My Oren Shawl is part of the collection of the month in this month’s Patternfish newsletter, one of sixteen lacy shawls to knit while the weather is still warm.
I’m really chuffed to be included, particularly given some of the other designers that are featured – go take a look!
Lots of finishing touches being put on things around here at the moment. My Real Ale Socks pattern got finished and published.
The other sock pattern I’ve been working on is also nearly finished and should be being sent to be edited in the next couple of days. Here’s a little peek at the sample before it was blocked:
Also, after nearly 4½ years, we’re finally putting the finishing touches on this flat and, more importantly, after nearly 7 years, we’re putting the final touches on our time in London; come September, we’ll be back in Scotland. This makes me very happy and a bit sad at the same time and also somewhat terrified since there’s lots to do before we can move!
…that I ran out of yarn.
Fortunately, I managed to unravel enough of my swatch to finish the sock.
Now to finish the pattern for publishing!
… but which end am I going to reach first, the end of the sock or the end of the yarn?
Tune in later for the exciting conclusion!
I’m currently waiting for a horde of tradesmen (two) to descend and wreak havoc on the house (measure some windows and prepare some walls to be painted). In the meantime, I’m taking advantage of having the house to myself to try and get some designs that are nearly ready to be published actually ready to be published (or at least sent to the tech editor).
I had hoped that I might even be able to get some decent photographs of the designs today but it’s been pouring with rain since about 10 o’clock and shows no signs of brightening up enough even for indoor photographs so those will have to wait for another day.
The first design (that should be ready to be edited by the end of today) is the cuff-down version of my Irish Stout socks. You would think that writing up a pattern for knitting the same socks in a different direction would be easy (or at least I did) but it turns out that’s not the case, even though knitting them was a doddle.
The other design is another pair of socks, this time inspired by a London landmark. I’m ridiculously proud of this design (which is the knitting that you can just see in the corner of the first photo above). It’s one of those designs where the yarn and stitch pattern have come together beautifully and exactly match the vision that I had in my head when I started. Of course, that just made it all the more upsetting when I lost the first sample that I knitted, probably somewhere on a train between Glasgow and London. Anyway, my period of mourning is now over and the second sample is well underway so these should be available soon too assuming I don’t lose it as well!
Susan: Alas, poor Sock! I knew him, Horatio: a fellow of infinite style, of most excellent pattern: I hath held him in my hand a thousand times; and now, how abhorred in my imagination it is! my gorge rims at it. Here hung that work that I have knitted I know not how oft. Where be your cuff now? your heel-turn? your toe? your twisting of stitches, that were wont to set the table admiring? Not one now, to praise your own design? quite chap-fallen? Now get you to my lady’s chamber, and tell her, let her paint an inch thick, to this favour she must come; make her laugh at that. Prithee, Horatio, tell me one thing.
Horatio: What’s that, my lord?
Susan: How on earth did I manage to lose the sample sock for my new design somewhere on a train between Glasgow and London? And, more to the point, why hadn’t I taken the proper gauge measurements and written them down yet?
[Exeunt stage left, weeping and wailing.]
As there is no body, a memorial service will be held at 8pm on Thursday, 14 June 2012. No flowers, please.
I’ve got heels and toes on my mind a lot at the moment. I’ve just turned the heel on the new design that I mentioned a couple of posts ago and I’m contemplating starting another pair of my Irish Stout socks.
In the pattern, I recommend using some sort of reinforcing thread for the heels and toes if you’re not using a sock yarn with nylon in. For the sample pair, I used ordinary cotton sewing thread since I couldn’t find anything else that I was confident wouldn’t show against the black yarn. Imagine my delight when I ordered some Lang Jawoll yarn to make another pair and discovered that it comes with its own matching reinforcement thread. (Yes, I know I need to get out more.)
By the way, if you’ve having trouble finding the reinforcement thread, it is tucked right in the very middle of the yarn but it is possible to ease it out without destroying the whole ball — if I can manage it, anyone can! To use the reinforcing thread, just hold it together with your yarn as you knit. You do need to make sure that you’re picking up both the yarn and the thread as you knit into the loops but that’s the most complicated thing about it.
The reason I’m still contemplating starting the socks and haven’t actually started is that I’m trying to decide whether I want to make a top-down version rather than the toe-up version of the original pattern. Another toe-up pair would be pretty mindless knitting but a top-down pair would mean that I could publish an alternative version of the pattern for those knitters who don’t want to knit toe-up socks. It would mean more thinking about heels and toes though!
For readers not familiar with Scottish country dancing, the post title is a reference to the dance, The Military Two Step, which is a lot more fun when performed as an adult at an actual ceilidh than when you’re forced to dance it in your school gym hall. Here’s a video by the Scottish Fiddle Orchestra showing how it’s done.
Things have been interesting around here for the past couple of months. Not in a “would make a good blog post” way, more in a “may you live in interesting times” way. There’s been exam stress, job stress, house stress and very little knitting or crafting; all of which adds up to a very quiet blog.
Things are starting to get back to normal though, including the knitting. There’s a new sock design in progress on my needles using the wonderful Juno Buffy sock yarn in the picture above (which is actually a much lighter blue than it appears). I bought this at Knit Nation last July so it’s about time that it got used for something and, so far, it seems to be a perfect match for the design!
Before Christmas, a company selling a certain brand of Irish stout ran an advertising campaign which implied that men would much rather receive beer as a present than hand-knits. While I know that that is probably true for a lot of men, it’s not true for the men in my family — they would rather have beer and hand-knits, and these socks were my attempt to combine the two.
The socks are knitted from the toe up with a simple cable pattern that keeps the knitting interesting and makes for a snug, stretchy fit. The pattern includes 4 sizes with adjustable foot length and sock height so should fit all but the smallest or largest feet.
Irish Stout Socks are now available from Yellow Ginger Designs and Ravelry.
The way my photography for my designs usually works is that I’ll finish the pattern sample, snap a few rough shots that show the details to go to the editor and then, while the pattern is being edited, I’ll arrange a proper shoot and take the actual pictures that will end up in the pattern. The rough shoot gives me ideas for which shots I’ll need and how hard they’re going to be to get.
Sometimes the rough shoot goes well and sometimes…
And my personal favourite…
The pattern is with the editor now so should be ready to be published early next week, assuming I can manage to take some better pictures!