Third Year of Projects Week 13

Wow, look at this, a post on Sunday for once!

I think the main thing this week is that the Speleology socks have been finished!

I'm actually not too sure about them. It's nothing to do with the pattern, they fit really well, the best of any cabled socks I have made, as the leg has more stitches than the foot, which is perfect for fitting around the calf and ankle. However, I was using the pattern to learn to cable without a cable needle, which means that the tension isn't great throughout the entire sock, and is really bad at the start of the first sock. Also, I had real problems with the yarn twisting, partly I think because I bought it in a destash and it came in a ball rather that a hank or centre pull skein. It meant I had to stop every couple of rows to let it untwist, and I think it has contributed to my funny tension.

I also spent today making two preemie hats as a quick and easy project, because I'm not feeling too well. I love the fluffy pink yarn in the second one, I think baby hats are the perfect use for novelty yarn, as it's really soft. These used up every scrap of all three yarns, which is perfect!

Third Year of Projects Week 12

This week has been all about working on Speleology. There isn't much to say about it that hasn't already been said really!

I've done pretty well so far, but I did have 7 hours of train knitting to work on it, because I went to visit my best friend this weekend, and the already long train journey was delayed by an hour. At least it was sunny on the station, but my pattern nearly blew away!

It was a really good weekend. I'm thinking of moving up to her city next year, so we went to look at the hospital and to every yarn shop in the city (6 I think). I didn't buy anything, but not due to lack of things to buy.

Yes, we were being stupid, but she loved Cthulhu. He is now on her bookshelf with Sidney the Dugong in a top hat and Arnold the owl cushion (she gets all the stupid things that I make...). There were some nice pictures but apparently the only one I have is us messing around with duckface.

Paid Pattern: Drip Drip Drop Socks

Drip Drip Drop Socks 

These socks were designed to mimic droplets of falling water, and are knitted with an unusual stitch pattern that leads to a block of stitches that are twice as high, wide and thick as the ordinary stitches, and so form a circular droplet shape. The pattern itself is a simple toe up sock with a short row heel, and uses only a combination of modified knit and purl stitches. Please make sure to read the special instructions carefully before starting, as they explain the stitches used in the pattern. 

This pattern is very stretchy, so although three sizes are given, depending on the desired ease, you can choose to go down a size for close fitting socks, or up a size for soft loose socks. The number of stitches around the foot are less than normal in this pattern due to the double wrapped stitches being twice as wide as normal stitches. 

The patten is written for 5 DPNs but can be easily adapted to magic loop or 2 circulars. The stitch pattern is given as both written instructions and charted. 

If there are any problems or queries about the pattern, please do not hesitate to contact me 

Sizes:  
Small = 15 - 20cm (6 - 7.5 in) foot circumference,  
Medium = 20 - 25cm (7.5 - 9.5 in) foot circumference,  
Large = 25 - 30cm (9.5 – 11.5 in) foot circumference 

Suggested yarn: I Knit or Dye Horses. 

Yarn details: 4ply/sock weight, 100g skein. 

Gauge: 17.5 st x 24 rows in 2 inches in stockinette stitch. The gauge across the stitch pattern is variable. 

Needles: 2.5mm (US 1.5) or size required to get gauge. 

Items made from this pattern can be sold, but please credit me with the design. 

Cost: £2.50 

These can be purchased on Ravelry here or alternatively click the button below to check out with paypal

Third Year of Projects Week 11

Well, this is a bit late this week! In my defence, I had an eleven hour trauma on call shift on Sunday, then did ten hours on Monday, so on Tuesday, all I wanted to do was sleep.

The most exciting thing that I have done knitting wise is release the pattern for my Drip Drip Drop Socks.

I am really proud of these socks. They were knitted as part of my year of projects, but I couldn't share pictures as I submitted them to a magazine. Although the magazine didn't want them, I decided to self publish on Ravelry, and they're my first pay pattern. I had to figure out the stitch pattern from scratch, to get them to look the way that I imagined them in my head, and they came out perfectly. Plus the pattern is really stretchy, so they fit perfectly, and the yarn is really soft and comfy.

I've also been knitting preemie items again.

Finally my Speleology socks are progressing slowly, the heel is turned and I'm about half way down the foot. I'm trying to press on with them, but I have to say, my attention is wandering. I'm not great at sticking to cabled socks, and I was hoping that cabling without a cable needle would make it easier. I do like them though, so I will persevere and get them done!

No pictures, but I've also finished washing my Shetland fleece, and have ended up with just over 600g of fleece to card and spin. Hopefully enough to make a jumper, if I can keep my spinning consistent.

Third Year of Projects Week 10

Wow, double figures already, not bad!

It's been a really busy week again, which has meant that not much knitting has been done. I didn't do much at all at the start of the week, but this weekend I've been working on my latest pair of socks, in between cleaning the entire house. It's amazing how much more relaxed I feel now that it's all clean and tidy!

The pattern is Speleology from Knitcircus, an e-magazine which I won in a giveaway last year. I'm using Woolhunter Working Sock, in the colourway Ice Maiden and I'm loving the way that the two colours spiral round the sock. I am a bit concerned, because the pattern said to use 2mm needles, and I decided to knit size small with 2.5mm. This meant casting on 66 stitches, which is perfect for me, but I didn't realise that the stitch count increased after the ribbing up to 72. I'm hoping they won't be too big, but if they are, I'm sure I can find a home for them with my best friend! I'm using this pattern to learn to cable without a cable needle, so the cables aren't always perfectly neat, but my gauge is improving as I go, and hopefully they'll all even out in blocking.

Since I finished cleaning up, I also started to work with my fleece. I've split it into 10 bags by area of sheep and coarseness, and I'm starting to wash it. I can only do this because Connor is away visiting his parents, as sheep fleece is really bad for his asthma. Each bag weighs between 65 and 100g, so hopefully it is well separated and I won't need to do much moving around of fibre before carding.

In case you're wondering, Connor is feeling much better, though he still has some memory loss, and has tests later this week to figure out what the cause was, fingers crossed it all goes ok!

I've been on call for trauma this week, so I've seen lots of fractures and complex injuries. I seem to have done a lot of holding of limbs, though I was complimented on my stitching in theatre on Thursday! I think it's all the fibre crafts I do, it's very good for hand eye coordination and detail work.

Third Year of Projects Week 9

So this is a late update due to a very busy weekend (but more on that later).

I have finished spinning my Juno Angora/Tussah, and it is beautiful. It's really soft and silky, as I was saying before, and I only lost 3g due to the felting in the end, which I don't think is bad. I'm also pretty proud of how well I judged the singles, the mini skein was Andean plied to use up the rest, and it's only 2g, and only used 8 yards of singles, so they were pretty close in length.

This pictures gives you a better idea of the colours, though my camera hates blue-greens. It reminds me of the sea, it's got that sort of colour spectrum.

I've also made a little project, my first ever crochet project. Meet Cthulhu, a present for my best friend

In future, please remind me that a small and complicated toy with lots of little parts is not a good first crochet project! There are a fair few mistakes, but I don't think you can really see them. I had most problems with the wings, as they came out completely different, and I ended up making two right wings so that they would match.

Also, since it's the first of the month, a hexipuff update! I have 47 puffs now, and I'm making about 12 a month, which isn't bad.

So onto the reason this post is late. I spent the weekend in London! Since I was at King's Cross on September 1st, there was somewhere I had to visit:

The queue for official pictures was over an hour long, so I didn't bother to wait, but that is Platform 9 3/4.

We got a great deal on the hotel, which is very posh! This is the grand staircase, and the entire place is decorated like this. It was a weekend of exhibitions, comedy shows, boat trips and a bit of shopping. I went to Loop Knitting in Islington, and decided to give in to the pull of the Wollmeise. I've heard so much about it that I had to try it!

This picture shows the colours better. It's Poison Nr.5, and I didn't realise that it is a 150g skein, so I should get 2 pairs of socks from it!

And then when I got home, there was drama, as Connor managed to hit himself on the head (we're not sure how), and has some memory loss. So I spent all of Sunday night in A&E, but he was discharged late on Monday with outpatient follow up, so hopefully there won't be any lasting problems. It was a bit scary for a while though...