Medley...

I did get a few nice knitting bits for Christmas, mainly books this year.

I'm really loving all of these.

From left to right - Botanical Knits 2 by Alana Dakos, New Lace Knitting by Romi Hill, Sock Architecture by Lara Neal and Knitsonik Stranded Colourwork Sourcebook by Felicity Ford.

The first two are pattern books and there are some really beautiful ones included.

Knitsonik is a self published book that is just gorgeous and really interesting. I've really enjoyed reading this one.

The Sock Architecture book is very good and I think my favourite one, since it's the one I've used the most so far. I've started a toe up Dydas with the leftover WYS yarn from my Holly socks.

A lot of the patterns have toe up and toe down versions. There are options for different toe lengths and whether you want gussets or not. There's a lot of info and you could easily use the patterns as bases for putting your own patterns onto.

Over New Year, I started a stash busting shawl. Here's the pile of yarn I had to play with.

I worked out which colours I had enough of from other people's project pages but at the moment I'm not really in love with the colour combination in the shawl. I liked it before I started knitting. It might be because it's a departure to what I normally like - I tend to be drawn to brights, blues and yellows. I'm going to finish and block, then make up my mind. The pattern is Exploration Station by Stephen West - I seem to be on a bit of a Stephen West kick at the moment as that's the 3rd one in a row. Though I think it's because there's a lot of garter stitch involved (which I do love) and they are great for watching the TV at the same time.

I'm going to try and keep a list of exactly how much yarn I've used for each section, so others can use it if they want to do the same. I'll put all the details on my Ravelry Project Page.

New Year

Hope everyone has had a lovely Christmas and New Year. I enjoyed mine though glad to be back to some semblance of normality.

I’ve got a few projects to share that I gave as Christmas presents.

Actually, the first one wasn't a present but I didn’t get around to blogging about it. This one was for me.

I started on a weekend away as I thought it would be one of those really easy travelling projects. It was a very simple pattern. I worked it in one colour but I’ve seen some nice multi-coloured versions about.

The yarn is Posh Yarn Martha Sock and the pattern is Dotted Rays by Stephen West. There’s something about it that bugs me a bit but you’ll have to spot it for yourself. Here’s my Ravelry Project Page.

This little one was a Christmas present for my new godson. I’ve made this one before for another friend and it went down well. I did it in about a week before I had to give them the presents so was a bit rushed. The pattern is a Sirdar one and the yarn is Rico Baby Classic DK. Here's my Ravelry Project Page.

I only managed to snap this one photo of the mitts. I’ll try and get some modelled ones but Mum got these for Christmas. The yarn was one I got two Christmases ago from my Mum and I think she picked her favourite colour, so it was only fair to make something for her and give it back!

The pattern is Tatara by Olga Buraya-Kefelian. It has short rows around the wrist section that allows the fabric to rib up. It’s very clever and interesting enough to knit. The yarn is Loft by Brooklyn Tweed which is very nice and creates quite a spongy fabric, though you have to treat it gently because the style of yarn means it does break if you give it a tug. Here's the Ravelry Project Page.

This was the big hit of Christmas. Mum absolutely loves it and has been showing it to everyone.

It’s the MKAL by Westknits and I kept seeing all these stunning photos of shawls around Instagram. I had no intention of doing it as I was a bit under pressure work wise but I was tempted in the end. I ended up stash diving and using some yarns that were intended for other projects but they went so nicely together. The green is Drops Alpaca, the beige is the original Baa Ram Ewe Titus and the lovely dark brown is Fyberspates Vivacious 4ply. Doodler by Stephen West. Here's my Ravelry Project Page. I kept a list on my project page on how much I used of each yarn in each section, which might be useful to those planning on making one (Nicki!).

The final project was for me and it’s my Christmas socks. The yarn was the limited edition Christmas one from West Yorkshire Spinners and the pattern was free with the yarn. Here's my Ravelry Project Page.

Catch Up #2

Ok, so the second instalment. Hands and feet this time.

The gloves have been on the go for awhile – on and off.

The pattern is Bobbie by Julia Mueller. When I started them, they were a paid for pattern (well worth every penny). I find it very sad that the new EU laws on VAT have forced her to make the decision to stop operating as a business. This means that all her patterns are now free.

The yarn is Toddy by Yarn Yard in a very zingy orange colour. They were a Christmas present for a good friend. Ravelry Project page.

The next ones were another Christmas present for my Mum. The pattern is Rumours by Lee Meredith, which I have to say is a genius pattern. It works for any weight of yarn and it’s all explained very well.

I did have one small issue in that I had only 1 skein of Quince and Co. Chickadee and had to squeeze the mitts into that. The first mitt I made came in a 27g and the skein is only 50g, so it got frogged and I made the hand portion shorter. It worked out perfectly after that. They didn’t take me long to whizz up at all, even though I made 3 mitts in the end. Ravelry Project Page.

I finished my long-time on the needles “travelling” socks. I wasn’t very happy with these. I have small feet but a very high instep. This was the first time I’d used the fish lips heel for myself and it didn’t work well. The socks were way too tight around the instep. There are recommendations in the pattern leaflet on how to work a heel for a high instep, so I ended up cutting out the heel and redoing it, then grafting it back into the sock. This made the instep fit better but the foot was then too long, so I ended up cutting that and removing an inch and a bit and grafting that back together. Frankensocks…

The photo was before all the sock surgery. They look fine now and fit well. Ravelry Project Page.

Photo Tutorial: Neater Knit to Purl Yarnovers

My pattern Ticklepenny, that is in Knitty Deep Fall 2014 issue, uses knit to purl yarnovers. See the panels of leaves down the side of the socks...

The normal way of doing this can make a yarnover which is larger than a purl to knit yarnover. When they are near one another then it can make it look a little unbalanced. 

There’s a little trick you can do to make them neater – basically, wrap the yarnover clockwise around the needle instead. This does mean you have to remember on the next row/round and either re-seat it or work into the back of it.

The bottom leaf has normal knit to purl yarnovers and the top leaf has the neater version (there's not a huge difference in this example but it can be more obvious depending on the yarn and your knitting style).

I’ll explain in more detail.

A normal knit to purl yarnover is made by bringing the yarn under the right needle, then…

...over the top of the needle and back under again and because it is worked by effectively going around the needle twice, there is extra yarn and the yarnover is bigger than a purl to knit yarnover.

So for a neater knit to purl yarnover -

1. Normally, the yarn would be at the front for a purl stitch, leave it at the back and insert your needle into the next stitch as if to purl.

2. Purl the stitch. By not bringing the yarn to the front you’ve created a backwards yarnover before the purl.

3. It should look like this. The stitch below is being pulled up by the shorter backwards yarnover.

4. The next step is how to deal with it on the next round/row. It looks the same on the next row,  whether you are working in the round or flat. It looks like this.

5. Work the first stitch and then it should look like the next picture, with the backwards yarnover and the purl stitch that has been pulled up on the left needle.

6. First method is to knit into the back of the stitch, insert right needle from front to back and knit the yarnover (if you need to purl your yarnover, purl through the back loop instead), once this has been worked the purl stitch relaxes and you can then purl it. I sometimes find this tricky to see so I tend to drop the yarnover and re-seat it in its correct position.

7. Second method - drop just the yarnover from the needle.

8. It will then look like this.

9. Pick up the yarnover by going from front to back with the left hand needle…

10. Repeat as necessary...

New Pattern in Knitty, Deep Fall 2014

Some very exciting news. I have a pattern in the latest issue of Knitty.com.

I’ve known for awhile and been desperate to share the news. Here's the Ravelry page.

The pattern is called Ticklepenny and it’s for a pair of socks. The yarn weight is not one that is typical for socks. Instead of using a standard fingering/4ply sock yarn; it is worked using a light fingering / heavy laceweight yarn. The yarn used is Tall Yarns ‘n Tales Soliloquy™ Sock Lace, available here.

The socks are a unisex design and the idea came about when my Mum requested a pair of socks that would fit easier in a pair of shoes. The socks are worked on a 2mm needle and at this gauge allows for a lot of detail in the design.

The socks are worked from the top down. The panels down the side of the sock are mirrored for each sock. There is an eye of partridge heel flap and the feet are plain, so they are easier to fit inside a pair of shoes.

The model is my lovely sister-in-law and the puppy is Bella, who very fleetingly sat still for a photograph.

I had photo shoot on my parent-in-law’s farm, which was fun. Unbelievably, the pictures with the yellow in the background are my sister-in-law stood in the corn bucket! She was a great sport! Plus, it does make for an interesting background.

Filler

Sorry that I've been a bit quiet. I’ve not done a huge amount of knitting recently, so I’ve not had so much to talk about.

I do have a finished object to show you. It’s a vanilla pair of socks. The yarn is Sirdar’s new Heart and Sole sock yarn and the pattern is the one that’s on the inside of the ball band. The colour is Hyper Hyper 105 and I really like the yarn. It’s not a fluffy yarn, it has some body to it and from first appearances, it looks like it would wear well.

The pattern was quite nice too. It has an extra long rib so it can be turned down, if desired and both the toe and the heel has slipped stitches. The long colour changes make a change from a lot of sock yarns and I think it could hold a pattern and still be seen. A lot of these fair isle effect sock yarns make any pattern very difficult to see.

This shawl is a work in progress and think it will be for some time, as I’ve got lots of other knitting to do first.

The pattern is Rendevous Shawl by Lily Go and the yarn is Posh Yarn Gretchen Heavy Lace  and the colour is Light Years Away.

The other project on my needles is beautiful cardigan from the Celebrating Family book by Debbie Bliss. I’ve only got the sleeves and the edging to do, so hopefully I can show you that soon.

Where There's Muck There's Brass

I've recently finished two pairs of socks.

The first was intended as a Christmas present for Mr but it's very hard to try and knit a pair of size 11 socks in secret and on a deadline, so it was after Christmas that they were finished.

His favourite colours are black and burnt orange together. So when I saw the yarn on The Knitting Goddess stand at Yarndale, it just had to be bought. The colour name is just great too, "Where There's Muck There's Brass".

The pattern is Paper Moon by AnneLena Mattison.  My ravelry project page. The pattern didn't go up large enough, so I had to alter it. The largest size went up to 70 sts, mine were 77 sts; I added the extra stitches within the garter stitch bands.

I worked them two at a time on circulars from the toe up. I'm a toe down kind of girl but I tried them for a change. Though I did manage to use up every yard of yarn this way, which definitely gets a tick in the pro column.

They look all wrinkled on the sock blockers, but they fit fine on Mr's feet.

The other pair of socks was for me. The pattern is Budleigh by Rachel Coopey. A beautiful pattern and I modified it to try and fit me better but I'm not hugely happy with the modifications.

The yarn is a pretty hand dyed sock yarn from Ring a Rosie at Whitley Bay (bought on holiday last year). The name for this is nice too, "Paddleboat on the Thames".

I cast on for the medium size and went down to the small size for the foot but I had to use the large heel to keep the sock in pattern. Perhaps there was a better way. It did fit well after I'd finished and I ended up re-doing the toes and taking an inch or so off the length. They fit a lot better now but they do look a bit stunt. At least I learnt how not to do something! I'm not sure the yarn is robust enough to wear with shoes all day long so they may be special occasion socks. Plus they're pretty and sparkly so they probably should be for parties anyway!

Ducks, Socks & Reindeers

Ducks....

Socks...

And one very cute reindeer!

Perhaps, I should say a little more than that. The ducks are from Mary Jane Mucklestone's 150 Scandinavian Knitting Designs and I'm designing a sock around it. I did Mary Jane's workshop recently and was inspired to try some patterns out.There will be some gansey-like texture in there and at least two rows of ducks. It's been frogged a bit because I keep changing my mind. There's a good chance when you see it next time, they'll look different again.

The socks are made with Regia Design Line by Erika Knight and made for giant feet.  They're plain vanilla socks that I carry around with me, so they don't get as much knitting time in one go. One Christmas present down....so many more to go.

And the reindeer is the start of a King Cole Christmas jumper. When he's finished, he'll have a lovely red pompom for his nose. I need to make two though. The one in the picture is for big brother but I need to make a smaller one for his new sister.