Friday is here again ! and yet another week has flown by. This week seems to have been very busy with lots of unusual things happening. Nothing amazing but just ‘out of routine’.
I’ve been knitting most evenings and had some little knitting sessions scattered throughout the week. However, I’ve not much to show for my efforts. I think, I’ve almost exclusively worked on my Winter Rose Socks by Helen Stewart. I love the pattern and it’s a dream to knit with my lovely Natural Born Dyers sock yarn in Seapinks. The yarn is a Hugh Twist BFL/ Nylon and beautifully soft. The colour is stunning. Lots of varied shades going on.
I’ve had lots of issues, th main one is my very tight knitting gauge. I’m trying to loosen up and feel I have made some progress but there are still problems with the finished size of the sock. The foot part seems fine on each of the socks I’ve completed (three in total !) however, all the sock legs are much too tight. I can get the sock on - with a bit of a struggle but it’s not good. The pattern becomes distorted and spoils the overall look of the sock. My plan B was to go up a needles size on the leg and go down again for the foot but I don’t have the right size needle. I should have acquired it at the beginning of the week ! This would have been a simple solution.Plan C is to knit the larger size in the pattern. I like the fabric I’m producing with my needle size ie 2.25mm and think, I will be OK with the larger size because my gauge seems to bring everything down, at least one size. I’ve just started the leg lace pattern on the latest sock and will complete one more sock and see how it looks. I’ve not had the heart to rip out the first sock so it’s there inspiring me to keep going. When I get my second sock completed the way I want it, I’ll rip the original out and make another.
It’s my ‘way’ to rip things out if they are not exactly right, so I’m fine with all this. If I get a bit frustrated, I will switch to another project for a while. My only slight irritation is that I could have been well into the yolk of my Coinneach (read back last week for details) cardigan. I think, I may have done a couple of rows since last Friday. Maybe I need to do a few more later today.
Something to balance all this ‘gauge angst’ and giving me huge pleasure is using my new little progress keepers (see my photo story, bottom left). I made these a few weeks ago and have started to add them to all my knitting projects. Check out one of my previous posts here for more on the progress keepers/stitch markers back story. This one is a slice of layered chocolate and raspberry gateau with a strawberry cream swirl on the top.
My other news for today is to share a couple of birthday treats from earlier in the week. I bought myself a couple of yarn treats while on a trip to Edinburgh.. A 4 ply Rennie yarn from Shetland in the Stonehenge colourway and a Hebridean/Mohair from Kathysknits in Blue. I did see a couple of lovely Burnt Orange colours from Kathyknits too but she didn’t have the 4 ply. I have some 4 ply undyed yarn here at home and am planning to dye some up to compliment the two new yarns. I have an idea to knit a cardigan using the two new yarns as part of the design. I’ve a few ideas based on some patterns I already have. I’ll be revealing my plans when I have something to share.
My other yarn acquisition is a lovely present - yarn for walking/boot Socks. This is yarn I’ve used before for thick socks and it’s lovely to knit. The pattern, I’m planning to use, is a simple cable design. It knits up very quickly and I know it will fit. No lace to mess up here !
That’s it for this weeks Fibre news. Yet again, no spinning or crochet !
Thanks for calling in today. Have a great weekend. I’m hoping to be back next week with some photos story style posts. It’s Easter Holidays here so we will be out and about. Bye for now.
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