socks, socks, socks

On the needles
I am not sure what it is, but I am in sock knitting mode. And this in June when warm foot wear doesn't seam to be the most suitable item to make.

This is a pair of socks for my niece. I used a small lace pattern from a stitch dictionary and added some ribbing topped by a ruffle for the cuff. I followed the size information from a book and unfortunately they turned out way too big for her. Here they are before ripping out the entire leg and heel (toe-up socks...)
 I hope to get the size right this time around.

Then I started a pair of socks for myself to use up a skein of Buffy Sock yarn by June Fibre Arts. The color is Seaswept Winter Sea, and I love it! For these I chose a pattern with slipped stitches that are picked up 2 rows higher up to form little flower like shapes.

But the best of all (there are more socks on the needles) is a pattern by Wendy Gaal - Bridge of Roses. There is a KAL on Ravelry for these socks. They are absolutely beautiful and interesting to knit. I have just finished the knitting on mine and need to start the embroidered roses. The pattern comes in a kit with part of the sales going to the Susan G. Komen Foundation.
Here is the official pattern photo, copyright Wendy Gaal, Knitters Brewing Co:

and here is a close-up of mine:

Off the needles
Ferla Box bag was a test knit for TessVintageKnits. It's a great pattern with detailed instructions. I just need to find the perfect buttons for mine. You should keep an eye out for the pattern to be officialy published.

The tiny recipient of this baby blanket is a gorgeous little boy, three weeks of age. My blankie is based on the Cerys Baby Blankie by Leah J Williams. I have made a few modifications which are noted on my Ravelry project page.

Spinning
Last Monday I attended markt van wol enzo in Ouwerkerk. It was a wonderful day, not least because friends of mine entertained my son so that I had a chance to talk fiber with the friends from our SnB Rotterdam and met new people.
The only thing I bought is a wonderful cloud of silver gray Alpaca. It is Huacaya Alpaca which is the only kind of Alpaca fiber I ever spun. Fortunately the vendor Alpaca Milestones had some Suri Alpaca also, so I bought a little bit of raw, combed and carded fiber. I am very curious how different this will be from the Huacaya. The funny thing was that when my knitting/spinning friend Ballee and I compared our purchases we realized we had bought the exact same fiber!

I hope to sit down at my wheel again soon - I hear it calling.

Pebbles

I am so happy I finshed a few items recently. Because I keep wanting to start new projects...

Pebbles
Yes, after many variations the name is Pebbles now... And finally, here is a picture of the completed sweater I knit for my son. I am still not done writing up the pattern but promised myself I will do this now since I want to knit him another one using the same construction style. I love the hems and the longer back side covers his behind nicely. If you remember it's an almost seamless construction with the upper sleeves knit with the body, not Raglan shaping but the shape of set-in sleeves.

Dewdrops
Dewdrops is a lovely design by Bex Hopkins. I used a beautiful handpainted yarn from Needlework's Pleasure in the colorway Fresh Mint.

Rosebud
And I have finally finished knitting Rosebud by Tonia Barry with some lovely handspun Alpaca, also by Needlework's Pleasure. 

Shaun
Isn't he the cutest? From a pattern by Patons. It was a quick gift for my boy. Unfortunately now he wants me to knit him Timmy, too....

My first Cookie A's...
I gave in and knit a pair of socks from Sock Innovation by Cookie A. Not that I didn't like her socks before, there was just too much hype, and I prefer toe-up. But like so many others I got hooked. This pattern is Wanida. One thing I did changed is that I let the pattern end in a point  just above the toes rather than having a blunt stop.

Spinning

I have been spinning as well recently, just not much on my wheel. Somehow I currently prefer the spindle. Here I spun a batt from StormopZolder, very vibrant colors in Merino/Silk.

And finally - I have finished a new shawl design that is currently being test knit, jippieh! More about that later.

Roses

Lot's of knitting
It's finally May and the roses in my yard are starting to bloom. I love roses! No wonder I always wanted to design a shawl with a rose theme. After I had spun up the shetland from Juno Fibrearts in the Smokey Rose colorway I decided that this was going to be the yarn for the project.
Since I had 400 yd of this heavy lace / light fingering 2-ply handspun yarn it had to be a shawlette. I am not too fond of the triangular shape and therefore designed a rounded shawlette with plain stockinette sections and others with a rosebud motif.
I am currently writing up the pattern before having it tested. I hope to have a nice photo of the blocked shawlette for you soon. The top photo has the accurate colors.

Baby Camel - oh so soft
Knitting another Twinleaves stole from some Baby Camel that I spun into a laceweight 2-ply yarn years ago.

Birthday socks
2 days ago I realized that my boyfriends birthday is next Monday! OMG, I have a non-fibery gift for him but wanted to make some socks , too. So I am trying to whip out a pair in time, just plain socks in a variegated yarn. But not only that, he has a twin sister who, for the very first time, showed any interest in anything handknit. So of course she will get some socks, too. I decided to make her Wanida by Cookie A. Got one sock knit in 1.5 days, started the second one.

Shaun
My 2-year old LOVES Shaun the Sheep - not that he understands any of the humor but he loves sheep, the music, and the part where the cabbage flies through the window. So I decided to buy the Patons Shaun kit and knit it for him. I think there will be Timmy in our future, too...

Please excuse the bad pictures, I will try to set up a better environment with enough light to take decent pictures.
Enough chatting - got to get back to the socks...

New skills

On the needles

The toddler sweater I started recently and blogged about in my first blog post proves to be quite the adventure. I have tried 2 new techniques and they seem to be working out quite nicely:


I used double knitting for the edging instead of the stockinette stitch hem broken up by one purl row I usually use. I find it to take a little longer but I prefer the edge - it looks really neat and is so easy to do.

I am knitting set-in-sleeves right onto the body. I have thought about doing this often, but it's the first time I am actually trying it out. I think it works well, but I need to wait til after blocking for the final result.

Off the needles

Potpourri socks are done! I think blogging about them made me finish them - it only took forever...

Garter rib socks are done also, and very cozy on my feet.













Oh, and I finished Unique Melody in time to give it to the recipient on the weekend. Very nice pattern, and the yarn is absolutely gorgeous.

I need to finish the little sweater before the weekend because I need to start an Alpaca cardigan that I am knitting for someone else. So off I go...

Here we go

After a long time of contemplating i decided to blog about my knitting, weaving and spinning projects. Maybe it will help me get a little more organized :-)

Needles:
Currently I have 5 projects on my needles,

• 3 pairs of socks in varying states of progress - the green ones are hibernating because I hate knitting socks with Drops Delight, the colours are beautiful (matter of taste, of course), but I decided that socks with a singles yarn are not for me! The red ones are lovely, and the pattern is interesting (from Knitting socks with handpainted yarn) but after the first excitement it's a little tedious. However I want to wear them so they must get done! The third pair I love, even though they are also knit with a singles yarn (Meilenweit 100 Magico)... I used a simple garter rib pattern which makes for a perfect fit.

• 1 lace shawl - trying my hand at designing a semicircular lace shawl. I am knitting it with some of the most beautiful hand dyed silk yarn from Walk Collection

• another lace shawl, Unique Melody, for a friend, knit with the incredibly soft and beautiful Merino/Cahsmere yarn from Squoosh Fiberarts.The pattern is cleverly designed and very easy to memorize.

• 1 toddler sweater for my son. I found this great color pattern to use up one skein of Cascade Heritage 150 Paint plus some grey sockyarn as the background color.. No stranding for this pattern! I will design it as a shawl collar sweater with set-in sleeves that are picked up and knit top to bottom.

My spinning wheel is working almost on a daily basis, and I will update my current spinning projects in the next post.