Anyone home?

Oh dear, badly neglected blog syndrome. Where did the last month go?!

It seems that summer holidays, friends and family visiting, changing jobs and preparing for the forthcoming cooler seasons may have got in the way of blogging. Funny that.

Anyway here's the latest Perran Yarn news - sparkly sock yarns for twinkly toes!

Pumpkin Pie

Night Sky

Oasis

Finally... 2013 knitting!

Well it's taken 4 months, but I've finally started some knitting again! I seem to have been in a very long crochet phase - I blame it on my starting to go to knitting club...

Anyway here it is - a sock in progress, using the lovely Buffy sock yarn from Juno Fibre Arts, purchased at the KnitExpo way back in November 2010.

I'm using Wendy's Toe-Up sock pattern on a 2.5mm circular needle with a little rib added to the upper foot for a snug fit whilst maintaining the mindless knitting factor.

Hopefully they won't take too long!

Sock disaster

Warning sock knitters....

If you are of a nervous disposition, avert your eyes now - graphic scenes of sock disaster coming up...

There - I told you it was nasty didn't I?

The most enormous hole in my beloved Tidal Wave cashmere socks in place of where the heel was when I put them on - and the same in the other one too!

This calls for some serious investigation into repairs.. watch this space..

Dyeing again

This time with my oldest DD.

She did pretty much all of it: tied the skeins, picked out the Kool-Aid shades, mixed the dyes, poured them on, wrapped the clingfilm, microwaved the yarns, and then rinsed them once I'd unwrapped and cooled them a little.

Here are the results:

Lovely Lemon and Lime - this is the one DD wants to keep for me to make something for her to wear.

Sizzling Strawberry - this one taught her that you don't always end up with what you first envisaged, especially with Kool-Aid.

The initial idea was pink blending through to purple - quite different to the result!

Fire Light - we ran out of time before dinner to finish off the dyes, so later I mixed them together and poured them into a pan to kettle-dye this third skein.

These are all superwash sock yarns, and the red ones will be listed in my Etsy shop ready for you to buy soon. Both my daughters are so excited to have their hand-dyed yarns up for sale!

I've recently changed the name of my hand-dyed yarns after finding another dyelicious in Australia. As we are so close to lovely Perranporth, I have settled on Perran Yarns. Please take a look!

Developing patterns

I'm working on a sock design to publish and sell as a multi-way pattern right now. It's following on from the Toe-Footsies that I made, and will include three sizes and three different toe options.

These are the adult size with the regular toe version.

I used my Yarn Addict merino/bamboo blend sock yarn from my stash - very nice to work with, and hopefully very lovely to wear later this year.

This is the latest addition - the teen/small adult size with the split toe option to wear with toe-post mules.

I've used Regia Cotton Surf (again from stash!) for this one, and I love the way it's turned out.

So does DD - she wants me to start on the second sock right now instead of blogging about it!

The pattern should be ready soon - watch this space.

Teach 'em young

I spent a while this afternoon playing with Kool-Aid dyes and 3 skeins of sock yarn with my youngest DD. What better way to spend a half-term cloudy afternoon - creative, educational and yarny!

I let her choose the colours to be used and then showed her how to make them up into the dyes.


She came up with the first colourway - her favourite - a rainbow one of course.

Then we decided together how to use the remaining colours on the other 2 skeins of yarn. Here are the results:
This one is a gorgeous bright mix of red and orange, which hasn't shown up in the picture well at all - goodness knows why not.

Then this one which is the leftover blue, green and lemon.

Cool!

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!

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!

The knitters friend

Films are a knitter's friend. Especially when the knitter is producing endless amounts of stocking stitch, like sleeves.
We watched a good film (but not so good I couldn't drag my eyes away) at the weekend - and I ended up knitting and crocheting the second sleeve of the Beachcomber Tunic in record time.
I'm now on the lower crochet half of the front. The finish line is in sight!

The Beachcomber Tunic is too big to be easily portable now, so I have a new work lunchtime project - my first pair of commissioned socks!
Instead of cash payment I'm bartering services with the recipient. I'm getting a big jar of chilli olives in return for the knitting, and of course the recipient has paid for the wool.
I'm using the same Irish Wellington Socks free pattern, with the Big Fabel yarn in the green colourway - as chosen by the recipient. Very nice it is too.

I also managed to summon up the energy and enthusiasm to tidy up our building site back garden a little at the weekend. I planted some violas and pot-bound plants, so we should have some flowers soon.
Just look at the garlic! Hopefully I'll be able to dry those off and start eating them soon too - yum. :-)
Hanging baskets are next. We will have colour!

Stocking up

I mentioned a few purchases last time didn't I? Well they've been trickling in ever since:

Firstly there is a small package of 4 balls of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran from the sale at Stash.

They are a gorgeous salmon shade, intended for a Baby Shrug as a Christmas present for my new niece Sara.

I know it's a little ahead of time, but there's nothing like being organised. And anyway I wanted to buy some more stash. ;-)

Since they arrived though, I realised that they match a dress of my youngest DD's perfectly - the only dress that we don't have any cardigans that match at the moment. So I may have to buy some more...

Next up is an ebay bargain that I shouldn't have bought really but couldn't resist.

It's 500g of Lana Grossa Pina yarn which is 100% viscose. I love viscose, and it only cost me £5.50 plus postage. The colour isn't ideal for me, and I have no idea what I will make with it, but the price meant I had to have it!

Finally (for now) is a parcel from Web of Wool. It's the Panda Cotton sock yarn - 2 skeins of Chocolate Almond and 2 skeins of Strawberry Lime. Who could resist colours like that?!

I had to try it, and seem to be getting more into knitting socks - or at least buying the yarn. Plus it's a bamboo/cotton blend - my favourite right now.

I have been knitting some of the newer stash too. My enthusiasm was waning for the Beachcomber Tunic so I decided to make my welly socks!

They only took a few days to knit - chunky and easy. I followed the Irish Wellington Socks pattern using the 200g of the Garnstudio Big Fabel yarn in the red/orange colourway on size 4.5mm needles.

I guess it's back to the Beachcomber Tunic now!

Cosy toes

Presenting... the Tidal Wave socks.

Knitted in Hipknits cashmere sock-weight yarn using a 2.5mm Addi circular needle.

Easy peasy, comfy and quick. Never thought I'd say that about knitting socks. Just goes to show what you can learn.

Now I just need to make some of those sock blockers - hmm, should I go for the plastic or hanging type? Maybe both! :-)

In the meantime, here are the socks in action.

And believe me they're going to get plenty of that. ;-)

(P.S. The ballet was wonderful and much enjoyed!)

Lucky FO and New socky project

Lucky is done - woohoo!

Still 3 weeks to go before the new owner is expected, so I went for a white button.

I love this pattern - so quick and easy, resulting in such a practical and cute little cardigan.

Hoefully it'll get a lot of wear soon. :-)

I have 1 more project to seam (remember the bamboo top?) and 1 secret project to felt, so time for a new occupant on those needles!

It's the turn of the Tidal Wave socks, using the vivid pink cashmere sock yarn I bought from Kerrie at the HipKnits stand at the last knitting show I went to before we moved to Cornwall.

The pattern is very easy, and this is the first time I've tried using 2 circulars as opposed to magic loop. Not sure which technique I prefer yet.

The yarn is yummy, although the pattern definition isn't too good atm - hopefully that we will improve as the sock progresses...

Of socks and parcels

You want socks? You got 'em! Announcing the gorgeous Hedera pair, finished just 3 hours ago.

Great pattern (Knitty), great yarn (Cherry Tree Hill merino), great socks. Now they have to go into hiding until the weather turns cooler - hopefully quite a while away.


And the parcel? Well it's my prize from Maggie's Crafting - plus a little extra.

I received the stitchmarkers I had chosen plus a sunny little card, an extra pair of lovely handmade stitch markers, and a bag of honey bear chewy sweets for my daughters!
Of course I had to try them first, just to check. Thanks so much Maggie!

I had a second parcel too - but that's another story..

Vegelicious

We didn’t get chance to enjoy the glorious weather this weekend as my youngest DD was quite poorly with a fever. I did carry her outside for a short while on Saturday though, to sit on a comfy sun lounger in the lovely warm sunshine and listen to the birds singing to her. It helped lift her spirits, and gave her something else to think about briefly – she even managed a little smile. :-)

Whilst she was having a little sleep, I got round to planting some garlic in my new garden. I’ve never grown it before, but we do eat a lot of it and it’s supposed to help keep pests away from the other plants. Each clove grows into a new bulb, so we should have plenty to keep us going.
I’m also going to try planting spring onions and my new favourite – fennel. As you can see, I have pretty much a blank canvas to start from!

I have some herbs (basil, sage, parsley and oregano) already enjoying their sunny position in the kitchen. The very helpful lady at our local garden centre phoned me at the weekend to let me know they now have some rosemary plants in stock, so I’ll be buying one of those soon to keep the garlic company.

We also got the juicer out at the weekend and made out own concoction including 1 jaffa orange, 1 Royal Gala apple, 1 large carrot, half a bulb of fennel, and a handful of red grapes. The result? Delicious!

All this is actually me trying to start to become fit and healthy. The last time I visited a gym was before my eldest DD was born, and now I'm driving myself to work, sitting in front of a computer all day, driving home, then sitting down knitting in my leisure time. Combine all that with the fact the I adore food, and you get the current situation where I want to lose 2 stone before I scare the holidaymakers on the beach.. ;-)

I've been checking out the details of the local fitness classes.. watch this space!

Oh yes - the Hedera sock is growing too..