April Socks - Broken Seed Stitch Socks

Surprise! April's socks are finished. Didn't think I would do it but this last week I have barely put the pins down (away from work that is). This time I used a pattern that I had mentioned to you in a previous post. It was one that I wanted to try using a variegated yarn but required a contrasting yarn for every second row. The pattern is called Broken Seed Stitch and is by ravelry designer Hannah Levaniemi. She has some lovely patterns there so worth checking her out (this is her only sock pattern though).

For this pattern you need to have an idea on how the sock is constructed because the pattern doesn't give you this. All it does is give you some advice and gives the four row repeat that gives the sock this beautiful striping effect.

The four row repeat is fairly easy and once you have done it you can pretty much go it alone. You can see the effect it has even though the pattern is quite simple. It was fun to watch the stripes of colour spiral round the sock. Also to see the effect of a plain yarn knitted alternatively.

As I said you are left to construct the sock yourself. It suggests a 60 stitch cast on which was perfect. For the cuff I chose a rib of k2, p2.  The heel I went with a short row heel. The reason is actually a lazy one. It meant I could knit the heel in the solid colour and I wouldn't have to cut any of the yarns which I might have done on my usual heel turn. I think not having to do a gusset works better for the pattern of the sock anyway.

Since I was using less of the hand dyed yarn than I normally would I got a second pair of socks out of it. I decided to knit a pair for my sister so that we are now sock twins. I have to say I loved knitting the second pair almost as much as the first.

This is the variegated yarn I used. I won this on a charity auction Lisa set up a few years ago. I had started a basic pair of socks with it and hated the way the yarn pooled. It wasn't striping very well. For this pattern though it was perfect. It has a stripe of white through it too which worried me slightly since I was using white as a contrasting yarn. In actual fact I think that it enhanced the pattern. It broadened those stripes of green making it stand out more against the purple. Sadly I didn't keep the tag and I can only make out part of the tag from this image so I can't remember where it came from. If anyone knows who the hand dyer was please let me know. For the contrasting yarn I used a Rowan wool cotton in 4 ply. It was a little thicker than the sock yarn but this actually worked out perfectly as it made for a sturdier cuff and heel. Especially since I was doing the short row heal and it meant there were none of those horrible gaps that can occur.

Next months socks are going to be a basic sock but I am excited about this as I can't wait to see how the yarn I have chosen knits up. Watch this space.

Mum's Garden April 2016

 Friday was Earth Day which seems apt as I have spent the entire week (just about) working on the garden. I've been off this week, my dad has been away and the sun has been shining. Perfect conditions to getting things organised. I have done a lot of planting and apart from a few seedlings that are still on the window ledge everything is pretty much out. All I need to do now is take care of it and watch everything grow.

I am still waiting for most of the plants to start blooming at the back and the front. The same is not true of the rock garden along the side of the house. Old favourites are starting to bloom again and have come up a lot thicker than last year. These little white flowers are among my favourite. They look so dainty and they always seem to come up well.

These yellow flowers have grown a lot thickeer. There were definitely more spaces between the flowers last year. As a result there is a firm block of yellow and it looks lovely. Glad I save these from my father who wanted to pull them up a few weeks ago thinking they were weeds. You would think he would have learned his lesson from when he did that to my mum when she first planted her rock garden.

I planted this last year. I thought it was a gonner as the edges are a litttle brown (I'll fix that next week). The little purple flowers have come back once more though and there are a lot more of them.

The little green rock plant I planted last month had also begun to bloom. I love the deep purple.

This one though Is my favourite. Although I planted it at the same time as the last one the flowers that were there at the time withered and then these blooms have grown back in. So long as I take care to remove the dead flowers each time it should continue to do that during the summer.

As I said I am still waaiting for many fo the plants to bloom. I think these tulips will open in the next week or so. Keeping in mind that I planted these only a few months ago. I looked at one of the neighbours tulips and they are still waiting to bloom too.

While sitting on the bench and having a coffee during the week I happened to turn and look at the plant post on a little set of shelves we have in the garden. I noticed at the back there was a little white pot and I recognised two little buds coming up from it. These are the trumpet lillies that my mum loved. I didn't think they would grow again and so put the pot away and forgot about it. I have since tidied up the pot and added a little more soil. By summer we should have those large beautiful blooms again. I actually bought some more of these bulbs and planted some in the front garden so we should have more of them.

 The Magnolia Tree has also begun flowering again. A little late this year as this was also fully bloomed this time last year. As long as it still does sit I'm not complaining. There was a time when my mum thought this little tree was on its last legs.

There are a few spaces in the garden this year. I got rid of a rather large fern shrub last year. I was planning on getting another Hosta as it was one of my mum's favourites. There are already three of them though and when I saw these rose bushes I couldn't resist. We have a pink one where the shrun should be, a yellow on to the front where we planted sunflowers last year and a white one in a large plant pot. My mum always loved roses. Sadly no red roses but when she had roses in the garden they were usually pink. 

So fingers crossed that next months post will show a garden filled with colour. All this gardening has been giving my wrist and hand a break. The good news is I have been knitting again. Providing I exercise my hand I'm managing the knitting quite well and for longer periods of time. I think it will be a while yet before I can go back to the crochet though.