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

What's On My Needles......Pavilion Socks Spoiler Alert

Hello my friends, I'll jump straight in and show you what's on my needles, this week. I'll start with a new project, a very cute teddy bear called Mr Bakery Bear which was released last week, the pattern is by Kay Jones who also designed Mrs Bakery Bear. As soon as Jodie saw this sweet bear, she asked if I'd knit him for the 'little man' and of course I had to oblige. I ordered some Cascade 220 in Sand and so far I've knit the head and ears, I'll share more with you next week.

Kay has been a Ravelry friend for a while now and has recently began a knitting podcast with her husband, Dan. It's called The Bakery Bears and I urge you take to a look, they are such an amiable couple and have so much fun, I laugh out loud through each episode. It's not just about the knitting, each week they take you to a new location in the North of England and walk you around places of interest. On this week's episode I was surprised to hear my name mentioned, I was really touched as she said such nice things about me and my little blog. Thank you so much, Kay.

I've finished knitting Baby's First Cable Cardigan and have just got to finish seaming, sewing in the ends and adding some buttons. I think this is the cutest baby cardigan I've knit, I love it and can't wait to see the 'little man' wearing it. It's from the book Lullaby Knits, I highly recommend this book, it's full of beautiful patterns but not your traditional baby knits.

Clue Three has been released of the Pavilion socks, a mystery knit by Rachel Coopey, I'm on the foot of the second sock. It's been a nice change to do some cable socks, these socks were designed as part of Unwind Brighton, you can see that this design was inspired by Brighton Pavilion.

Last but not least, I've made some progress on the Twinkle Twinkle blanket, this is baby's 'best' blanket. I'm knitting it in Rooster Almerino DK, a luxury mix of merino and alpaca, as you can imagine the blanket is very soft. The pattern is by one of my favourite designers, Helen Stewart, it's a square blanket, constructed of four triangles, knit it in the round. The pattern is very easy to remember and after a few rounds, I didn't need to look at the pattern again.

Now to what I'm reading this week, I'm three quarters of the way through Paris by Edward Rutherford and still very much enjoying it. I'm also flicking through this book on my Kindle, A Paris Journal by Nichole Robertson. It is beautifully written, journal style about a day in Paris and the photos are stunning, I'm dreaming of going back to Paris one day but until then this will satisfy my needs.

I'm linking to Ginny's Yarn Along, What's on my Needles Wednesday and WIP Wednesday

Thanks for stopping by, enjoy the rest of your week.

Happy Crafting

xxxxDebxxxx

Yarn Along......Unwind KAL's.

How is everyone today? Well I'm definitely going to Unwind, the hotel and tickets are all booked, we decided to go for a long weekend. I haven't been to Brighton since my girls were very young and I'm looking forward to exploring Brighton as well as spending the Saturday at a yarn and fibre festival. I did ask my husband if he wanted a ticket, to look around with me but declined which is probably a good thing as he won't know how much I've spent!!!!!

Over on Ravelry, there are a few different Unwind KAL's going on at the moment on the Unwind group, I decided to take part in two of them. The first is the Pavlion Mystery Sock KAL by Rachel Coopey, I finished Clue 1 just in time to start Clue 2, which was released on Sunday.

I'm not going to show the full sock as I don't want to spoil it for anyone who's knitting them and hasn't finished the leg, all I will say is the pattern is gorgeous, with lots of cables, think of Brighton Pavilion, the clue is in the name! I've finished Clue 2 on the first sock, which takes you to turning the heel and I hope to finish the second sock, before Sunday when the last clue is released.

This is my first mystery KAL and wasn't sure whether I would like the not knowing but I've really enjoyed the process, I like keeping to schedules and love that I will get a pair of socks finished in three weeks. I will definitely do another one.

The other KAL I'm taking part in is the On the Pier, a beautiful feminine shawl by Justyna Lorkowska, I chose to do this one as it's a very simple lace shawl and knew it wouldn't take long to finish as the main part was all Garter Stitch and then a simple lace border, perfect for the evening when I'm watching TV.

I'm using yarn from my stash and the main colour is Drops Alpaca in the Light Grey Pearl Mix and the contrast colour is some leftover Juno Alice in the colour Second Site. I've only got a few more rows before I start the lace section.

Jodie came down, this weekend and I asked her to look through some of my knitting books to see which baby patterns she wants me to knit. One of my favourite books is called Lullaby Knits by Vibe Ulrik Sondergaard, it's full of beautiful but more unusual patterns. One of my favourites is the Small Cable Cardigan which buttons down the side and that is one she chose, yay!!!! I wasn't sure whether she would pick it as it's modeled by a baby girl but I think it's quite unisex.

The pattern uses two balls of Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino and again I had some in my stash so I could cast on straight away. It's partly knit in pieces then you knit all the pieces together on long cable needles with a raglan sleeve.

I'm still reading The Perfume Garden and as I get further into the book, I'm enjoying it more and more. The chapters alternate from 1936 set in Spain during the Spanish Civil War to Valencia 2002. The two eras are now coming together and the characters are intertwined, very enjoyable. I did go to the library, yesterday, and picked up this book, Paris by Edmond Rutherford. I love the city of Paris and I'm always drawn to anything Parisian, from the blurb on the back of the book it is an historical novel, I'd be interested in what you thought of it, if you've read it.

I'm taking part in Ginny's Yarn Along and Tami's WIP Wednesday, thanks for stopping by, enjoy the rest of your week and I'll see you on Friday with a finished project.

xxxxDebxxxx

 

Yarn Along.....A Mystery Knit Along with Unwind Brighton and Coop Knits.

 

Hello my friends, I hope you're enjoying your week, so far. I've only been knitting on a couple of things this week, so here's what I've been working on.

This is all I can show you of my first project, it is a Mystery Knit Along run by Coop Knits and Brighton Unwind so I don't want to show any spoiler photos and ruin it for other people who maybe taking part. The pattern is called Pavilion and I'm knitting them at the same time on two sets of DPNs.

This is my first mystery knit along and for those who aren't sure what it is, the designer releases part of the pattern each week, until the pattern is complete so we start knitting along only knowing basic information. The only thing I knew about this pattern was they were cuff down socks by Rachel Coopey with some cable and twisted stitches in the pattern. This MKAL has three clues over three weeks so I'll hopefully have them finished by the end of the third. If you want to join in the fun you can find the two Ravelry groups here and here

I'm so excited, it looks like I could be going to Unwind which is a knitting and fibre festival been held in Brighton. I've never been to a yarn and fibre event before and I was telling my husband about it and he said if I want to go, book some accommodation and we'll make a weekend of it. It's my birthday week so this will be my birthday treat!!!!

There is so much going on, not just in the main part where there are stalls and workshops are but all over Brighton such as knitting in the Pavillion Gardens, to see everything that's happening, look here. There are a few knit alongs over on the Ravelry board going on, with patterns from some of the designers who will be there.

I'm still reading The Perfume Garden which I started last week but I'd thought I'd share this new magazine I bought from Amazon. It's called Bustle and Sew and is full of beautiful sewing projects, very vintage and whimsical. I haven't had a good read of it yet but I'll let you know what I think of it.

I'm taking part in Ginny's Yarn Along and Tami's WIP Wednesday.

The other thing I've been working on is the Gramps Cardigan by Kate Oates, I'm knitting this for my nephew's first birthday which was on Sunday. I haven't finished in time as I had to wait for some DPNs to arrive, last week to start the sleeves. I was quite sure I had some 4.5mm but I couldn't find them so I ordered some new ones.

This has probably been the hardest pattern I've knit, I'm fine with lace, cables and charts but I really struggle with raglan. I attempted one before and ended up frogging it but I have persevered with this and I think I've got it now.

I think I must have been wearing my lucky pants this week as I've won two giveaways!!!! Tin Can Knits were hosting a Big Destash Giveaway and I won two skeins of this gorgeous Show Pony 4ply by Pony Yarns. It is a massive 874yds of yarn plus I won the Made in the UK ebook which I already had but they kindly offered to gift it to one of my Ravelry friends.

I also entered a giveaway on A Playful Day's blog, who has been having lots of giveaways and is continuing too as part of the Unwind event. I won Through the Loops Mystery Shawl Pattern by Kirsten Kapur, another mystery pattern which runs for five weeks. I'm hopefully going to cast this on, once I've finished the Gramps Cardigan.

Thank you for stopping by, have a great week.

xxxxDebxxxx