I finally finished something!

After what seems an incredibly long time i have actually knit something to completion!!

They were to be for me but owing to something not being right with my gauge or the numbers i put into the pattern "generator" they fit Bloke instead!! It's not too big a deal, he now has his first pair of handknitted socks and i have actually finished soemthing!

The pattern is from Cat Bordhi's book "New Pathways for Sock Knitters" and although i have enjoyed learning a new technique for "shaping" a sock - it doesn't have gusset increases in the usual places ;o) i do find her literature rather hard going to say the least!

The socks are knit from bargain Kemps stash: Regia Galaxy in the Jupiter colourway.

January socks - DONE!

They were finished in time to enter them in the CTnY monthly draw but unfortunately i was away from home at the end of January and completely forgot to enter them! Ah, well, at least i got them finished ;o)

The striping has come out very strangely. The first sock has striped with one row per colour but the second sock striped with two rows per colour! It's only noticeable on the foot and there is some rather pretty spiralling on the cuff and all in all i am very happy with them :oD

I have them entered in the Sockdown January draw in the Sock Knitter's Anonymous group on Ravelry and this is the first time i have taken part. I really enjoyed the challenge of finding the right pattern for the yarn and i think i have succeeded. The textured cuff breaks up the slight pooling and i love the stripey feet :oD

Project Details:
Pattern: Noviembre Socks
Yarn: Yarn Yard Bonny - Club yarn September 2007 ::blushing::
Needles: 2mm for the ribbing and feet (magic loop)
2.25mm for the cuff (dpns)
Mods: Firstly i cast on 70 stitches to allow for the thinner yarn weight used
Secondly i changed the rib as i didn’t like the 4st rib pattern which then went into a 5 stitch leg pattern, it didn’t flooooow! Rib was changed to Ktbl, P, K2, P (the same as the leg pattern)
Finally i added an extra inch of stocking stitch to the top of the short row heel as it’s too shallow for me otherwise ;o)

Breasty Socks Finished!

As promised, here's a photo of the finished PINK socks for October.
I've fulfilled several thingummys with this pair (can't think of the word, as usual!)
Firstly, it's Breast Cancer Awareness month and they are pink in honour of that, this also means they get entered into a special draw by Natalie from The Yarn Yard. They are also my pair for the month of October for the Sock-a-Month challenge at CTnY which means they get entered into another drawer for a special prize from Natalie at The Yarn Yard.
She's a star that woman. She's one of the most generous people i have the pleasure of knowing as well as being witty and a very talented "yarn artist" for want of a better description :o)

Sock a Month socks so far:
January - Opal Zebras
February - Lombard Street Socks
March - NONE! Mojo had left the building!
April & May - Painted Desert socks, Bluetit Monkeys AND TootyFrooty socks!
June & July - Sassy Stripes socks
August & September - Cottage Garden socks
October - Breasty socks

So that's only 8 pairs, i thought it was more :o(
For November i shall mostly be knitting merino cos they are quick and warm and i need to finish at least two pairs to be in with a chance of completing 12 pairs by the end of December - if i manage to knit two pairs in December as well that is!

There's a bit of a tally going on over at CTnY and the high score so far goes to ProbablyJane with 25 pairs! Close second is CJ with 22 and not far behind her is Alice with 20!
Kind of beats my measly 8 into submission doesn't it *lol*

Finished Breasty Socks!

finishedbreastysocks
Originally uploaded by franneyk

As promised, here's a photo of the finished PINK socks for October.
I've fulfilled several thingummys with this pair (can't think of the word, as usual!)
Firstly, it's Breast Cancer Awareness month and they are pink in honour of that, this also means they get entered into a special draw by Natalie from The Yarn Yard. They are also my pair for the month of October for the Sock-a-Month challenge at CTnY which means they get entered into another drawer for a special prize from Natalie at The Yarn Yard.
She's a star that woman. She's one of the most generous people i have the pleasure of knowing as well as being witty and a very talented "yarn artist" for want of a better description :o)

Sock a Month socks so far:
January - Opal Zebras
February - Lombard Street Socks
March - NONE! Mojo had left the building!
April & May - Painted Desert socks, Bluetit Monkeys AND TootyFrooty socks!
June & July - Sassy Stripes socks
August & September - Cottage Garden socks
October - Breasty socks

So that's only 8 pairs, i thought it was more :o(
For November i shall mostly be knitting merino cos they are quick and warm and i need to finish at least two pairs to be in with a chance of completing 12 pairs by the end of December - if i manage to knit two pairs in December as well that is!

There's a bit of a tally going on over at CTnY and the high score so far goes to ProbablyJane with 25 pairs! Close second is CJ with 22 and not far behind her is Alice with 20!
Kind of beats my measly 8 into submission doesn't it *lol*

Doin the finished sock dance!

YAY! Finished before November :oD
Pics tomorrow when the light is better ;o)
I will also have pics of the newest animals to come and live at our ouse - they're a couple of cuties alright! :oD

Must go to bed, it's very late and Bloke is being impatient *sigh*

I've gone PINK!

For October as it's Breast Cancer awareness month.
Please, check your boobies, check your friends boobies... OK well, maybe not but ask them to check them for themselves! don't forget that men are not excluded from breast cancer so make sure the men in your life check theirs too - if you're friendly enough they might let you do it for them *wink* although i'm not sure where i stand on repaying the favour *lol*

so, this month - THINK PINK!

I'm carrying this over into my sock knitting too and am finally using my Breasty yarn that i bought from the Yarn Yard a whole year ago, it's so pretty knitted up :o) I'm trying the Traveler's Stockings pattern from Knitting on the Road (Nancy Bush) but sturggling as to make 80 stitches fit my feet i need to use a 1.5mm needle!! I'm currently wondering if i can reduce the number of stitches and still end up with a pretty sock!

*blushing*

I've been spending the majority of my "online" time updating Ravelry! It's very addicting you know!
It is also a very very very very good resource and i am just SO happy that it was "invented" - i'm not sure that's the right choice of words but i am happy all the same.

In knitting news: the Breasty socks are back on the needles, i don't even know what size they are but they are the blue Susan Bates ones ans definitely smaller than 2.5mm - i must find that bit of paper with the sizes on! I expect this one will come out too small now knowing my luck, and i need to work on my tension because despite being a loose knitter all my needles are getting bent because i grip them so damned tightly! My blue SB's are slightly warped after only three rounds *oops*
I haven't settled on the entire pattern yet but i will start the Traveler's Stockings pattern again and see how it goes, i really like the pointed top and the fact that there's no rib is always a bonus :o)

For comparison

That there is a Brittany Birch needle - 2.5mm and 5" long...

October Sockage!

So, it's Breast Cancer Awareness month again so i have decided to raid the "antique" Yarn Yard stash and use my Pink Ribbon yarn that's been in there for over a year *blushing*

I had already picked a pattern out of "Knitting on the Road" by Nancy Bush - the Traveller's Stockings and this evening i christened the Brittany Birch needles that Jacky sent me for my birthday :o)
Unnnnfortunately i do knit rather loosely and this is what i ended up with...

It's MASSIVE! I could easily wear it as a garter *lol*
I will have to use the Susan Bates 1.75mm if i want to do this pattern i reckon :o(

On the last day of Summer...

The Cottage Garden socks bloomed ;o)


At approximately 4.45pm i had two nearly finished socks...

Approximately 5 hours later i had a finished pair of socks!

YAY!
*doin the finished sock dance*

Yarn: Yarn Yard July Club yarn
Pattern: Cottage Garden Socks by Pink Lemon Twist
Started: August
Finished: 31st September!

Cottage Garden detail

Cottage Garden detail
Originally uploaded by franneyk

A close up of the detail :)

What a weekend!

It started out well, then went bad, then improved and was GREAT and then it was badbadbad but it ended fairly well and improved slightly after that.

Stress is a BAD THING!
If it wasn't me getting stressed it was other people and the effects of it were massive and destructive in a way i can't begin to describe :o(

The Sunday morning stress (badbadbad) was caused by members of our camping party thinking that staying up all night and playing music was a good idea. As far as i was concerned, this was not a good idea. It was a worse idea to turn the music up at 4am and an even worse idea to start driving a car round at 6.30am so that they could have louder music. Don't get me wrong, i don't mind people staying upall night, i don't even mind them playing music all night as long as it's not loud enough to disturb people who might want to go and get some sleep, what i do object to is being subjected to drum n bass and dance music 24 hours a day and then being woken up by it in the middle of the bleeding night!
Needless to say several people in our camp were upset that their sleep was also disturbed and that there was very little compromise when it came to music choice. Their one concession is "put some ska on, for Fran" well, thanks very much but it can get a bit tedious listening to the same Specials album every time we camp together and it hardly breaks the monotony of listening to the rest of the crap for 23 hours of the day! I know, i know i am a miserable old bint, i should be grateful that they consider me enough to play something "for me" but well, i'm not as grateful as i could be because i am just so pissed off with "them" which is bad cos it's not all of them and i know that :o(
Annnnnnnnnnnnyway, i am just glad the weekend is over, although i didn't manage to catch up on any lost sleep last night as i was up from 3.13am to 4.37am (last time i looked at the clock) with a bit of a bad tummy which has repeated itself again this morning. This is not good. I thought i finally had it under control, but it seems the increased stress has set it off again. I just hope i can last long enough this afternoon to drive to Southend! I also hope it is just stress and not a bug otherwise i can't go and see Mum tonight :o(

There is knitting news, but no photos as yet i'm afraid.
After several false starts on Friday and Saturday i have sock one of this month's socks underway - really, i cast on at least four times but they weren't having any of it! I managed to twist the cast on and had a moebius sock, i managed to turn it inside out and as there is a garter band at the top and not rib it looked all wrong, i managed to pull two needles out and couldn't get them back through the lace pattern and there was something else but i can't think what it was now, it was very frustrating at times i can tell you!! *lol*
We are finally on our way now though, i am knitting the "Cottage Garden socks" by Melanie who is the designer of the MS3 and i am using my July YY Club yarn which was inspired by the strawberry patch but the colours are very cottage gardeny and it's looking great after one pattern repeat. The colours also remind me of watermelon and the subtle stripeyness is looking FAB! I shall do the cuffs and heels on dpns one at a time and then move over to circulars for the feet so that i can do them at the same time and have feet of the same length without having to count rows or measure ;o)

Right then, i must go and sort out the bedroom, i have become very lax at putting my clothes away and it is becoming reminiscent of a jumble sale!! Have a good week xXx

*HUGS*

Done some decorating!

Working on a new layout, found it via a trip through some blogs and i can't remember whose it was but it was someone from CTnY so thankyou whoever it was! *lol*
It still needs some bits adding to it, like the sidebars need my lists and buttons back in them but that will have to wait for another day, it's taken me long enough just to sort this much out!

I'll be off until Sunday night camping, it was Bloke's birthday yesterday and a friend's birthday on Monday so we are having a combined birthday camping weekend :oD
Than Monday will be spent washing and having a tidy and then i'll be off to Southend to visit with Mum before her op on Tuesday, sorry the blog seems to have taken a turn down the "Mum is ill" route but it's preoccupying me quite a bit :o(

So, all this means that i don't actually know when i will next be able to update the blog, hopefully i'll be able to sneak on Dad's computer at some point ;o) You've all been so supportive these past weeks that i feel it only fair to keep you updated too!

Knitting content: This months sock pattern has been chosen, i am going to make the Cottage Garden socks from PinkLemonTwist in the July YYC yarn as it just screams cottage gardens to me :o)
No further progress on Clapotis OR MS3 i'm afraid, i'm not sure what i've been doing but it hasn't left me any knitting time *lol*

Have a great weekend girls, keep your fingers crossed for dry weather for us :oD

*HUGS*
Fran x

One Monkey down - one to go!

Finished grafting the toe of Monkey one while sitting in the camp minding the dog :o)
Immediately cast on for TootyFrooty two :o)

TaDaaaaaaaa!

The Painted Desert socks are now finished :o)

I really love working on "larger" needles and am SO surprised that just .25mm makes so much difference to speed! The right sock was done on 2mm dpns, the left on 2.25mm, both with a star toe and short row heel taken from SKS.
I'm not that keen on the yarn to be perfectly honest, it's very unevenly spun and had some very thin bits and it's not at all "sproingy" like other merino i have BUT the colours are gorgeous and if i hadn't reduced the number of stitches on the left foot halfway down there wouldn't have been any pooling either. At least i am back on track and have finished a pair of socks this month, now i have to finish another pair before the end of the month and i'll be heading back towards my goal of 12 pairs finished this year :o)

An arty pic

I decided against the baby cable and went with the elongated corded rib instead and i have to say it's coming along very nicely :o)
I've been playing with our new camera and all it's seven million pixies :oD

A decision has been made!

My socks for April will be *drum roll pleeeeeease!* Gyspsy Girl Yarn in "Painted Desert" and the pattern i settled on is a simple 4-stitch pattern from SKS called "baby cabled rib" Happy Happy Happy!
I got 8 rows of 2x2 ribbing done last night, this was after i emptied my whole sock yarn stash out on to the bed and fondled it all and tried to make a decision as to what i was going to make! I reeeeeeeaally really want to do Monkey but for some unknown reason i am putting it off! I'll have to get a wriggle on with these socks though if i want to get them finished by the end of the month!!
I'm guessing that trawling the internet looking for a shawl pattern isn't helping my progress either *lol*

With one day to spare...

lombard-done
Originally uploaded by franneyk.

The Lombards are finished!! *doing a happy dance*
I LOVE merino! They feel SO soft, my feet feel like they are being cuddled :oD
I'm a bit annoyed that i took such a long break from knitting on them really, after making such good progress in the first few days of the month i didn't pick them up again until Saturday and it's taken me since then to finish the feet. I think the slow progress has been down to the purling of the sole stiches and the fact that i am using such small needles, i sometimes wish i didn't knit so loosely!!
So, that's my February socks finished, casting on for March we have Springtime in Paris and i am going to use my February Club yarn :o)

Lombard Street - second cuff

Lombard Street - second cuff
Originally uploaded by franneyk.

Another evenings knitting produced a second cuff.
There are five full repeats and the heel is started after the 5th row (of 8) so thats.... 45 rows plus 15 for the picot edge... 60 rows!
Might not be a lot to some people but to a slow-poke like me it's an enormous achievement :o)
Tonight i hope to finish the heel AND gusset decreases so i can start the feets both at once on ML tomorrow! Bloke is out so it should (theoretically) be possible and i won't get distracted by Waking the Dead either ;o)

Lombard Street - down to the foot!

So here's a progress report so far :oDOn Saturday night i did the heel flap.

Lombard Street - heel
Originally uploaded by franneyk.

I used the "eye of partridge" heel directions from SKS (where else!) and i've carried the back cable down into the heel. I'm not entirely sure i like it though, it gets a bit lost in the slip stitch pattern of the heel, i think i should have left those six cable stitches as knit stitches to stop it getting drawn in. I do really like the garter band i think it gives it a nice tidy edge and picking up the gusset stitches was quite easy too :o)

Lombard Street - gusset
Originally uploaded by franneyk.

For the sole i am doing a reverse stocking stitch, or as Charlene Schurch calls it a "princess foot", it's a pain to work, i hate doing purls in the round, i always get in a tangle on the first stitch and i also get a ladder there too. Hopefully once it's washed and blocked(worn *lol*) it'll even the stitches out a bit more :o)
Tonight i will cast on the second sock and hopefully see the same progress which means i'll be doing the feets on Thursday, if i work quicker i might even have them finished and ready to wear to the craft show on Friday! That would be cool :oD

Do excuse the crap photos, the camera on my "new" phone isn't very good :o(