Where Are They Now? - 2KCBWDAY4

This is a bit of an emergency blog post, a car crashed in to the telegraph pole out side my house (no one was hurt except the pole) so I have no internet access at home at the moment - I find myself with access for a short time now so I'm going to be quick - I really don't want to miss a day of blog week!

I only knit gifts for people who will appreciate the time, effort and love it takes and I'm lucky enough that most of my immediate family fall in to this category. I still have to choose my knits wisely - my mother will not wear hand knitted socks but she will love a scarf or mittens, my boyfriend loves socks but won't wear a fair isle hat... and so on...

I took a quick photo of my mum's coat hooks



Left to right, a scarf I knitted from Wendy Fusion, a Lacy Baktus and an Abbegale

She wears these often and that makes me happy.

Also today is the release date of my Forks Socks, this pattern is now available for anyone to buy



These were the first socks in the When Vampires Knit Socks Club, I can't believe it was six months ago! Sign ups are still open for the next 3 months here

Tidy Mind, Tidy Stitches - 2KCBWDAY3

I am not a tidy person. I'm ok with that. (My mother, however, is not - you can hear the disapproval leaking out of her pores whenever she visits me).

This is where I keep most of my knitting tools.



It's organised chaos - I know whats in there and it doesn't take me long to find it when I need it.

I keep the WIPs that I'm working on in project bags so I can grab one (or two) and shove them in my handbag if I'm going anywhere, and I mean ANYWHERE. Even if it is extremely unlikely I will get a chance to knit I will take knitting JUST. IN. CASE. If I got stuck or delayed somewhere and I didn't have knitting I would be (to put it mildly) annoyed so I very rarely take that chance.

Here are a few of my collection. The lilac Alice in Wonderland was a custom order made for me by the lovely NicsKnots. The Horror one with werewolves and mummies is from The Bothered Owl. The zip-up Skull and Crossed Knitting Needles bag is from PixlKitten



The best and most useful thing I've ever bought is the Knit Kit (I got mine from Hulu) I take it everywhere, it has everything in need in almost all situations, scissors, tape measure, tapestry needle, little cable needle (I added that), I wouldn't be without it.



I keep most of my stitch markers on an old kilt pin, it keeps them all in one place. The Lego ones are from The Bothered Owl, the Pin-up girls are from Knit Girl in Idaho and the little sheep was a free gift from EasyKnits.

Skill +1UP - 2KCBWDAY2

I'm going to talk about a skill I tried to learn - and failed.

Spinning.

When I went to Fibre Flurry in October I took a spinning workshop, (I blogged about it here), to sum it up - I wanted to be good at it. I wasn't. I was ready to give up.



Then I got a lot of support on Twitter (where I was moaning about being a spinning dunce) to have another go, mainly from Megan who runs The Thylacine, she sells seriously beautiful fibre. I joined her fibre club and built up a little stash of fibre, I watched LOADS of you tube videos, I had another go..... and failed again.



Still more encouragement came from Megan, she sent me some little samples that were perfect for beginners and encouraged me to try spinning on a wheel because using a spindle isn't for everyone. I'm sad I didn't get to meet her in person before she moved back to Australia.



Then I got really busy designing various things and the spinning got put to one side. I am determined to learn how to spin though, I'm going to take another beginners workshop at Knit Nation in the summer and find a way of trying out a wheel, maybe Father Christmas will read this and I'll find a wheel under the tree this December....

A Tale of Two Yarns - 2KCBWDAY1

Choosing two yarns to talk about was quite difficult, I went to my stash and pondered. I have a lot of yarn. I could talk about any of them and I like all of them for different reasons, some are silky and soft and others are rustic and 'wooly'.

I decided my first yarn would be Mini Mochi. I love the colours in this yarn, long repeats (which sometimes don't actually repeat, but I can live with that, I don't need things to match exactly). I bought two balls in the 'Baby Face' colour, the pastel colours reminded me of Rainbow Brite, a cartoon I remember fondly from my childhood, I decided to use it to knit my sister a pair of socks for her birthday. Thats when it all started to go wrong.



I hated knitting with this yarn. It hurt my fingers, it split a lot, it was fluffy and there was a limited amount of stretch in the finished socks. I loved the pattern, Baudelaire by Cookie A. I didn't get a photo of both socks but they did get finished (in a cloud of rude words) and I wrapped them up and presented them to my sister.



She proceeded to felt them in the washing machine.

I think it was a sign.

My second yarn is The Knitting Goddess 4ply Merino Nylon Sock, I have more skeins of this yarn than any other and more finished objects made from it too. I like to knit socks and while I am yet to wear a hole in any pair I've made, I like the thought of the nylon protecting me from having to learn how to darn. It's a smooth, balanced yarn and I love knitting with it. This skein is my current favourite (I'm fickle and my head is often turned by new colours) Bollywood, the colours are so vibrant and deep. This will probably become a pair of socks....

Mixalot Socks

This is my brand new pattern - Mixalot Socks (Ravelry Link)



You can buy it here -



There are endless possibilities for these socks, you can knit any combination of the 4 charts and even throw in plain stripes if you like, the yarn is The Knitting Goddess Take 5 Sock Yarn, it comes in 5 x 20g skeins and the colours are gorgeous, you can find it in the shop here



These socks are addictive to knit, I've got plans for at least another 2 pairs!

In other news, it looks like spring is here at last! The sun is shining and the daffodils are bobbing in the breeze, I love this time of year!

Wolf Pack Socks

I'm unveiling this months 'When Vampire Knit Socks' socks - Wolf Pack Socks


The colour of the yarn is most beautiful, it is a mix of browns and greys (with a bit of russet thrown in for Jacob) to represent the different colours of the wolves in the pack.



These socks are inspired by the wolf pack made up of members of the Quileute Tribe who are able to transform in to wolves. The ‘Five Brother’ cable runs down each side of the sock, each on its own representing the five ‘original’ members of the pack, Sam, Paul, Jared, Embry and Jacob and together, the ten wolves who stand against the newborn army at the end of Eclipse, when Quil, Leah, Seth, Collin and Brady have joined. Each strand represents a single wolf and the way they wrap around each other as they travel down the sock represents the strong links between their minds and lives. Down the front of the sock, a twisted cable pattern is inspired by the texture-rich coats of the wolves and a lace paw-print motif wanders down the back of the leg.





Sign ups for the next 3 months are open - here. There are some lovely colours and great patterns planned, come and join in!

Arlena

I am proud to introduce my new pattern - Arlena



This is an elegant lace scarf, it is light, airy and delicate. The pattern was inspired by the linear style seen in Art Deco architecture and is named after a character in an Agatha Christie Poirot novel - partly because of the Art Deco style and partly because I love to watch the dramatisations while I knit!



This is perfect for Spring! The yarn used is The Knitting Goddess Lace Weight Cashmere in Forest Green, you can knit this from one 25g skein and there are some really lovely colours available here - my particular favourites are Jade, Ocean Green and Rose Pink, but they are all gorgeous!

The pattern is available to buy here:

This is the Ravelry Link - Arlena



I really love how this scarf turned out, I have a new found love for lace weight yarn - there is something so beautiful about how delicate and light it is.