Spiral Socks!

I promised my sister that I would knit her some socks for when she stays over at mine. I pulled out all of my sock yarn (of which there is far more than I thought) and got her to pick out the yarn. In the end she couldn't decide between two so I said I would knit both and she could pick which she wanted for home and which she wanted at mine. In my head she had picked yarn from the same dyers and I thought it would be a good idea to use a pattern to compare them. First pair of socks done and then I realised the yarn was from different dyers.

The first pair is yarn by For the Love of Yarn and is a merino tencel blend. It makes for a silky soft yarn. The pattern I used is one that I have knitted up many times before. It's the purl spiral socks from Big Book of Socks. I was working on them between essay writing so an easy pattern was perfect. Having said that I kind of wish that I had just done the basic sock pattern as I feel that the spiral pattern takes away from the striping of the yarn. Lorraine likes them though and that's the main thing.

I do like the heel of the socks. I did the short row heel which this pattern recommends. It creates a lovely stripe so that you can see how the yarn is supposed to look. I think the yarn is too busy for the pattern.

The second yarn is by Mothy and the Squid and is called Luna Moth. It's a merino nylon blend and makes for a sturdier sock.  The stripe of this yarn is better for the spiral pattern. I think that's because of the larger stripes of green. I love the little splashes of yellow.

I did cast on the socks at the same point and yet it still didn't quite work out the same. I either did the cuff a row shorter in one sock or the yellow and purple stripe was a little longer. Either way, one heel is purple and the other is green. Lorraine likes them like that though and it does make them look a little unique so I am far for disappointed.

As much as I want to cast on another pair of socks I have held back. Today I got out my bag filled with WIP and I am determined to get at least a few of them finished before I start anything new.

The Non-Surprise Socks.

The socks I needed to finish in two weeks I finished in a few days. I forgot how tiny my sister's feet are and how quick it is to knit her socks (it helped that the first sock was already finished). This pattern is so easy too. Another help towards getting them finished. There was also no grafting of the toe. The yarn is Regia hand-dye effect. I am sure that I have complained about it before. Finally, though I have learned. It doesn't like grafting and snaps so that you have to rip it back re-attach the yarn and then graft the toe. It's annoying and I fail to remember this every time I use it. Until now. I did the swirl toe (not sure if that's the right name for it) and it likes that.

The pattern is the easy lace pattern you have also seen before. It looks narrow but when on it stretches out so that you can see the lacey effect. I love it and might have to knit a pair like this for myself. As for the so called hideousness of the yarn. I still think it's pretty. The sun coming through the window is making it look more purple than it actually is but I still think it's nice.

I did see some truly hideous yarn today. Also by regia but contained an assortment of colours that clash. Not only do they clash but they are also luminous! I am a firm believer that luminous colours should be used solely for high vis jackets and highlighter pens.  I would have taken a pic to show just how horrible it was but it's not the sort of shop that would allow a lunatic to photograph their yarn. I want to be able to go back there. So your just going to have to take my word for it (Helen, my sister would draw the line at these colours).

Having finished these socks I have cast on my sister's actual Easter socks. I have to say that nothing I am making for her is very eastery. I'm afraid you won't be seeing any images until they are in my sister's hands. Let's just hope I get them finished on time.

Every time I open up the Big Book of Socks it opens up to these lovely cabled socks. I think it's a sign that I should knit them. I had planned to knit it with some sock yarn that was originally intended for something else. It has significant colour changes in it but they are so broad I think it would still show off the delicacy of the pattern. However, on reading I discovered that it would be too thick. Then I remembered this lovely yarn that Helen bought me a few years ago. I have been waiting for the perfect pattern for it and I think this is it. I haven't wound the yarn or cast it on yet though. I am trying to remember that I have actual deadlines I might not meet as it is.

I also meant to show this in my last post. Last week I went to the library and dragged my mum along (the promise of coffee and books meant not much dragging was required). After we had picked out our books and went to the coffee shop. I noticed that all the handles were covered in knitting. I love a yarn bomb and this is the first I've seen locally.

I probably won't be doing a pinterest post this week. Maybe next week. Just the way my days off have worked out and the fact that I have too much to do just now.

My Cunning Mother's Day Plan!

When giving gifts to my mum or sister I love to theme them. It's part of the fun of gift giving. This year I thought of a good one for Mother's Day. It had a bit of humour to it involving an in joke between my mum, sister and I. Sadly I didn't give myself any time to do it. In fact I gave myself no time at all to give her anything handmade. Not even her card. Something I feel guilty about although my mum of course doesn't mind.

Still, I did manage a little bit of a theme, chocolate and knitting. For Christmas my mum got my sister and I these tins with different sayings on them. She matched the things inside to the sayings on the tin. I spotted this one and knew immediately that I would get that and put some of my mum's favourite chocolate inside. The plan was that the sock yarn would fit in there too. Alas, that wasn't meant to be. I thought she could then use it to keep her smaller knitting projects together.

This is where my cunning plan comes into play and that's to turn everyone into sock knitters. My mum has knitted a few socks now and had said she would maybe try her hand at a patterned sock. I had the spiral sock pattern in mind as a good one to ease in a beginner. Unfortunately the book that contained this particular pattern is also the one that I have been using a lot of. So I got my mum her first sock knitting book. Initially, the plan was to get her one that I didn't have so that it would feel that little bit more special but that proved to be problematic (I have lots). So in the end I went with my current favourite. I also picked up this regia sock yarn. I've knitted with it before (funnily enough using the spiral pattern) and I love it because it reminds me of Monet.

My plan may have worked since my mum has already went through the book and picked out half a dozen patterns she wants to try. So watch this space.

 I did manage to make her one thing. Banana bread with walnuts. She loves walnuts and it's something that I can make quickly while studying. I also managed a plain one for her to take to my gran's today.

This is purely to prove to myself that it is spring despite the freezing cold.

I hope all you lovely Mum's out there have a lovely day.

Yarn Review and Giveaway!

This tale has been told before but I am going to tell it again. About a month or so ago the lovely people of Black Sheep Wools were looking for volunteer bloggers. I put my name down and I was asked if I would like to review some sock yarn. I was hardly going to say no was I? I was sent some Regia Highland Tweed to try out and an extra to give away. So here it is all knitted up and I have to say I am a little in love with these socks.

The yarn is thicker than most sock yarns. I would say it was more like a double knit. Which is perfect as there are lots of double knit patterns in my sock books that I have been drying to try. I picked this pattern (gentle waves from The Big Book of Socks) because I thought the subtlety of the pattern would highlight the lovely tweed of the yarn. I think I was right.

The flecks of the tweed really come through. This is my first time using any tweed yarn although I have been wanting to for some time. The yarn has a lovely feel to it. It's extra thick thus making it perfect for a boot sock. It also doesn't split which is always a bonus. Unlike the Regia hand-dye effect it is also sturdier. I was worried about it breaking away because it does feel a little like that yarn but I needn't have worried. It even managed the grafting of the toe well.

It's the colours I love too. I love blues and I am usually drawn to them. The subtle changes of blue through the yarn are just lovely. There is even a hint of purple in there which I think the camera managed to pick up. It also comes in 150g which is more than enough for a ladies pair of socks or even a gents. I think I have enough left over to knit a pair for my sisters tiny feet. If you are looking to try something with a pattern and want something cosy for the winter then definitely try this yarn. I know I am going to be looking at what other colours it comes in. As for the pattern I used. it came from my faithful Big Book of Socks and it was a fairly easy cable pattern. It did feel strange knitting socks on such large needles though.

Now for the giveaway. I am giving away the extra ball Black Sheep Wools sent (for this purpose). So if you like the sound of the yarn and want to try it yourself all you have to do is leave a comment with your email address. Preferably within the UK but I'm not going to be a stickler about it. I will announce the winner next Sunday night (16th March) after I pull someones name out of a bag. So the cut off for joining in is 4pm 16th March. Good luck!

Socks All For Me!

Lots of sock news today. Mainly I have now three finished pairs of socks which are mine, all mine. I also have some exciting sock news which I will announce at the end of this post.

These are my first finished pair of the year. They are knitted up using Regia sock yarn. I knitted this as a hitchhiker scarf a while back (which was also for me) and I loved the result. I love the socks even more. It's the colours. They are just so lovely and bright! I did make a tiny error. Well, a big one. You will maybe notice that they look rather large. This is because I knitted them on 2.75mm needles. I normally do as I am a tight knitter and so need the bigger size for tension. Now if I was using the 2.5mm I would just add some extra stitches. Which I also did. Not to worry. Slightly bigger just means comfier.

The first pair I knitted alongside friends I was teaching to knit. I also used images from the first sock to create images for my hand out. This second pair I used to photograph a different technique to create the to. Basically, no grafting. You might recognise the yarn as the lovely hand-dyed yarn that my friend Lisa created. My favourite colour is blue and I love the added sparkle. I can't wait to wear them but at the same time they are just too pretty.

These last pair I actually started on a whim. A friend was giving away some Sirdar Crofter in double knit. You can knit socks in double knit but they are mainly cable socks. I picked out this one. I decided to do them on a smaller size needle. Mainly because I didn't have the size indicated and I was too impatient to wait. I did them in a larger size to make up for it and it worked out perfectly. Not often that happens. The yarn was so lovely to knit with. I know I have used it before but I love it. Plus, I do love a cable and these wiggles are super cosy. The only downside is that I am not overly fond of the yellow stripe. I can live with it though.

The pattern itself is once again from The Big Book of Socks by Kathleen Taylor. The pattern is called Wiggle Worm socks. The design is repeated over 8 rows and was fairly simple to follow. I liked the fact that the pattern of the cables continued down the heel of the socks. Don't think I have done something like that before.

Last but not least my news. The lovely people from Black Sheep Wools were looking for bloggers. I volunteered and they have asked me to review this lovely yarn. It's by Regia and is called Highland Tweed. I have never used tweed before although I have always wanted to. So I am very excited about it. More exciting than that is that they gave me two. Once I review the yarn I will be giving the second away to a lucky reader. So look out for that!

Easy Lace Socks

A good few months ago I was on a sock knitting role and had just my gran's socks to finish for Christmas. Half way through that first sock I got extremely bored with the pattern and put it down and worked on a number of other projects. I can't even remember what pattern it was but it was one I hadn't done before. It was a fairly simple pattern, I remember that much. The problem though is that it was too similar to a number of other patterns I have done before. I don't intentionally go for the same type of pattern all the time but it happens and I end up with one sock syndrome. Or in this case half sock syndrome.

Two weeks ago I decided it was time to pick it up again otherwise my gran wasn't getting socks this year. I couldn't do that though. You ever have one of those gifts you expect every year from someone to the extent you rely on it and would be disappointed if you didn't get it? With my sister and her best friend it's those fluffy winter socks. With me and my family it's my hand knit socks and my gran wears them year round. I couldn't not knit her them. So the solution was to knit a different pattern.

I needed something that could be knit up quickly between studies. I found a basic lace pattern in the Big Book of Socks by Kathleen Taylor. It was so easy that I just had to do the pattern repeat once and could put the book away. The heel was the short row heel again and I had just finished a sock for my friend with that type.

It wasn't a boring pattern despite it's simplicity. It partly because it was a heel I don't normally do but also because the pattern was quite effective. It makes the sock quite thick and so will be extra cosy but I also quite like the way it looks. The second photo shows the pattern better once it stretches out. It's like little eyelets. It also shows the colours of the yarn better. It's the same yarn I used to knit my sister's Christmas socks. I picked it up at my knitting group. It's actually meant for machine knitting and so sits on a cone. Not sure what the brand is but it is very much like Regia's hand-dye effect sock yarn. So much so that it breaks away in the same manner. Very annoying as it always happens when at the toe I forgot about that from the first pair otherwise I would have not used the Kitchener stitch.

Anyway, expect to see more of this yarn. I have now knitted two pairs of socks from it and it hasn't made a dent into it. How long before I am bored of purple?