Last Of The Old, First Of The New

Things have been a little slow in my knitting world of late (it's difficult to find the energy to knit when doing house renovations), but I finally have some finished objects to show.

For my last finished object of 2010, I knitted Mum a pair of socks for Christmas. It is now something of a tradition that I give Mum a pair of hand knitted socks every year for a Christmas gift. Another part of the tradition is, that no matter how much I plan ahead, I always seem to be up late on Christmas eve, doing a mad dash to finish them while watching Carols by Candlelight.

Yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks That Rock Medium Weight - Hollyday
Pattern: Sock Recipe: A Good, Plain Sock by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee
Duration: Started 20th November 2010 - Completed 24th December 2010
Modifications: 56 stitches instead of 64 that the pattern calls for to give a nice snug fit, and a short row wrap & turn heel

For my first finished object of the new year, I have finished another pair of socks to add to my sock drawer, which brings my collection of hand knitted socks up to 13. These are the Loopy Ewe Sock Club installment from September 2010, and despite the fact that brown is not a colour I normally choose to knit with, the skein looked so pretty that I had to cast them on immediately.

Yarn: Madelinetosh tosh sock - Loopy's Favourite Season
Pattern: Berries and Leaves by Ruth Greenwald
Duration: Started 2nd October - Completed 16th January
Modifications: Extra repeat in the legs to add length

Hopefully I should have some more finished objects to show soon. At the moment I'm have two different pairs of socks on the needles (one for the S62011 KAL, and one for Dad), and a shawl for The Knitgirllls swap, so as long as I don't get distracted with casting anything else on, I should be able to finish something. Fingers crossed...

Happy Knitting New Year

Overly ambitious as always, I've completed a list of knitting related goals I want to achieve this year.

* Buy less sock yarn. Yarn purchased through sock clubs doesn't count, and sock yarn purchased for larger projects (i.e. jumpers), or for gifts also does not count. (Let's just ignore the fact, that at last count, I have signed up for at least 4 sock clubs to count, and am signing up for another 2 this weekend).

* Knit 2 jumpers - 1 for Mum as a Mother's Day present, and 1 for me.

* Knit Featherweight cardigan for me

* Knit 12 pairs of socks.

I have signed up for the S62011 group on Ravelry, and have chosen the below selection of yarn, which includes my first ever skein of Wollmeise purchased. Can you believe that I've been stalking Wollmeise for over a year and haven't knit with it once?!?

I'm also going to knit from my personal sock club along side this, as there's several patterns that I've wanted to knit for ages, that I've never gotten around to doing.

In my personal sock club for this year, I've got the following patterns earmarked:
* Hayrick
* Flaming Desire
* Holidazed
* Lenore

I've also got to do some gift sock knitting in there too, with 2-3 pairs for Mum, and 2 pairs for Dad.

This list of goals doesn't even begin to cover all the other things I want to knit this year either. Other assorted items I want to knit this year include the Yarn Harlot's Pretty Thing cowl, a shawl or two, several pairs of fingerless gloves, and somewhere along the line, actually finishing my niece's jumper while she can still fit into it.

I'm overwhelmed just thinking about all the knitting I want to do this year. I think I need to go and have a lie down...

Cause for celebration ..... or not?

I was lucky enough to pick up four Socks That Rock Rare Gems skeins at the start of the year (see here), and they had been languishing in my stash ever since. So in order to celebrate getting a temporary job (hey, when you're unemployed, even a days work is good news), I decided to celebrate by casting on a special pair of socks. The job fizzled out, but the socks turned out much better than I had hoped.

Yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks That Rock Lightweight - Water
Pattern: Hermione's Everyday Socks by Erica Lueder
Duration: Started 28th August 2010 - Completed 1st October 2010

The colourway of this particular Rare Gem didn't initially appeal to me, but I'm really happy with how these turned out. Apart from some pooling on sock number one, the textured pattern really brings out the best of these colours. I'll definitely be using this pattern again for some of my other Socks That Rock skeins.

In other news, I had to redo the Smooshy Winter Gloves I made for my mother. It turns out that Sanguine Gryphon Bugga stretches a lot, and the pair I made for my mother's smallish hands now fit my father's giant sized ones!

Yarn: Sanguine Gryphon Bugga - David Attenborough

Pattern: Fingerless Gloves - One Pattern Three Looks by Clare Vallans

Duration: Started 8th October 2010 - Completed 15th October 2010

Modifications: Cast on 50 stitches instead of the 60 the pattern calls for. This way when they stretch, they'll actually end up being the perfect size.

Other than these, I've actually been working on some of my old WIP's, tyring to finish them so that I can start on Christmas knitting with a clear conscience. (I figure I might as well actually finish my niece's jumper while she can still fit into it.) We'll just ignore the little slip up I might've had with the latest installment of The Loopy Ewe sock club. Brown is not really my colour, but somehow before I knew it, this had happened....

Oops!

Sharing the Sock Love

Now that Autumn is underway, it's time to get cracking on the sock knitting, so that I can have nice toasty feet this winter.

Luckily, I recently finished this pair, right in time for the cold rainy weather of the season.


These are probably the most difficult pair of lace socks that I've knitted so far, but are definitely worth it. This pattern definitely required a lot of concentration, and the heel, whereas it is extremely durable, hurt my wrists so much to knit, with slipped stitches on both the knit and the purl sides.


Yarn: Lush Yarn Merino Socks - Baby Blue Eyes (December '09 Installment of Lush Yarn Sock Club)
Pattern: Summer Lovin Socks by Knitting Nonstop
Duration: Started 10th January 2010 - Completed 6th March 2010

All in all though, these socks are gorgeous, and are definitely worth all the hard work. I'll probably knit this pattern again, but not for a while yet. Too many other gorgeous sock patterns to try.

A Parade of Finished Objects

I have a busy little knitter of late, so I have some nice little finished objects to show you.

Firstly, I present these socks...


Ta da. Finally these socks are done! I promised several years ago, that I would knit a friend of the family a pair of socks. Started early last year, and finished early this year, this is probably the longest time it has ever taken me to knit a pair of socks. Despite the fact that the wool was 8 ply and knitted on 4mm needles, and therefore should have been a quick and easy knit, I couldn't seem to get into the swing of things with these, and kept on getting distracted with other projects.

Yarn: Spotlight Basics Harvest Pure Wool - Grey
Pattern: Socks from Socks and Scarf Pattern - Creative Knitting 2009 Annual Australia
Duration: Started 26th February 2009 - Completed 9th January 2010

And of course, I have yet another dishcloth to show you...


I really enjoyed trying out this particular pattern, and will probably use it again. Considering the wear and tear on dishcloths around here, if it lasts longer than a few months, then the pattern is definitely a keeper!

Yarn: Red Heart Eco Cotton Blend
Pattern: Flying Geese Dishcloth by Vaunda Rae Giberson
Duration: Started 23rd January 2010 - Completed 29th January 2010

In my other spare time, I have been working on stash accumulation - not that I really need more sock yarn of course, but I can't resist all those pretty colours. Also I've discovered that Sanguine Gryphon is a lot easier to stalk than Wollmeise, so I've managed to score quite a bit of yarn in their updates.


I have lots more of this on the way, and can't wait for it to arrive - at this rate I'll be able to build a house out of all the yarn that's being delivered. Oh well, at least it's good for insulation....

Speaking of yarn being delivered, check out my newest sock club packages


Last installment of Knitabulous Indian Summer club - I've already signed up for the Black Japan club that she's got running too


Also the last installment of the Lush Summer Sock Club - check out the pretty blue yarn. I've already signed up for the Autumn installment of this one too, so I can keep on getting my hands on the goodies.

I also received this pretty lace weight....


I've signed up for the Evenstar KAL on Ravelry, and this little pretty is going to be an Evenstar shawl. Quite a challenge considering I've never knit a full size shawl before - I'm jumping in the deep end with this one. Oh well, it'll definitely keep me busy....

First Finished Object of 2010

I've completed my first finished object of the new year, which is actually the first Rockin' Sock Club installment of last year. I absolutely love the pattern and the colour of the yarn, and may use this pattern again.

This is actually the only installment I knitted from last years club as last year was a very gift/swap heavy year for me. I've made it one of my new years resolutions this year to knit more stuff for me!


Yarn: Socks that Rock Lightweight - My Blue Heaven
Pattern: Queen of Beads - Sivia Harding
Duration: Started 4th October 2009 - Completed 4th January 2009

I'm very happy with these, the only thing I'm disappointed about is the fact that we're in the middle of a heatwave and I'll have to wait until the weather cools down again to wear them!

And just when I was looking for a new project to start, look what appears on my doorstep...


It's the new installment of Knitabulous Indian Summer Club. The yarn is 50/50 silk merino in Bollywood Nights, to be knitted up into the Bollywood capelet. As usual, she has included lots of extra goodies as well (edible treat, pincushion, candle and stitchmarkers). I love using her yarn, and the colours she comes up with are gorgeous as well.

Can't wait to get started on this one. Only one more gift project to get out of the way, and then finally I can knit something for me!

Xmas Wrap Up

Christmas this year has been totally hectic, and I'm glad to finally be able to sit back and take a breather.

First up with the Xmas knitting this year, was a package for the Aussie Swappers Xmas Swap on Ravelry. I knitted this Travelling Woman shawlette in Knitabulous Merino Sock yarn in Pumpkin Head.Shown in more close up detail here:
My swappee loved it, which was great, but it was my first time knitting a shawl, and by the end of it, with so many stitches on the needles, each row seemed to take forever!

I then received this package in return, with yummy Malabrigo sock yarn, which I've been wanting to try for ages!


Next up was socks for Mum. As I knit her a pair of socks every year for Xmas, I couldn't break with tradition.


Yarn was Socks that Rock Mediumweight - Spaun of Brawn colourway. I used a basic toe up pattern, with afterthought heels. Went down to the wire on these ones, finishing up at 10 minutes to midnight on Xmas Eve! Sock 2 was done in 2 days, both very very hot, and knitting in 40 degree heat - not fun. Mum did love them though, and that's what counts.

And last up - the two yarn club packages I received in December. First up is the delightful package I received as the first installment of Knitabulous' Indian Summer Club.


The colour of the yarn is gorgeous, and I loved all the extra goodies that were included - DPN's, lip gloss, tea, chocolate - all of my favourite things.

The other package was the first installment of Lush Yarn's Summer Sock club package.

The pattern is gorgeous, and I had to refrain myself from casting it on right away. I loved the extra goodies included in this, especially the 50g ball of cashcotton (can't wait to try it out).

All of this is the reason I am now crawled up in a ball, waiting for the new year! Somebody pass me a cup of tea....