Distractions

I can confirm that the unconfirmed reports are now confirmed - H has found something that distracts me from knitting of an evening - he bought me the Lego Indiana Jones game for our Wii.

Now those in the know realise that I am not a computer gamey type of person; I sit and knit and tease the boys and they play Grand Theft Auto or Grand Tourismo or something else involving smashed up cars. I had a brief dalliance with Mario Kart but Indy seems to have hit the right note (I know this because I've already done the first six levels and H only gave it to me a week ago - he pre-ordered it as a surprise so I had it the day of the release). I'm claiming the moral high ground of course by saying that it appeals to my logic as a puzzle but it's really less highbrow and more like the squirrel working out how to get to the bird feeder. Whatever it is I love the tricks and H has given me the strategy guide as a present for the weekend - it's the thin end of a slippery slope!

There may be another factor of course - these last two weeks I have been stealthily knitting up H's birthday socks (they look great but you don't get to see them for another week). I've knit on the train, at Tuesday knit night and finished them off this evening as H has gone to a hockey festival for tomorrow. As he knows that (a) I knit socks on the train and (b) I finished the first sock almost a week ago he will not be convinced that my entire week's progress is 13 rounds of ribbing - even if it is 72 sts! If I'm playing on the Wii he won't see the knitting and the surprise will be safe. Actually, he's unlikely to be surprised that it's socks but I do have more than one skein in the stash with his name on it so it's a surprise as to which one he gets!

So, some knitting .... but not by me -


this is my tiny wee sock in the latest round of the tiny wee sock- the theme was summer so this is beautiful dark shady trees under a hot blue sky - can you smell the pine resin yet? It came all the way from Long Beach California from Becka - I love it and it's going to look great on the Christmas tree!

The photo actually has a very summer theme going on - H's hockey team decided that their team shirts this year would be straight up Hawaiian shirts (which in case you were wondering are decidedly out of fashion this year). Having scoured Brum for this one (which I found in BHS) - I thought it could at the very least double up as a background for...

Well you know what this is - another BSJ for a baby due in the middle of June - as far as I know he is still unborn so I've got a little time to finish - and a great knitting adventure to knit it on.

Tomorrow (by which I of course mean today) is World Wide Knit in Public Day so I'm going to London on a knitting treasure hunt - watch out for breaking news and far too many pictures later on but for now I've leave you with the scent of an English Country Garden:

Finished Socks, Potential Socks, Wee Socks and a Sock in progress

Three guesses what this post is about!

The time of year has arrived when birthday season creeps upon me again and I suddenly realise that it is May (not March although my subconscious really isn't convinced) and we need presents for our nearest and dearest.

Mum's Quarterpint Cardigan has a sleeve sewn in and I'm made some more amendments on the neckband (with steeks) to improve the fit. I'm sure there is a way to do what I've done with knitting but it didn't look the way I wanted it to so we're going with the pretty version. I know I'm keeping that one under wraps for the moment but I will show in due course - possibly even a modelled photo if the recipient agrees/ I catch her when she isn't looking. The name has nothing to do with booze I promise - you just need to know the traditional english name for a quarterpint and all will make sense; Mum used to have a boat called Quarterpint for the same reason.

So... the socks - A's birthday is on Saturday which I realised last Thursday. Much high speed knitting ensued, mostly on trains as I dashed up and down the country at the end of last week.
These:

Were finished at the pub by the river last night over a cool drink at the end of a very hot day (29 degrees according to my resident weather-watcher). [NB toe clearly added intentionally for scale!!]

I'm also pretty sure I knit part of these socks while I was asleep on the train home - I remember getting to round 58 and I remember knitting with my eyes closed, propping one eyelid up only enough to find the beginning of the row, and then I woke up 30 minutes later and there were 61 rounds on the sock. Either someone else on the train was very bored and yarn deprived or I am at last getting some way to my goal of knitting entire garments in my sleep!

The yarn is Scholler & Stahl imaginatively christenend "Mit Bambou" - and even I know what that means. Bamboo yarn is usually silkier than wool yarn but I have to say this felt a little rougher than usual. I'd thought I needed to have these socks done for H to take to A this afternoon but we're seeing him on the day itself so I'm going to pop them in a little bath of Eucalan to soften up the yarn a bit.

My tiny wee sock:

Arrived on Tuesday - it is from Frieda also known as She Knits All Day which is what I'd do if anyone would let me and it's perfect Spring Flowers colours.

Also in the postbox on Tuesday was a shiny silver parcel with this:

The third installment of the Socktopus Sock Club - I don't know whether you can see the picture of the pattern - it's entrellac which I've never tried before and this seems like the perfect introduction.

And finally - last but by no means least because it's a 72st sock:

The current sock-in-progress. This one's for my BIL's birthday - the same day as my Mum and the same BIL for whom I knit the DNA cable scarf and then when he saw H's socks said: "I don't have any fluffy socks". We aim to please.

For the record, H's reply to the above comment: "well C (his wife) isn't looking after you properly then. My wife makes me socks" - clearly the way to this man's heart is through his toes :)

Lankylocks and the Three Socks

Once upon a time, not very long long ago, there was a knitter named Lankylocks who lived in a little village in a not very mysterious or magical land. One day she was pottering around her house and she saw her conservatory. She pushed open the door, climbed over the boxes of recycling and as she did so she thought to herself, I wonder what knitwear is in here (for let us remember gentle reader, this was the house of a knitter and yarn is never more than a few feet away).

The door into the garden was open and Lankylocks started to realise that her feet were bare:

And as the cool breeze blew in across the tulips she started to look for socks.

The first sock she found:

Was too small, far too small, so she sent it on its way to Indiana

The second sock she found:

Was too big, AND unfinished (although in the interests of full and frank disclosure in fairy tales it should be acknowledged that this sock has now been finished. It still awaits its mate) and she realised it was really for a friend with a birthday next Saturday.

But the third socks she found:

Were just right. Perfect in fact.

And Lankylocks had warm feet happily ever after (until she got too hot and took them off again).
My latest perfect socks are my interpretation of the Ocean Toes socks in Cat Bordhi's book, New Pathways for Socks Knitters. The original pattern is written for DK weight yarn but this 4ply Arucania Ranco was just calling to be knit into these socks. My amendments are as follows:

• the pattern is written for 4 repeats in a round on the cuff - I cast on for 5 repeats and maintained that down the cuff, using the repeat as written. Basically instead of having a square with a back, front and two sides, I had a pentagon with the point of the pentagon at the centre back.

• when you get to the increases for the heel expansion start to increase in all 5 garter stitch sections as written. Then when you get to the slip stitch section, instead of having a slip stitch panel at the centre back of the heel, I had two slip stitch panels and 3 in pattern so that the heel looks like this:
  
  

• I then turned the heel across those stitches and knit back and forth until half of the side panels had been included. I then knit short rows to bring in the rest of the side panels without loosing any more stitches. It looked a bit like this:
  
  
• because I have long feet I then knit another few rounds before I started the last two charts and I started a symmetrical toe at round 22 of chart 5.

These socks have a lovely fit and they suit the name - here is the ocean lapping at the toe!

And finally for today, Jamie the Knitting Bandit asked the definition of grotty - it generally means dirty or grubby but a grotty day is one where you just feel like you spent the day banging your head into a brick wall. I asked H how to describe it and he said it was any day that wasn't Saturday or Sunday!

A tiny wee surprise!

Yesterday's post heralded an envelope of sufficient importance that my lovely husband called me at work:

"There's an envelope here. It's from America. I think it's what you've been waiting for."

It took great fortitude and all the character built by D of E and all those other things you do as a teenager that people in warm dry houses describe as character building to stay at work for the remaining 6 hours and not rush home immediately (or suggest H get on a train with the parcel and meet me for lunch).

When I did make it home just look:

My tiny wee sock from Marisol who blogs under the wonderful name of Purls just wanna have fun. And with the tiny wee sock as you can see she sent me a tiny wee sock blocker key chain and


all of this - a lovely card, the tiny wee sock pattern, her blog card and CHOCOLATE!!! As Marisol is several thousand miles and an ocean away I have to send my thank you hug virtually but in all seriousness THANK YOU - I had a grotty day yesterday to finish off a stressful week and that was a wonderful surprise to come home to - above and beyond the swap requirements and I am very grateful.

The yarn is Wolmeisse which I've never encountered before but I think I might just be on the start of the slippery slope. The colour is chilli red which I love and the chocolate is red fire. To continue the red theme, I brought the sock to meet a little red in my garden!

It's been really great getting to know two new bloggers in this swap, Marisol and Amber so go and say hello to them!

Tiny wee things

Hurrah! Amber has got her tiny wee sock so I can now reveal it without fear of spoiling the surprise:


As an exercise in sheer frivolity I highly recommend making tiny wee socks. I mean look at it, it's tiny! and wee! and a sock! I know Amber has a mini sock blocker key chain so I hope it fits - I've never seen one in real life so I've no idea what size they are.

I can however tell you that the cuff fits a small zebra perfectly although he asked for a shorter foot "for next time". I feel I may need to teach A to knit so that he can keep his zebra in socks.

The other wee thing is our snowman


Diminishing every day but still just about there. You can also see what happens when you cut the grass the day before it snows!

No longer a secret

Many many moons ago the ingenious and terribly talented Anna wrote a sock book and took on a number of test knitters to make up the socks to be photographed. Bravely, your humble scribe was included in that number.

Anyone who has been hanging out here for a while will remember the secret knitting of Spring 2007 and now it's not a secret any more because Fab Feet and Cosy Toes has been published!!!!!


I know I'm terribly biased but I think it's a great book and there are a number of patterns that I want to try (particularly the intarsia pigs that go across both feet and the ladybird bootees that would be perfect for the impending baby boom amonst our family and friends [Note to Mum - NOT me, stop hyperventiating]) aside from the ones I knit myself. It's also got a great guide to designing your own patterns and very clear instructions for how to do Kitchener which it renown for being the bane of a sock knitter's existence.


So anyway - would you like to see the ones I knit?



Cosy brown thigh highs (those of you who know my height will be relived to know that I was knitting to the pattern size rather than my leg length so the model wasn't pulling them up to her chin!)

Pretty blue lace

Tulips for the spring

and finally my favourites:



Penguins!!! They even have a little sticky out tail as well as the little flippers and beak.

The other known unknown is S's beautiful baby girl who came to meet us last night - she is a really cutey and still very teeny-tiny and asleep the whole time! We also got a chance to give S our group present - a mini Lizard Ridge blanket which I think fulfills the crucial criteria of being not baby pink! Mandy took a lovely picture so please go and look at it here.


In terms of the Rumsfeldian unknown unknowns - I'm still working on the Quarterpint Cardigan and it's still a secret. The other secret is a tiny wee sock which is winging it's way to Amber in the tiny week sock swap and that's a secret until she gets it!!

10 things for Saturday

1. The right team won.

2. If a tree falls down across your friend's driveway the thump will cause a mini power skip.

3. You will not realise this until 40 mins afterwards when friend's brother comes to a screeching halt turning into the drive.

4. It is Murphy's law that if a tree falls down that is of sufficient size to justify you being trapped and thus avoiding work on Monday, that driveway will have two exits and your friend will have a chainsaw.

5. Lizard Ridge squares are addictive. To tell the truth this fact was already widely known. I've knitted five squares in quick succession and cast on another square with the leftovers on Thursday. This is what it looked like this morning:

I finished it watching the race and cast on for another with more leftovers straight away.

6. I knit faster when watching important races. I know that rationally this will not help the boat move any faster but the right team did just fine because of or regardless of this.

7. The Sunset Socks are not fast knitting. I cast on on Tuesday morning. This is how it looked this morning and I've turned the heel this evening.

8. They are totally worth it (and a lot faster now that I have turned the heel).

9. Tiny Wee Sock knitting is great fun and very cute.

10. Sticky Toffee Pudding is hereby classified as one of the major food groups.

It's been a good day.

Glad Tidings!

Today is my MIL's birthday and therefore the day of delivery of the Raspberry Monkeys socks. She has just phoned to say that she loved them and that they have been much admired - I am so relieved and pleased because as she is an occasional knitter I know that she will take care of them.

H told her he was glad she liked them because he had spent a lot of time knitting them. Whilst he did do the odd stitch I think this is utilising the marital get-out clause under which two-become-one rule I fitted our downstairs bathroom and regularly mow the lawn and he sews all the buttons back on his shirts, re-hems his trousers and regularly goes shopping for groceries!

It seems only appropriate that on one Mummy's birthday I'm knitting for the next one! Mum chose the yarn for her Christmas present and I'm designing and knitting the finished article. It might mean that the blog goes picture free for a while because I want it to be a surprise. It's orange - imagine me doing lots of orange knitting!

If you're interested in whimsy then how about the Wee Tiny Sock Swap - signups close today so hurry if you're interested.