…almost! Mr B’s sixth pair of handknitted socks are finished. He has more pairs of socks than me, but I don’t mind. He wears them, asks for them, and he knows that if he ever even whispered about the amount of yarn I have that there would be no more handknitted socks for him! *evil grin*

Pattern: None to speak of
Yarn: 1 x 100g Trekking XXL, shade #184.
Needles: 2.25mm Susan Bates Silvalume needles of loveliness

Of course, there was some sort of pattern involved. A very basic, cast on 68, half for the heel flap, a quarter for the stitches picked up, etc. Nice, mindless knitting. And once a tad more secret knitting is finished, I can start thinking about something that should have been done a while ago..!

Thanks to everyone for the get well soon wishes. We’re all a lot better now.

Just a quick post to say that I have started work on a smaller, woman’s size, version of my Hareton sock pattern.

After swatching a couple of times, I realised it would be easier to modify the stitch pattern, rather than trying to use the same one as the larger version. It’s simple enough to do and will be a much quicker knit than the originals. Unfortunately, they won’t be done within the next couple of weeks because of other knitting taking priority. But they’re on their way!

ETA: Because I am a numpty and forgot to mention the yarn! It’s Rowan 4ply Soft in Tea Rose.

Excuse me while I yawn through this post. Like most parts of the UK, we’ve been treated to wet and windy weather over the past day or so. I don’t want to go out. The small people don’t want to go out. And the cat doesn’t want to go out. I don’t know how she does it. She’s must have a bladder the size of a football. But eventually, despite the wind and rain, she had to pay a visit outside. Only it wasn’t just before I went to bed. Or when I wake up. Oh no. It was at 4am this morning. I couldn’t even nudge Mr B to let her out as he’s away. *sighs* I need coffee. And is it too early for chocolate?

I am already on my second WIP of the year, but I’m afraid that and the finished one will have to stay secret for now. I would feel more smug than Smuggy McSmug of Smugtown who won the International Smugness Competition five years in a row if I could post a FO photo when it’s only mid January. I might cheat and backdate the post with the photos in when I can finally reveal them.

But my plan to knit the Dolphin Lace Scarf once this second project is done has been thwarted. Of course it has. I said not so long ago that it was hard for me to plan my knitting and there you have it. My lovely grandma who (as far as I am aware) is my only relative besides Mr B who wears the knitted socks I make, mentioned that she’d been wearing hers in bed recently. Not the Jaywalkers I knit her, but a pair of plain Opal ones that were knit pre-blogging. Well, that just won’t do. She clearly needs bedsocks!

I don’t know if it’s the same for anyone else (I imagine it is, because let’s face it, we’re all obsessed knitters) but I was already mentally looking at patterns and considering them as soon as she mentioned that she was wearing her socks as bedsocks. So my brain went something like “Ooh, bedsocks! Alpaca! Soft!” and before the conversation had ended, I had pretty much cast on for them.

Of course I didn’t, because I have a WIP and I am being good (ha!) but later in the day I went to my stash and found a skein of Artesano Hummingbird in Flamingo…

…and after working on my WIP all day, it couldn’t hurt to cast on just to see how it knitted..!

I should mention the pattern I’m sort of using. As I said before, my thoughts immediately went to these socks:

They’re the Heelless Sleeping Socks from Knitting Vintage Socks. They’re knit with fingering weight yarn and 2.75mm needles. With only 48 sts cast on, this would make them far too small. Hummingbird is DK weight, and I’m using 3.25mm dpns and getting a far bigger sock. But because the yarn is so heavily varigated, the stitch pattern was getting completely lost on the sock. So basically I’m knitting a plain tube which has no resemblence to the pattern other than the stitch count.

I know I could have used a plain yarn, but the buttery softness of the alpaca is perfect for cozy feet in bed. Plus it’s stash, and I get to feel virtuous for using up yarn I already have. It would be something if I could completely avoid buying any yarn at all this year. It’s certainly doable considering how much yarn I already own. *blushes* But this is not a resolution. Because then I won’t feel despondent when I don’t manage to stick to it.

This will be the perfect pattern for mindless knitting when I need to keep my hands busy but don’t want to knit something that needs any thought whatsoever. I just knit straight till they’re the right length and then shape the toe.

So far all the mansize socks I have ever knit have been plain stocking stitch, using a varigated or self-striping yarn to make them interesting and stop me going mad with boredom. But I’ve discovered Regia Silk sock yarn (machine washable and can be tumble dried - result!) and it comes in some lovely manly shades just asking to be knitted into textured socks.

The pattern is my own, based on several diamond patterns that you can find in any stitch dictionary. The problem is that it has a repeat of 20 stitches. 60 stitches is too few, so I’m working with 80 stitches, only on 2mm needles so that I don’t end up with something big enough to fill with presents from Santa. It’s going to take slightly longer, but the result so far is completely worthwhile:

Though the yarn is soft, I’m still getting good stitch definition

and though I’m not likely to meet my hoped-for deadline of all festive knits being done by 1st December (this is the current progress on the first sock, and I still have the scarf to finish) hopefully I won’t be far behind.

My needle bending incident yesterday was partly due to me taking arty photos in an attempt to persuade myself that the sock I was knitting was worth continuing. It wasn’t a hard pattern, but I couldn’t memorise it and it was bothering me knowing that I was two thirds through the first sock and already dreading knitting the next one. I want to be able to pick a sock up at odd moments, glance at the sock and know which pattern row I’m on. Considering that I’m planning to knit a Princess Shawl which I doubt is going to be at all suitable for picking up at odd moments, this might seem a contradiction. But with a shawl - especially that one! - I’m not knitting it as a quick and portable project. A sock, on the other hand, is for knitting on the bus or tram (if I can get a seat!) as well as in odd snatched moments when I’m not trying to launch a website, and therefore I can’t be doing with balancing charts and crossing off rows.

Click below to see what happened next. Unless you are a certain wizardy yarn dyer who doesn’t want to spoil a surprise.

(more…)

I’ve had no hot water for a good part of this week, due to having a new boiler fitted. It seems like the best time of year to have a new boiler fitted, it being June and therefore hot. Though of course, we managed to choose the wettest, coldest summer week possible. So no hot water meant no blocking. When I had to boil a kettle everytime I wanted to wash anything, soaking my knitting wasn’t a priority. So I celebrated my new boiler by having a blocking party! Who says my life isn’t full of excitement?!

First up are my Sockapalooza saviour socks!

I do like admiring my gusset

Pattern: Eagle’s Flight by Megan Humphrey
Yarn: Rowan 4ply Soft in “Zing” (#371)
Needles: Set of five 2.25mm Susan Bates dpns (also green!)

Definitely the best yarn choice! Whle the Opal was more apple green, the luxury of the Rowan yarn won me over. I loved knitting these. The pattern is only 6 rows and it was so easy to memorise and just sit and knit while doing other things. Like watching Tim Henman get knocked out of Wimbledon again. So I’m all done and dusted, with a month to spare. *pats self on back*

I have also finished both sleeves of the zippy jacket, which are still drying. And my needles are still on fire. The purple bobbly secret knitting is done, so I’ve started some more top secret stuff. When I’m able to post photos, I will look so prolific!

I think it’s now time to think about doing some lace knitting. I’ve knit more socks in the past six months than I did in the whole of 2006 and while I love knitting them, and my sock yarn stash is still threatening to take on a life of its own, I am making a stand. No more socks! At least, not for a little while…

I am in love with this yarn. It’s been sat in my stash for almost a year and it’s shameful that I didn’t use it before. Yes, the stretchiness takes a moment to get used to, but once you have, it knits like a dream - and knits up fast!

And of course the pattern is lovely. Like a stretchy Jaywalker! The socks are so comfy and I don’t know what to do. I had considered giving them to my sister, but I do love them so much. I suppose it depends how selfish I am feeling. And whether she has now actually worn the ones I knit her for Christmas…

I have another pair of socks (!) OTN already, but will cover those in another post as they have a bit of a story to them. And to avoid becoming a sock bore, I am also going to cast on something that isn’t a sock. Don’t faint, anyone. Honestly, if you’ve seen my sock yarn stash, you will know that I could easily knit a pair of socks a fortnight for the rest of the year before I saw the bottom of the basket. Knitting lots and lots of socks is a good thing!

On a final sock-related note, I now have my Sockapalooza pal’s details. It’s very exciting, and I think I can have a lot of fun with their socks from the information they’ve given me. At the moment, though, I’m just doing a bit of research into patterns and yarns and will report back on those soon. Yes, it means buying more sock yarn. Oh dear…