Yarn Rave!

Started a new pair of socks yesterday, fancied doing some trainer socks (knit up a bit quicker due to length, more instant gratification) and did the sock calculator thing to make sure they are tailor-made for my feet (my first pair are a bit small unfortunately, they've stretched a bit, I have wide feet!)
So I grabbed my ball of tofutseis and omg its gorgeous to knit with! I love it!
Its so soft and moves to nice on the needles, I'm finding I'm not having to pull and push as much, it just glides along.
The colour is just coming out great, liking the haphazard look of the colours, bit of pink, then blue, then green, its fab!
Would really really recommend having a go with this yarn, you won't regret it!

Happy Feet.

Woohoo! I actually finished my pair of socks!
This one went better than the other one and actually looks like a proper sock, it sits straight and bends in all the right places. Very pleased I've managed to pull it off and I'm itching to cast on a new pair now!
They are right, it is addictive...


I started on a new project straight away as I was eager to start some thing new, and so I started the waist coat for dd.
I took this picture after I'd finished grafting my sock and had been working on it for a few hours, this was the completed back piece. I was surprised at how fast it was knitting up (I'd never used 8mm needles before) and it was lovely.

What I didn't expect was to finish the main bulk of the knitting that same night! I'm a bit stuck now as I don't really understand the next part of the pattern that involves joining the shoulder pieces, and picking up 18 stitches from some where, but it doesn't really explain where so work has ground to a halt on this one. Going to ask my mum or my grandma to give me a hand on this one, but once I know what I'm doing, I'm sure I'll be fine!

More yarn arrived at my door step this morning, all the way from Canada, which took only 4 days to get here, and thats over a weekend too! I paid on thursday and the postman handed me a parcel this morning!
Its from Elann and its the Espirt yarn in Wine.
Hands up who knows what I'm going to be knitting with it?

Hehe thats right! I've bought it to knit the Lolita Legs from knitty
(think I mentioned it in a previous blog that I liked these!) They are going to be my first toe up "socks"
Now if Dave doesn't like these, there is some thing wrong some where! I picked my own shade of wool instead of picking what knitty suggested, but I've ended up picking the one they used any way! Black would have looked nice, but I decided to go for some thing slightly different for me, plus they will still look with black I'm sure!
Just got to practise my figure of 8 cast on, I've never tried that one before.
Just waiting to have access to a decent computer with a printer that works to print off the pattern as I can't work off the computer screen, its not really portable enough!
Until then, I feel a pair of trainer socks in tofutsies off on the right foot coming on....

Its here, its here!!!

Loony Boony has landed!

Wine heather

Ok so they weren't kidding, this stuff feels gorgeous! I so so so can't wait to get started on the Forest Canopy shawl! Its going to be brilliant!

And also in the same fantastic package came this....


Some lovely recycled sari silk, I'm going to make another shawl out of it, using a pattern that my friend Kirsty sent me, simple enough, just garter stitch all the way thru...on these needles!


ROFL they are like drum sticks! 20mm! Thats going to be fun lol Going to need another couple of balls of Sari silk but it won't stop me from making a start!

And if I didn't have enough to be going on with, I saw a lovely little girls waist coat pattern in the LYS, free pattern if I bought the wool


Its a brand called amorillo and it does actually have a wool content of 56% which did surprise me as it was 95p a ball! Going to look lovely on dd when I've finished!

So it was a nice stash enhancing day, and lots of work to be getting on with! (the socks I've got about 20 rows to go before toe shaping, so not much further!)

My Stash shame!

Well I suppose I'd better come clean and admit just how much sock wool I possess! Ready for this?


Ok so its not as bad as some stashes I've seen, however...I've only knitted almost one pair of socks so far!


They are coming on ok now! Second sock certainly shaping up better than the first one, think I've got my head around the pattern now which is always a bonus, looking forward to finishing my first pair! Hoping to get them done this evening.
Any way, lets look at this stash in detail!


These are my favourites, top left Opal feelings shade 1701, next to it Opal Neon shade 1936 and Opal Rainforest, Tiger. Looking forward to doing some thing with all these the most!


This is my Fyberspates yarn in Hannahs summer. Now this will make a lovely pair of socks, want to find a nice delicate pattern for it as the shades are quite muted and I think it will suit that more. (not bad a ball from winding from my first ever skein!)


Ah now these two are quite dramatic, they are inspired by the (I assume!) German artist Hundertwasser and they look great knitted cuff down, but also look very interesting when knitted sideways, so I might give that a go with at least one of these! They are Opal Hundertwassers, shade 1434 (left) and shade 1431 (right)


Now I bought this after just reading the write up about it.
"This is the latest yarn from South West Trading, made from a mixture of yarns including their own brand Soysilk and Chitin (made from shrimp and crab shells, yes really!)
As an aside, chitin extracted from crab and shrimp shells is compatible with human tissue and has been found to be useful to accelerate healing in wounds."
Now how good does that sound! I bought it in the first colour I saw which I think is foot the bill (it doesn't say on it and I can't remember now!) but if it knits up well I might make some socks for dp out of it because I know that they would appeal to him (the benefits!) and would be good for him doing his mountain biking and such!


This is my misc ball. I've no idea what it is! I got it as my bargain of three balls for £9, and this one arrived with no label. Its nice, and I wonder what it will look like complete, but for who created it, I haven't the foggiest! Answers on a postcard.....

So there you go, thats my sock yarn collection! I have another basket full of wool in the corner that are charity shop bits, cheap yarns from home bargains, and my Art of Knitting yarn too. On the way to my stash is some yarn to knit the lolita legs in a similar colour and my loony boony is on its way as well, along with some Sari Silk, which hopefully should arrive tomorrow, got a bid on some lovely looking Opal yarn on ebay called Rainbow which looks stunning knitted up, so hopefully I'll win that, I'm eyeing up 2 more balls from Jo Jo land (ebay) one for socks, and one for lace and my naughty friend Dippydappyblonde has just shown me Krafty Koala who has some gorgeous sock wool in stock for a fab price, so I feel a purchase coming on from there as well.

Some body stop me!!!!

Ok well, I'm officially mad!

But you knew that any way didn't you!
I have been tempted by some evil women in to buying some lace weight yarn Lane Borgosesia, in the wine heather shade and they've dared me to try and knit the Forest Canopy Shawl so I thought, ok well why not!
Just what have I let my self in for? Never attempted any thing like this before, but you've got to admit, it looks fabulous, and I can't wait to get started on it (once I finish these socks...)
My new sock yarn has arrived too, better lay off buying it for a while, tho I don't think any one noticed the 5 extra balls that drifted in here this morning....they are safely stashed away in my bag. Must take a photo of my stash to show you just how bad I have gotten, but will save that until tomorrow, when no one is looking!

No I couldn't Justify it

But I clicked buy it now any way.
I'm in so much trouble *hides*

Can I justify this?

Hmmm ebay auction for sock wool...chose 5 balls of wool and only pay for 4, all opal, trekking and Lana wools too....already got my 5 chosen! Do you think I'd get away with it?
I'm not quite sure how much wool I have amassed yet, I daren't count! Its mainly opal wool as they are my favorite colour ways, but I have at least 2 balls of trekking, a ball of tofutsies, a ball of Lana, a yummy yarn and a misc ball as it came with no band as part of a lucky dip! (but looks very trekking like!) So thats 6 without counting my opal stash too. hmm best get on and knit some socks!
I have joined in a sock knitting swap on the Angel Yarns forum however! I thought well why not, I've got till August to knit them, and I will get a nice pair of socks in return. Works for me.... I think I know which pattern I'm going to attempt and I've just got to wait for the colour choice and foot size of my recipient and I can crack on with it!
Definitely decided that knitting shops do not sell 2.5mm DPNs. Try as hard as I might I could not find any! So I gave in and bought 2 sets off ebay. And will remember this fact for the future, do not rely on shops for things, the internet rules!

A rant and new sock yarn!

Ah the joy of a new hobby that you can't get the equipment for!
Or in my case, can't get it in shops *sigh*
I've been after some more DPNs so I could cast on another sock colour, so I could be doing two pairs at once (and so I don't see the same colour for so long!) but can I find any 2.5mm in the shops, can I hell as like! Done all the LYS and market stalls, even made a special trip to a hobby craft this morning and they only had 3.5 and 4mm! Not even a section for the size I want!
Argh!
Was trying to avoid ordering online so I'd get them quicker but the time its taken me to search these shops, I could have ordered them online and they'd already be here.
Lets just say I've ordered some off my favourite ebay seller along with a new ball of opal yarn ;-)
Oh, and my new ball of wool from Fyberspates arrived! Its just gorgeous! Even if I did forget to take a picture of it before I wound it up in to a ball (so borrowed the web site picture!)! Its called Hannahs Summer and it feels divine! Going to wait till I'm a bit more handy making socks before I attempt to make some thing with it tho as I don't want to mess it up. I also got a little sock key ring as well with a patter to knit my own mini sock (I also need 2mm needles to do that, ordered from ebay...) which I am going to love, what with my keyring fetish too hehe Ideal moment to combine some of my favourite things! Keyrings, socks and knitting! Can't be bad...
Fyberspates also have a sock yarn club...I'm resisting so far as I can't justify paying out so much (£30) all at once....maybe if I stop buying yarn and save it up instead...maybe next month!

So on to the books!

Well it had to happen some time, I've started buying books on my new found passion!
So far I have bought sensational knitted socks by Charlene Schurch , which arrived this morning and on first inspection is going to be very handy on refining my techniques, I already know what to do in principle but to have it written out properly is going to be a bonus, as is having ready made patterns and size guides ready for me to dip in to.
The second book I've bought was Domiknitrix by Jennifer Stafford! Whip your knitting in to shape! Sounds like my kind of book! (not that I'm in any way a dominant person, I'm actually fairly submissive...oops, wrong blog hehe) Now this one looks like its got some cool patterns in it, along with more in-depth knitting techniques that I hadn't quite realised I could do. plus the gothy feel of the book is a good. Certainly worth looking at, thing. There is a Martin Gore style mohican hair hat that he wore on the recent tour which is pretty cool. I'm sure I could modify it to look like the real thing, you never know when it could come in handy!
They where both good buys, I've got more sensational knitted socks on my to buy list now, but its going to have to wait. This week I'm buying my self a new bag to transport my knitting round in (just a little pouch bag with enough room for a ball of wool, my half finished sock and 4 DPN's!), got 3 balls of sock wool with a bid scheduled to go in 5 seconds before the auction ends. Got no bids on it yet, but its £8 at the moment for 3 balls of sock wool of the sellers choice, kinda like a lucky dip, all self striping good quality yarn etc they are supposed to be having a clear out, but lets face it, for that price, I'm not going to go far wrong, and also I've bought a knitting set for Cat (who is 10 today woohoo!) so I can teach her how to knit as she expressed an interest in it the other night on msn, so I said I'd get her a few bits, call it her birthday pressie and go round to Dave's when she is there one evening and give her a crash course! Even if we don't get very far should be fun, she sounded enthusiastic which is always a bonus! Looking forward to giving it a go soon!
Oh and I've started looking at hand spinning, got caught up in a forum and now I'm interested. Well its cheaper to buy the unspun fleece and spin it myself so it would be better in the long run right? Hmmm might have to look in to this more...watch this space...

Well lets get this blog started!

No point having a knitting blog if I'm not going to show you what I'm up to!
This is my first attempt at a sock! For those in the know, it was knitted in Opal Feelings, shade 1705, using the free Opal sock pattern. Doesn't look too bad....on the foot! If I was being completely honest, and show you pictures of it off my foot, you'd see there is some thing not quite right with its alignment, which in its self, doesn't interfere with wearing the sock as it straightens its self out on my foot, but to look at it straight off, its not quite right lol I do know what happened. I messed about arranging my stitches on my needles too much and were the pattern would assume every thing was where it was supposed to be, in reality it wasn't, and me being the novice I didn't realise the implication of what I was doing until it was too late. And I'm a stubborn git and didn't want to frog it cause I was doing so well and just wanted to get it finished. I think I'll probably frame them rather than wear them in honour of my achievement! It seems like most people in the real world go a shade of white when I tell them I'm knitting socks because it is sooooo difficult! And yes, its not easy, but with a few nudges in the right direction I managed to get the basics right and I finished what looks like a sock, and wears like a sock! I'm a happy bunny any way!
Its partner is well on its way now, cuff is done and its just the seemingly endless rounds until I reach the heel and the fun begins all over a again!
I haven't bothered to match the stripes on the socks as 1, I would have had to remove a lot of wool from the ball to get back to the same point, and 2, matching socks are too normal for me!
Will post my "matching" pair when I'm done!

Well hello there!

And welcome to my knitting blog!
Decided to keep a knitting blog so I don't clutter up my normal every day blog (which I seriously need to post on more but any way) and keep all my progress on my new found love in one place!
I've only been knitting since the start of the year when all the new magazines came out, which included one called the Art of Knitting, featuring this lovely Shaker style throw. I was hooked and immediately wanted to try and knit it.
My quirky mind set prevented me from understanding straight forward instructions on how to get started (don't ask) but after a brief consultation with my mum and physically showing me what to do, I was away, and we are now 13 squares in to my throw and I'm not bored yet!
Well technically thats not true, I love doing my squares, but I want to do more, but don't feel quite ready for a huge project, until I landed on a forum called Angel Yarns (and its attached shop!) and came across sock knitting....
Now those who know me well, will know I have a sock fetish, but not just a sock fetish, a stripy sock fetish. The strippier the better! Saw some gorgeous stripy wool in a sock knitting kit and thought oh what the hell, and so my sock knitting fetish started.
Its all good fun and I'm enjoying doing stuff with my hands that doesn't take up all of my concentration and I get results I can wear at the end of the day!
Watch this space for more of my knitting antics!