Double Fleck socks

The Double Fleck socks are finished! I was a bit stressed out that May was coming to an end and no finished socks for SAM3!!! But here they are:

Yarn: Yarn Pirate superwash merino/tencel 50/50 in Rosie
Needles: 2.5 mm Addis, Magic Loop
Pattern: The usual hodge-podge... Toe-up with garter stitch wrapped short-row toe and heel, Double Fleck stitch pattern from More Sensational Knitted Socks, picot edge. 60 sts to the round and I went down to 14 unworked sts for the toe and heel.

I like how these turned out, even though they are not really "me". All pink and pretty and, well, girly. I wanted to try a garter stitch short row heel and toe, so I did. And the Double Fleck pattern with it's purls suited the garter stitch. And then the sock was so pretty that it needed a dainty picot edge. These feels like spring socks to me!

The yarn is shiny from the tencel and slightly slippery. It may be hard to maintain a firm gauge with it, I didn't even try.

This is the second Boyfriend sock, with more accurate colours this time. I mostly work it during daytime, because the yarn is so dark that I have difficulty seeing the stiches properly. I like the Tiny Toes yarn, but it's hard to find any nice colourways I think.

No pic, but I started a baby hat yesterday and it's almost finished! It's this hat from Gro and it's so cute and easy to make! I'm working on i-cords to tie it with. And wondering how long they need to be...

I also feel that I have a cold coming up :-/ Not totally unexpected, because M has had it quite bad recently and E is sneezing and has a very runny nose. I just have an itchy throat and a semi-running nose, but that's how colds usually starts for me. I hope it won't take too long to disappear, spring colds can be tough.

Not that it feels like spring here today, rather like high summer. We had a huge thunderstorm early this morning and then it went hot and humid. Like 29°C hot, which is a lot for May. If this is going to be the norm for summer weather I'm in for a hard last trimester...

Witty title

Coming up with intelligent titles is one of the hardest parts with blogging...

I'm eagerly waiting for Ravelry to open and in the meantime I have been uploading my pictures to Flickr (note to self: get a paid account) so the pics in this entry lives on Flickr. Please tell me if it doesn't work properly! I had some trouble figuring out how to make them visible in the blog. In the end I just loaded the picture page in Flickr, left-clicked on the pic there and chose "Copy image location" Then I pasted that into the "Add image from the web" thing in Blogger. It seems to work on my machine, but you never know...

Here's my latest loot from The Loopy Ewe:


Left to right: Lane Borgosesia Cashwool lace weight in Pearl, Fleece Artist Sea Wool in Raspberry, The Knittery Merino Cashmere Sock in Water Lilies, Stonebarn Fibers in Tainted Love. All very yummy :-) My three tiny yarn baskets are overflowing on to the table now. Tomorrow I'm going to IKEA for some shelves! I need them, especially sonce I scored some goodies at the latest Loopy sneakup...

I finished the first Boyfriend sock:

Dunno why the colours are so light in the picture, I didn't use the flash and the light was good. The yarn is quite a bit darker really. Here's a detail of the pattern:

The cables show up really well in the Tiny Toes and I like how the cables move from one set of ribbing to the other. The second sock is just above the toe, on the second go. I seem to have a problem getting the same gauge on sock two these days, it often comes out bigger than the first one though the reverse has happened too. I wonder why? Part of the problem may be that I have four pairs OTN right now, and alternating between them is probably not a good idea really... I should concentrate on finish one pair instead. I haven't finished anything for Sock A Month 3 this month. Up until now I have finished at least one pair a month, I want to keep doing that!

But there are so amny things I want to knit right now so it' hard to concentrate on just the one project. E has asked for socks and I will start them as soon as I have freed up a long 2.5 mm circ. I'm going to try making two pair on one circ, toe-up, using the leftover blue and gray Scout's Swag I used for the Millicent socks. And then I'd better make a pair for H as well, or else... I think I'll use the leftover pink Apple Laine I used for one of the Socks Madness pairs.
The I saw the cutest baby hat that's probably also good for using up leftover sock yarn. Norwegian version with correction, and now also an English version.

The Swallowtail is waiting for my new Addi Lace needles that should be on their way from Garnkorgen. I think I ordered one of every size she had... So they do exist in Europe too! I had heard a rumour saying that they would only be available in the US, so glad that didn't turn out to be true. I feel a little silly ordering European stuff from the US... I get my Opal, Regia, Trekking etc from overe here.

Speaking of socks, I joined Summer of Socks. Mostly to get more motivation to finish socks when the SAM3 ends, I don't think I'll win any prizes. And it's always fun to see what others are working on!

Gardening and meme

Shocking I know, two posts in two days. Have you got up from the floor yet? No bruises I hope?

The weather has been fantastic today, summer! So we have worked the garden all day, and my parents (who lives in an apartment) where here too. I've cut all the outer hedges, except the top of the back one. It's supposed to be 180 cm high and that's a bit taller than I am... The little kitchen garden is all set with parsley, carrots, squash and tomatoes. We're just missing some chives, E loves to nibble that and the old plant didn't survive the winter. M and I also went to the garden center a got a blue vine that we planted by a sunny wall. So hopefully we'll get our own grapes in a few years. This is a special variety that is supposed to be hardy and survive cold winters. Not hat the winters have been all that cold recently, hardly below -10°C but you never know. And that's too cold for the usual vines anyway. Now we just need som thirsty bushes to plant by the vine to drink all the excess water in the ground just there. Salix, anyone?
The others did a lot of weeding, so parts of the garden look really nice now!

This meme is floating aroung knitblogland. Interesting to think what you have actually done!

Rules: Bold for stuff you’ve done, italics for stuff you plan to do one day, and normal for stuff you’re not planning on doing.

Afghan/Blanket (baby)
I-cord
Garter stitch
Knitting with metal wire
Shawl
Stockinette stitch
Socks: top-down
Socks: toe-up
Knitting with camel yarn
Mittens: Cuff-up
Mittens: Tip-down
Hat
Knitting with silk - if silk blends count
Moebius band knitting
Participating in a KAL
Sweater
Drop stitch patterns
Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn
Slip stitch patterns
Knitting with banana fiber yarn
Domino knitting (modular knitting)
Twisted stitch patterns
Knitting with bamboo yarn - again, if blends count
Two end knitting
Charity knitting
Knitting with soy yarn
Cardigan
Toy/doll clothing
Knitting with circular needles
Knitting with your own handspun yarn
Slippers
Graffiti knitting (knitting items on, or to be left on the street)
Continental knitting - always
Designing knitted garments
Cable stitch patterns (incl. Aran)
Lace patterns
Publishing a knitting book
Scarf
Teaching a child to knit - all my kids of course
American/English knitting (as opposed to continental)
Knitting to make money
Button holes
Knitting with alpaca
Fair Isle knitting
Norwegian knitting
Dying with plant colors
Knitting items for a wedding
Household items (dishcloths, washcloths, tea cozies…)
Knitting socks (or other small tubular items) on two circulars - but I prefer Magic Loop
Olympic knitting
Knitting with someone else’s handspun yarn
Knitting with DPNs
Holiday related knitting
Teaching a male how to knit - my son of course
Bobbles
Knitting for a living
Knitting with cotton
Knitting smocking
Dying yarn
Steeks
Knitting art
Fulling/felting
Knitting with wool
Textured knitting
Kitchener BO
Purses/bags
Knitting with beads
Swatching
Long Tail CO
Entrelac - isn't this the same thing as domino knitting?
Knitting and purling backwards
Machine knitting
Knitting with self-patterning/self-striping/variegating yarn
Stuffed toys
Baby items
Knitting with cashmere
Darning
Jewelry
Knitting with synthetic yarn - not anymore
Writing a pattern
Gloves
Intarsia
Knitting with linen - I don't like knitting with cotton, and linen is much the same when it comes to lack of elasticity
Knitting for preemies
Tubular CO
Freeform knitting
Short rows
Cuffs/fingerless mitts/arm warmers
Pillows
Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine
Rug
Knitting on a loom
Thrummed knitting
Knitting a gift
Knitting for pets
Shrug/bolero/poncho
Knitting with dog/cat hair
Hair accessories
Knitting in public

How about you?

This and that

It has happened so much since my last post so I hardly know where to begin.

From now on I have a little more time to knit (and maybe even blog...) I'm going on half time sick leave because my back is absolutely killing me if I sit on my butt all day, which I do at work. I felt such a relief when I finally asked the doctor for it. So working half time for two months and then vacation until the baby arrives. And then... no time at all?

We have a long weekend, Thursday was a holiday and we took Friday off. Very nice. We have lots to do in the garden but the weather hasn't been very cooperative. It rained on Thursday and it has been raining most of the day today. Yesterday the wearther was great, warm and sunny, so I managed to mow the lawn and M did some weeding. But we have lots more that needs doing *now*. Mostly weeding and fertilizing the poor hedges. I can't bend down to do any weeding (poor me ;-) so M has to do it all.

We have been away for a few weekends and it really shows in the garden. First it was the cruise (which was rather nice, except for the weather...) and then M's mother was very ill so we visited her at the hospital last weekend. My inlaws lives 200k away from us and we don't see them very often. This time we are all really happy that we did go, because M got a sad phonecall on Tuesday, she had passed away. She was only 65.

MIL was diagnosed with breast cancer almost ten years ago and got well again. Then the cancer returned last year or so and after that it has been a rollercoaster, up and down with a stroke thrown in for good measure. This winter and spring she was ok, she even worked a little. But in the end it went downhill very fast, a month ago she was relatively healthy, then she suddenly got more and more confused and had to stay at the hospital. When we visited she was barely conscious and hardly spoke, though she did say hi to H.

The children were with us a the hospital. H was ok, she sat in her grandfather's lap beside grandmother or played around them. E was not so ok. He didn't cry or anything, but I think he understood that it was very bad and didn't want to look to much at her. Instead he wanted to explore her room and the corridors outside. So we let him do that. Still I think it is good that they got to see their grandmother one last time, that she was so very ill she couldn't live anymore. The funeral will be in early June but we haven't decided if we are taking the children. FIL wants them to come, to act as a distraction I think. My mother is certain that they shouldn't go. We'll have to discuss it.

I got my final Sockret package yesterday! My poor Pal Emma had to send two packages, the first one disappeared in the post and never arrived :-( But this one did arrive with sock yarn, cute butterfly stitch markers, a Yarn Harlot book (I love the Yarn Harlot) and she knit new socks for me instead of the ones that disappeared! Soft, thick, lovely socks that I'll save for winter. What yarn is it, Emma? It feels very nice. And what pattern? It looks a bit like Baby Cable, is that what it is?


The socks *are* the same length BTW, I don't know why they look so wonky in the pic.
Thank you so much for being my pal, Emma! And I saw your ad in the latest Yarn! I've started subscribing. Thanks for sending me the mag in the first package, I like it a lot.

Litla Dimun shawl is finished, haven't blocked it yet though. I don't have a good place for blocking things, no wall-to-wall carpets and no unused beds. Maybe I'll borrow the kids foam puzzle mats, they should work with a towel on.

I cast on a new shawl at once, Swallowtail from Interweave Knits Fall 2006. I'm using actual lace weight yarn for the first time, my other shawls have been in sock yarn or DK weight. Now I'm using Zephyr in Steel and 3mm Addis. Lovely yarn! I bought a few different colours from Sarah's Yarns ages ago but I haven't been able to decide upon a pattern until now. I think it will turn into a lovely shawl, if I can keep my head on... It is rather more tricky to see where I am in the pattern with this thin yarn. The Zephyr is thinner than the yarn in the pattern so I don't know how big the shawl will be. I'm planning to give it to my grandmother for her birthday in August and she is very petite (she's little more that 150 cm tall, about 5" nothing) so it'll be ok even if it turns out smaller than the original.

I haven't done much on the Panda Cotton socks, instead I have been working on a Yarn Pirate pair, this is merino/tencel Rosie. Lovely yarn, soft, easy to work with and it has a lovely sheen to it.


Toe-up of course. I got inspired by all the Rocking Sock club socks with garter stitch short-row heels and toes so I tried that. I like the look, but maybe I should have worked some more garter stitch rows before starting the main pattern, the toe looks very short now. The stitch pattern is from Charlene Shurch's new sock book, it's called Double Fleck. Really easy and I love the unexpected vertical lines.


The top is my first picot edging (on a sock anyway) I think it suits this pretty sock! I haven't finished it off yet so it looks a bit weird here.

The second sock is just above the toes, but it's going with me to the midwife on Tuesday for a two-hour glucose test. Prime knitting time! I need to bring something easy, beacuse I'm not allowed anyting to eat or drink after midnight and then to drink that super sugary stuff... My brain may not be up to any thinking.

I'm also working on Boyfriend Socks for M. Or almost Boyfriend socks. Of course I couldn't leave the pattern alone... I originally started a pattern from Favorite Socks, but it didn't suit the yarn so I ripped back to the toe and came to think about this pattern that I have been planning to knit for ages. It suits the Interlacements Tiny Toes very well and at 72 stitches it is striping nicely and the cables show up beautifully.

The colour is off as usual, it's a bit more green in it IRL. I think I have to learn how to do colour corrections on photos...
I came upon the Sherman Heel recently so I tried it on this sock instead of the one in the pattern, *very* nice I must say and not as fiddly as my usual wrapped-a-la-Wendy or the PGR one. Wendy by the was has a new sock pattern up with a gusset heel that I plan to try on the Panda Cotton socks. I have a highish instep so I think it may suit me. Check her free pattern page.

The first Loopy Ewe Sock Club package also arrived! I'm sure everyone else have already got their packages, and I have seen some finished socks even. The yarn is yummy. A very summery greenish blue, green and yellow merino/bamboo from All Things Heather. There was also a sock pattern, chocolate, a sheep soap, and some Kool Aid. All packed in a great little project bag in the same style as the Loopy Groupie tote. I think I'll save the Kool Aid for dyeing with though, I'm sure the baby will turn yellow if I drink the stuff ;-)