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.

Piosa Complete

I am so pleased with myself. I’ll be honest this isn’t the best photograph to be showing it off. However, I have finished the Piosa cardigan by East London Knit. It’s also my first cardigan. I have to admit that the tutorials that came along with the pattern gave me the confidence to bite the bullet and knit my first garment. I think I would have put off my challenge to myself had it not been for this. The tutorials kept me right and I do appreciate the extra work that went into the design of this pattern as a result. I also enjoyed it. It’s a lot of knitting (compared to socks) but I was never bored. Instead I was eager to keep going and see there result of each stage of the pattern. Even without the tutorials the pattern is very easy to follow thanks to its clear instructions. If you break down the sections there wasn’t really much in it that I hadn’t done before just not together for a large garment. If anyone else wants to try something like this go ahead. I can highly recommend it.

I did make some changes and felt confident to do so. First of all I added length. The cardigan is a more cropped length than I like. So I added 20 extra rows to it. The good thing with it was that I could try it on as I went to see how happy I was with the length. I also held off on the pockets to the end to ensure that I had enough yarn (although I really wanted those pockets). Thankfully I did have enough. I also didn’t add buttons. I love buttons and I’m not afraid of button holes. I just tend not to use them on my cardigans and so I decided against adding them. I am so happy with the end result and I am proud of myself. I think my mum would have been too.

The yarn is Nua Worsted by Carol Feller of Stolen Stitches. It’s beautiful to knit with and the colour choices made it difficult to choose. In the end I went with Unexpected Macaw because it’s a blue that goes with most things and one that I wouldn’t normally pick first. I am so happy with my choice.

Now that I have finished may first cardigan I am now about to start my first top. I bought this pattern from The Loveliest Yarn Company a while ago. I love the lace design and the 3/4 sleeve. I thought it would be perfect to wear on management days in work (before current times when it’s best not to wear your own clothing in work). Let’s be honest here. If there was anything that initially attracted me to the pattern it’s the colour. My sister made that comment the other day. “You bought that because of the colour didn’t you? It’s a Karen colour.” Yep, I did indeed. As I really wanted to knit it in the colour in the photograph I was sadly unable to order my yarn from the same place (which is a shame as Michelle had the deep pink in her recent sale). It is a lace weight yarn and therefore there is a huge difference between this and the worsted that I was knitting with. Both the pattern and the yarn is by West Yorkshire Spinners.

So tonight, I plan to wind the yarn and knit up my swatch. Wish me luck and watch this space.

Piosa Part 3

My cardigan is really coming along. This image shows you that I had started the hem. I had an extra skein of yarn and so I used it to add length to the body. The good thing about this is that I can try it on as I go. I was glad that I added that length to it. It was nice in its original form but I like length to all of my tops and the extra has this sitting exactly where I like it. I know this because since taking this photograph I have finished the hem and cast it off.

In fact I am now on to part four. I decided to start the sleeves before the pockets in case I didn’t have enough yarn (despite that extra skein). I really want the pockets so I very much hope that I do. I think I will but not getting my hopes up in order to not be disappointed. I will probably be one of the last to finish this but that’s okay. I am enjoying the process and I have been enjoying seeing others finish theirs. It encourages me to keep going. Although I haven’t lost my enthusiasm for it. Without wanting to be too optimistic, if I keep going at my current rate I might have it completely finished by the end of next week.

Piosa KAL Part 1 & 2

Part four of this fab KAL by East London Knit came out this week. While I am sure that many people are powering through this latest instalment. I am working my way through part two. As this is my first garment I am being extra careful not to make mistakes. Therefore I am working on it only when I am off. At least for the sections that require concentration.

So I am proudly showing you my first swatch. Actually not my first swatch but my first that was done specifically to measure my gauge. I am proud to say that my gauge is the same as the pattern recommendation. Proud because as a newbie it means I don’t need to worry about deciding whether to change needle size or change the size of the pattern I had decided to go with. Drug calculations no problem. This hurts my brain (probably because I’ve never had to do it). Anyway, I was saved this time and I love my little swatch. I even blocked it.

Part three was already out when I was waiting for a day off to watch the YouTube video on how to do German short rows. I have done short rows in the past but never German. Up until that point I had done the cord, picked up stitches and the first two rows. Once I was past the short rows I was able to do a few rows each night after work. I’m afraid I couldn’t stay awake long enough to do more than that. Since the above photo I have finished with the back down to the armholes and I’m about to put the stitches onto some scrap yarn before I make a start on the front. Feeling proud of myself so far.

I am currently knitting a pair of socks for myself in between. After that though I think I will get back to the scarf and shawl that I had been working on before Lockdown. Then when I have finished my cardigan I have plans for a jumper. Can’t wait but I really shouldn’t count my chickens just yet.

Today is a special day for my family and it seems apt that I should post about my knitting. Today is the fifth anniversary of having lost my mum to Pancreatic cancer. Most people who knew her know her for her love of red and her love of knitting. She was an avid knitter and could knit up jumpers in the space of a week. I think she would be proud of me for knitting my first cardigan as well as wondering what took me so long. The photo below was taken by my dad from their holiday in Portugal, a place she loved. Anyway, I plan to continue knitting and have a cheeky glass of her favourite red while watching one of her favourite films. Hope you are all safe.

May Haul

So last month I said that I would show some indie dyers some love in order to support small businesses. This month I chose another favourite dyer of mine (who is not unknown to these posts) Mothy & the Squid. I think we were partnered up through fibreshare the first time I took part. I am sure I sent to her and then I just had to try her yarn and never looked back. I absolutely love her nature themes and her instagram is yarn candy for the eyes. Go look!

The first yarn was actually picked by my sister. Mothy’s son is being home schooled just now and one of his school projects was to design, and sell the yarn. He had to come up with a business plan and promote it. His yarnspiration was ice creams. I instantly fell in love with these colours and knew my sister would love them too. So I showed my sister the options and she picked this one which is bubble gum. I actually had an inkling that she would pick this one. I have actually knitted up her socks with this already and came up with a new pattern which I just have to write out from my notes. I’ll tell you more on that another time. I must admit that if I had the funds I would have bought every single colourway in this series.

I knew that Mothy & the Squid yarn would be a focus. The reason I chose it to be this month is because of this colourway. As I said she uses nature as an inspiration and this is from her bird series. Looking at the colours you wouldn’t be surprised that I couldn’t let time go past before ordering it in case she sold out. These are my colours. However, it’s the inspiration behind it. The bird that inspired this colourway is the Blue Footed Booby. My dad was a bird watcher back in his day and had lots of books on birds. My sister and I loved nature books and we would always look through the pictures. We would often come to the page with this bird on it and being children we thought the name was hilarious. So a bit of childhood nostalgia for me with this one. So the yarn will knit up a pair of socks for myself and they are already on the pins.

This yarn is called Pink orchid and was actually in her sale. I would have bought it anyway as I was specifically looking to order a donegal base. I didn’t realise how close this was to a donegal based yarn I bought from For the Love of Yarn. So I might be nice and knit one of them up for someone else (maybe). This one is slightly different in that it’s a solid pink and the flecks are rainbow.

Lastly I signed up for her sea creature club. A year or so ago I stopped all of my yarn subscriptions and I have been good at sticking to it. However, I have been admiring the colour ways for this one for the last few months and I decided to sign up. This is May’s and the inspiration is the Leafy Seadragon. So cute! I love the colours. I usually go for cool greens rather than warm and this will be a lovely change. I love the little stitch markers that came with it too.

While I promised to focus on one small business each month Mothy & the Squid wasn’t the only indie dyer I picked up yarn from. I am sure most knitters will have heard of Jon from EasyKnits. I follow him on instagram and I have been watching his live feeds every Sunday and Thursday when I’m not working. In fact his Thursday live feed is at a time that I can watch it while waiting on my train home. I just have to cut out early. I love seeing what he is working on and the guest appearance of his sausage dog, sweep. He produced some kits called Stay at Home. They sell out so quickly and I really wanted a set for a pair of socks I plan to knit (I was being lazy and didn’t want to go through my stash to try to match up yarn for them). I missed them the first batch but on the second I picked up this purple and pink duo. There was a more ‘me’ colourway but I wanted a change and I do like knitting with pink every now and then. He is actually in the process of writing up a pattern for these kits. So I have a bit of a conundrum. Do I go ahead and use it for the pattern that I had originally planned or do I hold off and use it for the pattern they were dyed for?

Next month I am planning on ordering from a dyer I have never ordered from before. I might not order quite so much but I am looking forward to trying something new. Does anyone else have exciting yarn purchases they wish to share?

The Final Three

I have finished the last three pairs of socks for my knitting for nurses challenge. I have a wee collection and want to move on to other things. I am waiting for a few things to arrive and then I’m making up little care packages for my nurse buddies.

This pair is one of my favourites and I have a person in mind for them. The yarn is by Eaden yarns (not to be confused with Eden cottage yarns) who sadly haven’t dyed yarn in a few years. I think this may be the second and last yarn I purchased from the dyer. It’s so pretty. A very delicate colourway which is unlike me. It’s been in my stash for years just waiting for the perfect project. I thought the socks would look perfect with a contrasting to and heel. I initially wanted to do a tan contrast but I have every colour of mini skein but not tan. Thankfully I did have a nice pink which goes nicely. The mini skein is courtesy of my good friend Lisa of For the Love of Yarn.

The second pair is a sturdier sock. Although the yarn is 4ply it feels a little thicker. The yarn is by Knit Picks. I took advantage of their free delivery to the UK many moons ago. Sadly I have lost the ball band so I have no idea of yarn type or blend. It is beautiful though and lovely to knit with. I have quite a bit of the yarn left and I think I might hold onto it for little ankle socks.

Finally, this pair is among my favourites and I am half tempted to keep them for myself. The yarn is by Callum of For the Love of Yarn. He designed this yarn as part of the SJW awareness. He called the colourway “Respect is for Everyone” and the proceeds from the yarn went to his chosen charity, SAMH. The photo really doesn’t do this yarn justice. I love all the colours. I especially like the hints of yellow and green. If you follow me on Instagram you will have seen that I posted a photo of the reverse of the sock and I loved the effect of that on the yarn. I’m tempted to knit up a pair of ankle socks in the reverse but would love to do a contrast heel and toe in the dark green. A possible project for the future.

Here are the three yarns still in their skeins. I think this photo shows up the Callum’s yarn better. Next post I will show you this months yarn purchases. I am really excited about that and have already started knitting with one. I am currently working on a sock design with it which wasn’t planned. I also finally got the needles I needed to get on with the cardigan for the KAL. The morrow of that tale is to not assume that you already have the needles that you need.

I hope you are all safe and that you are taking care of yourselves in body and spirit.

Shout Out to Designers

While I am hoping to help support small businesses the focus has been on indie dyers. However, there are knitwear designers out there who make a living on their creativity too. I know it will come as a shock to some but I am primarily a sock knitter. This year I was hoping to challenge myself to move beyond that and I still hope to do that. It’s just on hold for now. While I was making these plans I started collecting some patterns and I have come across a few favourite designers thanks to watching podcasts. I thought I would share some of the patterns I have bought recently. I apologise that the photographs above only give you a partial view of the pattern but these images aren’t mine. I thought the collage would give you a hint and you can follow the links to each pattern to better see it.

1. Waterscapes pullover by Katerina C. Rieckel. I came across this gorgeous jumper through instagram. The designer was offering it for free for people during our current social distancing. This offer is no longer available and she did ask that those who could pay did. Which I did. I thought it was a lovely offer and I can’t wait to knit this.

2. City Limits by Tanis Fibre Arts. I do like Tanis Fibre Arts. I’ve became a fan thanks to watching the Grocery Girls. I’m not sure if I cam across this pattern on the podcast (although they sisters have talked about it) or instagram. I love a fade pattern although have yet to knit one. This was free too for a while. I like the fact that it is reversible too.

3. Summer Long by Sosu. Another I came across on Instagram. I loved this cardigan because it looked so comfortable. I can picture wearing this while lounging around the flat. Perfect since I get to do that on my days off. It looks like something I could do as a beginner too.

4. Common Ground by Elizabeth Smith Knits. Yet another Instagram find. The designer posted a photo of her newly published pattern and I knew instantly I had to knit it in the future. A cardigan with a hood! It’s pretty too.

Of course I couldn’t leave out socks entirely. I have been trying to stick to mainly garments when buying patterns as I have so many sock knitting books. Easier said than done though.

1. Knit Like It’s 1999 by Tricot & Stitch. I don’t remember where I first saw this pattern. I have seen it so many times though being knitted up by fellow sock knitters and I felt left out. Such a pretty pattern and I love the fact that it is different for each foot.

2. Sweet & Tartan by Tracie Millar. These gorgeous socks were designed by Tracie of the Grocery Girls and I definitely came across it thanks to their podcast. I have been rather impatiently waiting for it to be published. I now have the yarn to knit them too which I will show off in next months yarn. I am intrigued by how the pattern will read as it uses slip stitches rather than colour work. Looking forward to it.

I am also taking part in another knit along. This will be my FIRST garment for myself. I can’t wait to try it. I will be posting more on that early next week.

I hope you are all safe and well and please feel free to share some of your favourite patterns from indie knitwear designers.

Three Pairs for Nurses!

I feel like I have been a knitting machine the last few weeks. Since I decided to put aside all projects and knit socks for my fellow nurses I have knitted up five pairs. Three of those have already found a new home. You have already seen the first two pairs I finished so thought I would show the latest. I decided to put them together in one post rather than one each as I imagine this could get boring very quickly.

So the third pair I finished were these. Like all of the socks I plan to knit just now it’s a basic pattern. The yarn is from my stash and was hand dyed by For the Love of Yarn. It’s a sparkle sock yarn although you can’t see that in the photo. The colourway is called camp fire and I honestly can’t tell you when I purchased it. I absolutely love it. The striping is very short so there is no pooling of the colour at all. Trust me, I was looking for it. This is the only pair from this lot that has been given away. The recipient was chuffed and is already an owner of some hand knit socks which she inherited from her gran. So she knows the work that went into them. She did have to explain to one of our consultants that I did not change the colour of the yarn every two stitches. I most definitely can’t take credit for all those lovely colours in there.

The second pair I finished knitting was these ones. As yet I haven’t decided who these are going to. Perhaps because I feel that these are a little more special. This was another yarn by For the Love of Yarn but is part of her cherub collection. This is called Comic Con and was hand dyed by her oldest son with money going to charity. I think in this case it was the Glasgow Children’s hospital. I am so very tempted to keep these for myself as both the name and the colours speak to me. I won’t though. I just need to find the right nurse to give them to. I think I might have an idea who that is. Oh, and again there was no colour pooling. Thank you Callum for the beautiful yarn!

These socks I actually finished today. Again by For the Love of Yarn but a little different from the others. Instead of Merino/nylon or stellina. It’s merino bamboo! It’s a beautiful yarn to knit with and I highly recommend it. The texture isn’t quite as smooth as the merino/nylon but this makes it perfect for socks to wear with boots because they are definitely more durable. If you are looking to knit a pair of hiking socks I would recommend this type of yarn base. I love the colours too. The colour is called Midnight Fun and I am sorry, again this was from deep in my stash with no clue as to when it joined it. Let’s just say the chances are it was waiting to long to be knitted up.

Here is all three skeins of yarn in their glory before I wound them. I always like to show them in their skeins as I do think they always look very different when wound or knitted up. The vast majority of my knitting stash is by For the Love of Yarn. However, the next three pairs will be knitted with yarn dyed by other dyers. Well two of them will be. If I go at the same rate you will be seeing those in another couple of weeks.

In the meantime I hope you are all staying home and staying safe. A huge shout out to all key workers out there. That includes those working in shops, Royal Mail, public transport and refuse. You are all appreciated.

Supporting Small Business

As an NHS worker I have been overwhelmed by the kindness of others. Last week received bread, chocolate and pizza. More importantly I also received lots of warm words and messages of support as have my colleagues. I hope that other key workers are receiving the same thanks as they put themselves out there. However, as I said to a friend recently, at the end of the day I will be paid regardless. I will still have a job when we come out through the tunnel. I understand that there are nurses out there who are literally living month to month but I as I don’t have a family to support I am not one of them. Instead, I worry about my friends who are running their own business. Who rely on income from these businesses to feed their families. So I urge you all to continue to support them if you can.

My plan is to support my friends and favourite small business through buying from one of them once a month. I know it is not essential to my needs which is why I am going to try to limit my ordering to once a month. This month is my favourite hand dyer Lisa of For the Love of Yarn. I have to admit I was planning this order anyway for other reasons. If you are a fellow Instagramer who follows various hand dyers you will have heard about operation SJW. Many dyers are submitting yarn under this and donating to various charities. Lisa took part in this as she and her son had been the recipient of some trolling recently. Her son dyed this yarn and it’s called Respect is for Everyone and is part of the anti bullying campaign RespectMe. Callum designed the yarn and came up with the name himself with all money going to SAMH. They have raised over £1000 already. I can’t wait to knit with this. Those colours!

This is another dyed by one of the cherubs. This time Isabella. It’s called Silver Slubby. If you remember to my last yarn haul post I had received the teal slubby and I was planning a pattern for it. All my pattern planning is on hold just now as I am knitting socks for my work colleagues. However, I will get back to it and I plan to use this yarn for the same pattern as the teal. I do love a semi-solid yarn colour and I think this will be perfect for the pattern I have planned.

I realised that I had used the last donegal base I had in my stash. Which is why I ordered this beautiful yarn. It’s called blush and I am loving the colours. I might keep this one for myself. It is my favourite base after all.

I hope that you are all staying safe. If you are struggling speak to someone. And please don’t feel you have to be productive while staying at home. It’s okay to stay in your jammies and watch rubbish on tv. I’ve had days like that too as I am sure everyone has. Yesterday I did very little. Today I’m feeling slightly more energised with banana bread in the oven and I’m about to wind some yarn. Take care of yourselves everyone.

Checking In

I just wanted to check in to see how everyone has been doing. I know a few are struggling with the isolation and the fear. I have been off work this week (planned not due to illness) and have struggled to do anything productive. The vast majority of my week has been rediscovering my Supernatural Sims game. Very little knitting got done and a whole lot of crap on tv got watched. I think there has been a lot of people feeling guilty over how unproductive they have been. There has been a lot of tweets today from various writers who have either said that they are just now feeling creative. Or have highlighted that it’s okay to spend your time processing things.

So yesterday I got my mojo back. I have been knitting away and my sister is back to doing her art as a distraction. While I have been trying to avoid the news and social media I haven’t always managed it. I love Instagram because me feed is filled with so many creative types and I have been watching them get back in their groove. Even before I could lose time looking at everyone’s knitting. It was also helped by joining a knit n natter via zoom. This was hosted by Michelle of The Loveliest Yarn Company. I didn’t say much as it was my first time using zoom. It takes a little getting used to. It was nice though and I would definitely take part again.

As for my own Instagram feed I am trying to keep it positive. I have been posting my own daily distractions. I plan to do that at least on my days off (back to work tomorrow). In the meantime I continue to knit socks and I have managed to get flour to bake banana bread for my team tomorrow. On that note I have finished another pair of socks for my nurse friends. I have no one in mind for this particular pair. I think it will be a case of who needs them the most. I am in love with this pair and it will be hard to part with them. I’m not normally a green person but I am in love with these colours and I am glad I stuck with a basic pattern in order to highlight them.

The yarn has been in my stash for quite some time. I pulled it out when I tidied out my yarn cupboard a month or two ago.  It’s by Mothy and the Squid and is part of her sky series. This one is called Forest Moon and the name couldn’t be any more perfect. The base is merino/nylon/stellina which makes the socks nice and sturdy and gives them that sparkle. You can’t really see it in the socks but the flecks in the image of the yarn is actually the sparkle. So pretty!

I hope you are all keeping safe and looking after your mental health. Remember it’s okay to just sit and watch crap tv in your pyjamas. We are all going to have days like that in the weeks ahead.

Change of Plans!

Most of you will probably know that I am a nurse working for the NHS. I always try to keep my social media and blog separate from what I do although it’s not always easy. Especially right now. There is a lot of fear in the community. Some of it is due to lots of wrong information out there and some of it is being caused by others who either are paying no attention to social distancing or restricting their shopping to what they need. As a nurse I fear for my patients and my family and friends. Not just their physical wellbeing but their mental too.

The problem with fear is that it escalates very quickly. I have seen it in social media and in person. It’s easy to give in to it. I know because I have felt it myself and have had to consciously tell myself not to give in to it. On that note I have decided that I want my blog to continue and to continue as a place of positivity. Instead of giving in to fear I want to be able to do something about it. Therefore I plan to use my craft skills to put a smile on someone’s face. That’s the hope anyway.

I will be postponing my 2020 challenge. In its place I will have a new challenge. That is to knit as many pairs of socks as I can. The reason being that I plan to give a pair to my colleagues when they need it most in the hopes that it will bring them a little light. I also plan to bake when I can and ensure that my team have good coffee and tea to keep them going (something I do anyway).

So this is pair number one. I happened to be talking about knitted socks with the person that these are for before I came up with this plan. She has had a tough week and I hope that these will help. They are knitted in a slip stitch pattern which I have used a few times already. Much like previous I have had to add a few extra rounds as again they came out shorter than I would expect. I usually know how many rounds to knit for length from years of knitting them. This is a pattern that I should really measure as I go instead. After having to unpick a toe and frog back for the second time I have learned my lesson. Worth it though.

I used this beautiful yarn from For the Love of Yarn. I love these colours. I did have this earmarked for myself as I both love the yarn base and the colourway but I have plenty. It’s Donegal nep which is my favourite base. It’s beautiful to knit with and has a tweedy effect. Beautiful in both solid and variegated colourways. If you are a sock knitter and haven’t knitted with this base you haven’t lived (in my humble opinion). I don’t mind admitting that I have ordered more.

So I challenge you fellow crafters. Look after your mental health as well as your physical. Create that something for yourself that you have always wanted to. If you have friends or loved ones that are struggling create something for them that will let them know they are in your thoughts.

With that I am off to wash my hands then make some cookies. Stay safe everyone.

Knotted Roses KAL

I follow Pink Girl Knits on Instagram. Recently she came out with a pattern for a beautiful hat called Knotted Roses. I couldn’t resist and used stash busting as an excuse to join in. It’s been a long time since I joined a KAL. I did finish it pretty quickly. Mainly because I loved how it was knitting up and couldn’t put it down. Bobbles are addictive! It’s very easy to get into and knits up fast. I did the medium sized beanie which is a perfect fit.

I wish the close up of the pattern gave justice to it. It’s so pretty and the twisted stitches really make those bobbles pop. If you are looking to knit this pattern yourself I highly recommend it.

I decided to use yarn from my stash. Mainly because I wanted to start it on time and it gave me an excuse to start up another knit as I could say that I was stash busting. I actually have very little in the way of DK in my stash. I was hoping that I would have a solid colour but as I didn’t I picked out this one from For the Love of Yarn. This came from one of Lisa’s yarn club boxes from 2015 and I had two skeins of this. The first was knitted up into a pair of socks and so now I have a matching hat. I love the striping effect on the hat and I have worn it to work already.

March Haul

I have purchased some sock yarn this month. I needed yarn for some of the patterns I am writing up and I had always planned that I would buy that now. What I didn’t plan was buying some yarn ‘just because’. Actually, it’s not entirely for selfish reasons. As all of you will know I am a huge fan of my talented friend Lisa of For the Love of Yarn. What you may not know is that I am also a HUGE fan of her three very talented children. Lisa’s children have always been creative and inquisitive about what she does and they are crafty themselves. One day they asked Lisa if they could try dying yarn and they love it. It’s a creative outlet where they get to pick colours, names and be part of the process. They also choose the charity the money goes to for any of the yarns that sell. Lisa makes no money from these and her children have always been keen to help out others. This goes back from before even her eldest was unwell. If you follow Lisa you will see that she is coming up with new colour ways herself and Callum (her eldest) has picked an anti-bullying charity Respect Me and a mental health charity SAMH to be the recipients of her upcoming colourways. For someone who has had so much going on in her life. So much has been taken from her I can only admire her strength and her passion on continuing to give to others.

Now to the yarn. The first is a sock yarn and the colourway is called Comic Con designed and named by Callum. I don’t know how he did it but he picked the perfect colours and name for me (being a self proclaimed geek). I had planned to knit up socks for myself but actually I think I might use it to knit socks for one of my nurse friends. The second is a slubby sock yarn. It was dyed teal by the youngest of the cherubs, Isabella. This is my favourite colour and so I couldn’t resist it. I have never tried knitting socks with this yarn before and I’m excited to try. I have plans for a lace design and will use a little of it to knit up a swatch. You can find more of these beautiful yarns under the cherubs collection in Lisa’s shop. Please remember that these children do this for fun and to raise money for charities that they have chosen. So even if you are unable to buy any of these yarns please at least remember this years motto ‘Be Kind’.

I have a collection of patterns that I hope to bring out at the end of this month although it may be April. It’s called my Birthday Diamonds collection. The first sock pattern I designed was for myself as a challenge and to cheer myself up. I always meant to publish it but things got in the way. I then did a pattern for my sister and I planned on creating one for my dad. My dad’s is still in my head and partially on paper although never been on the pins. He is quite fussy with the socks I knit him. He prefers dark colours and plain knitting. I did the plain black socks once and I swore never again. This time though I will give him the dark socks but there will be a pattern. Has to be otherwise there goes my collection. I chose a DK yarn for him and a charcoal colour which is as close to knitting with black as I like to get. The yarn is Roslyn by Cascade yarns which has a beautiful tweed effect. I think he will like it and I can’t wait to knit with it myself. I ordered two 100g balls of this because he has large feet but it also means I will have enough to knit up a swatch. Who knew I would become a swatcher.

For my socks and my sister’s I went with Heritage also by Cascade yarns. I picked out a cream for myself and a rose for my sister since she loves pink. I’m looking forward to knitting these up and finally sharing the patterns with you. My mum is missing from this collection. She passed away before I started trying out my own designs. While I won’t be designing a Birthday Diamonds pattern for her I do have something else planned to honour her. This possibly won’t happen until next year but I have a sock design planned out for her and once I publish it all money made from the sales of it will go directly to Cancer Research UK. This is a very important charity to me as they tried to give my mum a little more time through their trials. Sadly she was never fit enough to start but they wanted to help and their work is important. I’ve seen that since becoming an oncology nurse myself (I don’t work for Cancer Research so my choice is purely in honour of my mum). Any socks that I design in the future which are inspired by mum will go to this charity. As I said this won’t happen for quite a while but I wanted to highlight why my mum wouldn’t be included in the collection.

On the Pins in February

I thought I would show a little of what I have been working on so that no one thinks that I have been doing nothing or disappeared again. I have two larger projects on the pins and they will take a little longer to finish as a result. I am loving them both though and I swap my time between them. They are both very different and so I haven’t minded that it is taking me longer to finish (too used to knitting socks is my problem).

The first is for my garment challenge and it is a the Windy scarf by Martin Story. I came across the pattern and the designer thanks to watching the Fruity Knitting podcast. Andrew of Fruity Knitting did this very same scarf in order to practise his cables. It was beautifully done and I initially thought that this might be good to knit for my dad or my uncle. Then selfishly I decided to knit it for myself as part of the challenge. Like the hat it is a bit of a cheat since I am not new to cables. I love a cable and I have never knitted a cable scarf before. I don’t want to say too much about it until I do my finish post but it is a lovely knit.

The second project is a continuation of learning Brioche. It’s another Knit Graffiti design and it’s a shawl called Parlour. I cast on the yarn that I found in my stash by Owl About the Yarn. I knit this on my days off while I have something easy on in the background so that I can concentrate. It’s hard to put down though and I am loving watching it grow just as much as I am loving the scarf. The scarf pattern I have memorised and I tend to knit that when watching something I haven’t watched before. I also occasionally do a few rows before bed after work as it helps me relax.

So I said in my last post that I was going to have a month or two of de-stash projects once my Brioche phase was finished. In that vein I decided to cast on the sock yarn by For the Love of Yarn which I also showed in my last post. I have seen numerous people knitting socks where the design is a simple slip stitch. I was sure I had this pattern saved somewhere but have struggled to find it. I have therefore cast it on myself but won’t be releasing it as I know that this already exists as a pattern. Since my last post I have also tidied out what was formerly known as my cupboard of shame. I can now find everything and that means seeing exactly how much stash I have. It is considerably more than I thought and it is disgusting. Another excuse to cast on socks. Really I was having sock withdrawal.

On the plus side I found that I had a second cake of this yarn. When buying Lisa’s club boxes I always opted for the larger size (which will explain my stash size). This yarn has large blocks of colour and so one sock will only have two colours in it. After realising that I discarded the mini which I had originally planned to be an afterthought heel and toes. I pulled out the second cake and I plan to make two socks the same by knitting from the outside. I have finished the first sock and one half is orange while the other is purple. Yesterday I also started a second sock by knitting from the inside which will be the first of a second pair. It has a different pattern and it’s one that I will be able to release when I have written it up. I have called it Bad Wolf. You’ll find out why at some point in the future.

I suppose that technically means that I have four projects on the go but I predict that my socks will be finished by next week. The other two will take a little longer.

Autumn Vibes

After the success of my first attempt at Brioche I decided to try something with a bigger range of Brioche stitches. I have LOTS of Brioche patterns in my library and I came across this hat whilst looking through them. Knit Graffiti (also known as Lesley Anne Robinson). I have followed Knit Graffiti on Instagram for quite some time. She has lots of gorgeous patterns out there and I am proud to say that I have bought quite a few of them. But also ashamed because until now I have knitted none of them. You can learn more about the designer on ravelry and on her webpage knitgraffiti. 

This hat seemed like the perfect project for a beginner. Which it was. I haven’t blocked it here which is why it doesn’t look particularly neat but I love it. There are a few mistakes in there but I have learned from them and I’m not bothered by them. Unlike the cowl I did have to go to YouTube to learn the decreases and increases. The increases were easy once I saw how it was done. However, I struggled with the decreases. Mainly because I kept forgetting which decrease matched the correct direction. As a sock knitter you would think that this would be easy to remember. I had to watch those YouTube videos a large number of times just to show me the direction (forgetting that the pattern tells you). In the end I wrote myself a cheat sheet. This is purely me so please don’t let that put you off. This is a perfect pattern for anyone wanting to learn a bit more in Brioche.

I used Drops Karisma unicolour DK for the hat. 50g of each. I actually thought that I would have plenty to spare left. Maybe enough for another hat. Not a chance. In the end I stayed up to 2am finishing the hat in a game of yarn chicken. Thankfully I had plenty but wasn’t sure until the reducing rounds for the crown. If I have one piece of advice for people it is to remember that Brioche is a yarn eater. The yarn is 100% wool and I picked white and turquoise (although the blue is darker than what I normally think of as turquoise). It makes for a lovely cosy knit and the hat is very warm and snug.

The crown would be so much more impressive if I wasn’t so lazy/impatient. I wanted to wear it straight away. However, I think that you can still see the pattern. In the last few months since discovering more designers I have definitely grown to appreciate a design that takes the crown into consideration. I would love to see this hat with a Pom Pom but at the same time I wouldn’t want o hide this. My sister has mentioned that she loves this hat so maybe I will put a Pom Pom on the one I make for her.

I have another Brioche project on the pins and I am loving it. I will definitely be trying on of the more adventurous in the future and who knows, maybe one from my copy of Nancy Marchant’s new book!

Beginner’s Brioche Cowl

One of my challenges this year was to learn new techniques. Brioche has been at the top of my list for a long time. There are so many lovely patterns out there. I even have a fair few in my ravelry library. A large number of those are by my favourite designer Stephen West. Yet I have knit a total of zero. I mentioned in my last post that I was inspired by Fruity Knitting’s latest podcast and interview with Nancy Marchant. I had hoped to join the lace brioche knit along but I’m realistic enough to realise that’s not going to happen. It did encourage me though to finally give brioche a try.

I picked out a pattern called Brioche for Beginners by Emma Galati which is a free to download on ravelry. I had lots of leftover yarn from my hat and my sister’s socks. Both Hedgehog Fibres sock yarn. I thought they would go well together although I assumed I would have nowhere near enough to do a full cowl. Thankfully I was wrong and my sister now has a new cowl. The pattern is very easy to follow and the instructions are very clear. I didn’t have to go to YouTube to understand what I was doing. So if you want to learn Brioche and are looking for a very simple pattern I highly recommend this. You can even do what I did and use up your scraps.

I actually had to start again a few times with this pattern. Nothing to do with the design. The first time my yarn loving cat had managed to open my zipped knitting bag and she created a pull in it so large there was no way I could fix it. Unusually the yarn was left undamaged as she found a leftover ball of yarn to play with so the cowl was left largely ignored after that (I’m assuming). My second cast on was actually a lot neater so she did me a favour, I suppose. I then got halfway back to where I had been when a stitched dropped off the end of one of my DPN’s. Normally I would be able to fix this but not with something this new to me. So I switched to a circular needle which was one size bigger than the pattern stated. It meant that my stitches were looser and the cowl is a little untidy looking. I’m not sure blocking would fix it. I’m not bothered by it though as I did it purely to learn and getting a full cowl out of my leftover yarn was a bonus. I hadn’t expected.

Overall I am pleased with the he result. Next step is to try some of the more complicated patterns I have purchased over the last few years. There are a lot more brioche stitches out there that I need to learn.

January Haul

There won’t be a haul blog post every month. I hope. Don’t think I could afford it every month. This month I had some Christmas money to spend and I went to town. I bought this months edition of The Knitter. Like last month there are a lot of fantastic patterns in there. Many of which I would quite like to knit. There was even a men’s zipped cardigan which I can see myself knitting for my dad for Christmas.

One of my goals was to learn new techniques this year. Brioche was high on the list and I even planned to do something this month. I then watched Fruity Knitting’s first podcast after Christmas. Nancy Marchant (the Queen of Brioche) returned for an interview and she talks about her book Knitting Brioche Lace. Fruity Knitting are holding a knit along with brioche lace or tuck stitches. I think that I was a bit optimistic that I would be able to join in but I have been wanting this book since it came out. Lots of beautiful patterns in there. It is self published so if you are looking for your own copy Stephen & Penelope are the official stockist in Europe. I got my copy the day after I ordered it.

I also ordered myself some sock blockers. I have had acrylic ones where you can change the size to suit the sock. I hated them. They just didn’t work for me although I know there are people out there who prefer them. I have read that some people find that the wooden ones can catch on the yarn if they aren’t finished perfectly. I haven’t found that with these. They finish is fantastic. I got mine via SmirnOFF Designs on Etsy UK. I’ll be honest, I don’t normally block my socks. I decided to invest in these because I thought my socks would photograph better for my sock patterns. If you follow me on Instagram you will see the difference in one of my latest photograph collections with my new sock pattern. So maybe blocking is worthwhile in socks after all.

I also got myself some Knit Pro DPN’s as a pattern I am planning on working on soon requires a size that I didn’t have. Unawares I picked up cubies. Have any of you tried these yet? As the name suggest the needle is cube shaped rather than round. I have always found Knit Pro to be very comfortable to work with but the cubies provide even more comfort. Might be good for people who have problems with their hands.

A lot of yarn this month but none for stash. All project specific. The first is a Rowan yarn which is for a scarf by Martin Storey. Stupidly I haven’t bought enough. I suppose it would be fine if I wanted a shorter scarf but I picked this pattern because  it’s a windy scarf. Funnily enough that is also the name of the pattern. The middle yarn is for a brioche hat in order to expand my knowledge of brioche stitches. Finally the last is by cascade yarns and it’s for a pair of slippers. The first and the last are part of my garment challenge. The project after those will be a jumper (which will be really out of my comfort zone).

Not haul but I am really into my podcasts just now. I prefer visual rather than audio and so I have three that I have begun watching religiously. Fruity Knitting is one I have mentioned before. I have gotten so many pattern ideas from them and learnt about lots of designers. It was from watching Fruity Knitting that I decided that it was about time that I moved past the socks. East London knits is another. Her podcasts are shorter but I like them because she designs her own patterns and I have even bought a few of them. Finally, I recently came across the Grocery Girls which is by two Canadian sisters. It reminds me of the knitting group back in the day. Just full of chat and excitement over new patterns and yarn. I have added a few patterns to my ravelry library thanks to them. I am sure there are many more podcasts but these three are a firm favourite. I should warn you that Grocery Girls tends to run over the two hour mark. However, I make myself a coffee and get out my knitting and get comfy. I haven’t linked any of these but you will find them all on YouTube. I might actually link them to my blogs page. Podcasts are just like blogs right? Does anyone else have any favourites?