Tag: sock knitting

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Knit and Natter Round Up – March

Posted on by Jackie B

The group continue to knit, crochet and sew all manner of beautiful things. Here are a selection of their makes.

L has now completed her colourful Sweet Pea Blanket (pictured above), by adding the border.

This was a kit she received from her daughter at Christmas.

L has also been loom knitting this hat.

R has been making herself a cardigan in a self patterning yarn in soft shades of blue and beige.

She’s also been continuing a patchwork project that has been on the go for many years ands wondering how to do the border.

L came to the rescue with some advice as she’s made hexagon quilts before, including this lovely pink one.

That’s the beauty of social knitting/crafting. All that pooled experience means that there is seldom a question that cannot be answered.

We also put our heads together on this project that Y has been working on.

This is one of a pair of gentleman’s kilt stockings in a cable design made in very fine yarn. It involved purl twisted cable, which took some working out! Y is definitely the Sock Queen – she also made these colourful self striping socks, with bright shades alternating with black.

It took me longer to make my alpaca socks than she took to make both of these pairs!

C has made these lovely blue baby bootees….

…and has been working on a pink teddy bear!

A has been crocheting baby blankets, including this one in pretty pastel shades.

She also asked someone skilled in amigurami crochet to make this bunny – isn’t it lovely?

Another crafty friend, who is not in our online knitting group – showed me something she recently completed from a kit: a crocheted Harry Potter! The kit included the tiny broomstick!

Have you made any toys recently? I’d love to hear about them.

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Lull Before the Storm

Posted on by Jackie B

Yesterday we headed up the coast to Newton by the Sea. It was a glorious, if blustery day. K and Buddy set off for a walk along the beach while I stayed in the car with my knitting.

The sunshine had brought people out and the beach was quite busy.

On quieter winter days the shoreline is peppered with wading birds, but not today. There were too many walkers and dogs for that. Several oystercatchers and redshanks had gathered on some rocks just offshore, an altogether safer place.

I also saw a whinchat on the marram grass at the top of the beach. They are quite common on the dunes here and I always love to see them.

When K returned he reported a large raft of ducks, mainly widgeon, at the southern end of the bay. It seems that overwintering wildfowl are beginning to gather prior to the spring migration

Of course I love to knit with a sea view. Today’s knitting on the dashboard is the second of a pair of toe-up socks in my handspun alpaca and wool.

It felt good to be out on such a beautiful day, in between this week’s storms.

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Silent Night Socks

Posted on by Jackie B

I’ve been working on this pair of socks on and off for most of the year, but finally finished them!

I bought some pretty yarn last winter: a Christmas limited edition Signature 4 ply from West Yorkshire Spinners in Silent Night. It’s in shades of blue and navy with a hint of silver shimmer and knits up beautifully. The yarn is a blend of 75% wool and 25% nylon making it warm, soft and hardwearing.

Socks are one of those little projects that you can slip in a handbag to do when you are out and about and this has been useful for that, but I had ignored it for several months so I thought I really should finish it. It’s a top-down pattern that a friend gave me.

I wore them for the first time today and they feel lovely and warm.

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New Year Cast Ons and Knitting with a Rather Different View

Posted on by Jackie B

No sooner than I’d finished off a couple of projects last week I was itching to get something on the needles so I started a couple of new projects.

The first one is the Hello Yellow hat which is a special request from my lovely friend who keep me supplied with alpaca fibre. It’s a cable beanie with a pompom, knitted of course in undyed alpaca spun from her own alpacas, Wispa and Aero.

I’ve now completed the deep edging band which is knitted using a twisted rib., so now I can start the fun bit – I love cable!

I spun some more yarn for the next bit and had great fun using my new gadgets, especially the ball winder.

I also cast on another pair of socks last week – I couldn’t resist this yarn – it’s one of the limited editions from the West Yorkshire Spinners Signature range – Silent Night, in shades of blue with a subtle metallic silver thread running through it.

Socks are my go to project if I’m going anywhere – I can slip it in a bag if I find myself needing to wait around anywhere – often I’ll sit and knit in the car with a beach view whole K walks the dog. When I cast this sock on I had a rather different view: Alnwick Cricket Club’s Pitch.

It was quite a special occasion. I was waiting in the car while my mother was getting her COVID vaccination. She is in her eighties and therefore in the first priority group to receive the vaccine. The Cricket Club is being used as our local vaccination centre and everything was extremely well organised. As we drove up cars were asked to stop by a steward in ahi-viz jacket – it was so nice to see that it was one of the managers from Alnwick Medical Group who used to attend our Knit and Natter Group. He explained to my mother what would happen and directed us to a colleague who guided us into a parking space. Mum was checked in (she had a pre-booked appointment), temperature taken and directed to a waiting area, with screens between the chairs to maintain COVID safety. She was then called over to a nurse, who administered the injection and after that to a heated marquee at the back of the building, where she was handed a timer and waited for 15 minutes (a precaution in case of adverse reaction). At every stage a member of staff sanitised her seat as she vacated it. Everything was running like clockwork and before long she was back in the car.

I’m so glad Mum has had the vaccine and will have some protection from the virus. An important day indeed!

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Sock Finisher

Posted on by Jackie B

When I was working on a pair of socks at Knit and Natter Group the other Friday, one of my knitting friends told me about an unfinished project that had been sitting in the cupboard under her stairs for about ten years – a pair of socks for her husband.

I could totally understand her frustration – the socks were being knitted on double pointed needles and I too had unfinished socks for a few years for exactly the same reason. I got over it though – someone introduced me to short circular sock needles and I’ve been using that method ever since (read about it here).

I offered to finish them and she brought what she’d done so far to the group on Friday. As the pattern used 2.5mm needles, the same as the socks I’m working on, I swapped mine on to other needles and was able to get started on finishing hers on the circular needles. One sock was complete and the second one was part way through the leg, so once I’d transferred it on to my needles and put some stitch markers in it was fairly quick going.

The yarn is a self-striping four ply in subtle shades of blue and brown. The stripes knit up beautifully and evenly – I haven’t used a self striping yarn like this before and loved it – you can really see your progress as you get through the stripes and it made it easier to match up the placement of the heel and toe divides – I didn’t need to count rows, just match the stripes.

Of course I had to use the double pointed needles when I was part way through the toe shaping, but I can cope with that: it was only for the last few rows. It hasn’t taken long to do at all and I finished it tonight, including grafting the toe closed using Kitchener Stitch, and darning in the ends.

I hope my friend’s husband like them. He has had a bit of a wait! I don’t know him, but he was the clever chap who made my knitting bowl, so I’m really glad to return a favour.

Have you ever knitted socks for other people? Who?

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Countryside cast-on

Posted on by Jackie B

Last night I picked out some yarn from the pile that I’d previously earmarked for the big stash busting blues poncho/cape – I found this sock yarn I picked up from Flying Tiger a while back.

This has too much green in it to fit in with stash busting project. I’ve really enjoyed wearing the last pair of socks I made, so need more – especially now I’ve become more confident about sock knitting and recovered from One Sock Syndrome. It seemed obvious to use this sock yarn!

I needed to start a new small portable project, something that I can stick in a small bag to do in the car, waiting for appointments and to take to knit and natter groups. Socks knitted on tiny circular needles are perfect for this (though when I turn the heel it might need a bit more concentration and nattering may cease for a while)

It was blustery this morning, but looked beautiful and such a joy to feel the warmth of the sun on my face when I was out of that cold wind. Sitting in the car in a lay-by while K walked Buddy nearby, I cast on the first sock – if I’d been more prepared I’d have brought straight needles in a larger size (casting on with thumb method, using 2.5mm circular sock needles is fiddly) – I wanted to try this to ensure I kept the cast-on nice and loose. Anyway I just concentrated hard not to pull it too tight and managed to complete the cast on and knit a couple of rounds. The top of the sock is in k2p2 rib so it’s lovely and stretchy – it would defeat the object of that if the cast-on is too tight,

I love the colours of this yarn – they include a deep blue with a very dark green, shading lighter into almost yellow green. At first this made me think of rocks by a deep blue sea, strewn with yellowish brown seaweed below high water mark and crusted with yellow lichens above. Then I looked out the window, spied this puddle and saw similar colours in the sky’s reflection, the grasses and conifer saplings around me.

The woodland is managed here, with fencing and rabbit guards on the young trees.

We couldn’t stay long as household tasks awaited – but it was nice to be out in the sunshine, thinking about the colours in the landscape.

Do you get inspired by your surroundings ?