Van Gogh Sock 2 - Progress!

I've started my second Van Gogh sock! (This is the second of eight I had intended to finish by the end of this year, now extended to next year.)





This is the Cafe Terrace 5431 colour, I can't tell you how much I love this yarn. I love it so much I'm sitting on my hands to stop myself buying 5 (or 10) more balls of it so when this pair of socks wears out (and this is Opal sock yarn so it will probably last a LONG time) I can knit another pair and never be without a pair of Cafe Terrace socks. I need a stash of this colour, even if it never gets used, I need to KNOW I have it, just is case.





Look how beautiful the cuff is, all those little stars....

Sibell

Introducing my brand new pattern: Sibell

They are cuff down socks with a lace and twisted rib pattern.





You can buy the pattern here or the Ravelry page is here.


I've been working on these for a while, I worked on them at knit night and at Andyfest (thanks to a NicsKnots Miya bag with handles which mean you can knit while walking around with your yarn safely dangling from your wrist)


And at a Free-running show I went to at Croome Court:








They seem to be evoking memories of 'back to school', I think it's a combination of the way I've styled them (Dr. Martens) and the yarn colour that is reminding people of white cotton socks and school shoes. Some people remember more fondly than others!

Challenging

I have documented my compulsion to JOIN IN before. I like to join in. I like Knit-a-longs, I like mystery knits, I like themes and I like a challenges (or QUESTS as I have recently been calling them).

I like all of these things, but generally I'm not very good at them. I get distracted, have too many deadlines and usually don't finish on time (if at all).

One of my favourite challenge/KAL type things is the Sockdown in the Sock Knitters Anonymous group, I haven't had time to participate for a while but I used to love it. There are techniques and featured designers for each month, so there is always a lot of choice, the underlying idea behind the group is to challenge yourself so you can tailor your choices to what you find challenging.

This year I'm honoured to be a featured designer in October and I'm designing a mystery sock for them in January. The theme that month is Flora and Fauna, I'm trying to choose my yarn, at the moment I'm hovering between these three greens (I don't need an excuse to knit more green socks but if one comes along like this I won't say no!). It could be I go in a completely different direction though, you'll have to wait until January to find out...



If you like sock knitting you should go and join in, it really is fun, no one will shout at you if you don't finish a pair and if you succeed you'll have a pair of socks to show for it (or many pairs depending on how successful you are!)

I'm also joining in with the Local KAL which is part of The Fat Squirrel Speaks podcast, the reasons for joining in are thus:

1. I love her face.

2. I need a warm hat, I'm going to Shetland soon and Jen tells me 'It's always hat weather in Shetland'.

3. I like the idea of supporting local businesses and I've got this lovely alpaca yarn from a day I spent at Toft Alpaca a few years ago.



It's about 50 miles from me and it's such a lovely place, full of lovely alpacas and lovely people and of course lovely yarn. My hat will be simple and stripy and WARM.

Banach Mittens

Autumn is upon us! We didn't really have a summer here in the UK, it was the wettest one for 100 years and it was mostly cold too so I'm quite happy to move on and leave it behind.

Autumn is my favourite time of year, there is loads of seasonal produce, fires get lit, blankets come out and knitwear gets worn in abundance.

In my garden some of the apples are ready:



I'm lucky enough to have 5 apple trees, some are cooking apples and some are eaters. The fruit is a bit smaller than usual because of the aforementioned weather but unlike the pear and plum trees, which were a complete failure this year, there are more than enough apples to go around.

Autumn also means the release of the Twist Collective Fall 2012 collection and I'm honoured to have a pattern included - Banach

They have a hemmed cuff and colourwork section followed by a twisted stitch cable pattern on the back of the hand, the palm of the hand has seed stitch detail. They are just right for the impending cold weather - the only thing worse than cold hands are cold feet!

The photographs and styling are stunning, I've been on the look out for a yellow mac ever since I saw this one!

I used Dragonfly Fibers Djinni yarn and it was such lovely stuff to work with, the colours are beautiful and the yarn is bouncy and gave the mittens such crisp stitch definition. You can get a kit including the colours I used for the mittens shown here. I'll definitely use this yarn again, maybe for a pair of socks next time.

You can buy the pattern from the Twist Collective site or from Ravelry - it's great to be able to keep the pattern in your Rav library. I'd love to see any finished mittens or mittens in progress or even just theoretical colour choices in my Ravelry group.

All photos belong to the very talented Carrie Bostick Hoge - when I grow up I want to take pictures like her.