More socks for the box

 Looks like Blogger has sorted the problem with posts not updating, for the time being at least.  I don't think It's the first time It's happened though.   Lets hope It's not some recurring problem that will see more people giving up on Blogger.

Anyway... I finished another pair of socks for Mark to add to my box of socks.  These are giving a real Autumn feel with the green, brown and oranges.

As you can see they are not matching.  I did try, but after winding off a load of yarn I still couldn't find the match.  I don't think Mark will even notice to be honest so I'm not going to let It bother me 😃

I haven't cast on another pair of socks just yet because I've been trying to get my Prospect Tee finished.  Happy to say that I did that yesterday and It's now on the blocking mats.  I will post a photo when It's dry, which, seeing as the weather has turned might be a few days.

I've given myself permission to sit and cast on something new this afternoon while watching the second series of The Crow Girl.  

Has anyone watched The Crow Girl?  I watched the first series on channel 5 a few weeks ago, but series two is on Paramount, so I've had to sign up afor a fee month's trial to watch it.

It's so good!  I can highly recommend giving it a watch if you haven't already.

-X-

Knitting my sock stash

 In January I set myself a goal to knit a pair of socks each month throughout the year.  The idea was to fill a box with hand knitted socks for both myself and Mark for Christmas.

We are now in the middle of August and I've just recently finished my eighth pair.  I could choose to miss knitting a pair this month but I decided to cast another pair on this weekend and if life gets too busy towards Christmas I'll still be on track.

These are the latest two pairs finished

A pair for me....

And a pair for Mark.

And all the ones I've knitted so far this year.

It's going to be a tight fit, but I think I should manage to get them all in.

I wanted to try and knit all the socks from stash this year, and I'm happy to say that I have acheived that, so far at least.  I've only purchased one ball of sock yarn this year so I haven't been adding anymore to stash either.

I didn't think to take a photo of my commercial sock yarn stash back in January...But this is how it's looking at the moment.

It makes me happy to be using what I have and seeing less on this shelf.  The shelf is only one ball deep but there is still a fair bit to choose from; and certainly enough to keep me going until the end of the year.  There are also some part balls of solids in there too that I can use for cuffs, heels and toes if I choose to.

I find that the older I'm getting the less I want, of anything, not just yarn, and having a large stash of yarn, or any crafting supplies, is not something that bothers me anymore.  I love to look at yarn and enjoy a browse at yarn festivals and yarn shops, but I think I would much rather be in a position of finding a pattern I would like to knit and then shopping for the yarn, you know, like it used to be before there was so much yarny temptation on social media, lol.

Of course I will still sometimes get tempted along the way, but I would still like to keep to a sensible amount.  

I do have a reasonable amount of hand-dyed yarn - not a huge stash by any means, but enough to have some options.  Most of it is single skeins that I bought because I loved the colourway at the time, while some were gifts.

I could use some of them for socks, and there are definitely a few that I will.  But others are far too pretty to be hidden inside shoes!  So, I've been thinking about pairing some of the skeins together and using them to knit a few Tee's for next Summer - I think that would be a lovely way to make use of those special yarns and getting to enjoy the colours - Watch this space 😉

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What I'm working on

I haven't got any finished projects this week but I do have some works in progress, two pairs of socks and another cardigan for Freddie.

This pair will be for me, I'm knitting the Jemima pattern by Kay Jones.

This is the pair for Mark, just a plain vanilla pair for him. I'm enjoying knitting on both of these, the stripes seem to knit up quicker and I'm loving the squishyness of the Jemima pattern.

I've never been too fussed about using project bags but I bought the one above last year, It's supposed to be a make up or toiletry bag but as soon as I saw it I knew it would be the perfect size for a sock project, and the fact that It opens right out is so useful.

Stevie bought me this other one for Mothers day, it has an inner zipped pocket which comes in handy.

And they sit so nice and tidy when they are closed, lol.

Freddie is growing so fast so this will be something that he will grow into over the Autumn/Winter. I already had the Drops yarn in stash and I've knit this pattern a few times over the years.

Freddie had his first round of baby injections last Thursday, I went with Stevie as she didn't want to hold him whilst he had them, (I've done this for all my grandchildren, I get to be the villan and mummy gets to console,lol). They now have two injections, one in each leg and there is also an oral one for rotavirus.

It's such a lot to give a small baby and they ended up getting an out of hours GP appointment because he had a temperature, they then said he needed to go to the childrens department at the main hospital. Both his temperature and heart rate were up and they ended up staying in the hospital until Sunday afternoon. He is fine now except he is still getting really loose poo's, Stevie was told to expect that for a couple days because the rotavirus is administered as a live solution so they do get a tiny bit of the virus. You could tell he had belly ache/pain when he cried and he was so out of sorts yesterday.

She's got an appointment with her GP tomorrow just to check him over just to make sure everything is ok because the next round of injections is offered in another three weeks time.

At last the opressive heat has gone and we are back to normal temperatures again, for now at least. It rained here this afternoon,Yayyyyy, first time in a while and it was nice slow rain, the sort that soaks into the ground, so that's good, it means I don't have to water the allotments

-X-

Another couple of finishes

 I got a couple things cast off over the last week, another pair of socks to add to my box of socks and a little cardigan for Freddie.

I've lost the ball band so I'm afraid I cannot remember what the yarn was or the colourway, I am happy that I got the pattern on boths socks to match though.  

We are not wearing any of the socks I'm knitting this year, they will be a gift to both of us to start wearing from January.

I decided to knit another Baby Aosta cardigan for Freddie.  I really didn't like the fit of the first one I made but couldn't find another pattern that I liked.  I'm happier with how this one came out, altough I do still think that a cardigan knit in peices has more structure and better fit.

Even though I knit a bigger size thinking it would be ok going into Autumn I'm not sure he will get much wear out of it, he is growing so fast, he is eight weeks old now and already wearing 3-6 months clothes, plus, It's too warm for him to be in any clothes at the moment, let alone woolly ones.

This week we have another heatwave, the air is so close and uncomfortable, it was already 30°C today and predicted to rise to 34°C on Tuesday and Wednesday.  We are not geared for this extreme heat, our houses are built to keep heat in and we don't have air conditioning in homes.  I've been keeping all the blinds closed so that the rooms don't overheat and we have fans going which does help a little.

I think I'll be hibernating untill sensible temperatures return, which shouldn't be too long because this is the UK after all, give it another week and we'll be moaning about the rain, ha ha.

-X-

Monday Makes - (with terrible photos)

Firstly, appologies for the photos, I just can't capture the true colour, you will have to trust me that the colour of this yarn is much better than my awful photos show!

This was the Stylecraft recreat yarn I bought in April - The photo I shared previously, below, is a much better reprsentation of the colour

I've knittied the Salty Air Tee by Samantha Guerin before and I love wearing it.  This one is a bit heavier but will be perfect for cooler Summer days.

The pattern looks complicated but is really simple to knit, and with the use of stitch markers to keep track of the repeats it's easy to spot if you've made a mistake.

I knitted the sleeves just a tad longer than my last one and picked up six extra stitches under the arms to eliminate those gaps you get when picking up stitches.  I had a couple extra stitches in my sleeves to what the pattern says, just because I don't like clothes to fit too tight.

I'm really happy with the result and will probably knit it again in the future because It's such a nice top the wear.

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What I've been making - April

 Thank you for all the lovely comments on the safe arrival of Freddie, he is absolutely gorgeous and has been really chilled in his first week, considering.  He was quite marked and had bruising from the forceps, he still has a little bit around one eye but it is fading a little bit every day.  I didn't realise they used forceps with a ceserean.  Steve was told it was a difficult birth with him being so low down in her pelvis, so no wonder she is so sore.

I managed to get one pair of socks finished during April.

These are knitted in Yarn Smiths sock yarn, it's lovely and soft to knit with but a bit on the splitty side, I think they came out lovely though.

Obviously there has been baby knitting going on for a few months too.  I've only knitted a few cardigans and one blanket as we will be going into the warmer weather, I will knit a few things for the Autumn/Winter in the coming months.

These two are from commecial patterns and seamed together

The white cardigan below is the Baby Aosta cardigan, (pattern on Ravelry) and is knit top down.  While I do like knitting top down I much prefer how a seamed cardigan looks and fits.   Having said that I have alomost finished another Baby Aosta cardigan in a bigger size and It does look better than in the smaller size.

My favourite make is this baby blanket.  When Stevie sent me the link to the pattern and asked me to make it I thought It would be too difficult, I'm ok at basic crochet but not fancy stitches.

But the pattern was so clearly written and there were no fancy stitches so I finished it in about a week.  Absolutely loved making it.  The pattern if anyone is interested is the One Stitch at a Time blanket by Kerry Jayne Designs.  The pattern also includes instructions for a large sofa throw in the same design too.

Yes all but one of the baby makes are cream, Stevie is the queen of cream, lol.  We knew early on that she was having a boy but she still wanted neutral colours, I must say that I prefer baby clothes to be white or neutral too, especially when they are tiny.

Can you beleive It's the end of April?  A third of the year gone already, goodness!  We are having some nice weather at last though, after what seemed like months and months of rain were seeing some lovely sunny days.  I mentioned before how I don't like the lighter nights but I'm trying to pace myself and not find things to do just because it's daylight. lol.

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End of March

 Here we are at the end of another month already.  It's been a busy March, last week was especially busy and I didn't have a lot of time to sit and knit, but I did finish another pair of socks earlier in the week for Mark.

These were knitted in Drops Fable Print yarn which has been in my stash for more years than I can remember.  I think I kept passing up on it because of the colour, but actually I think It knitted up just fine and the yarn was actually nicer to knit with than I anticipated.

These will go in my box of socks along with the others finished this year.

My daughter, Joanne has an addition to their family, this is Neville.

Isn't he adorable!  I do have a soft spot for black cats.

Bonnie and Jacob have wanted another pet ever since they lost Pickle, (Bonnies hamster), last year.

They both love animals and I know that Bonnie would love a dachshund, or sausage dog as we call them, she's talked about having one since she was a toddler, but with Joanne working full time it just wouldn't be fair, so they agreed on a cat.

They collected him on Saturday and he seems to have settled in really well, he loves to curl up by them and have a fuss, Jacob is very taken with him, I know Neville  will be very loved and spoilt.

The clocks went forward at the weekend here in the UK, I know I'm in the minority here, but I really don't like the lighter nights, I must have  SAD but in a different season because I prefer the darker nights.

Oh well only another seven months to go and It'll be dark nights again 😄

-X-

His & hers

 I wanted to try and knit a box of socks this year, I'm alternating knitting a pair for myself and a pair for Mark.  

He's taken to wearing the ones I've knitted him more this past Winter so I know he will appreciate them.

These were finished in February and are knitted in the owl colourway by West Yorkshire Spinners.

I finished the pair for myself on Sunday.  

This yarn was purchased a couple years ago from the Birmingham yarn show, I'm not sure now who the dyer was or the colourway name as there was no belly band, but It was lovely to knit with. 

It looks like the colour is more concentrated in one sock from the photos, it's really not that noticeable In real life.

I used the Jemima sock pattern by Kay Jones, I've knitted this pattern a couple times before, I love the texture and how squishy it is.

So that's three pairs in the box already, and I cast on the fourth pair yesterday 😄

-X-

Monthly makes - January

Already I'm playing catch-up with posting my makes, so before we get too far into February these are the two things I got finished in January. 

A cosy hot water bottle cover

I use my water bottle a lot, If I sit down I have my hot water bottle beside me, I don't put the heating on in the daytime and It's surprising how by just having a hot water bottle on your back can make a difference.  And of course I take It to bed too, in fact, there are not many months in the year when I don't have a hot water bottle on my feet in bed, It must be a comfort thing, ha ha.  

Having so much use the cover that came with the bottle had seen better days, I came across the free pattern on Ravelry and the yarn is some Drops Nepal I had in stash and It knit up in a few evenings.

The socks were cast on on Christmas Eve and finished on January 25th.  In truth these were knitted almost twice, they started life with a pattern but I didn't like it so ripped them back when I got to the heel.  I think because of the yarn they look better plain, but they were a nightmare from start to finish, entirely my own fault, counting mistakes and generally not paying attention, I was glad when they were off the needles! But I do like them.  I used a mini from stash for the heels and toes and I'm afraid I lost the ball band so can't tell you what make the main yarn was 🙄

I still haven't picked up any stitching but I have got my dough bowl of previous valentine/February pieces displayed.  Maybe I'll feel in the mood to stitch soon, who knows.

-X-

Some finishes and a start, all from stash

 This first pair of socks I cast on for Christmas in July but didn't actually cast them off until sometime in August.  I used a Christmas yarn from Crafthouse Magic that had been in my stash for a couple years at least, it's called fairy lights, so pretty with the different coloured flecks.  For the contrast cuffs heels and toes I used a West Yorkshire Spinners Signature 4ply, again from stash.

The flecks do remind me of the lovely multicoloured vintage fairy lights.

Another pair of socks was completed in September, this time in an Autumn colourway from Biff Sugar Yarns called Maple, (or Maple Leaf?  I've misplaced the ball band but I'm pretty sure it mentioned Maple). Again I used a West Yorkshire Spinners Signature 4ply from stash for the cuffs and toes. 

You might have spotted my third finish in the photos above.  It's a baby blanket.

Knitted because I wanted something easy to pick up and work on that I didn't have to think about.  I haven't washed or blocked it yet but it's already a decent sized crib blanket. 

The pattern is the Western Hills Blanket by Julia Stanfeild, and is a free pattern on Ravelry.  I used a Batik Swirl in the colour forest which was again from my stash and I used up the whole 200g ball.  Great pattern and very easy to memorise.  

I've been pretty good this year about not adding to my yarn stash, it feels good to be using what I already have.

On Sunday It was the Quarry Bank stitchers day retreat.  I haven't been stitching recently so thought a new start might kick start my mojo, but I wanted something small that I could get a relatively quick finish on.

This is what I got done at the retreat, and I have to say I really enjoyed making those little x's again.

Everything, chart, threads and fabric was from stash.

I'm feeling rather pleased with myself that for the last few months I've been making things I love and using what I have. 😇

-X-

Is this week over yet?

This week is dragging on and I've felt meh, everything I've tried to do has gone wrong starting on Monday when I popped to the supermarket while the washing was on thinking I would get ahead of myself, only when I pulled on the drive I realised I'd locked myself out!

Luckily my son in law was at home and came up with a spare key, only we couldn't get it in the lock as my key was in the other side.  After trying various pointy things to push the key out on the inside, and failing we borrowed a ladder from a neighbour and he climbed in through the bedroom window. At least it gave me a giggle seeing him hanging half in half out the window.  But, so much for getting ahead of myself.

Tuesday was Bonnies 8th birthday, how can she be eight already! and I got her presents ready to wrap, but I couldn't find the roll of wrapping paper I'd bought the day before, not anywhere in the house, not left it in the car either.  Thinking about it, I couldn't remember bringing It in the house and convinced myself I'd left it on the checkout, so off I went on another trip to Tesco.   I asked on the customer service desk, nothing had been left there so I bought a second roll of wrapping paper.   Walked back in home and there was the first roll I'd bought the day, before standing In the stair basket in the hall staring at me and laughing.  I must have walked past it a dozen times that morning, I swear It wasn't there!!

Bonnie, by the way, had a lovely birthday, they went to Conkers, (an outdoor adventure park) for the day and had a great time.

But my bad week continued.  I was vacuuming on Wednesday and a strand of wool from a little cardigan I'd just finished knitting was hanging out of the basket, you can guess what happened can't you?  

Yes the hover ate it, and now there is a hole 😢

I do have enough yarn to knit the back of the cardigan again so all is not lost, just my time, and I will knit it again when I've stopped sulking.

The knitting woes continued when I discovered that I was going to run out of yarn for the second Salty Air Tee I've been knitting.  I thought I had another ball in the box in the garage but no I don't, the sensible thing would have been to make sure before I started knitting, but apparently I'm not that sensible 🤪 and to make matters worse I've discovered that Hayfield Sundance is now discontinued, you can still buy other colours online in places but the white is nowhere to be found.  I probably need less that 50g to finish it, so annoying, but I have only myself to blame.

Apologies for the creased look, angry with myself I stuffed it in a bag where it will no doubt stay until I can face pulling it all back.

But If there is anyone reading this that happens to have 100g of Hayfield Sundance in White they would be willing to sell me please leave me a comment, I would be most grateful 😘

I tried to rescue my week by making the book pillow that I promised Stevie I would make for her classroom over twelve months ago.  She got her QTS in July so will be going back to work in September as a qualified teacher rather than just being qualified to teach early years.  Honestly that girl works so hard, she was working full time while doing uni work as well as being a part time nail technician, she puts 100% into everything she does.

I'd like to say that there were no mishaps while making this, but I can't.  

I found a tutorial on you tube that had measurements for three sizes of pillows, I already had a pillow in the largest size they gave so I cut out the fabric as per the sizes given, trusting that they were correct, again I should have realised something was off, but I can be too trusting sometimes.

It has an envelope back and everything went ok (if you don't count me having to stop to clean out all the accumulated fluff underneath the bobbin because apparently that was what was affecting the stitch tension and making it loose, who knew!).  So as instructed I laid the two back pieces on top of the front piece, making sure everything was the right way up, and the back pieces were not as wide as the front piece by a good two inches.  I double checked that I'd cut them to the size it said, and yes I had, I sat the pillow on top and as luck would have it it would still fit the pillow width ways only it was way too long!

So after a bit of jiggery pokery I sorted it out, good job it was too big and not too small else I would have given up crafting as a bad job 🤣

The tutorial I used on you tube was Sew Often, I've checked again since and I definitely wrote down and cut out the measurements she put up, so If you are thinking of making one I'd avoid that one.

I'm happy with how it came out and Stevie loves it.  If I were to make another one I wouldn't make the book pocket as deep, but as it's going in the reading corner of the classroom I suppose two or three books can be put in there. 

It's only Thursday, I wonder what other joys the week has instore for me 🙃

-X-

Sew knit stitch

I've managed to get a few things finished off recently, one of them is a cross stitch piece which I haven't been in the mood for doing lately but there was such a small amount to do for it to be complete, and I'm glad it's done now. 

First though are the two cushion covers I made for the caravan.  Just some simple envelope back covers made using a table cloth that I bought in a charity shop years ago.  I do like a bit of gingham, and I think these go quite well.  It was a big table cloth so I've still got plenty left for something else, just don't know what yet.

Next is a pair of socks, these are knit using King Cole Zig Zag cotton yarn in the watermelon colourway.

And the big finish is my Hoot in a Boot by The Needles's Notion.

I used the recommended threads but not the recommend fabric, I didn't like the called for fabric, it was quite dark. 

The fabric I used was a 28 count evenweave in storm grey, (don't know what make), It has a lovely washed mottling.   The colour is coming out  more on the blue side here but it's defiantly grey in real life.

Here's a closer look.

That was a lot of black stitching but it was okay and didn't seem to take that long.

There is a separate chart, included in the pattern, of an owl to stitch, you sort of attach it along with some greenery to a piece of dowelling and it sits atop the stocking when the stocking is made up.  I haven't stitched that yet, and i'm not sure that I want to, I'll decide once the stocking is made up. 

Hopefully I can find some black felt and get it fully finished ready for Autumn.

I cast on another pair of socks yesterday, and have sorted out some yarn from stash to start another Salty Air Tee.  No new cross stitch project planned at the moment, I'm finding knitting easier to pick up.

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A finish and a day out

You might remember that I almost finished knitting the Whitmore sweater a while ago then decided when I'd got to within the cuff of the second sleeve that It was too big.  I didn't want to rip it back and put the yarn back into stash so instead I straight away cast on the Salty Air Tee by Samantha Guerin.

I'd had my eye on this pattern for a while, it's a similar lace pattern to the Whitmore sweater and the same top down construction.

The pattern Calls for 4ply yarn but I was using DK so I knit a smaller size and it came out a perfect fit, I'm really happy with it and have already worn it several times, and being a cotton mix it's perfect for our changeable Summer weather.

I can see me knitting more of these, It seemed to knit up so quickly because once you have finished the body there is very little knitting on the sleeves.

That's all I have in the way of finishes, I haven't stitched in ages and haven't picked up any knitting at all this past week.  Mark picked up the caravan last Sunday and I've been out and about sourcing the various bits and pieces needed.  I did raid my kitchen cupboards for some things that I have multiple of, but I don't want to be packing up items from the kitchen each time we go away, so after a visit to Ikea and various other stores last week I think we are just about equipped for our first adventure :-)

I had a mini adventure on my own today, a trip to Oxford.  When I booked it I thought It was on a Monday but no matter It was still a good day out.  It was only an hour on the coach, we arrived at 11.30 and pick up was at 5pm.  I'd never visited before and rather than wander around aimlessly I decided to take the hop on/off tour bus, that way I would see and hear a bit more about the City.  The price of the ticket also included an hour long walking tour, so I took advantage of that too.  There is far too much to see and do in the time I was there and I mentioned to Mark when I came back that perhaps we could see if there Is a caravan site near and we could visit again over the Summer,  I would especially love a browse around the historic Blackwells book shop which has a whopping 250,000 books,(might be in there a while, lol).  

 

As you can see it was blue sky weather today, we have mostly missed the heavy rain that some parts have had and it looks like the good weather will continue for our first caravanning adventure, yayyy.

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