in acrylic yarn at £2.30 for 100g (You can see it pictured above). I would do the same again. It’s sturdy, long lasting and I can buy it as I go because I don’t bother with dye lot. I have a blanket that my granny knitted me. Each square is not only knitted with acrylic yarn but also yarn that she recycled from garments she bought from charity shops. And I love it. There is a lot of good yarns out there that you can substitute at a lower cost. My advice would be to swatch if it’s a garment. If it’s socks I would make sure it’s sturdy as you want the heel to last. I would just like to add that I used to run and go to a knitting group and a lot of us used yarn at the lower cost spectrum. No one was made to feel badly for it. We were more interested in supporting each other and seeing the outcome. My mum was a beautiful knitter and she would often knit with the yarn associated with the pattern if she could but was happy to knit with alternatives if she couldn’t. Growing up I certainly couldn’t tell the difference. My point is do what you can afford and what makes you happy without feeling bad for it. It’s supposed to be a relaxing hobby (so long as you have no frogging).

I think a lot of people will say I have missed the point when reading this. However, this is merely my perspective and my experience in being yarn shamed. There are some books out there that can teach you about yarn types so that you can substitute (Clara Parks) and I am not ashamed to admit that I have used google, especially when the yarn associated with a pattern has been discontinued. I will always shout out support for my indie dyer friends because I love them and I know they would do the same for me if I had my own business. While I have only one published pattern at the moment I promise to put a note on any future patterns that alternative yarns can be used. I won’t be listing alternatives but will suggest a yarn type because I am UK based and I am luckier that I only design socks and it’s easier to substitute (in my very humble opinion).