Monthly Archives: December 2007

Just hauling myself off the sofa to sit at the desk and write this post. We finally finished off the last of the turkey yesterday, so just half a Christmas cake to go! And then the annual diet begins. Though my sister bought me lovely Gok’s book for Christmas, so maybe I should just learn to love me as I am, huge furry bum, long ears and all!

I got a far more knitting-related Christmas present from Cairi:

I’ve been coveting a Piddleloop bag for AGES. It’s the perfect size for a wip and the little notions purse and dpns holder are gorgeous. I love it! The fabric has tiny fish on it. One is called Bjorn.

I can now post about a couple of secret projects that have been hidden away until they were given to their new owners. Which boosts my finished project total considerably for the year, excluding other things that I still can’t post about. And also increases my knitted sock total to 15 pairs for the year, an average of 1¼ pairs a month. Not a bad total, and my sock yarn stash looks far more acceptable now that it did a year ago! But I digress..! First to a pair of socks for a wizard:

Pattern: River Rapids-ish socks by Sockbug and me
Yarn: Dream in Color Smooshy, “Blue Lagoon” colourway, less than 1 skein used
Needles: Need you ask?!

By “River Rapids-ish”, I mean that I found the pattern in a stitch dictionary, but knew that someone, somewhere must have already used it for socks and when I posted secret progress photos, Kay pointed me in the direction of the River Rapids pattern. Mine differ in that I’ve used a wider rib, which is continued down the heel and the gusset decreases are nearer the instep. Other than that, they’re the same.

The yarn is the most divinely squishy yarn from Dream in Color, which I bought at Ally Pally back in October. I am planning on getting some more very soon because the softness would make it perfect for a shawl or wrap.

And for a non-wizard (who has the smoothest legs I have ever seen ):

Pattern: Monkey by Cookie A
Yarn: Middle Earth Yarns luxury merino superwash, Plumby colourway, 1 x 100g skein
Needles: The usual!

I can see why this pattern is so very popular. It’s easy to memorise and suits any yarn. I used the same wizardy yarn that I used back in August for Diane’s birthday socks. And Diane’s Christmas socks. I may have a bit of an addiction to Cairi’s yarn!!

And now I’m off to eat a huge slice of cake and play with my new bag!

ETA: Mr B said that the socks were his favourite out of all his presents. This is why I don’t mind knitting giant socks for him.

Pattern: Double Fleck from More Sensational Knitted Socks
Yarn: Opal Uni 4ply, 1 x 100g
Needles: Susan Bates Silvalume dpns, 2.25mm (no surprise there!)

Finished, blocked and giftwrapped with a couple of days to spare! Mr B will finally have his fourth pair of handknit socks. I don’t know if the “deliberate” mistake in the pattern shows up on the foot of one of the socks, but by the time I realised that I’d done the same round twice, I couldn’t face frogging what I’d done. If no one notices, then he won’t, either!

Thank you for your comments on the other manly socks. I’ll write up the pattern soon and post it up as a late Christmas present. Speaking of late presents, I hope the parcels I posted last Monday arrive in time. *pokes postal service*

I think this might be my last post before the Big Day, so I hope you all have a lovely time doing whatever you do on 25th December!

Ugh. Real life has really eaten up my knitting time the past couple of weeks. I’ve just checked my blog feeds and have a zillion new posts to read, haven’t posted for ages, and am generally Not On Top Of Things. I wrecked my hand on Monday last week by painting for 12 hours with nary a break, and then spent the next day shifting furniture so that the carpet fitters could do their carpet fitting thing. And now I’m bouncing around like a mad thing just because I have nice, new, carpet that isn’t about 30 years old, shiny woodwork and walls without holes in. Superficial? Me?

At least I have some FO news to share!

Pattern: My own, nameless at present
Yarn: Regia Silk 4ply, 2¼ x 50g balls (approximately 500 metres)
Needles: 2mm Susan Bates Silvalume dpns

Photo taken at the last minute before they were wrapped! I think they look very cute in their box:

If there’s enough interest, I’ll write up the pattern and post it as a freebie.

So, back to my current WIP status. The Koigu heart sachets are off the present list. No time, and I don’t think they’ll be needed, anyway. But socks for Mr B definitely aren’t, even if it’s just one with an IOU. He should have had these back in the spring!

The pattern is another one from More Sensational Knitted Socks and is more interesting than stocking stitch, but not so complicated that I have to study a chart. All the pairs I’ve ever knit Mr B have been stocking stitch and a true labour of love because even mindless, TV knitting gets tedious after a while, and he has BIG feet! So no more plain manly socks, unless Opal come up with another yarn that’s as nice as the Feelings range they did last year. Since then, nothing has grabbed me. Even the new Rainforest range was disappointing.

And yes, the yarn is purple. About April-ish, when I was thinking of knitting Mr B another pair of socks, I asked if he had any colour preferences, thinking that he’d say blue or black or grey. And he requested purple yarn. I think my purple obsession must be rubbing off on him a bit. Again, it’s Opal, because it wears really well and I can bung the socks in the machine with the rest of the washing. And I know that it won’t surprise me and do any weird growing after blocking, either!

So with the current state of the socks being as above, who would like to place money on me finishing a PAIR before this time next week?!