Knitvent 2018: Winter Sleep Socks

Hello, my friends, I hope you've all had a good week. I can't believe we're in the last week of November! This year has flown by.

Well, we are on the penultimate pattern of this year's Knitvent and they are some gorgeous, cosy DK socks. Winter Sleep Socks come in four sizes ranging from kids to men's size, they are super quick to knit which make them perfect for gift knitting.

“Just as the spiniest chestnut-burr 

Is lined within with the finest fur, 

So the stoney-walled, snow-roofed house 

Of every squirrel and mole and mouse 

Is lined with thistledown, sea-gull’s feather, 

Velvet mullein-leaf, heaped together 

With balsam and juniper, dry and curled, 

Sweeter than anything else in the world.

O what a warm and darksome nest 

Where the wildest things are hidden to rest! 

It’s there that I’d love to lie and sleep, 

Soft, soft, soft, and deep, deep, deep!”

From “Winter Sleep” by Elinor Wylie

I knit the XS and they fit both my 4 year old grandson and 2 year old granddaughter, I would say they'd fit up to a 7-8 year old and then maybe go up to the Small size depending on how wide their feet are.

My grandson said he didn't want holes in his socks, us knitters might call it lace but to Caiden they are holes so I just did rib throughout with contrast heel and toes.

I used Bergère de France Ideal DK, I bought 2 x 50g balls in contrast colours and got two pairs by reversing the colours.

DK sock yarn with nylon is probably harder to find especially for UK knitters. I found a few different brands that would work well.

West Yorkshire Spinners for a budget-friendly DK Sock Yarn 

Eden Cottage Yarns Milburn DK, 85% BFL 15% silk 

Socks Yeah DK 75/25 

Julie Asselin Leizu DK 90% merino 10% silk 

Qing Fibre Super Soft DK 

Skein Queen Crush DK 

Magpie Fibers Swanky DK available from A Yarn Story in the UK

If you want them as a cosy pair of house socks, I wouldn't worry about the nylon just go for some soft, luxurious yarn. 

Also, you could always use a fingering weight sock yarn. Just note that the stitch pattern repeat is 6 stitches so if you’re converting to fingering you would want a repeat of either 60 or 66. 

If you go with 60 then you will have an even number of repeats - ie a whole repeat front and back of your socks. 

If you go with 66 you’ll have an odd number so will have to split a repeat between the front and back (like the pattern for the small and large sizes).

Let me know if you knit a pair so I can take a look, let me know what your IG or Ravelry name is.

Have a great week and happy knitting.

xxxxDebxxxx

The Year of Socks.

Hello there, I hope 2018 has been good to you so far. Well, last year was the year of socks for me, I added up how many pairs that I knit in 2017. I knit 18 pairs of socks!!!!! I can't quite believe it myself but they were my go-to project and found plain vanilla socks very meditative and therapeutic for me. If you want to see all the different designs that I knit, you can check out my Ravelry project page.

These are one of the last pairs I finished, they are one of my favourite socks that I've knit. I used Grundl Hot Socks Pearl Colour, it has cashmere in the merino/nylon blend and is exceptionally soft. I knit the leg fairly long, I wanted a nice, cosy pair for the winter. I used Hot Socks Pearl for the cuff, heels and toes the solid colour version of this beautiful yarn.

The last pair of the year was my Christmas Stripe Socks, knit with Knit Picks Felici in Spring Blooms so not officially a Christmas colour but it reminded me of the bright vintage colours.

I have cast on a pair of socks this year but I definitely won't be knitting 18 as I want to knit more garments. Again, I'm knitting with Knit Picks Felici in Chesire Grin, rather than doing a plain sock though, I'm using Vanilla Bean Striped Sock by Emily O'Grady, which is more of a recipe than a pattern. It relies on that you know how to knit a basic sock but I love the simple slip stitches that break up the stripes.

What are your favourite things to knit? Is there a pattern that you go back to again and again?

Have a great week and happy knitting.
xxxxDebxxxx

Happy New Year........

Happy New Year, I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, it goes too quick for me, I love Christmas and always have a hectic couple of days and lots of fun. I also enjoy the week between Christmas and New Year where you don't remember what day it is, you can eat Christmas pud for breakfast if you want to plus lots of knitting time.

I don't celebrate NYE but I do embrace the new year and love the feel of new beginnings. I don't make resolutions but I do like to have some sort of plan.

Do you have any knitting plans for the coming year? I want to get some WIP's finished, knit at least three garments and knit more colourwork.

I'm a big fan of advent calendars and had a few to open including yarn, tea, chocolate and beauty. I want to talk about the yarny calendars though. They were so much fun, I did a swap with my friend Dani, we'd spoke about it over a year ago and decided to make each other one with a full skein of yarn for the 25th.

We added little extra gifts in some of the days, including stitch markers, tea and I even had a gorgeous fluffy pompom. It was so much fun to put together and also open, we've both said we will definitely do it again next year.

I was also lucky enough to swap one with another friend, Sara of  Cauldron of Colours, these were all alpaca blend mini's and very soft.

Christmas Eve, I cast on my Twas the Night Before Christmas by Danielle Jorge. This is her very first pattern, I was lucky enough to test knit them and take the photos for the pattern.

It's such a fun pattern with a simple tree pattern running down the side of the leg then some potato chippy plain stockinette. It took me three days to finish them and I love them.

I used West Green Loft Yarns in Christmas Candy which was their December yarn club colourway.

Have a good week and happy knitting.
xxxxDebxxxx

Twas the Night Before Christmas Socks.....Christmas Eve Cast On.

I'm so excited to let you all know, my friend Dani from Little Bobbins Knits has just released her very first sock pattern, just in time for the Christmas Eve cast on. The pattern is aptly named Twas the Night Before Christmas.

If you haven't heard of the LBK Christmas Eve cast on, it's an annual event that takes place on Christmas Eve where thousands of knitters from around the world cast on a pair of socks.

It all started in 2014 when Dani told us about her special tradition of casting on a new pair of socks every Christmas Eve. Knitters embraced this wonderful festive tradition and so many of us look forward to casting on with Dani.

I was lucky enough to test knit them and they were a dream to knit, each Tiny Tree you finish you want to finish the next one so this is a fairly quick knit as you don't want to put them down.

I used The Wool Barn Sparkle Sock Gold in Single Batch 37.

If you want to take part in the Christmas Eve cast on, you can find all the details over on the Little Bobbins Knits Ravelry Group. I would love to see everyone's socks on Instagram, there is a hashtag #lbkchristmasevesocks2017 so it's easy to find all of your wonderful socks.

Thank you for stopping by and happy knitting.

xxxxDebxxxx

It's All About the Socks..... Box o' Sox KAL

This year has been all about the socks, it's my favourite project to knit on at the moment, I have finished three pairs so far this year and have another three pairs on the needles. I cast the first pair of the year on the 1st January, they were the Pomeranssi Socks by Marianne Heikkinen using  The Wool Barn Alpaca Sock. Oh my gosh, this yarn is soft and makes the most cosy, luxurious socks, perfect for keeping your feet extra warm during these long winter months. I absolutely love Marianne's designs, they have such a pretty aesthetic 

 

 

 

The second pair of the year were the Mercury Socks by Kim Drotar, these are very popular socks which I first saw on Instagram, it's one of my favourite places to find new patterns.

 

 

These were knit in Fine Fish Yarns Core Sock in The Nicest Faun I Ever Met, isn't this the most perfect colourway? It's a simple, five row lace pattern which is easy to memorize after a few rows. I added contrast heels and toes in some leftover sock yarn that I had in my stash.

 

I always like to have a plain pair of vanilla socks on the needle, just so I can pick them up without having to think about where I'd got to in the pattern, perfect to relax and knit with a cuppa.

 

I used Beregere de France Goomy 50 in Imprim Rose, a self patterning yarn in many different colours and patterns, it's one of my favourite commercial sock yarns.

These are my finished socks so far, which will go in my Box o' Sox, this is a KAL run by Kristin, the idea is to knit at least 12 pairs of socks over the coming year and store them in a preetty box so you'll have a whole box of socks to ready to wear. I completed 12 pairs last year, it was so much fun to see everybody else's socks on the thread so decided to take part again.

I think I'll wrap up for today and I'll share my other socks in a seperate post. I'm linking to Nicole's Keep Calm Craft On and Ginny's Yarn Along. This week I have been reading through The Language of Flowers, a book I picked up at the charity shop that gives you meanings of different flowers and wonderful illustrations. I've used the illustration of the roses in the photo of my finished Imprim Rose socks, I love the vintage feel of this book.

Happy knitting until next time.

xxxxDebxxxx

Pomeranssi Socks....... Box O' Sox KAL 2017

Happy New Year, I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and a good new year, as promised I'm going to make a conscious effort to blog more regularly. I'm still thinking about how I want the blog to go forward, whether I carry on with my original blog, change the name or even start from scratch, any advice will be greatly received. One of the reasons I stopped blogging is because I don't own a PC or laptop and the app I was using on my iPad became obsolete. I have just found a new app though and I'm hoping this one will work well, so far so good. 

 

 

Last year, I took part in Kristen of the Yarngasm Podcastm Podcast Box O' Sox KAL which was knitting at least 12 pairs of socks during 2016 and  storing them in a pretty box. I love knitting socks, using the wonderful array of sock yarns, from the pretty variegated, soft  pastels, the brights and luxurious yarns such as alpaca and cashmere. It was even more fun joining in with the KAL and my goal was to get one pair of socks finished each month. 

It was so popular that Kirsten is running it again this year which makes me very happy and I've already finished one pair this year. I cast on the Pomeranssi Sock by Marianne Heikkinen, a delicate and pretty lace pattern. Kristen has a Ravelry group where you can join in the chat or if you're on Instagram check out the #boxosoxkal2017 or #boxosoxkal. Instagram is my favourite social media platform and you can find me there as Tinkhickman.

 

I started them on New Years Day and was my first project of the year, it's actually all I wanted to knit on, the yarn and pattern were pure joy to work with. I used The Wool Barn Alpaca Sock a blend of baby alpaca, silk and cashmere. Yes, it really is as soft and luxurious as it sounds, they feel like cosy hugs on my feet.  

 

The pattern is written for a sport weight yarn on 2.75mm needles on 56 stitches but as its a 8 stitch pattern repeat, I knit them with 4ply on my regular 64 stitches on 2.25mm needles. I finished them within the week and I've got to say, these are one of my favourite socks that I've knit.

Do you have a favourite sock yarn or pattern? I'd love to hear, I'm always on the lookout for new yarns amd patterns.

Thanks for stopping by and I'll be back soon.

xxxxDebxxxx

Sock Frenzy.....lots of socks on and off the needles.

Hello my friends, where did May go!!!!!!!! I can't believe that we are already into June, this year is flying by and summer is upon us.

I don't know whether it's because of the warmer days but I seem to be having a bit of a sock frenzy going on with lots of socks on and off the needles. I tend to knit more socks through the summer months probably because I'm out and about more during the warmer weather and they are a nice, portable project to take with me. What do you enjoy knitting over the summer months?

I've knit Caiden a couple of pair of socks but neither of them have fit him properly so when the Little Squirrel socks were released from the Max and Bodhi's Wardrobe in a heavier weight yarn, I decided to cast them on for him.

I used Rowan Cashsoft DK in the toddler size on 3mm needles rather than the suggested worsted weight, using the finer yarn, I got the baby size which fit him perfectly.

Here he is wearing them on his perfect, chubby little feet, I will definitely be knitting him another couple of pairs, they are so quick and easy to knit. This pattern would be perfect for someone who wants to have a go at knitting their first pair of socks. They are cuff down with a simple heel flap and what I forgot to mention they come in seven different sizes from newborn up to a large adult.

The next pair of socks are the Renesmee socks by Rachel Coopey, a pretty pair of socks with a beautiful frilled cuff. There are a LOT of stitches to start with but it is so worth it to get these gorgeous frilly socks. I'm using a very luxurious yarn for them so I'll only be wearing these in the house to keep my feet warm on the cooler evenings rather than in a pair of boots.

The yarn is Hazel Knits Entice MCN in Frost which is a gorgeous merino/cashmere/nylon blend, they feel so soft, it's a stunning yarn and fabulous to knit with.

Every year Rachel does the Summer of Socks from June to August, it's a fun KAL where you can knit any of her sock patterns and enter them for the chance to win prizes. She also releases a Mystery Sock pattern which is due out on the 1st July.

Last year she released the Pavillion Socks as the mystery pattern which was inspired by Brighton where Unwind Brighton was been held. I will be definitely joining in with this year's MKAL and can't wait to see what design she comes up with this year.

The next pair of socks on my needles are a bit of an experiment, I'm not a big fan of highly variegated yarn as you never know how they will knit up. I love the look of it in the skein but I don't like pooling and you never know how they will pool until you start knitting with it.

The gorgeous variegated yarn in the above photo is by Batat Hand Dyed Yarns in Hullabaloo and was part of the December's The Golden Skein, Power of Three Club.

The colours are so pretty and I wanted to use it for socks but didn't want to risk the pooling. I saw a pattern by Wendy D Johnson in her Toe-Up Socks for Everybody called Fair Isle Socks. It's a faux Fair Isle pattern using a variegated and solid yarn, the variegated yarn she uses for this pattern only has a couple of colours so looks more like the traditional Fair Isle.

I knew using this highly variegated yarn wouldn't give me the same look but I knew it would break up the colours using the cream.

I really like how it's turning out, it reminds me of confetti. The Fair Isle pattern is charted and as you can see I'm knitting my usual cuff down socks and not toe-up as the pattern is written. All I do when I'm knitting a toe-up pattern is turn the chart upside down and work it from the top to bottom rather the other way round.

I've also started and finished my Stripes Alive socks which I don't think I've even mentioned before. This is a great pattern for self striping yarn rather than just knitting a plain Vanilla sock. I used Sirdar Heart and Soul and for the heel I used some My First Regia, just so I didn't break the stripe pattern up. I love how they turned out and will definitely use this pattern again.

I just wanted to mention some new yarn that I've purchased from a brand new British online shop called BritYarn. Isla seeks out the Best of British yarn from a few select indie dyers and puts all of its origins from where the yarn came from to where it was dyed. I think this is such a great philosophy and I purchased these gorgeous gradient mini skeins by The Knitting Goddess which was spun in West Yorkshire and dyed in Harrogate. Also the service was second to none, I ordered my yarn on the afternoon the store opened and I received it the following day!!!!! It was beautifully wrapped with a matching stitch marker which I thought was such a personal touch. Thank you so much Isla, I can't wait to get something on my needles using this lovely yarn.

Lastly, I just wanted to show you what I'm reading at the moment, it's Inferno by Dan Brown another fast paced thriller with the great Robert Langdon. I've also started another new project which I will talk about in another post as I will be casting another one on straight away once this is finished.

I'm linking to Nicole's KCCO and Ginny's Yarn Along, have a great week and thank you for stopping by

xxxxDebxxxx

Giant Granny Square Summer Blanket.....

Hello my friends, I'm so sorry it's been so long again but I think while I'm working so many hours, I'll have to pop in when I can.

I have a few projects to share with you including a new crochet project, I was tidying up my craft room and going through my yarn collection where I found lots of cotton in an array of colours.

I wanted it to become a crochet blanket and thought about doing lots of little square or hexagons then I decided to just to do a large granny square as I wanted it to be a quick project without all the seaming. This will become my summer blanket for Caiden when we go to the park or picnic, it won't hurt if it gets grubby or thrown about, I can just throw it in the washing machine.

My travel/inbetween knitting are the Socks on a Plane by Laura Linneman, these are going slowly as I'm only picking them up occasionally when I'm not knitting on my larger projects.

I picked up this sock yarn, Heart and Sole by Sirdar, from a little yarn shop near my daughter's house, an inexpensive sock yarn which I think will be a hardwearing yarn like Regia. I'm hoping to finish the socks on my needles so I can cast on a new pair using one of these yarns. I was looking for some patterns especially for self- striping yarn and found some great patterns which I'll go through on another post.

I've been furiously knitting on two test knits, the top one is the Pebble Beach by Helen Stewart, Helen is updating her very popular design to include an extra two sizes. Those who have already bought the pattern will get an automatic update in the next few days.

The other test knit I'm working on is a new shawl pattern by Melody Hoffman, another beautiful pattern which is been released very soon. Both are blocking as we speak so my next post I'll tell you more about them.

Spring has sprung, here in the UK and last Sunday we took Caiden for a little walk around Bantock Park, one of my favorite walks, locally. Here's some photos of our Sunday morning walk.

This little man is growing up so quickly........

Apart from working and knitting, I'm totally engrossed in a book called Sleep Tight by Rachel Abbott, it's a real page turner. I had to set an alarm on my break so I wasn't late back!!!!!!!

I'm linking this post to Nicole's KCCO and Ginny's Yarn Along.

Thank you for stopping by and I'll try not to leave it as long next time :-)

xxxxDebxxxx