All the socks...

I've been on a bit of a sock-knitting binge this past week. 

First I pulled out that gorgeous red Regia sock yarn that I bought a couple of summers ago on Borkum, and finally found a good pattern for it. I wanted something with some texture because I tend to prefer solid colours for those kinds of pattern, but I didn't want it to become too complex because, well, I know myself and the sock knitting... I didn't want this to become another endless WIP.

I finally settled on the Hedgerow socks. The first few rows were, not exactly confusing, because it's not a difficult pattern, but I couldn't quite see how it was coming together. It all just seemed really random and looked chaotic. Now, a few repeats into the pattern I can see my way more clearly and it's coming together rather nicely.

While I've been busy with this project, the other day, while digging around in my office, I also managed to unearth another ancient WIP. It was a sock, knitted in purple cashmere yarn, held double-stranded to make a slightly bulkier sock. I had only knitted slightly more than that cuff of sock one, and had then evidently given up because I couldn't be bothered to figure out how to do the heel. I took it downstairs and after digging around a bit on Ravelry I found a dk sock pattern that seemed close enough to my stitch count to adapt. 

My sock had 44 stitches, while this pattern was for 40 stitches, but the heel worked out fine by substituting the 19 stitches for the heel flap for 21 stitches, and the short rows for K9 rather than the K8 required in the pattern. I pretty much winged it, but it worked!



I finished the first sock yesterday evening, and, to avoid another endless delay, cast on for sock two this morning. I very much hope the yarn will be sufficient because it's obviously not meant to be held double-stranded. To make it go further I had started using some left-over Freedom Sock yarn, but now that is running low and I'm using it double-stranded with some pink cashmere. A stylish project this is not, but this yarn is so soft, I'm sure the socks will get a lot of wear anyway, even if I run out of yarn half-way down the foot and have to finish in a different colour! :D

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A Year of Projects

WIP Wednesday

It's been a long time since I've last done a WIP Wednesday / Year of Projects update, with the holiday and the work madness there just hasn't been time!

I have been knitting, but since we've come back from holiday progress has been slow. Every so often I pull my knitting out and knit a few rows, but with all three boys at home quite a lot things have been more focussed on keeping them entertained than on sneaking in knitting time. I do miss it, though, much as I am also enjoying spending some fun time with the kids. 

My most recent project, and the one that is currently the only one to get a look in, is the Boneyard Shawl. When we were on holiday I discovered a tiny little but very well stocked yarn shop. I tell you, I could have spent our entire holiday budget there! Thankfully D was with me, or we wouldn't even have had money left to buy ice creams at the beach... 

As it was I didn't buy much, although I did spend a good long time admiring and petting yarn. Fortunately the shop owner was very understanding and kept on bringing more yarn to stroke and cuddle. :) 

I finally walked away with two balls of Regia sock yarn in bright red - I'd been wanting to buy some solid colour sock yarn for ages, and the red looked so very tempting!

I also bought two skeins of fawn-coloured Seidenstrasse, which is a dk weight 65% Merino, 35% silk yarn and so soft that I just couldn't resist. I immediately knew that this yarn wanted to be a shawl and on the journey back from Borkum I cast on for the Boneyard shawl. 

Progress might be slow, but it's a fun project with an easy-to-memorise pattern that is kept intersting by the continuous shaping. I do have a long way to go though!

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Yarn Along

A Year of Projects

Keep Calm Craft On

Stitch Along Wednesday

Wake Up Wednesday