FO Friday - Pink Socks

These were finished a little while ago, actually, but I'm trying to pace myself with the posting, and thought I'd wait for a FO Friday to share these.

I really really like these socks and have been wearing them quite a bit, off and on (depending on the weather of course). They are knitted in a simple top-down stockinette pattern with a short-row heel, but working with the Lorna's Laces sock yarn was such a pleasure, and patterned yarns always make projects go quicker I think - as you knit you wait for the next colour change and before you know it you've done another inch.

Knitting these has also been hugely fascinating to the clan of boys - each of them, at some point, came and inspected the socks, and when they were done they all tried them on and decided that they'd like a pair too. So there we go - I guess that's my next project(s) all lined up... In fact, I've already started with a pair for boy #3, but I'll share those another time. :)

Sharing with Tami's FO Fridays. 

Yarn Along - Pink Sock update

I've made good headway with the Pink Socks and due to a major organising session of my yarn stash I even a) discovered the second ball of yarn so I will definitely have enough and

b) I think I may have discovered the identity of the yarn - Judging from a label I discovered in one of the baskets that doesn't seem to fit with anything else I think it's Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock, Colour 630, Bittersweet. 

I finished sock number one yesterday. There are some errors - that's what you get from not following a pattern properly - but I felt too lazy to correct it and it won't impact on the wearability of the socks at all. If they were a present for someone else I might have bothered, but I'll wear them anyway and to be honest, the mistakes are barely noticeable at all. 

Concerned about another bout of 'knitters-block', I swiftly cast on for sock #2 and, despite a meeting last night, even managed to knit a little more. At this rate it won't be long before I will be able to wear these! 

Unplanned...

Things don't always work out the way we want them to. I was going to give a progress report today, or rather, yesterday, but with one thing and another I don't really have much to show for. Yes, the pink socks are progressing at a fairly steady rate and I've even managed to turn the heel during a brief post-dinner knitting moment at my lovely friend Amy's house, but a just-turned-the-heel-sock isn't all that photogenic so it doesn't make for a very amazing progress picture. I think I shall wait a day or two until I photograph it again.

Crafting has been slow this week. I've had work, obviously, and various lengthy meetings too, and then there were evening engagements, which always means that valuable crafting time is lost. Then boy #2 went on his first ever residential trip and promptly had to come home again that very evening with mild concussion because he ran into another little boy while chasing around. He's fine, but that whole incident obviously made for a rather exciting and knitting-free evening! At least the poor little lad was able to go back the following evening after a day of observation at home. I felt rather bad for him missing out on all the fun.

I've done some thinking about the blog, though. I'll give it a few weeks of course to see if I can truly get back into the habit of posting regularly, but if so I'll have to think about some changes.

1) the name needs to change - I don't even live in Middle England anymore! So that means at the very least a new banner.

2) I think I could do with a tighter framework for the blog. It at once provides some structure for regular posting and it can help me stretch my crafting and photography habits a bit. I've already started this with #simplethingssunday. I like the idea of capturing and posting something from the week, a moment, an activity, something simple yet memorable. It's a lovely way of celebrating the end of each wonderful week, a way of taking stock and of looking back and reflecting and appreciating.

I think, though, I could do with a few more of these. Perhaps not for every day - it's nice to have a bit of freedom too, and I may also not be able to update quite THAT often! I'm contemplating adding a couple more set days, though. I may do Soulemama's This Moment Friday because it's another way of stretching my photography skills and appreciating those little moments. I'm also part of a few Flickr photography groups, so something from there may well feed into the blog too.

And then of course there are the crafting updates. Perhaps I'll reserve a day for those too. That should bring me up to something like this:

Monday: 

Tuesday: WIP Update Tuesday

Wednesday:

Thursday:

Friday:  This Moment 

Saturday:

Sunday:  Simple Things Sunday

You can take the girl away from the crafting but you can't take the crafting away from the girl...

... or something like that.

I've been quiet these past few years. A busy family life with three little boys, a husband, two cats and two chickens, and an equally busy working life will do that to you.

That said, I've not been completely idle on the crafts front. Granted, it's taken me a while to finish even small projects, but the littlest monkey of the clan is 2 now (Already! How did that happen?!) and is showing signs of becoming ever so slightly more sensible and less prone to totally random and erratic behaviour, and boy #2 has joined boy #1 at school now, and it feels like there is a little more room to ... breathe, craft-wise. I've been going to a lovely spinning group, the Beretun Spinners in Barton. The group meets once a month on a Saturday for a whole day of spinning and crafting goodness and although I'm not able to go every month it's been so inspiring to see such wonderful crafters and spinners. Plus of course the sheer luxury of having a few hours off and just to myself once in a while.

Plus, I've been knitting. For far too long now I've had this project on my needles:

It's the Tea Leaves Cardigan (there is a link from Ravelry but I can't be bothered to look it up!!) and I'm knitting it in Rowan's Rowanspun DK in burnt orange. This is a discontinued yarn (sadly, as it's fabulous), but I have a good stash of it. It knits up beautifully, but with this and that, the project has still been languishing in the knitting basket for absolutely ages. I've recently picked it up again and apart from the finishing rows and button holes along the front edge and the adding of a couple of nice buttons it's complete! I can't wait to wear it!

All encouraged by the prospect of finally finishing a WIP I've also picked up an ancient sock project again. I can't even remember what this was supposed to be, because i never got beyond the cuff of sock #1, but I've decided that the pattern is so cheerful that I'll just turn this into a really simple pair of stockinette socks.

Well, here's to more crafting once again. I can't wait! :)