KnittingNatty

Holiday retreat - a snapshot (or two)

We're back from our family holiday, which was really well appreciated by everyone and lets just say a little overdue for some of us.  We went to the usual place in the bush which is secluded, no phone, no tv, no radio, no mobile reception, no internets; just perfect! We cooked porridge for breakfast, warming soups for lunch and good hearty food for dinner each night, accompanied by a little red wine, to ward off the cold, of course ;) We did some bushwalking, snoozing, played board games, that kind of thing.

It was not exactly freezing, but at least we all got to wear our winter woolies!
 I took knitting, and lots of it. Of course, I took more than I could possibly knit and still be responsible for the supervision of small children, and some of my estimates of what was possible were  based on sitting up late into the night just to get extra knitting done, but this did not eventuate, as catching up on sleep proved to be more important on the day.  And not just for me, it seems.

I got to read my new book, Buddism for Mothers (recommended reading), using the bookseat. This next picture is pretty typical of what the first 2 or so days looked like:







And, what about the knitting, you say? Well, I got roped into making some socks for the kids. I always tell myself that "socks don't take much time". Note to self - socks do so take time! Last week, DS Ian was allowed to wear "odd or unusual socks" to school, and well that brought out the first request. Except to make an odd pair, requires the eventual knitting of 2 whole pairs. And what is good for one child is also good for his or her sibling. They chose the colours themselves. Sigh.

The Fo' s for the family knitting retreat are:

• Noro st st socks

 
These socks are purposely non matching, and the wool was a lovely and unexpected present from Donna. I cut out the yellow colour on the first sock and put in an afterthought heel. By using an afterthought heel, and by leaving the yellow in, the socks (would have) had a reasonable chance of matching. These socks are cast on over 60 stitches and the foot is not overly long.

The yarn does catch on itself, which can lead to lots of unnecessary tangling. I countered this by not pulling very much out of the skein at one time (makes sense, right?), and by pulling on any tangles from the skein end of the yarn. This helped a lot. I have a reasonable amount of yarn left.

• TOFUtsies socks

These are the socks for Ian's odd sock day at school. They have been on a few bushwalking adventures, and somehow missed the washing machine this morning, and are presented for your viewing pleasure in all their red mud glory.

These socks are cast on over 50 sts.






 

• Caitlyns purple socks

These are the "what about me?" sibling socks. Purple Opal sock wool from stash. Cast on over 50 stitches as well. Call it insurance for next year's odd sock day. (Can I just whine for a moment? My socks are only cast on over 60 stitches! Whinge over!)

• Caitlyns yellow socks

Same as for the purple sock, above. Except mercifully without partner for the moment. I could take no more of the stocking stitch fest that was our family knitting retreat. I am so over  stocking stitch!

• Noro coffee pot cozy

This is a bit of a cheat - all the knitting, and felting has been done for some time, it just needed some sewing up.The yarn is the left over Silk Garden from my Clapotis. I added blanket stitch in Dream no Colour Smooshy "Strange Harvest". I cut the size piece I needed without fear or favour - the pot has no real need of further insulation, having a double wall already. But this coffee pot is something I use absolutely everyday (yes, it comes on holidays with us), and I liked the idea, having been inspired by 2007's tea cozy swap (but being too busy to play at that time).




I am still on holidays today and tomorrow, and looking forward to some more knitting time. Yay for holidays!

Oh, one last thing - family portrait time!

Quickie

Noro sock:

Monkey sock (best colour representation):

Monkey back side - pretty pretty stocking stitch!

And introducing - baby monkey!

I'm lovin' the monkey!

As addictive as they all say

Monkeys:
Lornas Laces Desert Flower (from stash - thankfully)

Different dyelots, so I am spiralling and still getting stripes, grumble grumble ...

Red, red they call me red

That is, of course a quote from Dr Suess' classic Hop on Pop

The title of today's post has nothing, of course, to do with the bottle of good Australian red wine in the background...

My mata hari socks are, at long last, finished. I spiralled the eyelets in opposing directions. The eyelet pattern is done over 10 stitches, with three row of st st in between eyelet rows.

The yarn is "Bruised Bloodwood" bought from Yarncakes, aka Donni, who dreams of snow covered mountains. There is heaps left over from the skein to make a matching pair for DD Caitlyn...

I have cheated however, as these socks have not yet been blocked. That task is for tomorrow, but in the meantime you can see how the eyelets spiral around.

I have been putting ball winder, birthday yarn and swift to good use:

Tommorow, another WIP (Can you bear the excitement?)

One day, 2 FOs

Thank you all for your well wishes on our wedding anniversary!
We had a lovely dinner out at this lovely restaurant, and I spent all day knitting, watching cricket and then the tennis final last night.

Hence the two finished objects!
First, Tony's socks. Made with Trekking col 62.

And, Ariann, blocking outside in the morning sunshine

Unfortunately, it is a little small for me, so if blocking does not cure it, I must frog the body and reknit in a larger size. Such is the risk of a garment all knit as one piece.  A word of warning if you are contemplating this pattern: if you want the buttons to do up loosely (as shown on the model), then choose a larger size than you would normally do - this pattern does not have much ease.

Also, the pattern is written in a very sparse style if that is your thing. It is not mine.

Undisclosed sock knitting

Where does the time go?

These socks kinda followed me home from the lunch shift, and I've kinda been working on them whilst watching Harry Potter movies. Yes, again. I'm a bit obsessed at the moment with ol' Harry.

The striping on these socks is quite subtle, and it takes a lighter background to bring it out.

When I finish these socks, I will post the total of yarn used to my "Knit down your stash" January challenge.

I have more to tell, I just need some more time to frame the telling. Goodness me but work interferes with  knitting and  blogging time!!!!

Another ball of yarn and I think Ariann will be all done too! oh, I loves me an FO! (Provided I dont stuff it up!

Jaywalkers - the FO post

I finally finished the lone heel of the remaining Jaywalker and grafted it before 2007 had a chance to also go by leaving this project undone for another year.

I am not at all happy with the fit of these socks, and should have made the smaller size, but never mind - I love the colours and their *look*. Some would say that these socks are hard to miss, and I may have difficulty finding a pair of shoes that these socks could go comfortably with; however; to my mind, these socks do not need shoes or anything else as a raison d'etre, and may yet light my way to the kitchen or bathroom on a cold winter's night ...

All Ariann, all the time

A belated Happy New Year to all!

The second of the Ariann sleeves continue apace:

I have been toiling away at my Ariann sock. I got carried away with the idea of the increases up the back of the calf, and then wanted to try it on, only to discover that it was too narrow without a heel to get it over the widest part of my foot. Then, an idea struck me: what if I was to put in a turkish afterthought heel, but with a decorative eyelet up the side of the decreasing seam? My first attempt at this heel failed, as it looked far to bulky and not at all the elegant construction that I had envisaged. I'll frog the heel tonight and try another idea.

(Can you make the little eyelets out?)

But, the temporary heel did allow me to try the sock on, and I can tell you that the pattern looks lovely stretched out over the foot. The chevrons provide a lot of "give" where necessary, not a bad thing.



I will put the new heel in first so that I can see how the increases are working out at the back of the sock. I have some design ideas to incorporate into the stitch pattern, so that it essentially becomes a modified chevron. Intrigued? Me too! Ihave this idea in my head how it is going to look, so for the moment, we'll all have to wait and see!

I'm sorry to say that I find myself back at work this week, so knitting progress will be slow for a while now. I have blog posts planned across the weekend, all the same!

Happy weekend to all!

H is for Christmas

H is for my hammock stand, a present from Santa just for me!

H is for my Harry Potter DVD box set Years 1 - 4 and Year 5, received from the Hubster!
This is what I have knitted so far whilst watching it!

Those would be one and a bit Ariann sleeves - Finally! I had already knit both sleeves previously, but made them too narrow and had to be frogged and re-knitted. In a huff, I decided that the project needed a long time out before getting back on track. I am happy with my progress so far, and am now wondering why I procrastinated until mid Summer to get going on this. I feel that once the sleeves are knitted, then the yoke should follow fast, and with no seaming and little finishing (the buttons have been patiently waiting this many a month of 2007), this will be hopefully an FO before too long!

Also, my Ariann sock, on the foot:

and a view of the back, below. As you can see,  I am just past the heel, so it is time to pick up the patterning all the way around the sock, and not just on the top, and proceed up up and away! I am toying with the idea of adding some increases to make the sock longer than normal, so enamoured am I with the colour changes as they progress. Already, I am imagining a picot edge, hemmed. Dare I dream of a sock to go up to under the knee?

As I have already lost the ball band, I'd better record for the sake of posterity that it is trekking xxl colour 110.

It is approaching mid-Summer very quickly here, and here is the latest produce from our garden: a  pumpkin and a ripened pineapple! (The Hubster is so proud!)

The pineapple was chopped up and consumed as part of a ham and pineapple pizza, and the pumpkin (one of many we have eaten so far this year) is very delicious baked. However, the vine does cause havoc with a lawn, (and may yet take over the world).

Oh, the joys of 10 days holidays, with little to do but attend house husband of (h)offspring and get my teeth really into some knitting!
   

Mata Hari socks

Here are the socks I  have been working on "in between times".

I am well into the pattern on the second sock. Although you may not be able to tell, the spiral in turning the other way on the second sock:

The colour is more true on the following pictures - so hard to photograph!

But I have not been exactly sock faithful. These just happened to slip onto my needles last night:

These are my first toe up socks, and I am using the stitch pattern from Ariann - I have had the cast on bookmarked for ages!