The Wool Palace

Feats of trivia

It's almost time for Ally Pally, which means planning and plotting for new projects.

Before I do that, it would be prudent to look at the old ones and what I have planned for them.  Apologies for the iffy picture quality - I was rushing to get them done before the light went.

Toby's socks are motoring along.  I would really like to have them done before I leave for London on Thursday night.  I'm at the heel flap on the second one so I am quietly confident, but I do have a meeting tomorrow evening and a big lunch event on Thursday, so it's not guaranteed.  The Trekking colour way is 110, by the way.

I'm not going to talk about the other socks hanging around, as we covered that pretty well in the last post.  Let's move straight on to the rest of the knitting basket.

We'll begin with the worst.  You only have to look at the state of that cord to know this has been shoved in a bag for a long, long time.  Almost a year - I started it quite soon after getting back from Ally Pally 2006.  I have a crazy idea that if I buy some Addi Lace needles then I will pick it up again.  In reality what I will probably do is buy some Addi Lace needles, frog this and start something else.  Look at all those stitch markers just sitting there - for a year!

Let's carry on with lace shall we?  Shetland Triangle, in Handmaiden Seasilk.  Lovely.  But I need another skein to make it the size I want and I haven't been able to find any at Get Knitted or Stash, so I put it to one side.  Now I'm at that tricky stage where I've lost my rhythm with it and would have to spend a while working out where in the pattern I'm up to.  Nothing drastic or unmanageable, but enough to stop me picking it up of an evening.  The plan?  Carry on looking for the Seasilk I suppose, although of course I've lost the name of it by now; I think it was Mineral, or maybe Forest?

Garments next.  Salina, who was doing so well, has rather stalled.  I need to go back and check if I've finished the armhole shaping or not.  I may take her on the train to London with me.

Or I may take

my old friend, the Rib & Cable Jacket, or is the Cabled Blanket Jacket?  This has been around so long I've forgotten its name.  It's been waiting patiently all through the summer for me to show an interest in it again.   A measure of the length of time it's been around is that I have actually taken it out a couple of times, purely to check no moths have got to it.  Imagine how annoying that would be . 

The yarn was a birthday present to myself.  Will I finish it in time for this birthday?  Only time will tell, especially with all the temptations I will be facing on Friday...

I'll be there for you

It seems appropriate that I am considering socks at the beginning of October.  Or maybe it's not - is there a Socktoberfest this year?  I am shamefully behind in blogosphere happenings.

Anyway.  I have seriously fallen off the sock wagon, so I thought I should do a little round up of what is on the go.

Things didn't start well. 

I had completely forgotten about this one.  I only found it because I was looking for another sock in my knitting basket.  I started these for Sam, so long ago that his feet are a full size bigger now.  Did I tell you that Sam's feet are now bigger than mine? And only two sizes smaller than his father?  And that he's still only 10?  And that I've had to buy no fewer than three new pairs of shoes for him this week?  Trainers, football boots and walking boots, all in one week - my bank account is feeling rather fragile now.

Back to the socks.  I suppose I can unpick the toe and make it longer.  Or I could just stuff it back in the knitting basket for a bit.

This was sitting on top one of the speakers in the living room.  This yarn started off as a Pomotamus but I wasn't feeling the love, so it got frogged.  This pattern is Broad Spiral Ribbing from More Sensational Knitted Socks.  Like the pattern, but I'm still not sure about the yarn.  I remember stuffing them on top of the speaker so I could start these ones

which are the ubiquitous Monkeys.  Done in Cherry Tree Hill, Old Rose colourway.  I started these on 2.25mm needles but realised they would be too tight so ripped back and started again on 2.5mm.  I knew I had these somewhere but had to search the whole house for them.  Eventually they turned up on top of the chest of drawers in my bedroom.  I abandoned them because I was getting tired of having to refer to the instructions to remember where I was up to.

I was craving some simple knitting, so I started these.

Plain old stocking stitch socks, destined for Toby.  Once I started these, I realised that really, I'm happiest knitting plain socks.  I like to just be able to pick them up, knit away without having to look at instructions and let the yarn do its thing.  Even though these are 72 stitches, knit on 2.25mm needles, I know I'm going to finish these before either of the other two - which is entirely about me, rather than the patterns, I hasten to add.

And once I've finished them, I plan to cast on for some more lovely plain socks with some of this

and I can't wait.

Dirty pretty things

I've never really managed to get the hang of crochet.  Over the years I have bought several books on it and tried to teach myself, with no success.  When I was teaching knitting in London my hairdresser, an avid crocheter, came and gave my class a lesson, but I was still none the wiser.

I've looked at all the granny squares and ripple blankets springing up over the blogosphere in the last year or so, but still didn't feel I could join in.

Then, this week we had a crochet workshop at my village craft group.  And suddenly, my brain clicked into gear and I started to understand.  Like lace knitting, it's much easier to do something when you know why you're doing it.  The doubles and trebles and turning chains started to make sense.

Since then my brain has been buzzing and my fingers itching.  I've dug out my DK cotton remnants and my crochet books and have been hooking away.  Technically I've got a long way to go, but I'm certainly enjoying the learning process.

Weekend catch-up

I am trying to get back into more regular blogging, although work and life in general continues to conspire against it.

We had a busy weekend.

Our hall has gone from insipid yellow to 'Entrance Hall Pink'.  I didn't know the name of it when I picked the colour, but it's nice to know that Farrow & Ball agree with me on what colour a hall should be.  Unfortunately it's still covered in horrible woodchip, but at least it's a better colour now.

After picking the colour, I left Toby to do the actual painting, seeing as he's about 100 times faster than I would be.  I indulged in a little garden centre shopping.

My plans for summer planting schemes failed miserably this year, but I had good success with my tulips in the spring, so bought some different ones to play with this year.  I went back today and got crocuses and a few other things to naturalise in the corners of the lawn and under the hedge.

I have been doing some knitting as well.  I've had Salina on my to do list for ages now and decided to make a start while we were on holiday.

I had some Felted Tweed left from my Hourglass Sweater that turned out miles too big and had to be frogged.  I had washed the yarn and reskeined it and put it away to wait for a project.  This seemed like the right time to bring it out.

I'm knitting the body in the round and have just divided for the armholes.  I've added 5cm to the length but plan to do the rest as written.  Must hurry up and finish it so I can start the Tangled Yoke Cardigan...

Where people often meet

Well, that turned into a bit of a longer break than anticipated.

I am surfacing from a couple of manically busy weeks at work, with not an awful lot to tell you really.

Holidays seem like such a long time ago.  Our week in Cornwall was a bit too much of this type of weather

and not enough of this

It wouldn't have been so bad, but we were camping and spending every evening in a tent in the rain gets a bit wearing.  I think next year we'll go for the cottage option.

Dorset on the other hand, was gloriously sunny.  However, the only photos I have are of the children at the beach and I'm not keen to put up pictures of them in their swimsuits all over the internet, so you'll have to take my word for it.

So now we're back at school and work and I've been able to start thinking about a little knitting.  I haven't had a chance to look through the new knitting magazines in too much detail, but have totally fallen in love with the Tangled Yoke cardigan from the new IK.  So much so, that in what is a very unusual move from me, I've even ordered the yarn from my LYS in Taunton - I'm going for a dark brown version.

I'm going to try and look through Vogue and the new Rowan this evening and see if anything else catches my eye.  Any suggestions?

We're off camping again - hopefully less wet than last week in Cornwall.

Will fill you in on all the details when we get back.

I am turning comments off for the duration as I'm getting sick of deleting spam - hopefully things will settle down in a week or so.

Sockapalooza'd!

We're off to Cornwall later today but I couldn't leave without showing you the wonderful parcel that was waiting for me on the doorstep on Friday.

Ruth, my Sockapalooza pal put together a great assortment of goodies.

First up the socks

These are Ruth's own design, knitted in yarn from the Yarn Yard.  They fit perfectly and feel wonderful.

Ruth also included another skein of yarn from the Yarn Yard for me to have a play with.

Coincidentally, I had made my own purchase from the Yarn Yard this week, for the first time, so I am now overflowing with Yarn Yard goodness.

As if that wasn't enough, Ruth also included yummy chocolate, some Lush goodies and this little project bag which she made herself.

Thank you so much Ruth.  It's always such a luxury to recieve socks knitted by somebody else and all the other extras made it really special gift.

Now I'm off for a week camping in the rain, if the weather forecast is anything to go by; have fun while I'm away! 

In triplicate

The deadline for Sockapalooza 4 sort of crept up on me.  August sounded so far away when we started.

Then of course, there was the whole 'knitting three socks' due to my monumental stupidity.

Thankfully, they are all done and I have indulged in the usual cavorting and contorting that is required to take photos of one's own feet.

Pattern:  Diagonal Rib Socks by Ann Budd.  It was in Interweave a while back, but you can get it as a download from Knitting Daily.

Started:  4th June 2007

Finished:  3rd August 2007 - remember that's for 3 socks people!

Yarn:  Lovely Koigu, bought from Stash a good while back.  I can't remember the number, but if I find the ball band I'll add it in.

Needles:  2.75mm Clover bamboos

Such a nice pattern - very easy to remember the repeat.  Not having a cuff was a little surprising; it would be interesting to see what a pair would look like with some sort of ribbing at the top.  I knitted the pattern pretty much as is, although I made the legs a smidge shorter as I was worried about running out of yarn.  They fit very well and I would definitely do another pair at some stage.

Now the socks are off for a bath and I am off to find a suitably cheesey postcard of Somerset and some other goodies to include in my pal's package.

Hidden depths

This project was one of my quickest ever, knitting wise, and one of my slowest ever to sew up and to blog about.

It was incredibly difficult to photograph and I needed daylight to pick up stitches and do the sewing, which added to the delays.

Anyhow, I am very pleased with it, it fits well and has attracted much admiration from Toby and others who have seen it.

I particularly like the deep ribbing on the V-neck and around the shoulders.

Pattern:  Nessie, from RYC Classic Weekend.  I did the size L, to fit a 38 chest.

Yarn:  I used some Jaeger Shetland Aran I had in my stash instead of the recommended Cashsoft Aran.  You can't see in the photos, but the 20% alpaca gives it a nice, subtle halo of grey against the black of the wool.  I used just under 400g, making this a very economical knit, as the yarn was on sale in Liberty a while back.

Needles:  I stuck with the recommended 4mm for the ribing and 4.5mm for the body.

Started:  Well the knitting was started at the end of May and it took about 5 days to finish.  Picking up the stitches for the ribbing borders and sewing in the ends was done in fits and starts when I had time during daylight hours, so that took another couple of weeks.  Then I procrastinated for about a month before finally taking some photos.

Modifications:  I knitted the body in the round up to the armholes, divided there and knitted the front and back separately, then did a three needle bind off for the shoulders, which left me with 10 rows under the arms to stitch together.  I picked up the stitches for the ribbing in the round also, so I only had ends to sew in.  I added 5cm to the body and a couple of extra rows to the armholes.  If I did it again, I might take a couple of rows of ribbing off the back of the neck, as it is a touch higher than I would choose, but not enough to bother me into doing anything about it.

I doubt I'll be wearing Nessie much if the sunshine continues, but I can see her being a good autumn piece to add some warmth to an outfit on chilly mornings.

Rain, rain, go away

I was all together to do a post yesterday, then Typepad was down.  So you get yesterday's post today.

Toby has been working away for almost three weeks.  The weather has been awful, although Somerset has got off lightly compared to other parts of the UK.  I am getting bored of my own company.  The children and I have seen too much of each other.

Luckily we have a couple of new friends to distract us.

Yesterday was a wonderful oasis of sunshine after days of grey.  We spent most of the day in the garden.

Sam practised his cricket catches.

I tackled some of the weeds and picked sweet peas

and pulled up carrots.

We finished off with high tea.

I provided the rock buns and cucumber sandwiches, Josie made the fruit salad.  There was tea, although I snuck in a G&T, as it was nearly dinner time.

It's raining again today.  Ah well.