First post this year

How sad is that? The first quarter is nearly over and this blog has been very much neglected yet I’ve had quite a number of finishes since the last post.

This one was knitted with Panda Purla. The yarn is super soft and lovely to knit with.

A Baby Surprise Jacket which as yet has no baby to wear it. I did knit it with a specific baby in mind but baby was late in arriving, was quite big and then the weather became too hot so this one will have to keep for the next smaller baby to come along. The yarn is from Knitting by Zen and is a gorgeous shade of deep dark green.

My first Wollmeise Socks in a delicious shade of deep red which went well with the Christmas tree at the time of taking the photo.

These socks were knitted with The Knittery Merino Slim Sock. I love the colour but did not really enjoy knitting them. I made a lot of mistakes and had to keep ripping back.

My first pair of socks knitted using the Magic Loop method. I found it quite easy and can see me using it again down the track. These were knitted with Colinette Jitterbug.

These are Embossed Leaves Socks though I gave them a regular cuff and toe. They were knitted with Fleece Artist Somoko.

There, that should do for a little while. I have another finish coming up soon and who knows, it may even get posted at the time of the finish.

First Magic Loop Sock

The first of my Magic Loop socks (socks knitted on one circular needle) is finished and I am somewhat surprised at how easy Magic Loop is.  The only slight frustration I found was having to continually pull the needle through the stitches so as to be able to knit the stitches on the next needle. But now that I’ve become more used to the method even that seems quite simple.  The needle size is 2.5mm and is the only circular one (Knitpicks) of this type that I have.  In hindsight I would probably go up a size or two as the fabric is quite tight. I could not bring myself to undo all my good work and start again once I’d discovered this.

Magic Loop Socks

The next trick will be to see how much yarn is left over after completing the socks.  If I’ve weighed correctly there will be enough though I am a little worried as I’ve been reading many stories of knitters not having enough to complete a pair of socks.  So, stay tuned!

It’s been too long since my last post

and so much knitting has been done and not posted but you won’t seeing much evidence of that in this post.

I joined the Southern Summer of Socks again this year.  My challenge is to knit six or more pairs of socks, to try magic loop and to knit from my stash.

So far I have completed one pair of socks for this year’s effort.

These were knitted with Patonyle and the pattern is quite simple, being knit a couple of rows and rib a couple of rows.  I really enjoyed knitting these.  The Patonyle is so soft and smooshy.  This pair also came on holiday with us to The Grampians.  Here it is posing at The Balconies three weeks ago.

I also finished the first of another pair.

The pattern is Wollmeise Socks (free at The Loopy Ewe) and I am really loving knitting this pattern. Very simple and easy to memorise.  The Wollmeise is not as soft and smooshy as Patonyle but it is still lovely to knit and the colours are fantastic.

I’ve also made a start on two other pairs of socks.  Why knit one pair when you can knit four or more?

The first is Embossed Leaves knitted with Fleece Artist Somoko in Mermaid.  It’s coming along just nicely.

And the next, which is also coming along very nicely, is Luminare knitted with The Knittery Merino Slim 3ply.

I do love the colour of these.  Very pretty.

Now that I’ve finished one pair I think I can start another pair.  I should probably try the magic loop next.  As I’ve said, it can’t be that hard.

Ravelympics

have come and gone for 2008.  See www.ravelry.com for more info.

I entered six events – 5 in WIPs Wrestling and 1 in the Laceweight Long Jump and earned three of these little beauties for my efforts.

I finished Alix’s Really Boring Garter Stitch Striped Scarf

and my Cleckheaton Country Silk Cardigan

and a pair of Earl Grey Socks.

Note: These were all started well before the Ravelympics began.

I did not finish my Tilted Duster or my husband’s Cable Jumper (or you might prefer to call it a sweater but I will never call it that).

I started a lace scarf but did not progress very far when I decided that it wasn’t coming along as well as I expected so I unpulled it and will use the wool for something else later.

All in all I really enjoyed “competing” in these games.  It was rather good fun and enabled me to complete three items that may not have been completed by now otherwise.  In the case of the sock definitely not anyway.

Death by Hat

Recently I took part in Death by Hat. This was a battle of knitting to the death conducted on one of the knitting message boards. The idea was: you knitted a hat for your victim, they knitted a hat for their victim and so on down the line. When you finished your hat you sent it on to your victim thus killing them. They, if they had not finished their hat, sent their unfinished hat to you for you to complete and send on to their victim.

I was one of the lucky ones to kill early. Here is the hat I knitted. The yarn used was Patons Jet.

However, while my hat arrived at my victim’s house the next day after posting, her unfinished hat took three working days to arrive at my place. Note: my victim lives in the same state as me and is a mere 3 hours or so away by road. Thus I was extremely pissed off at Australia Post for failing to deliver quickly. And even more pissed off because the hat I was killed with arrived the same day as the unfinished hat meaning I was out of the battle. Note: my assassin is in Queensland, more than 2,000km away.

Here is the hat I received from my assassin. It’s modelled by my daughter and was knitted with Panda Concorde.

I really enjoyed knitting my killer hat. The pattern was simple and the hat was finished in less than a day.

I do harbour bad feelings towards Australia Post. Yes, I would have been dead in any event but at least I would have died having two kills under my belt and not just the one because Australia Post failed to deliver on time.

Some recent finishes

North Roe Shawl

One Skein Sockettes

River Rapids Socks

Child’s Tunic

Above are some of my more recent finishes. Clicking on each thumbnail will give you a bit more information about each item.

Another pair done!

These socks are what I call Almost After Bertha socks. I started off knitting the After Bertha socks from the Socks, Socks, Socks book but then I found that those socks do not have a heel and the toe was odd looking so I added a heel and gave the toe a more normal look. They’re knitted with The Knittery’s 4-ply Merino in the Orchid colourway. I used 2.5mm needles.

I’ve come to a standstill with some of my other knitting projects. My jumper has not progressed although I have started to knit a shawl. This is my first attempt at a shawl and I’m finding it a little challenging especially reading the chart but it’s coming along well enough. I found the 1 or 2-ply wool in an op shop in Temora and decided that it would be a good practice wool for a shawl and for lace knitting. It’s a bit scratchy but it will do until something better comes along. I’ve hinted to Santa that I would like some lace weight yarn so we’ll soon see if he listened to my plea.

The Second Monkeys are done

I’ve had the second sock waiting since Cup weekend for the final grafting. I decided after a needlework HD that it was time for a knitting HD as well. These socks are knit with Koigu KPPPM yarn which is lovely and stretchy.

Now to decide what to knit next. I am having the most difficult time trying to choose. I cast on the first of another pair on Cup weekend but then decided that I didn’t like them so chose something else which I didn’t like either. Now I’m back to the first ones I decided on. The After Bertha socks from Socks, Socks, Socks with changes. Mine will have a heel and a different toe. That is of course if I can keep myself going with them and not change my mind again.

It’s warming up too. Definitely not sock knitting weather but I’ll keep going anyway.

Another pair finished!

These are Bubble Wrap Socks from Sockbug and knitted with The Knittery’s Watercolours 4-ply Merino on 2.25mm needles.

They’re shown here on my new sock blockers that I purchased from The Loopy Ewe. They were quite reasonable in price and as I was ordering yarn as well, it made them much cheaper than any I had seen for sale in Australia.

Of course it also means that I no longer have to show my lily white freckled legs and ugsome shaped feet and I am quite pleased about that.

The Monkey socks are still in process and should be finished by the end of our long Melbourne Cup weekend.

Now I need to decide what socks to knit next. As with stitching, I cannot have just one project on the go. I must have several. I love being able to swap them around. Makes it so much more interesting.

Another Monkey!

This one is knitted with Koigu KPPPM yarn and that little ball to the left of my foot is all that is left of the first skein. I had my doubts that the skein would be enough for a whole sock so I left off a pattern repeat in the leg. I am so glad that I did.

Now onto the next sock.