What I knit on my holidays - part #1

This was my backup holiday project. Without a current portable project on the go and a new project to start which I wasn't entirely sure would work I packed this "very easy" hat pattern, the right size needles, and a ball of handspun just in case.



I didn't get quite as much done as I thought I would on the journey (due to the need to assist with the navigation on A roads rather than motorways) but I had a couple of good sessions in Ireland and have really motored on since I got back.



I'm just about ready to work the decrease round and then it's on to 8 inches of two by two rib.



What's that marking the beginning of my round?



Whilst in Stirling I was bemoaning my lack of matching stitchmarkers and Mel very kindly offered to make me some. These were waiting for me on the doormat when we got back from holiday. They are soo pretty - thank you Mel!

One thing at a time

The other weekend I was mulling over what project I should start next, maybe a Coraline or Manu in Jamieson and Smith or a new spinning project (I bought a braid of Shetland in the Bay of Fires colourway from Megan at the last OGWSD meeting) when I suddenly realised I was feeling rather panicky, like my knitting work-load (knitting work-load!?) had become too much for me. Time to take a step back. Just because I'm involved in three biggish projects at work there's no need to replicate the situation in my crafting. This is my hobby after all, it's meant to be fun, and relaxing.

So for a little while I'm just going to be working on one project at a time - either until the current backlog of WIPs has been worked through or things calm down at work (whichever comes first!).



This does have its drawbacks of course. Not all knitting is suitable for all times and places. Making these tiny twisted stitch cables whilst simlutaneously trying to stop the chart falling off my lap isn't the easiest thing to do on the bus and I had to rip back two and a half rounds yesterday after omitting to make two sets of "KFBF"s (knit into the front, back, and front of the stitch in order to make two extra stitches) whilst knitting at the pub. Can't think why I forgot to put those in!



I do appreciate that this single minded concentration on one project at a time will make for rather boring viewing on the blog but fret not - it really can't last!

Flaming red Monkeys

Pattern: Monkey by Cookie A. from Winter Knitty 2006
Needles: 2.5mm
Yarn: Wellington sock yarn from The Thylacine
Ravelled: here



Love love love these socks!

Making it all better

Excuse the language but it has been a hell of a week. Entirely my own fault but I managed to book myself onto a two day course during a week in which I was more than ordinarily busy with my day job. So I have been making it all better by ...

• painting my nails to match my current knitting project (yes, they're now bright red to match Megan's Redgum sock yarn)
  
• knitting said project
  
• buying a scoop of G&D's vanilla icecream with chocolate sauce on the way home
  
• putting a good squirt of Bulgari on each wrist
  
• phoning a friend for a chat
  
• making and eating a mushroom risotto with blue cheese (everything tastes better if you put Stilton on it)
  
• drinking a couple of glasses of Sauvignon Blanc
  
• making Nigella Lawson's banana bread from Domestic Goddess (minus the rum, raisins, and walnuts) for tomorrow's guild meeting
  
• watching four episodes of the West Wing season 4 back to back on the laptop whilst making risotto and banana bread - the Nick and Dave show is pretty entertaining but it doesn't come close to Bartlett for America - we bought our breadbox because it could hold a loaf from our breadmaker but it's also the only spare flat surface in the kitchen on which to rest the laptop
  
  Safe to say I'm feeling pretty good right now.

Five alarm Monkeys

The heart wants what the heart wants. When Megan brought along a bag of her yarn to the pub last week I immediately seized on this skein of Wellington sock yarn in the Redgum colourway and when it came time to knit it up although I considered a number of lovely sock patterns (Baudelaire, Vampire Boyfriend, Baroque) I kept coming back to the idea of a pair of bright red Monkeys.



Trust me, this photo does not do this red justice. I love how the variegation produced patches of colour rather than stripes and I can't wait to finish sock #2 so I can wear them.

Moving swiftly on

It became clear sometime around 9pm last night that Plan B wasn't really going to play out. Even after sacrificing the sleeves no way was there going to be enough yarn left to finish the raglan decreases and shape the shoulders. Sooo, I dealt with it the way I do with a lot of my projects that aren't quite working out, that is I stuffed it in a bag, pretended it hadn't happened, and pulled out a different project: a pair of long, long-neglected socks.

I've now worked 5 out of the 7 pattern repeats for the leg of the second sock. 2 more repeats to go before I need to start working out exactly what it was I did for the heel of the first sock back in January. I just know that I didn't divide the stitches evenly between heel and instep (due to the calf decreases and the position of the pattern) - other than that it's a complete mystery.

Pull your socks up

I've been keen to knit some knee-length socks for myself for some time now. I did knit a pair of stripy knee socks a few years back but I'm afraid they kept falling down on the job.

These should do a bit better. Funnily enough it's when socks are too tight, rather than the reverse, that they fall down so I've made sure I cast on enough stitches for a nice elastic fit around the top of the calf.

There's plenty of yardage in Megan's Wellington sock yarn (in fact it could be named for the fact that you could knit a pair of welly socks from one skein) and I'm reasonably confident of getting two socks out of my single skein in the Scarpantoni colourway. However, if I don't quite make it I've got the leftovers in the Stringybark colourway with which to knit contrast toes and cuffs.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

The boyfriend and I tend to spend a lot of time over Christmas with our respective families so we need to get our own Christmas stuff out early in order to enjoy it before we head off to Kent and Bolton. We've already had two cups of coffee out of the Christmas mugs and I'll be putting up the decorative twigs (with their new Handm@de ornaments) on Friday.

Christmas knitting is underway too. I've finished one scarf for a colleague and I'm a quarter of the way through a pair of socks in Megan's gorgeous Wellington sock yarn in the Stringybark colourway. I love this yarn, there's a real complexity and subtlety to the colourway which totally does not show up in this photo!



Proper daylight photos when we get some proper daylight around here!

Spin, ply, wash, dry

Hand spun sock yarn in Cherry and Espresso dyed by The Thylacine.



I offered to spin and knit a sample for Megan's stand at FibreFest at the end of August. I chose this beautiful colourway on a base of oatmeal bfl and silk and it has spun up beautifully. Not quite like I thought it would, the brown looks much darker, almost grey once spun, but that's always one of the nice surprises about spinning, how colours appear to change when spun and plied.

I've only plied about half the spun fibre so far as I just needed to have something to take away with me to London for the next few days so I could get a start on the knitting. I've cast on for a pair of Monkeys on 2.5mm needles but I'm taking the rest of my Harmony dpns along just in case I need to go up a needle size.

Best of the weekend*

Best spinning:



Superwash merino/seacell blend from The Thylacine. This is spinning up beautifully smooth and even and I'm already onto the second ply. You can get through a lot of fibre during a Tour stage.

Best plying:



Shetland fibre in Moody from Old Maiden Aunt. I love this so much. I had a bit of a 'mare plying it because I broke the thread a couple of times and then couldn't find the end (argh!) but I managed it somehow (by dint of winding off little bits onto cotton spools) and have ended up with over 400 metres of fingering weight yarn.

Best jamming:



The Co-op had yellow-stickered gooseberries when I went in to buy provisions for lunch on Sunday so I bought a punnet on impulse and made gooseberry and ginger jam in the afternoon. I think I had my best jam making result yet as I actually managed to heat the jam to the setting point for the first time after realising that I had to split it into smaller batches to avoid it boiling over before reaching 104 degrees C. I had some on toast this morning and it was yummy.

Best cake:



I ran all the way to Oxford (just under 8 miles) for this cake and boy was it worth it. I even, despite having to run for the bus on the way back, managed to get it home in pristine condition which almost never happens. I ate it with a cup of Clipper decaf tea whilst watching Sunday's stage of the Tour (which I am enjoying hugely) and spinning the lovely sock fibre.

Best flowers:





Roses in the Blenheim Palace rose garden which is now in full swing.

Best surprise:





Half marks to everyone who guessed it was a baby surprise jacket. It's actually a lady surprise shrug. I didn't have to make any mods to the pattern on this, apart from knitting it on 5mm needles, but I have big plans for a lady surprise sweater in Garthenor organic yarn which will be amazing.

* idea shamelessly homaged/plagiarised from WordsandStitches