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.

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.

East London Knits Knit-A-Long

I promised a post about the knit a-long I was participating in and here it is. It’s a cardigan and the design is called Piosa by Renee Callahan of East London Knits. I love her designs and I thought taking part in something like this would be a good way to knit my first garment. I haven’t shown you a full image of it because it’s not mine to share. These images are from the pattern itself so I have zoomed in to small parts of it. I can tell you it is pretty and has pockets! I think I will definitely be challenged here. It’s not a mystery knit. You know what the final product will look like. However, the pattern is being released in four parts (I think four parts). Plus it has tutorial videos which I think will be helpful for me. I have knit my swatch but I’ve still to block it so no photo’s from me yet. I also haven’t started the cardigan itself yet as I had to order some needles. I made the stupid assumption that I had them all. I do not. They have now been ordered so by then I will have my swatch blocked and will have watched the next tutorial.

The suggested yarn is Nua worsted by Carol Feller of Stolen Stitches. I decided not to make life difficult for myself by choosing a different yarn. The colour I’ve chosen is called Unexpected Macaw. It is such a beautiful yarn. So soft and I loved knitting with it on that small swatch. I can only imagine wearing a full cardigan in this. Some of you will see this and think that is a Karen colour. Believe it or not there was another colour which was more of a signature Karen. My sister was able to point it out straight away. I wanted to go for something slightly different but one that would go with most of my clothes. I think I picked right even if it’s not completely out of my colour comfort zone.

I hope that you are still all managing to stay sane while shut away and safe if you are having to leave for work. I’ve been fairly tired and my sock knitting has slowed down a little. I am on my last pair for my nurse friends and I am going to move on to a pair for my sister. Next post I hope to show you some of the yarn I have purchased for this months small business support. For now though I am off for some family zoom chat. Stay safe everyone.

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.

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.