FO Catch Up

Last weekend I got Mr13 to take some pictures of some projects that were finished by hadn’t been posted on here.  They are all knit in Vintage Purls yarn now I think about it!  So, here goes!

First up is the socks I showed you in a post a couple of weeks ago.  They are gorgeous, a pattern called Azure Socks,  which is a free pattern from Knitty’s Winter 2008 edition.

This is a toe-up pattern and starts with a patterned toe. It took me all of four rows to start screwing it up. After the third attempt or so, I decided the a plain toe was the way to go.  And the patterned heel flap went the same way (except I only screwed that up once before abandoning it….).  So, slightly less patterned than the original, but lovely nonetheless.

The yarn was gifted to me in a hand-dyed yarn swap, and it’s a dead-ringer for the colourway in the pattern pictures. It’s lovely, light and subtle semi-solid.  Delicious!

The pattern took a while for me to enjoy knitting. I acutally cast these on early last year. I took them to work with me and knit through several meetings and lunchtimes. I think that was half my problem – because every row is a pattern row, I never had any down rows, which you really need when you’re meant to be concentrating on something else!  Once I picked these up again, it took no time for me to memorise the pattern and away I went.

The pattern uses mock cables – lots of k2tog and ssks, making stitches, and so forth in order to make these lovely sensuous lines.

The next up in the next cast on…

I think I cast on this Dew Point Shrug back in February. I had a good go at knitting it and then set it aside for some time. I picked it up again in the holidays and took it away with me to Foxton Beach. In fact I knit a good portion of the lace rib whilst watching the Royal Wedding. As you do… I then took it home and blocked it, and that’s when things started to go wrong. It’s waaay too big now 😦

Now I’m stuck between two choices – to either rip it back and start again/use the yarn for something else, or throwing it in the machine and dryer in the hopes it shrinks a little.

I’ve been doing neither for a month now. Procrastination wins the day again! 

What do you think?  Vintage Purls sock yarn is machine washable, so it won’t felt, but it might change the fabric considerably? 

Finally, a cute pair of hand warmers. 

 

These are the lovely Veyla mitts I’ve been meaning to try for a couple of years now. Not in the yarn I had aside for them either! The squish purple skein of alpaca my sister bought back from the States for me two birthdays ago is still waiting… 

I actually cast these on for a swap. I didn’t allow myself terribly long to knit them before the swap was due to be sent. I decided to be clever.  And shortly after that, everything – rather predicatably – went wrong.

Yes, Sheryl, you do have to knit one left mitt ane one right mitt. They will be different as your hands face different ways.

Needless to say, I didn’t get done in time, I can’t read patterns well when I’m not trying, and it’s really not the pattern’s fault I’m slapdash sometimes.

So, once I read the instructions all was good. The wee lace panels for the cuffs were logical and I was able to follow the pattern line by line no worries.

And I have to say I utterly adore the thumb increases. Genius!

Just as well I love the pattern since I know I’m going to do it in the yarn I had set aside!  I think these are a lovely project, and a quick one too. If you’re not in a hurry!

That’s the round up for today.  It’s so cool to note all these projects down, as see what my stash is becoming.  I do still have a few more projects to catch up on here, but there’s always another day to post them!

 

Final Sock Club Installment

My final Vintage Purls Winter Sock Club installment arrived last week. And it is super delicious!

I love the sock pattern, it’s a plain stocking stitch foot, with a lovely lacey design starting where you begin the gusset increases. Gorgeous!

And the colourway – rich, beautifully varied, and just my cup of tea.

Of course, you might recall I am on a self-imposed yarn buying ban, and I promised myself I would not buy any more until I had knitted up the winter sock clubs and the final summer installment. I have some progress to report!

I have completed the first of the pair of summer socks, but you will have to remain pictureless for now – they are intended as a gift. I will cast on the other one soon, but I have another sock which needs finishing first.

Secondly, you might recall instead of one skein last month, I got two lovely skeins of yarn with a colourwork pattern. Since I am not doing this, I am doing a pair of socks from stash and stashing these lovely skeins – I want special projects for them, not something hastily chosen. But since it’s my buying ban, I can change the rules if I want too! Sock #1 is complete, sock #2 went awry somewhere so I have some frogging to do to get it back on track.

Meanwhile, the two bins I have allocated for my yarn actually have some room in them – thanks to lots of little projects and my Central Park Hoodie which is coming along really well. So I think the buying holiday has been great in this regard.

I have to confess, however, that some of the space is thanks to removing all my ends of balls from the stash. It is sooo much easier to see and find things with them elsewhere, and I’ve found myself using them more too. See, I can justify anything!

Scaredy Cat

I think that you might be able to accuse me of being a scaredy cat.

You see, yesterday my latest Vintage Purls sock club yarn and pattern arrived. Tis absolutely gorgeous.

 

 

But there is only one problem – it is stranded colourwork.

I don’t *do* colourwork.

I do cables. I do lace (badly), I do large stretches of boring stuff with minimal whingeing. I don’t do colourwork.

I love the pattern – called ‘Nightingale’, it features a stunning nightingale bird in multicolours over a semisolid background colour. The colours are utterly stunning. But I just don’t think it’s my cup of tea.

You see – and here’s a confession – not everything I knit ends up finished. And not all of it ends up here… and two items I’ve tried already this year and frogged were both colourwork. Sigh. I suck at stranding, I suck at tension and the overall product looks blah. So, do I really want to waste two beautiful skeins of sock yarn on a blah result? I think not.

So, call me a scaredy cat if you like, but I will be looking through my sock pattern books to see what these two skeins will become. I totally adore both colourways, so watch this space!

FO: Mandorla Socks

The first hurdle is over – I promised myself no more yarn until I finish the winter sock club. Oh, and knit the final pair from the summer sock club too… So, one pair down, three to go! Although I did get a yarn swap parcel in the mail yesterday I must show you once it’s photographed…

This is Mandorla:

These socks are a clever design that have increases and descreases on the front of the foot instead of on the side (or bottom)  for a gusset. The result is an intriguing almond shape on the front of the foot.  The other main feature of the pattern are ribbed panels that are shaped and change through the toe and gusset increases and decreases.  Some really interesting design ideas.

As usual, the pattern was meticulously presented an easy to follow with charted and written instructions. It assured us that the odd techniques would produced a sock shaped sock after blocking and it did.

As usual, the Vintage Purls colourway dyed especially for the sock club is delightful. And not just because I like purple. But, given that the socks are intended to be unisex patterns and colourways, as well as to reflect the season, I think it is a clever and interesting colourway. The funny thing is, I seem to struggle to make toe up socks the right length, so DH has tried these socks on and they fit – they might eventually find their way to his  sock drawer. Especially if I keep getting side tracked instead of knitting socks for him!

Good bits? Innovation, colour, simple pattern. I like the clean lines the gusset free socks have around the bottom of the foot and the heel.

However I am not so happy with the nasty pull-y line I have managed to create right through the feature panel at the front.

You can see it especially in the top sock in the picture above. I thought that blocking might solve it, but alas, it has not. This has occured where you have to purl two together (twice) as the decrease, it only happened in the decrease section, and is probably the result of bad technique.Hmph. Ah well, if they end up as man socks, I don’t think it will bother DH at all.

Adventures in blocking II

As I suspected, the pair of socks I knit for the winter sock club needed some serious blocking. When I tried them on, this is what they looked like.

Hmmm, not exactly the most attractive feature at the front of the foot there! We were assured that the unique construction of the socks would come right when blocked.  So, I dutifully soaked (and washed with a bit of Euculan) and popped my socks on the beautiful sock blockers I got in a swap earlier this year.

Even on the blockers, I had to give the socks a bit of encouragement to lose the bump on the front. I popped them on top of the gas heater and every couple of hours I manipulated the bump until it was virtually invisible. 

That’s all the hints I’m going to give you on how they look – I’ll do a proper FO post later in the week if and when we see some sunshine for some nice pics.

Now, I am very spoiled with my super sock blockers. My swapper’s father made them out of marine grade ply and varnished them. They are awesome, and socks dry seriously quickly on them. But, if you haven’t any marine grade ply, a jigsaw, sandpaper and varnish hanging around at home (!), and you don’t have the dollars to shell out for a set of blockers (even if they are gorgeous like these new Knitpro ones)… Here’s an idea for making your own out of plastic table mats. I’ve made a couple of sets and they are great. My friend Christine made some awesome ones using scrapbooking paper that she laminated. They apparently work a treat.

So, if you’ve got a stubborn sock in your life, perhaps you can block it into submission with a set of beautiful blockers that you made yourself.