Forget me not

Slow progress this last week or so as we've had family visiting. It was wonderful to spend time with them, so the Forget-me-not socks took a back seat.

I did manage to finish them the night before our visitors left though, so my Mom got to see them done.

It's not the world's best picture but the only time I seem to get for crafty stuff right now is after dark.

They feel lovely on - really soft and silky. I used the Panda Cotton Print (a great-value bamboo/cotton blend) in the Strawberry-Lime colourway, and of course my DDs both love it. I may have to buy some more to make socks for them.

There was yarn left over from both balls, so they could have been made longer but this is a cuff-down pattern. I guess the leftovers would make great hairbands for my DDs!

I'm glad I also bought the same yarn in the Chocolate-Almond colourway - now to find another short-ish pattern..

Panda Cotton socks

I was very brave yesterday - I had a large filling replaced as it had developed a hole right up to the root. I was in the chair for 30 minutes!

Thankfully my dentist in Truro is wonderful and it's feeling fine now. I won't show you the result - it's not a pretty sight.


Take a peek at this instead:

It's my latest sock using my Panda Cotton Print yarn from stash (see that halo glinting?!).

I'm loving this free Forget-Me-Not pattern - easy and pretty.

The yarn is quite splitty but I love the colours and it feels silky, smooth and squishy, so all is forgiven.

Toe-footsies

This time of my own variety.

I've finally finished the daughter socks that I wanted to design to use up the Tofutsies yarn remaining from my Kaibashira socks.

I found an easy but pretty lacy rib stitch pattern, and worked out a p3-k3-p1-k3 rib to match up with it.

I wanted to use the standard heel stitch to give a little more padding here, so it was cuff-down.

(I've since found a recipe for knitting toe-up with this kind of heel, so that's next on the ToDo list.)

When we got to the toe, I was instructed by DD that a separate big toe was in order so that the socks can be worn with flip-flops.

So I checked out a few patterns and can up with this modified toe-rib type affair.

You know I'm pretty pleased with the whole thing, and quite amazed at how easy it was to come up with my own sock pattern.

So here are the finished Toe-Footsies - complete with toe-post for wearing with flip-flops.

Well we do live by the sea now.

One more thing - Poppy Cottage asked about the needle thing. Yes I do use magic loop for socks. I'm sure it must sound horrendous to read about (I can't vouch for that as I was lucky enough to be shown it in person), but just dive in and try it.

I think it's by far the most portable and child-friendly (and therefore parent-friendly!) method of knitting socks, so it's my most favoured method.

And finally...

One small oasis of beauty in the garden that seems (for now) to be rented to the builders yard.

I do love DH's camera.

Just wish I could remember the name of the darn shrub. ;-)

Tofutsie socks and building blocks

The Kaibashira socks are done - they have been for a while but now we have the computer back so I can show you - woohoo!

They only took about half the ball of Tofustsies, so now I have 46g left - obviously I need to make more socks for my daughters.

I've got all the way down to the toe of my very first own-design cuff-down lacy rib sock, only to find that it's used too much yarn. Poo.

I will persevere though - 46g of yarn is too much to waste!

The other thing that's progressing is the extension - we're now up to roof level:

The window and french doors should be in place soon too, then we're on the internals - yay!

Dyelicious!

3 weeks on and we're still stumbling along with the laptop - the main computer is progressing slowly but still recuperating.

I have managed to spend most evenings this week winding the laceweight merino that I dyed a while back into more manageable skeins and centre-pull balls.


I do love the colours!



I created labels in Word which I'm pleased with too.



The yarns are now available in my Etsy shop - feel free to go take a look!



Now I can't wait to get the kitchen back in a decent state for long enough to dye some more...

Forced absence

Just wanted to let you know that I'm having a little forced absence from this blog right now - thanks to problems with our computer. The hard drive has died and the new one isn't compatible with other parts of the system - these things inevitably have complications!

The junior ribby socks are done and being worn by eldest DD with delight. I'm half way through a pair of Kaibashira socks (originally a Magknits pattern, now taken on by Knotions) for me, using one of my stash balls of Tofutsies yarn. Love the pattern but not mad on the cuff edging - pretty but way too loose. I may try a size smaller needle for the start of the second sock.

My tiny local newsagent has come up trumps - they've got hold of a copy of the new magazine "The Knitter". It's on issue 3 - and I love it. There is an offer to try 3 issues for £5, so I'll be doing that.

The house extension is progressing and expanding along the way, as we've (literally) unearthed some problems we weren't aware of before this started. At least we have the ideal opportunity to put them right, but it means the whole process is going to take longer and cost more money - as always.

I'll post as and when I get the chance, but there will be fewer, if any, pictures for a while.

Fourth sock syndrome

Yep - fourth sock. And I reckon I'll have enough yarn left from this 100g ball for another pair of junior socks after this one too!

This is the bigger size for my eldest DD - adult UK shoe size 3.

I had to rip it out just after the heel and lengthen the foot - it measured right but wasn't quite long enough when tried on.

You'd think I'd learn about ribbing pulling a measurement out by now wouldn't you?!

Finished!

The junior zig zag socks are done.

Now on to the slightly bigger size for eldest DD!

Junior socks

My youngest DD has a sock problem.

She always has cold feet, so needs to wear socks a lot, but she can't stand them sliding down on her foot or leg - which happens frequently as she's tall and slim.

So during the snow last week, I lent her a pair of my own handknit socks - which were way too big of course but were at least warm.

And then what happened? Why she asked me to knit her a pair in her size of course!

So here they are. Or most of the first one anyway.

DD picked out the yarn in the colourway she liked the most from my (limited) sock yarn stash. It was this purple and lilac striped Zig Zag yarn from King Cole.

This is a budget sock yarn, but not at all bad to knit with - if a little splitty on a double-wrap pick-up on the short rows.

I'm using the Universal Toe-Up Sock Formula from Knitty - it's amazingly simple and quick. Crochet cast-on, short-row toe, foot, short-row heel, cuff, stretchy cast-off - done!

They shouldn't take long - youngest DD is almost 8 years old. Next is an order for a bigger pair for her older sister of course!

Sublime of course

I have an almost FO to show you - just adding the final touches...
I've created a wristie - a cross between the much-loved Mrs Beeton style cuff and a handwarmer.

It's closer-fitting to provide more warmth around the back of the hand, but I've used a fish-scale lace pattern with a picot edging to keep the prettiness.

I have large hands, so the wristie would be longer on an average size female hand.


I used 1 ball of Sublime Angora Merino yarn to make a pair of these.

This shade is 45 - Chilli - but it's actually more of a pinky red than I'd envisaged. Colours never show accurately on monitors! It's still lovely nevertheless.

I'm going to sew the buttons to the cuff for decorative purposes only - and they do co-ordinate beautifully with the yarn colour, although my camera refuses to agree in the artificial light of these dark evenings.

This yarn is unutterably soft and luxurious. I defy anyone to not stroke it! I see more of this in my future projects...

BTW, if you love the cushion cover you can see more at Maries Cosy Cushions. She's a UK-based Etsy seller and I see more of her covers in my future too!

Brrr!

Not your everyday view here in Cornwall - this is the first time we've seen snow since we moved here 2 years ago. And it's still snowing...

Singing the Blues

This evening I finished another Pastiche Scarf - this time in shades of blue.
I absolutely love these colours and yarns together. They sing!

The combination of yarns makes for a luxurious feel to this scarf.

There is a broad mix including mohair, eyelash, ribbon, and wool slub yarns.

I'll be adding this to my etsy shop once I can get some daylight shots.

I'm not sure I'll be able to photograph it at home though, as work on our extension has finally started. Eeeek!

Excuse me whilst I walk around with blinkers on singing loudly for the next 3 months while the builder knocks holes in our lovely little bungalow - and hopefully repairs them too. Laa lala lala... ;-)

Kiwi!

Well I've done it - created a crocheted half kiwi fruit as a gift for a work colleague who's leaving!

There are two of us in our team at work who are always crocheting or knitting at lunchtime, so we thought it would be a good idea to create something as part of a leaving gift.

The guy who's leaving is from New Zealand and his nickname is Kiwi (original!) so I decided to crochet a half kiwi fruit - cuz it's easier that crocheting the kiwi bird..

I've added a little loop at the back and will attach it to a keyring once it arrives from ebay.

That way he gets a practical gift that always reminds him of us!

I guess I got a little carried away with the beaded kiwi theme..

This is a kiwi hairband I crocheted afterwards - I just have to add on the ties and it'll be in my etsy shop.

Edited to add:
Yes I did create the patterns myself as I went along. I'm really pleased with how they turned out!

Multicolour webs

Phew this month is going so quickly.. Just as well as it means the days are light for longer each day. :-)

My crochet spiderweb hairbands seem to have caught on with my work colleagues at the moment.
I've made two in the purple colour pictured, and now have another order for a black one.

Just as well they're quick and easy to make. :-)

My next challenge is to see if I can crochet a half kiwi complete with seed beads to hang from a keyring for a collegure who's leaving.

If I manage it I'll show you here!

New Year Thoughts

First up I hope you all had a great holiday. We did, and although it seemed to fly past at warp speed it was thoroughly enjoyed.

We visited family and friends in the West Midlands and exchanged more gifts.

Here is my beautiful 9-month-old niece wearing her cashmerino shrug that I knitted as her Christmas gift.

It looks great on her, although she has a while to grow into it properly. Better too big than too small at that stage!


This was our hotel window view on New Year's Eve morning as we were packing to come home.

Yes that canal is frozen with snow on top of it!

Thankfully the roads were clear and we got home without any problems. We were glad to find that Cornwall was about 8 degrees warmer than the Midlands, although the temperatures have dipped down to about -8 degrees since!

I have started the new year with new nails. I've bitten my nails for over 30 years and it's about time I stopped.
I normally bite them when in thought in front of the computer at work or in meetings, so I managed to grow them a little over the holidays as usual.

In an attempt to continue this trend I visited the Top2Toe beauty salon in Newquay last weekend and treated myself to a french manicure with a seaweed-based gel treatment to harden the nails and encourage growth. So far so good..

You can see them here when I modelled my latest crochet handwarmers (listed in my Etsy shop) - made from pure cashmere in a gorgeous lacy design - lush!

Thanks for your lovely comments about the lengthways stashbuster scarves.

I'm still knitting them - in fact I find them quite addictive as each one turns out different to the last.

Here's the Chocolate Mandarin one - this is my favourite so far.

That's a taster for you - if you want to see more, take a look in my shop!

Busting the stash

I've been absorbed with warm rich colours recently, obviously inspired by Christmas.

I decided to knit some more lengthways scarves. Here's the first one:


There are all sorts of yarns in there - chenille, acrylic, polyester eyelash, wool, alpaca, mohair, cotton, merino..



I used one of my Addi circular needles, working 2 rows in each yarn at a time, randomly switching between garter stitch, stocking stitch, and reverse stocking stitch.

It was a windy day when we took this shot!

Now I've cast on another, this time using warm browns and oranges.

They make great stashbusters - and great presents too, each one totally unique. They're fun to knit but very easy - perfect for Christmas TV watching!

Double figures!

Today is our eldest daughter's 10th birthday.

I really can't believe it's been 10 years since we first set eyes on our beautiful first baby. And quite a relief after a 30-hour labour!

Thick black hair, the loudest yell, and gorgeous big inquisitive eyes. Like a little eskimo baby - well maybe not so little at 9lb 5oz. :-)

Here she is, just a few minutes old.

And now, she's transforming into a wonderful young lady in front of our eyes. Kind, considerate, smart, funny, and so much more.

We are privileged to be part of her world. Happy 10th birthday darling. We're so proud of you. This day is for you. :-)

Nature's Morning Show

This was the view from our window earlier this week as I got up.
A stunning sunrise - and I didn't even have to get up early to see it!

Been busy

There's a lot on at the moment. Not least numerous small projects to be finished. Here are a selection of the completed ones:
Chunky collars for my Etsy shop and Christmas sales

A cabled cashmere collar for my Etsy shop

A chunky hat as commissioned by my FIL

A white eyelash shoulder shrug for eldest DD, to go with her Christmas dress. I'll get a modelled shot as son as she's up to it - she's been off school today poorly.

Must go - we have to get to a family buffet for my SIL's wedding anniversary in half an hour!

AWOL

Hi! I'm back from my unexpected break - temporarily anyway. You know how it is this time of year - lots going on.

My Dad and step-mom visited us from Spain for 5 days and we had a lovely time. Good job they flew back to Alicante before the enforced temporary closure of Newquay Airport!

This week I've been knitting neckwarmers like mad for a local sale tomorrow. Oh and we got to see Santa and his real reindeer in Truro on Wednesday evening. I've never seen so many people in Truro!

Back soon...