Monthly Archives: February 2007

Birthday Goodies, round two…

Posted on Wednesday 28th February 2007 | 5 Comments

I got another parcel in the post today. Lovely Helen sent me these birthday goodies! The chocolate bunny stayed around just long enough to be photographed before being eaten, but the Vogue Stitchionary will stay around a lot longer a) because I can’t eat it and b) because it’s very useful indeed. I have the second book in the series, and this one is even more splendid. Full of colour pattern swatches, which are just crying out to be tried on socks, hats and other knitted widgets. Thanks ever so, Miss Moo!

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Due to ~~popular~~ one or two people demanding it, I promise to put up a review of Heirloom Knitting tomorrow or Friday. It will be a long one, which is why I’m putting it off!

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Posted in random stuff

My birthday week starts here!

Posted on Monday 26th February 2007 | 5 Comments

I have been a really spoilt gypsy today. I got a few non-knitting related presents, which are far too boring to blog about , but I also got some lovely knitted goodies:

(Excuse my bath towel. I needed a white background to show off the lovely lace patterns.)

The hat and lilac scarf were from Cairi and knitted in Rowan Kid Classic and 4ply Soft. The red scarf is from Super Monkey and knitted in 100% silk. I will be the bestest accessorised gypsy around.

I also got Heirloom Knitting by Sharon Miller from my sister, which has been on my wishlist for ages.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to finish off a rather scrummy pecan pie..!

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Posted in random stuff

Tiny sockies

Posted on Sunday 25th February 2007 | 3 Comments

Pattern: Basic Regia freebie, with modified heel and shorter foot
Yarn: Trekking XXL, shade #166, ½ of a 100g ball

Why did I think that knitting tiny socks would be less stressful? I’m already being “gently persuaded” to start a pair for a smaller person!

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Posted in finished projects, socks

Sometimes…

Posted on Friday 23rd February 2007 | 4 Comments

…there’s nothing to do but admire the perfection of a pair of black fluffy feets.

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Posted in random stuff

Feeling fruity

Posted on Wednesday 21st February 2007 | 9 Comments

Pattern: Pomegranate, by ME! (Available in a future issue of Yarn Forward magazine)
Yarn: cashmere/wool blend laceweight, approximately 60g

I feel like there should be a fanfare or drumroll, or cancan dancers high kicking their way across the screen. The shawl is FINISHED! It really wasn’t a hard project. No, honestly! Just a 24-row repeat, no increasing or decreasing or nubbin. I think there lies the problem. To create a decently sized shawl, I needed to do a lot of pattern repeats and they got a little – dare I say it? – tedious.

The yarn was fine to knit with, though the colour ran a lot during soaking (and I only ever use a smidgen of Ecover) and I’m probably paranoid, but I swear it looks almost white in some areas. But it didn’t shrink, which I was also worried about, and it’s a nice width. And in fact, the whole pattern is so simple to adapt to a narrow scarf or even wider shawl. I fancy using it to knit a scarf in 4ply or sportweight yarn!

But it will be nice now to sit back and do some fairly pressure-free knitting for a while. I have socks, socks and more socks on the agenda for the time being!

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Posted in finished projects, lace

Almost there…

Posted on Wednesday 21st February 2007 | 4 Comments

Shawl am blocking!

Finally I get to use my splendid new blocking wires. I won’t go into a long explanation of how to use them, as there are many guides out there on the net if you Google, which are more comprehensive and better photographed than I could manage. But suffice to say I am happy with them and apart from having to thread the metal through a wet shawl, it was better than using my previous method.

Part of the problem previously was that I had trouble getting the thread to stay taught. The wires, however, won’t bend and with a few pins, stay where they are put. And the wires stay in a straight line, so I know my points will be the same.

I actually blocked the shawl last night, so it’s dry at the time of writing this. However, I’m leaving it to lie in state for the moment, and will take photos later.

And as no YPW Wednesday would be complete without some pr0n, I give you my newest WIP:

A very jauntily coloured Trekking XXL (shade #166, if you need to know) sock for a small person. Nothing beats knitting a small person’s sock for the instant gratification factor!

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Posted in lace, yarn pr0n

Return of the shawl

Posted on Thursday 15th February 2007 | 5 Comments

Tis almost done. It looks like a huge pile of knitted scribble, but having “finger blocked” it, I can’t wait to see what it looks like after being washed and blocked properly. Especially as I bought some blocking wires from Heirloom Knitting just after Christmas and haven’t had any reason to use them until now.

For a long time, I used the Yarn Harlot’s method of blocking, which does work well. But wires seem to be simpler to use and I’m essentially a lazy gypsy. I will post photos as I block, anyway, and hopefully be able give a positive answer at the end of it…

And don’t I have lovely weather today? Can’t believe that this time last week we had a couple of inches of snow!

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Posted in lace

YPW – Valentine’s Day Special

Posted on Wednesday 14th February 2007 | 4 Comments

Today’s pr0n is all about lurrrrrve and is PINK and RED. Click the link to see hot, nekkid balls of yarn!

Continue reading →

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Posted in yarn pr0n

Looks familiar…

Posted on Thursday 8th February 2007 | 3 Comments

Except there’s more of it this time. Not enough to close the schools, but enough to disrupt all the trains and buses, naturally… Fortunately, I don’t have to be anywhere at all today, so I can sit indoors, warm and snug with some hot chocolate and my knitting!

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Posted in random stuff

Yarn Pr0n Wednesday!

Posted on Wednesday 7th February 2007 | 3 Comments

The first in a weekly series in which, with no knitting progress to report, your author attempts to distract her readers with photos of lust-worthy yarn.

This is Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock in the new Flamingo colourway. 20% of all the proceeds from the sales of this colourway are being donated by Lorna’s Laces to Breast Cancer Research. Do I need to mention how deliciously silky and soft and glorious it feels? I can’t see it working with anything but a simple ribbed or plain sock, but it’s so girly and PINK that it doesn’t need any extra lacy frills, does it?

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Posted in yarn pr0n

Second verse, not quite the same as the first

Posted on Tuesday 6th February 2007 | 5 Comments

Thank you all for the lovely comments about my Cairi socks. They were really enjoyable to design and knit. I think it was just one of those occasions where the combination of a gorgeous yarn, a cute stitch pattern and a rare flash of inspiration come together perfectly. (According to my site stats, the pattern has been downloaded over 1,000 times. This might be bad news for even my new and improved bandwidth..!)

And so my sock kick continues! Click on the link to read about it.

Continue reading →

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Posted in lace, socks

Cairi’s Sweetheart

Posted on Friday 2nd February 2007 | 6 Comments

Because who needs flowers and chocolates when you can have handknitted socks?

Pattern: Cairi’s Sweetheart, my own, available HERE
Yarn: Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock, “Valentine” colourway, two skeins. There was a lot of yarn left over! If you did one less pattern repeat on each leg, or have small feets, you could easily get away with using one skein.

When Cairi gave me two skeins of lovely Lorna’s Laces yarn for Christmas in a colourway called Valentine, it was crying out to be made into splendidly clichÃ©d socks!

I haven’t managed to learn toe-up socks as yet, so I needed to find a pattern that could be knit “upside down”. Enter the Harmony Guides! I do whinge repeatedly about their lack of charts and tiny swatch photos, but they had the perfect pattern: “Inverted Hearts”. The original pattern had stocking stitch hearts with reverse-stocking stitch diamonds inbetween. I changed this to all stocking stitch and therefore all knit – no point doing purl stitches when you don’t have to! – and had “fun” rearranging the pattern to work in the round.

The rest of the sock is a very basic top-down sock. The heel is my new favourite one from last year and the toe is the bog standard wide toe that I’ve been doing for the past two years.

My feet feel loved at last!

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Posted in finished projects, lace, socks