Needle karma

Those Brittany needles and I just did not get along.

Either I trod on the sock and broke it or the crash this morning as husband was putting the kettle on broke them. Leaving knitting on the floor is not only naughty it is reckless and the result is that I have to put my socks on hold.

They are very beautiful.

I'm going to order a new pack of 2.25mm needles. I found the Brittany ones too blunt and sticky so I might treat myself to some hyper expensive Lantern Moon sox stix. I have two sets already (blonde 2mm and ebony 2.75mm) and a set of dpns (rosewood 4.25mm) so I'm already au fait with spending oodles of cash on toothpicks. While I'm at it, I might by some 3.25mm ones aswell. Makes sense really, not to pay p&p twice.

So, I have three 2.25mm birch dpns going spare. Let me know if you could make use of all or any of them and I'll send them over. How's that for needle karma?

FO - Mallard Socks

How wonderful - I have been wearing lovely BFL handknitted Mallard socks all day.  They are yummy scrumptious. 

The path to completion has not been without it's ups and downs.

 

Can you see that? I got a bit too excited and tried them on when I shouldn't have. One of the needles snapped so I had to finish with only 4 and definitely couldn't try them on again. I gave up on doing a fancy design - I just wanted to knit and wear them.

With the leftovers I've started on some little socks for a nephew or a different baby if the nephew's feet are too big.

I'm so excited about socks that we wound two big cakes for the next two pairs - one for me and one for him indoors.  They are both hand dyed by Fyberspates. The yarn on the left is 75% wool and 25% polyamide; the yarn on the right is 100% merino. 

I've had a chance to try out my new sock needles now.  The Knit Picks ones are longer, slippier and pointier than the Brittany ones which makes k3tog easier but also split the yarn more.  I found it interesting that the Knit Picks ones didn't say where they're sourced from.  The Brittany ones claim to be sustainably forested. I'm not sure where I'll buy my next needles from - perhaps Jeni can make it easier for me and make Fyberspates a one stop ethical yarn and needle stop. I have my eye on some cappuccino and lime biscuit pie colourways but as I just found a moth in my yarn drawer I'm on a mission to knit more yarn and store less. No more purchasing for me until I've made at least three more pairs of socks. Hooray/Sigh.

Oh yes. Made a decision last week to move out of the community I'm living in and get a real job and real house near my family. Can't wait to move. It's been a great experience but I've realised I have lots of needs that won't be met here even though it seemed that they could be.  Will probably fetch my knitting machine soon aswell.

Mallard Socks

I have been having a sucky week but hey, snow.

Fortunately I have mallard socks to take my mind off things.  I was so excited on Wednesday night that I could start them and swatched in front of Hairspray (love it, love it) but then had a panic.  The yarn is so beautiful - I don't want to ruin it!  I was away for the weekend and decided I couldn't take the socks with me because I didn't like the swatch so I'd need to take my pattern book and note book with me and I only had ten more minutes to pack and the bag was really heavy etc etc. And I was stressy from work.  So, I took some other knitting that I will show you later and let my little brain think a bit more about what I want.

This is the swatch. I just don't like the colour and pattern combination. I'm not sure why but it speaks to me of the 60's I think. I don't dislike the 60's though.  I've offered to make purple socks for Chris with it.

Absolutely yummy yarn though. Blue faced leicester. Which reminds me - I need to research sock reinforcement thread.

I've had a plan for a while to knit a sock in reverse stocking stitch because I like the pattern on the inside of stripey socks as much as the pattern on the outside. Noone I know, however, likes to knit endless purl (rather, to purl endlessly), so I'm making them inside out! Not sure what the plan is for the heel but I'll tell you when I get there.