Sockret Pal

I've joined Sockret Pal! I'm so excited! I've never participated in a swap before, only seen the fab packages people get ;-), so when I stumbled upon this one I couldn't resist. I'm also waiting eagerly for the next installment of Sockapaloza.

Did another repeat on the leaf lace shawl yesterday, and a few rounds on the tiger socks, nothing that merits a new picture, both items looks the same as last time you saw them.

This and that

I've been vaguely interested in Crocs since I first saw them, but never tried them on. But when Wendy showed hers and mentioned that they where good for wearing handknit socks as they are supposed to fit loosely I of course had to check them out for real. The verdict: Very light, very comfy, and ridiculously expensive here in Sweden. They cost 30 USD on the US website. Here they cost about 80-90 USD!!! No way. So I'm looking for sources on the net. Any tips on good retailers that ship internationally? I'll have to check ebay too of course.

I've made some sock and shawl progress, but nothing finished. I've done half the leg of the second dragon sock.


It looks slightly smaller than the first one but it still fits, so I try not to worry about it :-)

I also started a pair of tiger socks!

The yarn is Opal Rainforest Tiger on 2.5 mm Addis, magic loop. I started with Judy's magic cast-on. The first round was a bit fiddly, the loops where tight as per the instruction, but then it was easy. I saw that Theresa made tiger socks where she purled black stitches that end up on top of other black stitches. I like the effect so I'm doing that too. It doesn't happen very often but it does give some depth to the fabric.

I've completed eight repeats (of twelve) on the leaf lace shawl. No pic, it is almost impossible to get a good one at this stage, it's just a grey rag. I've just started on the fourth ball (of nine), which should mean that I've completed a third of the thing. I downloaded a shawl calculator from somewhere (sorry I can't remember where) and it says that I'm 44% along. We'll see.

BTW you may notice that the Jaywalkers are not in progress anymore. I realized that I had made the decreases in the wrong way so it didn't look like it was supposed to, so I ripped them. I've made a new category for them.

One down...

I finished the first dragon sock.

It looks a bit funny from above like this, just a straight tube, but notice how the pattern continues down the toe. Very clever. The heel is also patterned like this.


It fits my foot perfectly. I was a bit concerned about the size, but I think my gauge turned out to make the sock slightly larger than in the pattern, so it fits just fine.

We had a small adventure today, wildlife in the kitchen. When I opened a cupboard to get something while cooking dinner I saw this absolutely huge spider! Neither me nor M likes spiders, but as I was doing the cooking... so of course he had to take care of it. He caught it in a glass jar and put the lid on. Then we tried to figure out what kind of spider it was. I've never seen anything like it. And Swedish spiders usually don't run that big. I searched the internet (of course) and the closest match we found was actually the hobo spider. Which isn't really supposed to exist here, but it has recently been found on a nearby island (Pepparholm). or it might be something else entirely, as M works at a fruit and veggie importer and brings home boxes of stuff every week. They do find foreign spiders in the warehouse now and then. Anyway, it is very dead now, we didn't want to let it go when it might be poisonous. Hobo spiders give nasty bites.

Hurting hands

My hand still hurts, even though I've got a brace and soothing cream for it. Now my fingers (on both hands) are kind of hurting too. I hope it isn't anything serious. I have a bit of a cold, that could be the cause I guess.

I've been knitting a bit anyway. I finished my Knucks!

Pattern: Knucks by Pamela Grossman
Source: Knitty
Materials: Rowan Felted Tweed (1 ball) in a kind of blueish grey
Needles: 3,5 mm bamboo dpn's

I really like the yarn, very soft and light. This was a fun knit, and fast too. I have lots of leftover yarn so I might make a pair for E as well. And BTW, my hands aren't huge, that chair is tiny :-)


H was very happy when I showed her her finished socks. "Take a picture now!" That's E in the background, with the bag he and I made when he was home sick on Wednesday. He likes sewing, we are also making a quilt for his toy monkey.

I've made some progress on the Leaf Lace Shawl too. I've done three repeats of chart 2, and finished the first ball of yarn. One down, eight to go... Sorry for the crappy picture, it isn't easy to photograph unblocked lace.

No knitting

No knitting today :-( Yesterday at work (I sit at the computer all day) I suddenly developed an intense pain in my right hand. It was allright last night, gone this morning, but returned as soon as I startd working. I'm afraid I'm getting carpal tunnel syndrome or something. I actually quit a bit earlier than planned today and searched town for wrist supports. I didn't find anything fantastic, but I'm picking up the best one tomorrow. In the meantime: no knitting, and minimal computer time.

But I got a box from Amazon today: Barbara Walkers knitting treasuries, so my evening is OK anyway :-)

I finished H's Ladybug socks yesterday. They are definitely fraternal :-)

The size is for a 2 and a half year old (tomorrow!). There is definitely enough yarn left in the ball for a pair of socks for me too. I think I'll try to make them a bit more identical though.

I was good and organised my circular needles the other day. I used to keep all my knitting needles in a plastic bag, but no more! I got some small ziploc bags and put each size needle in its own bag with the size and lengths written on it. And a while ago I made a roll for the dpn:s, so now I'm very organised :-)



The roll is very easy to make. The outside is a fat quarter folded in two, sew around the edges (leave a hole) and turn. Topstitch around all edges. The pockets is one half of a fat quarter (more or less) also folded in two, sewn, and turned. Then sew the pocket to the outside and sew straight seams for the pockets, smaller at one end, larger at the other. Attach a ribbon at one end. Finished!

Works in progress

I've made some progress on my Dragon socks, I turned the heel. The pattern recommend doing a short row heel with yarnovers so I tried that for the first time. It look OK and was maybe a little less fiddly than the double-wrap method I've tried earlier. I enjoy the Fleece Artist yarn very much.

I cast on two new projects this week. Thursday I got the yarn I ordered for the Leaf Lace shawl, so I started that one of course. I've finished the first chart. The yarn is quite rustic looking, grey tweed with flecks of black and white.

Then I stumbled upon the Knucks KAL, so I just had to start those as well! I bought the yarn when that issue of Knitty was released but hadn't started yet. Now they should be finished when I need to use them. I got the Rowan tweed called for in the pattern in a sort of grey with white and blue flecks. Very soft and nice.

Findings

No pictures today, I'm irritated after having spent 1 hour(!) putting H to sleep. Argh! She's actually been quite good lately, after letting go of her midday nap. Today however she fell asleep at daycare, sitting in her chair, in the middle of the afternoon snack. She only slept for about 15 minutes but that ruined my evening :-( I so do not believe in 'crying it out' methods for getting kiddies to sleep but man! she is aggravating.

I found some new blogs today (new for me, that is) Miriam is the designer of the Icarus shawl and many other things. I have skimmed her archives and she has many patterns I'd like to try, both free and for sale. Her blog led me to Margene's, which led me to Nona's. I have just looked a little at their blogs but they seem very nice and full of information, and patterns. Look what I found at Nona's! The neatest gloves knit top down with i-cord fingers (no dpns! with just a few stitches on each) I just have to try these *very* shortly! Even though we've had a fantastic summer with temps above 25 C and even over 30 C (that's around 80 F) for weeks and weeks, autumn is approaching fast.

Diamond Fantasy Shawl and Socks in Progress

Today was my first day working after three weeks of vacation. I was a bit tired when the clock started making a noise this morning, yes... Fortunately (?) we have lots to do at work right now so time passed quite fast. The kids were eager to get back to day care again, they have been missing their friends lately. So we're back to normal. And in less than 4 months we go to Australia :-)

This is my first lace project ever, the Diamond Fantasy Shawl. It's my first shawl too. I did 8 repeats, so it's in between the two sizes suggested in the pattern because the larger size seemed so very large. Now I think it could have been bigger so my next one will be really large :-) But it is a nice size for just something light over the shoulders.
The yarn is Opal Hagebutte, slightly more than one 100 g skein, and I used a Addi 4 mm circular needle. I really enjoyed knitting this, and I didn't have to rip or tink hardly anything :-)

The border is knitted at the same time as the main patterns, so when you're at the top you're done, which is nice.
I'm eager to begin another lace shawl. I got the pattern for the Leaf Lace Shawl a while ago and yesterday I ordered the yarn for it. Hopefully I'll get it this week. It's a DK weight yarn in heathered grey, Peer Gynt from Sandnes. I've knitted I couple of sweaters in it and really like it. I will make the largest size so this will be a big cosy shawl for winter :-)

Here's the first of the Ladybug socks for H:


And here's the second one:

The stripes don't match but I don't mind that. The yarn is Opal Ladybug. It's a bit more pink than it looks in the picures (at least on my screen) The ball is 100 grams so there should be enough for Ladybug socks for myself too. I'm sure H will enjoy having the same socks as mommy :-)
I think I will try to do both my socks at the same time with magic loop. I'm doing H's socks magic loop and really like it but I haven't tried two at the same time.

I'm also working on Here There Be Dragon socks in yummy Fleece Artist merino.

The leg is almost finished. I'm making the smaller size. At first I thought I would need the larger size but it turned out absolutely huge when I tried it, so rip, rip! This one is very snug but not too small I think. I'm having an awful time with the pattern though. Somehow I keep forgetting to do increases or
decreases so I have to tink :-( And I had to redraw the chart because I found it difficult to read at a glance. I simply changed the symbol for 'knit' from vertical line to empty square, much easier for me.

My third sock on the needles are a pair of Jaywalkers for M. No pic, because they are going to be ripped. I realised that I've done the double decrease in the wrong manner so it doesnt look as it should. Oh well. I love the yarn anyway, Lorna's Laces, very soft and nice to knit (M chose the colour: black and grey...) I'm knitting the toe-up version because I'm paranoid, as always, about running out of yarn before the second one is finshed. This way I can just cast off when the first skein is running out and start the other one in peace!

More socks

I bought this yarn to make a cardigan for H who was then about 1. I didn't like how it turned out so I frogged it and made these socks instead. The yarn is Regia, can't remember the colour.

The patterns is Slipped-Stitch Rib sock from Sensational Knitted Socks, and I managed to make them nearly identical. They fit very nicely and will be fun to wear. I like bold, happy colours and as I wear black or blue jeans most days (ok, not now in our extremely hot summer)
bright socks are fun.

E was very interested in my sock knitting and wanted socks for himself, so I made him a pair from the leftovers.


I used Wendy's generic toe-up sock pattern for these and E loves them. These are my first toe-up socks and I really like the method. I'm always paranoid about running out of yarn and I haven't learned how much yarn socks for me usually require, so toe-ups are a good insurance :-) Wendy's pattern uses short row heels wich work just fine, but I like heel flap socks too. I'm itching to try the toe-up heel flap socks in the latest Knitty. The heels look just like the top down version. Other patterns I've seen have the heel flap under the foot and I don't like that look. I have to rework the patterns first though. Apparently I have wide feet (at least compared to sock designers), about 9 inches around.

Red Cabled Socks

These are the first socks I finished in my recent sock craze :-) They are the 3x3 Cable with Moss Stitch socks from Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch. The yarn is a rather thick (worsted?) Swedish sock yarn, Raggi from Järbo Garn. The colour is a rich dark red. These are soft thick socks for wearing at home or in boots.

While knitting these I found out about making cables without a cable needle. Wow! Much faster and much less fiddly than using a needle for it. Thanks, Wendy!

Hi there!

I'm a quilter and a knitter (is that a qui-tter?!) and I really enjoy reading other peoples blogs, so I suppose I should start my own. Currently I knit more than I quilt but it used to be the other way around. I have been quilting since, well, 2001 I think. My first finished project was a play rug for my baby son. Since then I have become rather obsessed with quilting, I have a decent stash and a nice sewing machine, lots of UFO:s and even some finished projects. Of course I'll post pictures, as soon as I figure out how :-)

A couple of months ago I began checking out knitting blogs, and very soon I found lots of fantastic blogs. Suddenly I felt the urge to knit again, something small that would finish fast (not like the big quilt projects): socks! So I got me some sock yarn... I now have finished 4 pairs and have three pairs on the needles. And lots of sock yarn. I have also discovered that lace can be nice, non-frilly and beautiful. And it's fun to knit too. I finished my first lace shawl the other day.

Earlier in my life I have been knitting quite a lot, Norweigian patterned sweaters, an Aran sweater (I bought the yarn in Ireland, as a souvenir), Scandinavian style Fair Isle mittens, and so on. I'm not a big fan of plain stocking stitch, I find it a bit boring to knit. So most of my projects have patterns of some kind, either more than one colour or some kind of texture pattern.

That's all for now, I'm off to find some pictures of my stuff, and to find out how to operate this Blogger thing :-)