Peacock Feathers

At last! Started back in October, I really don't know why this pattern (Passerine by Cookie A) was such a struggle.....and given that I was knitting them in the softest, smooshiest, squishiest merino/cashmere mix, you'd have thought they would wizz by.

Still, I'm really happy with how they have come out - and I love the 'feather' pattern that goes down the leg and long the foot....

I also managed to finish this little baby jacket for my friend Jessica, who had her second baby boy the week before Christmas - I'm also giving her the Oxblood Mystery socks that I finished back in October - I had enough left of the brown wool to make a little hat, so both Mummy and baby will be snuggly warm :-)

Overheard.......

Conversations overheard between Miss A and one of her friends at nursery:

J: My daddy's losing his hair......
A: That's ok, my daddy's got no hair at all, he's BALD!

J: My mummy and daddy don't love each other any more, that's why daddy has his house and mummy has her house
A: My mummy and daddy love each other, and they got married, but they got married BEFORE I was born!

From the mouths of babes......!

First pair of 2011

Yipee! The Cauchy socks are done - and I'm pretty pleased with them to be honest. I like the way the various purl and knit stitches combine to create an almost optical illusion. The Koigu was lovely to knit with (quite similar to Claudia Handpainted in terms of weight and 'bounce') - it makes for a nice snuggly pair of socks, without being overly warm, which is always nice!

Now to finish the Passerines that I started back in October......

Ooops!

I've just realised that, in the mad end-of-year flurry, I forgot to show some of the things I finished up just before Christmas. First up, Mum's beret for 2010 - a Breiwick beret by Gudrun Johnston. This designer is based in Shetland and the hat's cable pattern was inspired by her beachcombing walks - it was a lovely pattern to knit and I think the final effect is very impressive. I used Debbie Bliss Cashmerino DK in Russet - the picture doesn't really bring out the red tones but still gives you a good idea:


Mum had requested a brown beret this year to go with her brown coat. She says it has a much firmer brim than the grey Whirlpool beret I made for her last Christmas - good to know for the future!

Next up we have the first of the baby blankets - this one was done in a variety of DK cottons (primarily Paton Sorbet). It didn't come out quite as big as I would have liked, but seeing as my sister has almost been inundated with various baby blankets of bigger sizes, this will work quite well as a pram cover once it gets warmer. I also hope the bright colours and texture will be nicely stimulating for the new baby (only three weeks to go now....)

On the sock front, a few hours after I posted the picture of my Cubist socks, I realised that the pattern just wasn't working with the yarn. So I frogged and started over with Cookie's Cauchy pattern from Sock Innovation. Sooo much better - while the pattern still doesn't jump out as much as it would in a semi-solid yarn, it almost looks like an optical illusion, which is pretty cool.

I'm halfway through the foot of the first sock, so still on course :-)

A lot of my recent projects have been in quite dark colours (or green - what's all that about?), so I decided I needed something pretty and spring-like. I'm using one of my favourite yarns, Claudia's Handpainted (which I used to make my very first pair) - it's soft, squishy and the variegated colourways are soft and subtle. This is Maple Leaf, which mixes shades of olive green and salmon/sugar pink. It's coming out quite differently on both sides, so when I get to the heel flap, I'll have fun deciding which is to be the front....



The pattern is Weasley Homestead by Erica Lueder - she's done a whole series of patterns inspired by the Harry Potter books/films, and I'm planning to do a few more of them. This one is super easy and mindless - a 12-row elongated rib stitch that works really well with variegated yarn. It also goes really fast - I only started on Wednesday and have almost finished the first leg - not bad!

New Projects

It's a New Year, which means New Projects - right? Well, in my world it does :-)

(Note: we will ignore the two pairs of socks still on the needles from last year, as well as the three crochet blankets crying out for a little attention......)

First up, I've been whipping up some more squares for Knit-A-Square -

I'm particularly pleased with this one, which is called Wagon Wheel Square:

Then, we have the first 'official' KAL for the Knit.Sock.Love group. Cookie has structured this book according to the design elements of the patterns - Columns, Tesselations and Diagonals, with the patterns in each section being listed according to difficulty. The group will be knitting the patterns slightly out of order, with the 1st Column, then the 1st Tesselation, etc. etc. We are allowed to substitute up to four other Cookie patterns throughout the length of the KAL.

This month the pattern is Hedera - which has never really rung by bell, so to speak. So I'm using my first substitute card. I give you Cubist, using Koigu Painters' Palette Premium Merino (also known as KPPPM in the knitting world - not surprising really!) in a rather lovely, washed-out shade of minty green:


As always with a Cookie pattern, it's an interesting construction - and it's growing quickly (the picture shows the results of just one evening's knitting), which is good because I have also started a Mystery Sock with the Hazel Knits group. I was lucky enough to be given a gorgeous skein of Hazel Knits Artisan yarn by the lovely Christine back in the summer. As it's a mystery sock, there is no name for the pattern just yet, but it's by the amazing Lisa Stitchweh who does awsome things with cables:

Interesting, until I saw these photos together, I hadn't realised quite how similar these colourways were - it's obviously going to a 'spring green' month.....anything to counteract the grey skies and drizzly weather that have been hanging around in the last few days.

I might (just might) start a pair of blue socks for the Solid Socks KAL (January has been declared 'blue' month) but I'm not sure yet - I'll certainly not finish them by the end of the month (both of the other KALs are two months long - even if Life intervenes, I know I stand a good chance of finishing them before the deadline!).

Knitting Totals 2010

Well, I made it up to 17 pairs of socks in the end! Here are the final two pairs:

- the first for Mum using Angels & Elephants BFL Sock in Tamar and my own cable design:



They fit her perfectly and she loves them - result!

The second pair were done on a bit of a whim. I've joined the Knit.Sock.Love KAL group on Ravelry, where we will be doing each of the socks in the books over the next year and a bit. In December, they organised a warm-up KAL where you had to use a Cookie pattern that was not in KSL - I decided to make a pair of Wanidas, partly because I loved the pattern the first time around and partly because I wanted/needed a pair of plum-coloured socks to replace a pair that have mysteriously disappeared - I swear, I've hunted everywhere and just can't find them. I'm most unhappy, as they were last year's Socktober mystery socks knitted in Dream in Color Smooshy that I finished on New Year's Eve 2009. So here are the replacement pair, also finished on New Year's Eve, but one year later (obviously!):



These were made using the Knitting Goddess's Merino/Bamboo. It was originally a very bright mix of yellow, pink and orange - really not my thing. So I overdyed it with some Dylon in Violet - and absolutely love the result - a mix of plum, purple and russet brown. I re-named it Forest Fruits as it reminded me of autumnal walks and blackberry picking :-)

In terms of other knitting totals, I managed the following:

8 baby jackets (all in crochet - love how speedily it grows!)
12 hats of various kinds / sizes
6 shawls and scarves
95 crochet squares - either for my own baby blankets or for the Knit-A-Square charity
2 pairs of gloves

Not bad going really........

On that note, I wish you all a Happy New Year - may 2011 be filled with all you wish for and lots of creative inspiration!

Revamp!

So, yesterday, my sister came by with a small truck and took all our remaining baby stuff off our hands - wheee! Feels good to have cleared it all out - and for it to be going to a good home. One of the items was Miss A's cotbed - which has resulted in Mr A (and I - but in a less enthusiastic way!) deciding to re-decorate Miss A's bedroom. This has entailed much internet time, trying to find a suitable bed (and one that could be delivered before the end of January), as well as bed-linen, paint colours, mural ideas - you name it, we've looked for it, debated the choices, and generally got a bit frazzled about the whole business. What will we be like when we move house? I shudder to think....

At the same time she picked up all the baby stuff, my sister also dropped off two unwanted bookcases - one is going to Miss A who desperately needs it (her books are currently stored in a shoe box) and I nabbed the other one for my study. Given that a) I will have a bit more time on my hands from now on (trust me, a four-day working week is the BEST invention known to man!), b) I'm intending to resurrect my scrapbooking / card-making in 2011 and c) my study has become increasingly messy and crowded in recent months - it was time for a revamp. It took most of the day, and resulted in several bags of rubbish (I'm such a hoarder!), but was worth it. The room feels tidy and serene once more - ready for lots of creativity! A good start to 2011 I think.

Everything has been reorganised so all my cardstock, papers, embellishments are within easy reach of my desk - I can't wait, particularly as I have ordered (just) a little bit of new stash, including these lovelies from Sarah's Cards:




My Mind's Eye papers in Bloom & Grow and Ooh La La (for Him). These are going to be so much fun to play with!