Sarah's Fault Socks...

...that's the official title of my new knitting project! I have no idea if this project will ever be complete, but it's been fun so far. This is what I've been up to today:



Yes, it's the beginnings of a pair of socks. It seems that Sarah put something contagious in that PIF parcel! In no time at all I found myself adding a lovely, shiny set of knit picks 3mm dpns to my Options order - even though I hate dpns. Then I found myself browsing the web for sock yarn, found some on Etsy that I liked - even though I hate using thin yarn (I also surprised myself with the colour choice, but loving it so far). Finally I found myself searching Ravelry for a free sock pattern (I mean, is there anywhere else to look these days?). I definitely wanted to do toe up so that if I got fed up I could just make them really short!! I also like to idea of trying them on as you go. Found a pattern that I'm hoping I can do called Cut & Paste Socks.

I'm getting on remarkably well considering! My hands can be quite temperamental when either holding something small or holding something tight for a little while but so far they've not complained too much. To be honest, I'm finding the small dpns easier to manage than larger ones - although I've never used 5 before now, I generally use 4, so not sure if that has anything to do with it. I have a feeling it won't last...

I'm quite happy for this to be a pick-it-up-when-I-feel-like-it project. It will be quite interesting to see how I get on.

Itchy!!

Well, would you believe it? It's weeks now since I lost my oomph. Not just my knitting oomph, my everything oomph. I've been slogging away at, well, everything, as you do, but sans-oomph.

But it seems, since finishing the hoodie, my knitting itch has returned! I've been itchy all day, although haven't been able to scratch it as we've had lots on today. Not sure when I'm going to get a chance actually, but I'm very happy it's back.

Finished item: Santa Cruz Hoodie

Really love this little top – although it’s not as little as it maybe should be. I’m feeling quite nervous as it’s currently in the washing machine...I ummed and arred about hand washing it initially but decided that since it’s 100% acrylic and machine washable, maybe I should just go for it. I’m hoping this smoothes out some of the stitching as there’s a section on the back of the hood where I made a mistake that is a little loose now, and the grafting along the top of the hood isn’t completely invisible.



I made a few changes to the pattern, which I’ve mentioned on my Ravelry project page. I need to think about the balance between this blog and my Ravelry pages, I’m never quite sure where to put what!

The main thing I did was use a substitute yarn which gave me a smaller gauge. To avoid writing the pattern totally, I (and my Dad) worked out that stitch-wise, although I was aiming for the 6yr old size, I could follow the stitch count/instructions for the small adult size. The pattern handily included detailed pictures of the individual pieces and their dimensions. This meant that I could knit to the right lengths for the smaller size. I know, it all sounds very risky, but it seems to have worked out – I was nervous when I got to the raglan seams, as I hadn’t really taken those into consideration!

Other things I did include knitting the moss stitch cuffs in the round to avoid the need for a seam, which means they can be worn down, or folded back. The rest of the sleeve was knit flat.

I also did the hood a little differently. The pattern indicated knitting the hood minus the moss stitch ending, then picking up around the edge and adding it last. I didn’t fancy doing that, so I just knit the hood complete with edge. As the top of the hood is grafted to avoid a seam, it meant I had to graft moss stitch! I tried not to think about that bit until I needed to. When I did get up to it, I googled but nothing jumped out. I eventually remembered how to cheat graft!! This involved knitting an extra row or two in a contrasting yarn, then doing the graft with the live yarn, following the lead of the contrasting yarn. I started by doing two rows in contrasting yarn, but I found it a bit confusing, so I pulled out one row and that made it better to see what I was doing. I made the graft, then pulled out the contrasting yarn. All worked out well! I’m sure it’s the only way to go about grafting moss stitch.



I’m fairly sure the top is going to be a little big for my nephew, but he’ll grow into it...I just hope he doesn’t need to grow into a new shape!!

ETA: It came out of the wash looking the same size (yey/phew) and far more lovely, soft and fluffy. The stitches have evened out a little, but my tention on the graft was obviously a bit tight (still doesn't look too bad though). I really love it. It's so soft I just want to snuggle my face into it!

Pay it forward: Fabulous socks!!

There was a parcel waiting for me when I got home from work today. It was my Pay it Forward gift from the lovely Sarah! You have no idea how excited this made me. I've been quite down in the dumps of late, the timing couldn't have been better!

Even though the anticipation was killing me, please be impressed that I savoured the moment and managed to take a 'before' photo:



Isn't it such a beautiful and inviting package :o)

And this, of course, is the 'after':



How gorgeously fantastic are they!! (the photo just isn't doing them any justice) The colours couldn't be more perfect. I'm so impressed that people can make such small, perfect and beautiful things. Thank you so much Sarah, you are a very talented knitter! I really love them and am wearing them as I type. I loved the knitting based card that you sent too (just peeping out in the photo above), my other half is going to roll his eyes when he notices it on the mantelpiece :oD

A further 'after' shot will follow...when I've shaved my legs ;o) and the light is better.

My own PIFers should not loose hope! I'm almost finished, so hold tight, it won't be long now. I still only have two, I'll be looking for a third soon. If anyone is interested, sign up on the original post here.

That's all for now from this cosy toed Von, I need to get some knitting done as I've got a Birthday deadline to meet.