Midsummer

We spent Midsummer weekend at the cottage with my parents and M's dad. The weather was kind of blah (like it rained all Midsummer's Eve) and the kids played outside most of the time so I got quite a lot of resting and knitting done. I brought three projects and expected that to be plenty, but not so...

I finished the Embossed Leaves socks!

Pattern: Embossed Leaves from Favorite Socks by Interweave.
Yarn: Apple Laine Apple Pie in Garden Party
Needles: Addi Turbo 2,5 mm
Mods: I did a long-tail cast on instead of the one in the book, which incidentally isn't the one used on the socks in the pictures in the book. Those are made with a tubular cast-on, see the designer's blog for tutorial on that. As I mentioned before the socks where long enough after 7 full pattern repeats instead of 7,5 so I used the reversed star toe described on the designer's blog.
Verdict: Love! A fun fast pattern and it looks great. I will certainly knit another pair in a more solid colour so that the pattern pops better, but I like this version too. The yarn I have gushed over before ;-)

Here's a detail shot of the leg:

My car knitting was my first cast-on for Summer of Socks. A Mata Hari sock using Claudia Handpainted Sport in Caribbean Blue.

I love this colourway and have been agonizing over what pattern to knit with it for ages. This one is nice and simple. I'm doing a round toe and trying Wendy's gusset heel. They are on the large side but I have decided not to rip them. I'm going to make them as high as the yarn allows. Which won't be very high, I suspect...

The third project I brought was my Swallowtail shawl. It has been neglected for quite some time now, poor thing, but now I managed to progress from 5 to 10 finished repeats of the Budding Lace 2 chart. This is how it looked after 6 repeats:

About 6" high and 12" wide. Tiny. However, I found hints on how to make it larger on Mintyfresh's blog. She knit 19 repeats of Budding Lace 2 instead of 14 and I think I'll follow her lead.

When we got home I felt that I needed another sock on the needles... So I decided to find a pattern for Dad in Favorite Socks. I bought yarn for him last autumn... Trekking XXL in dark blue and greens. I like the lattice look of the Uptown Boot socks, but when I knit it up it looked nothing at all like lattice.

Just some sort of diagonals. So I ripped them and tried Cable Rib socks instead.

Much better!

Notice my new pattern row counter I made from Turtlegirl's instructions. This one is for 10 rows. Very nifty and not too fiddly to make. I made a shorter one too, for 4 rows.


I'll definitely make more as I need them.

Oh, and I got some yarn in the mail. From you-know-where. I have been waiting nearly a month for this package, it got stuck in Customs :-/

Woolly Boully sock yarn in Brooklyn Candy.

Claudia Handpainted fingering in Peppermint Mocha.

J. Knits Light Sock in Vermont. Yes, that colour is accurate, at least on my screen. Veeery bright.

And five skeins of Louet Gems Sport in Indigo for the Highland Triangle shawl in Fok Shawls.

Sidewinders

My Sidewinder socks are done!

Pattern: Sidewinders by Nona.
Yarn: Opal Rainbow
Needles: 2.5 mm Addi Lace
Mods: None. I was a bit concerned about the width of the leg but they turned out to fit my legs just fine. I made the 8-9 M size, feet are about 9" around and 9.75" long.



Now I have only two more socks OTN...

I just cast on for the second Embossed Leaves sock. I think I'll finish this one before I tackle the rest of the Pomatomus...

...which now has a shorter leg. I weighed the remaining yarn when I had knit the leg and heel flap. One third already gone and about one quarter knit. No good. So I ripped out one pattern repeat of the leg. It is still long enough I think.

Summer of Socks starts tomorrow. I haven't decided on a specific goal, maybe to knit 2 pairs a month? I won't start anything new tomorrow, I'll finish the socks I'm working on first.

Speaking of sock yarn... I got some stuff from my favourite source today!
The cutest stitch markers, from Entrelac stitch markers. Very light and good for both socks and lace methinks.


And a shawl pin!


So pretty! And I really needed one. I don't like knotting shawls or having to fiddle with them all the time to keep them from falling off. This one is made by Romi. The pin is 3" (7,5 cm) long and the eternity bit is half of that.

What? Why, yes, I got some yarn too.

Lovely laceweight from Perchance to Knit. The colourway is Midnight Rainbow/Harlot's Peacock.


It came with a matching stitch marker too!


There is 500 yards. I'm not sure what I will make of it. Maybe a scarf version of the Box Lace Shawl in Folk Shawls? Suggestions are welcome!

OK, and some sock yarn. Here's Stonebarn Fibers Gypsy Girl Creations fingering weight in Blueberry & cream.

And Misty Mountain Farms Jubilee in Waterfall.

They are both very pretty and I don't know what they will be when they grow up.

I have been playing on Ravelry since I got my invite. It's great fun! I have put up all my needles and hooks (all three of them...), most of my stash and my latest projects. I'm really enjoying to looks for other peoples projects with yarns I have and getting new ideas.

Woo hoo!

I got my Ravelry invite!!! And just in time for the rainy weekend too :-) My username over there is Malin.

Must. Go. Explore!

Milestones

1. H is finally out of nappies, yay! Except at night, but that's no big deal and I suspect that she'll be dry at night too soon. It's not a day to soon that she shed the nappies either, she's almost three and a half. But E was almost four before we forced him to quit his nappies. They are stubborn little things, my kids. And you have to admit that it is a nuisance to have to stop playing for a minute and go to the bathroom...

We carefully set H up for quitting 'in the summer, before the baby comes'. Last week summer arrived, so we told her it was time to quit. She objected that the baby wasn't here yet but accepted that she needed to practise before baby arrives. And now she's very proud of herself :-)

Now we don't' have to wash nappies for couple of months! H uses paper things at night, we never found a cloth option that didn't leak at night for her. Too skinny, I suppose.

2. E has learned to ride his bike without training wheels! Except for starting, but other that that he's doing really well. He has been a bit reluctant to try, and he thought it was a bit scary but this weekend he just did it. On Monday and today he even rode to daycare. OK, so you can see the daycare from our house, but still :-)

3. I'm exactly seven months pregnant. Only two months to go. Labour and delivery is starting to feel real...


We still have a few things to fix before baby arrives. The pram needs to be cleaned. Baby clothes have to be dug out of the closets and inspected and washed and we may need to get some more tiny summer things as E and H were born in winter. The cloth nappy stash needs to be checked and completed too, some stuff is falling apart. I need to get some stretchy nursing bras for the first huge days. Other than that I think we are all set.

Except for names... It is so hard to find nice names that are not too common and not too strange. For some reason both M and me have an easier time with girl names, but it is still hard, and we don't know what we are getting anyway so we need both. When E was born we just had one boy name picked (and no girl names at all...) and it suited him so we were fine. With H we still had two or three girl alternatives, so she was nameless for a few days and that was a bit awkward, I'd rather avoid that. On the other hand you don't have to register baby's name for three months...

Knitwise I have almost finished E's socks. I just need to weave in the ends. I ran out of the Scout yarn but I found a perfect match in the stash: Opal uni in a blueberry shade. The heels and cuffs are in Opal, it almost looks intentional doesn't it ;-)


Toe-up with Judy's magic cast-on, 52 sts to the round, instep and leg in a k2, p2 rib, Sherman heel (love. it.), sewn bind-off. Oh, and knit both at the same time on one long circ. The first time I tried that. A bit fiddly in the beginning, next time I think I'll do the toes separately and then put them on the circ, but good when you want to make sure that the socks are the same, and that the yarn doesn't run out on you. I knit from both ends of a center-pull ball.

I have also finished a Sidewinder sock, in Opal Rainbow. I just had to try the pattern when I saw it. Fun to knit, and rather mindless as you only do one thing at the time.


And the fit is great!

I chose a really stripy yarn to make the unusual construction obvoius. Fun!

Pomatomus is one leg long. I'm very happy with the way the yarn behaves, and the patterns is fantastic!


And I got yarn today! From The Loopy Ewe of course :-)


Two skeins of Cherry Tree Hill's new sock yarn Sockittome in Java and Sugar Maple, a skein of Zen String Seredipity in Living Light.


And a skein of super beautiful alpaca laceweight from J.Knits, Lace-a-licious! in Alaska, 4 oz, 1200 yds. I have to find something fabulous to knit with this! Maybe Knitspot's Casino?

It is nearly Midsummer so I checked the sunrise and sunset times: up at about 4.30 am, down at 10 pm. No wonder that it barely has time to get dark before it gets light again...

I got things done

Cold. Yuk. Sore throat and weird voice and stuffy nose. Yuk again. I've been home sick from work Thursday and Friday. At least I've got some knitting done. Lord of the Rings on DVD and a sock, mmmmm. So I finished the Boyfriend socks yesterday. Here they are on my feet (as the boyfriend didn't have time to model them):

Apparently this yarn is a bitch to photograph properly, the colour is almost always off :-( It is darker IRL.

Pattern: Boyfriend socks in size small.
Yarn: Interlacements Tiny Toes colour 201.
Needles: Addi wooden dpn's 2.5 mm. I was a bit bummed when I first tried these needles because there was a small splinter near one of the tips. But I fixed that with a nail file and now they are great. Not so great when you are feverish and have sweaty hands though...
Mods: I originally started another pattern so I did another toe, Oriental cast-on or something, I can't find it now. I made a slip-knot and placed on one needle. The I held two needles parallell and wrapped the yarn around them both. Then I knit around and removed the slip-knot. And made increases every row at first and then every other row.
I also changed the heel to a Sherman short-row heel.


So nice! I definitely prefer this over the double wrapped variety. Much easier and so neat-looking!
Oh, and I wrote out a chart for the Boyfriend stitch pattern. No way I'm going to knit that from writing only. Brrr.

I also managed to crawl on the floor and block the Litla Dimun shawl. I used too few pins so the edges are not perfectly straight but it looks nice enough and I like it!


Pattern: Litla Dimun shawl from Folk Shawls by Cheryl Oberle.
Yarn: Opal Neon, a little more than two 100g balls. There is definitely enough for matching socks.
Needles: Hmm, what did I use? Addi circs for sure, umm 3 mm?
Mods: None, but I didn't manage to stretch it quite so wide as the pattern suggested. Mine is 29" deep but only about 75" wide instead of the 84" the pattern says.
Comment: The shape of this shawl is a bit unusual but the curved upper edge makes it want to stay on the shoulders nicely, without bunching at the neck.

I had to look up what Litla Dimun actually means. It's the smallest of the Faeroe Islands, and the only inhabitants are sheep!

And garter stitch.

Bottom detail:

I really tried to take some pictures of me wearing it but they where not publishable! I have to make M take some decent pics later!

New socks on the needles! Embossed Leaves from Favorite Socks with Apple Laine Apple Pie in Garden Party. I hope the pattern don't disappear completely, this colourway is pretty wild...

It's a really quick knit, the first one is finished already! Love it!


I chose a little thicker fingering yarn because I'm not sure about the size. The book says the finished width is 7.5" and my foot is about 9". We'll see. If it turns out to be very stretchy I may make them again in a more solid yarn. I have a light green Lang JaWoll that would suit the pattern I think.

BTW the cast-on in the book doesn't seem to be the original one. The book says to use a 1x1 rib cast-on which is a long tail cast-on with every other stitch created backwards so it looks like 1p, 1k, 1p, 1k and so on. Then it goes on to slip every other stitch for two rows before starting the rib. I didn't manage to do this loosely enough so I did my usual long-tail over twoo needles instead. Then I thought to google about sizing and found some hints on the designer's blog. And that is not the same cast-on! I don't feel like ripping so I'll keep mine as is anyway. But I will try this other one some day, it looks nice.

I made them 7 repeats long instead of the 7,5 repeats in the pattern so I used the reversed star toe instead of the one in the book. Very nice if I may say so!

Now I need to decide on a mindless sock for all the driving in the next few days!

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 ;-)

Loot and a finished object

In my last post I mentioned all the packages I was waiting for. Most of them (and a few more...) have now arrived. Yay! I am also waiting for a couple of new ones. Oy.

I have new books!

Charlene Schurch's new sock book. I like it for all the example socks and little stitch patterns. The actual patterns, I don't know. I like knitting toe-up, but most of her toe-ups start in the same way, with knitting a small square and then picking up stitches around all edges. And the only toe-up heel flap is an upside-down version of the top-down one. It would have been nice with more different toes and heels.

Folk Shawls. I love it! I fell in love with the first shawl, Litla Dimun, and it's on the needles now.
The colours are off in the photo, it's not that orange. The yarn is Opal Neon in colour 1934, red-pink-orange. I got three balls from Astrid.

I also really like Feather and Fan Trangle Shawl, the Highland Triangle Shawl, the Box-Lace Shawn (though I would probably make it a stole), and the Spanish Christening Shawl. I'm on the lookout for suitable yarn. Most of the patterns in the book seem to use fingering weight yarn.
Note that there are quite a lot of corrections on Interweave's website.

Favourite Socks from Interweave. Love it. There are no corrections up on this one yet but I've heard that there is an error in the chart for the Hidden Passion socks. I really like this book. I haven't got more than a handful of the magazines so most of the patterns are new to me. I want to make loads of these socks! Embossed Leaves, Hidden Passion, Uptown Boot, ...

I have also got some spinning books but I save the spinning stuff for another post.

Sheri has got the better of me again...

Left to right: Cider Moon Glacier in Juneau, J Knits Superwash in Louisiana, Cider Moon Glacier in Blue Ridge Parkway, Louet Gems in Crabapple Blossom and Linen Grey.

Left to right: Claudia Handpainted Sport in Wisteria, Seacoast Handpainted Panda (with bamboo) in Cherry Fizz, All Things Heather merino/tencel (oh my so soft) in Sunrise, and Scaeffer Lola in Raspberry Mocha.

I also got Panda Cotton in Faded Jeans. Apparently it is very shy, this was the best of four(!) photos, but it likes to become plain toe-up socks.


Me and M are going on a conference cruise the weekend after this and these are coming along for plane knitting, if nothing else. I'm usually very suspicious about cotton yarns, but this contains a little elastic and is very nice to work with.

I have a finished object! Short Millicent socks, by Cookie.

Yarn by Scout's Swag, knit on 2,5 mm Addis, magic loop.
I think I really knit three socks, because I had to rip a couple of times. Not because of the pattern but because of the pooling of the yarn. The leg spiralled nicely, but then the foot was supposed to have more stitches. Uh oh. The spirals became four solid fields of colour instead. Not nice at all, rip, rip, back to the gusset. I decreased down to the same number of sts I used for the leg and then the spirals appeared again. Phew. Then the spirals got stubborn on the foot of the second sock too. I think I relaxed too much and had to knit tighter to make them appear again.
All in all I am very happy with these socks.

Here's another pic with the socks on my new sock blockers! Also from The Loopy Ewe of course. These are the plastic ones, I am contemplating the idea of using them as a template for making wooden ones.


Finally, as a bonus for reading this very long post: a picture of how fat I am with four months of growing left!!! Apparently my uterus is right on track, and the utrasound said one baby only but oh my! am I going to have a fun hot summer...

Tired

It's only seven thirty but I'm so tired that I could go to bed and fall asleep right now. Work was very stressful today, especially in the afternoon, and my lower back is killing me. The kids were little terrors at dinner, and then they jumped around so much that the bathtub moved and the water ran all over the floor when we started to empty it. So no bedtime stories for them tonight! They are in bed now, and quiet, so that's something at least.

I'm definitely thinking of asking my OB to get me on part time sick leave for the rest of the pregnancy, my midwife suggested it when I saw her last week. A thirty hour week instead of a forty hour week would be So Nice.

Enough whining.

I'm eagerly checking the mailbox every day. I'm waiting for, let's see... six packages I think :-O A couple of books from Amazon, and some yarn from The Loopy Ewe (ok, two orders) And a spindle and some roving from Spunky Eclectic. And some more roving off Etsy. Oh, and my Sockret Pal says my package from her should be here by now. In fact it's been on it's way for six weeks. I do hope it's not lost. She has notified the post office and they are investigating.

The spindle and roving? Ah, yes, you see I went to this textile fair and you could try spinning on a drop spindle. So I did. It was fun, but tricky. Partly because of the not very well prepared fibre there where to spin I think. Just some carded heaps of wool to pull pieces from. And I have been tempted by all the spinning knit bloggers out there, so I ordered my own spindle. We have an old spinning wheel at the summer house, in working condition ( and by old I mean late 1800's or so) but I have no room for it here, so spindle it is. But I'll try the wheel later.

Any suggestions of a good book or two for a beginner spindler? I'm thinking of getting Spinning in the Old Way.

I hope I get something in the post tomorrow, before we leave for the summer house and Easter Holiday.

And now for some knitting!
I finished my Sock Madness Madtini's:


Apple Laine Apple Pie in Pretty in Pink (from The Loopy Ewe). 2,5 mm Addis, magic loop. I have said it before but I say it again: this yarn is fantastic! I haven't washed it yet, or even worn the socks (it's too warm right now) But the look, the feel, mmmm. It's a little thicker than many fingering weight yarns and the silk and mohair content gives it a kind of matte lustre. I'm on the lookout for more!



I was way too slow knitting these though. I'm now out of the Sock Madness competition. Oh well. I'll still get the rest of the patterns, and it's great fun to see all the varieties of the same socks. The third pattern arrived today, but I'm not so sure I like it. It has a folded down cuff with garter stitch triangles at the bottom, the rest is plain. I won't start it right away, that's for sure, but maybe I get inspired when I see someone elses!

I aslo finished the Corded Rib socks.


Lorna's Laces in Jay Pond. 2,25 mm Brittany Birch dpn's until I broke one of them and then 2 mm metal dpn's. Yes I had to go down to keep the gauge oddly enough. The heel and toe are from Plain Socks and the stitch pattern from Sensational Knitted socks. A very simple 4 stitch, 4 row pattern, but oh so nice and stretchy. I'm not too keen on the colours of the yarn though. Nice enough, but a bit tame for me...

This was my first try of Priscilla Gibson-Robert's take on short-row heels and toes. The last heel is rather good (I went toe-up) the others not so much. But I think I like the technique. It is a bit fiddly to change the stitch orientation but it looks nicer in the end than the picking up of wrapped stitches.

So now I only have one sock on the needles. A short version of Cookies Millicent sock. I have no desire to knit knee high socks, I wouldnt' wear them. My calves are big as they are, no more padding needed, thanks. But I love the look of the foot with the curving ribs so I got the pattern anyway. I simply started the pattern after all the calf decreases. I'm halfway through the heel flap now.


This yarn is from Scout's Swag, Storm Surge. I got it for my Sockret Pal (thanks Emma!) The yarn is very soft and the colours great. And I really like the way it spirals down the leg. I can only hope that there's enough for both socks. My usual terror when going top down... I haven't run out yet though.

One of the packages I'm waiting for contains solid Louet Gems for two other Cookie patterns, but this one looks great in a multi-coloured one I think.