Happy Feet

So, after Tuesday's sneak peek, are you ready to see my Multi-coloured Swap Socks in all their glory?

Aren't they fabulous? *grins*


I love the way the yarn pooled, spiralling up the foot and leg. I had a look at a few other socks made with this particular colourway and they pooled completely differently, so I'm not sure if it was the pattern I used or  what, but I am really happy with how mine look!

Yarn: Drachenwolle Sockenwolle Handgefärbt in the colour Phantasma. I received it in my very first swap, so it's about time it got used *laughs*  It's definitely not the softest sock yarn I've ever used. I think "robust" is probably the fairest, and most diplomatic, term I can think of. I've soaked them with a bit of hair conditioner added to the water, so hopefully that will soften them up a bit!


Pattern: Show Off Stranded Socks. A very easy 4 row repeat. It's designed for highly variegated yarns and I think I will probably use it again. Mine are technically upside down as I knit these from the toe up, but with this sort of pattern it really doesn't matter!

I love how colourful these are - but then you may have noticed that I like colourful socks *laughs*


It's Friday, so you know what to do... Visit Tami's, Natural Suburbia and Wisdom Begins in Wonder. Have a great weekend :)    

Oh, Bugga

For a while now I've wanted to get my hands on some Skinny Bugga, a sock yarn that I've heard people rave about.

Well, recently I needed a bit of a treat so I ordered some from Cephalopod Yarns.

After a small (and expensive) delay in customs, I finally have it in my greedy hands *laughs*

The colour way is Ghost Moth and has such a beautiful range of colours. And oh my is it soft!

Merino, cashmere and nylon - I've never tried cashmere socks before *grins* I'm trying to resist casting on straight away ;)

Someone Knows Who You Are*

As I mentioned yesterday, most of my knitting activity recently has focused on starting and finishing the Multi-coloured Swap Socks! But, I have been working on other things too...

My green cowl (thank you to everyone who has commented on the gorgeous colour of the yarn - cunning boyfriend has been very happy that the yarn he dyed has knitter/crocheter approval *laughs*). Coming along nicely, it's a project I pick up when I don't want to think about anything.

Boyfriend's second sock... This poor sock has been languishing for months. I finished the first one in time for his birthday. Which was in February. Ooops ;) But, I have finally finished the leg, so hopefully things will start to happen a bit faster now.

And, yes, that is something new on the right there *laughs* After the speedy sock knitting, I wanted something a bit chunkier to knit. But my red vest is not coming along the way I want it to (I'm not sure if it's going to get finished at this stage - I have a feeling it won't turn out right at all)... So, I cast on Concur.

I'm using Caron Simply Soft, which I picked up from Walmart when I was in Vegas. It really is incredibly soft! I've made some progress on the back and it is actually coming along pretty well at this stage.


As ever, if you want more lovely knitting and reading content, head to Tami's and Ginny's *smiles* I am lacking in the reading content this week as I haven't been reading much at all! 

* "It's such a human condition, whether you're a great track star or a great knitting person or you paint watercolors - someone knows who you are" - Tony Curtis

Swap Yarn Used

At the end of last week, I decided that what my knitting block needed was some funky coloured socks. So, I cast on using some yarn that I had received in one of my very first swaps...

I was intrigued as to how it would look once knitted, and as I started the socks I decided that it would be perfect for a Nerd Wars challenge. Only, the last day for submissions is tomorrow.

So, I worked my fingers to the bone and actually managed to knit a pair of socks in 3 days! I was pretty amazed, but of course it does mean that you don't get to see until Friday *laughs*

But I'll give you a sneak peek...

Cool, huh? *grins*

I have decided, due to the fact that this was swap yarn and is so colourful, that these shall be known as my Multicoloured Swap Socks. However, boyfriend feels that they should actually be my Cadbury's Creme Egg socks... He does have a point *laughs*

Anyway, I don't know if they have cured my knitting block, but I was much more inclined to knit last night than I have been for a while. And, another ball of stashed yarn used up is no bad thing - especially when it looks as cool as this!

So Very Orange

I finished my granny square blanket last night *smiles*

The colours remain impossible to photograph sensibly, but I'm pretty pleased with how it is looking. It used up 4 balls of stashed yarn that I had no idea what to do with, gave me a chance to practice a new technique and was kinda fun to make.

Plus, lots faster than a knitted blanket *laughs*

I haven't blocked it, so it looks a bit wonky, but it's a blanket and I'm ok with that ;)

Pattern: None. I made some granny squares in different configurations and then put them together until I liked how it looked ;)
Yarn: Random Sirdar acrylic from stash

It's only a small blanket, definitely more of a lap blanket really, but perfect for when I need a little bit of extra warmth. I made the squares on a larger hook than the yarn called for, so it's really light and traps lots of air.

For my first large (ish) crochet project, I'm really quite pleased with myself *grins*

Slow Progress

As I mentioned yesterday, I've been having a bit of a crafting block, involving far less knitting progress than I am used to...

I do have some progress to show at least... Which isn't really displayed by this close up, but I liked the picture so I'm posting it anyway *laughs*

Ah, this one is a little better ;)

My second Euro Cowl is coming along. It's an easy and mindless knit, 4x1 rib in the round until the yarn runs out. And I'm loving the way the yarn dyed by boyfriend is knitting up :)

And I have assembled the assorted granny squares I had been making *grins* They are now seamed together and awaiting a border. They have become a small lap blanket, because that's the size that came out after I had used up most of the yarn *laughs* I'll show it off properly once it is finished.

One thing I discovered about granny squares (I'd never made any before, so that's why I have only just realised) - there are a tonne of ends to weave in! So many ends. I had to do them in batches so that I didn't lose the will to live ;)

As ever, if you want more lovely knitting and reading content, head to Tami's and Ginny's *smiles*

Knitting Block

I seem to have hit a bit of a knitting block. I have projects, I want to finish the projects, but I don't seem to have the inclination to work on them right now. Usually I knit a lot at the weekends, but I spent much of last weekend working on my scrapbook instead (not that I'm complaining - I really enjoyed it!)

Part of this inertia is probably to do with the fact that I have been watching a lot of the Euro 2012 football matches. And while I can knit without looking now, I get too distracted to actually do it *laughs*

Anyway, this knitting block has a bit of a detrimental effect on blogging - I don't have enough to talk about!

I did crochet these funny little pumpkin finger puppets for Nerd Wars though:

*laughs* Silly, I know, but it's always good to remind myself that crafting is supposed to be fun.

I've noticed that I go through phases, sometimes I'm just not in as much of a knitting mood. It'll come back soon enough, it always does. Until then, I'll carry on enjoying the football (or soccer, for my international readers *rolls eyes and laughs*)

Scrapbooking

This weekend I spent quite a lot of time working on a scrapbook. I haven't done any papercraft for ages, so it was good fun to get stuck in *smiles*

I don't do much in the way of scrapbooking, but I have a lot of pictures and memories and trinkets from my trip to Vegas that I wanted to capture, so it seemed like the perfect medium. I took pictures of a few of the pages I did...

Our hotel - which was all gold and shiny and posh *laughs*

I took loads of pictures as I walked down the strip, so I did a little spread with a map in the middle to show the scale of the place. I love this layout, I'm really pleased with how it came out.

Watching the fountains at the Bellagio was a real highlight, so I did a page just for that:

And Food... Indulgent, yes, but we had some fantastic meals and I wanted to remember where we'd eaten. Obviously this doesn't cover everything, I did also get addicted to Auntie Annie's pretzels while I was there *laughs*

It was lots of fun going through the photos from the trip, and working out what I wanted to put in the book. I've done quite a few pages already, covering things like some of the Casinos we went to, the helicopter flight we took and the show we saw. Now I just have to work out how to show off the Grand Canyon to the level it deserves :)

Question Everything...*

I have 2 projects to show off this week *grins* I would usually save one for next week, in case I don't have anything to post then, but I love both of these and they deserve some limelight right away ;)

First up, proper pictures of my Stripe Study Shawl:

I love this shawl, it is so gorgeous *grins* I'm really pleased with it. I wasn't entirely sure how it would sit, being asymmetrical, but it works perfectly. Having one side longer than the other means that it goes around my shoulders and stays there - much more than a regular triangle shawl

The second picture is slightly weird, colour-wise, because I was trying to capture the actual green of the yarn. Not very well! This is what it actually looks like:

Yarn: Wollmeise 80-20 in Im der Jahre den Ratte (grey) and 100% in Minze (green)
Pattern: Stripe Study Shawl
Modifications: None - and I had enough yarn to do all 12 stripes.

My second FO for this week is my Super Awesome Happy Rainbow Socks:

They're so awesome *big grin*

Because I have small feet, and knit them toe up, I was able to get almost knee high socks. I used every scrap of yarn and managed to match them too.

And now I'm posting lots of pictures because these are the happiest socks in the world *laughs*

Yarn: 2 balls Knit Picks Felici in Rainbow (thanks to a kindly blogger sourcing the yarn and sending it to me - Alex, these socks are thanks to you!)
Pattern: generic toe up with short row heel

I'm wearing them right now and bouncing around because... I'm walking on rainbows (and I apologise to everyone who is now singing that to the tune of "walking on sunshine" *laughs*)

It's Friday, so you know what to do... Visit Tami's, Natural Suburbia and Wisdom Begins in Wonder. Have a great weekend :)   

*"Question everything. Every stripe, every star, every word spoken. Everything." - Ernest Gaines 

New Cookbook

At my office we often have a pile of books that The Book People bring in and leave for us to peruse and hopefully buy. They're usually focused on children's books and local history and I don't often find any that I am interested in.

Last week, however, they had one that I immediately ordered:

The Homemade Sweetshop *grins* I love making sweets, and this is such a nice book. Lots of things I want to make and the layout is lovely.

I actually made one of the recipes for last weekend, when I met up with my mum, aunt and cousins for the Thames Pageant. I wanted to bring something to snack on, so I made a batch of these:

I completely forgot to take a picture, but they looked pretty much like the ones in the book *laughs* Very tasty they were too ;)

I also decided to try making cake pops to take with me (and I did remember to photograph them):

I didn't use a recipe, just made a cake, smashed it up and mixed it with ready made chocolate frosting. After a few failures, I got to grips with how to attach them to the sticks without them falling off, covered them and left them to set.

They were awesome *grins* Very well received by all.

Showing Off

If you follow me on twitter or instagram, you might have noticed that I finished my Super Awesome Happy Rainbow socks on Saturday *grins* So, of course, instead of finishing some of my other WIPs, I cast on something new ;)

I'm actually making another Euro Cowl. I love my purple one, and it's so easy and effective that I decided to make another. Plus, it uses some of my sock yarn stash, which sits there prettily waiting despite my slowness with socks *laughs*

I haven't made much progress, but that's not the point of the post. You see, the yarn I am using is yarn that cunning boyfriend dyed and I thought I would show off (on his behalf) *laughs* I love seeing how hand dyed yarn changes from skein to ball to knitted fabric...


Skein:

Ball:

Fabric:

It'll obviously look even better once I have knitted a bit more, but I'm liking how it looks already. The name of this wonderful and unique colourway is Seaweed of Endor, as nominated by cunning boyfriend *smiles*

Seek Peacefully...*

Well, I was going to show off final, blocked pictures of my Stripe Study Shawl today, but rather inconsiderately my photographer (cunning boyfriend) is in Edinburgh for work and can't help. I tried a couple of self taken pictures but they really don't do the shawl justice :(

So, instead, I have an exciting washcloth to show you *laughs* Ok, maybe not that exciting.

It's a submission for a Nerd Wars challenge (yep, I signed up again *smiles* - I had a lot of fun last time). The challenge was to craft something based on your favourite historical period. Well, mine is most definitely ancient Egypt, I've always been fascinated with that time. 

So I knit a washcloth, as ancient Egyptians were obsessed with cleanliness, with the most well known Egyptian symbol, the ankh.

So, yeah, not quite the project I was planning to show off today, but it's pretty cute at least ;)

It's Friday, so you know what to do... Visit Tami's, Natural Suburbia and Wisdom Begins in Wonder. Have a great weekend    

*Seek Peacefully, you will find." - Ancient Egyptian proverb carved on the Inner Temple walls

Rain and Rainbows

Wow, it feels like ages since I last posted! I generally don't post at the weekends though, and for those of us in the UK this was a 4 day weekend to celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. In perfect British tradition, it was primarily raining *laughs* Luckily I had handknits to keep me warm.

In fact, I lent my mum the cowl I was wearing as she was freezing cold - she was pleasantly surprised by how much warmth it provided despite being so light *smiles*

Anyway, onto the current knitting:

This week I finally picked up the red vest I started a while ago (I stole the needles for something else and the vest has been sitting unloved since then), and my gran's scarf, which had also been neglected for a while. And, of course, my Super Awesome Happy Rainbow Socks.

The socks only have a couple of stripes left before they are finished, so hopefully I will have them on my feet before long *grins* I can't wait to walk around on rainbows ;)

I decided to modify gran's scarf slightly:

Instead of doing the lace pattern for the whole thing, I am only doing it on the ends, with the rest in garter stitch. I was worried that having too much laciness would mean that the scarf isn't warm enough (especially as it is a soft acrylic, rather than a wool yarn). I think it works well, so hopefully gran will like it.

Bookwise, I have just finished the pictured book - A Handmaid's Tale. I thought it was about time I got around to reading it, as I've been reading a lot of dystopian books lately. I enjoyed it, I liked the way the background was revealed in little glimpses and it was an interesting premise.

As ever, if you want more lovely knitting and reading content, head to Tami's and Ginny's *smiles*

Close...

I was hoping to post my finished Stripe Study Shawl in all its glory today...

It is finished, I cast off last night. But I haven't blocked it yet. So, you get to see sneak pictures of it now, and then tolerate some more when I can post pictures of it properly finished *laughs*

See, so close!

Anyway, for actually finished objects, and other wonderful fibre goodness, you know where to go:  Tami's, Natural Suburbia and Wisdom Begins in Wonder. And as I haven't properly finished my project, I don't have too much to say really *laughs* So I shall leave this as a short post, and wish you a lovely weekend (and an especially lovely long weekend if you're in the UK!)