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New socks, new obsession?

Posted on by Alice Neal

Well, look. First things first, hi! It’s been a while. With one thing and another (and massively glossing over what a very peculiar place the wider and smaller worlds are at the moment), like most I’ve been busy keeping my head above water while my own little part of our planet settles back into some kind of semblance of normality (I laugh out loud at that word!) But I’m sticking my toe gingerly back in the water – do people read blogs any more? – and aiming to document the small part of it that is more or less within my control 😉 I have, after all, never stopped knitting / drafting / designing, but not yet managed to write everything up…

Whilst the intervening years have seen most of my boys find gainful employment and leave home, some of you may remember my Teddy – he starts a SEN college course next month and I’m really not sure where to put myself about it. My tiny Ted is 6 foot 3 and magnificent. He has spent most of the summer modelling Pokemon out of polymer clay, and is a major fan of overworking a piece until it is large enough to mean a substantial loan may be necessary if he wishes to continue… And our little granddaughter (now 3) came to live with us back in February 2024. A funnier pair you never did see.

And so to begin! I took a deep dive into my old posts on various social media platforms. I needed to find where I first came across the lovely Laura (aka The Lonely Knitter now also Folk Yarn Studio). It turns out it was 4 years ago, shortly after my family and I landed up on the Suffolk Coast, and when I was very excited to learn that she was local and organising a mini-yarn festival in my new hometown.

I found these images:

Fast forward four years, and a fortuitous chance meeting with a lovely lady who attended a couple of my workshops found me joining Laura’s Stitch Night. It has become the thing I look forward to most in the week.

Laura’s hand-dyed yarn is beautiful, but even better she runs occasional workshops at her studio and I signed up to dye some myself. It’s been many years since my mini-foray into dyeing my own with natural dyes (onion skins, blackberries etc) and the world has taken many twists and turns since then, pulling me in other directions. So I was delighted to sign up for a few child-free evening hours with lovely (friendly, welcoming) like-minded people, splashing squirty bottles of acid-dye into tubs of virgin yarn awaiting transformation.

It looked a little underwhelming to me, especially when I saw what everyone else was creating, but literally 24 hours later, at our Stitch Night, Laura had it dried and wound into skeins ready to collect. And I was utterly thrilled.

Needless to say, other WIPs took a back seat (mostly… I mean… come on… let’s be real)

I started with a lot of texture (top pic above), but once I got to the plain stocking stitch and saw the beautiful natural stripes, I decided to frog it back and just leave a little eyelet lace top to allow the colours to show themselves off more fully (bottom pic above) and my first pair of socks is now complete. (Meeting up with Laura seems to end up with knitting socks in heatwaves – it’s an August thing?)

The contrast heel is a Dutch heel and, obvs, they’re a top-down sock, in this case knitted one at a time.

I’ve written it up here, if you fancy making a pair of your own 🙂

I also now have the wherewithal to experiment with a little dyeing of my own at home, but that’ll have to wait until spaces have been created: physically by a little shake-up we’re currently plotting, and mentally by nursery and college starting in a couple of weeks time.

So, if it interests you at all, watch this space…

In other news… when the aforementioned space does finally arrive, I am going to get my head around writing these up:

Dots and Stripes. Dotty Stripes.

Posted on by Alice Neal

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No. This post is not about socks.

Although, I have to confess, I could gaze upon the beauty of the beauteous boot socks in perpetuity. I enjoy looking at them almost as much as I enjoy wearing them. And this very frosty northern morning, they are peeping above the tops of my boots and keeping my toes toasty. Over tights, no less. Yes. That’s how I roll.

Oh, and I enjoy wearing them almost as much as I enjoy knitting them.

But I digress.

There is of course a limit as to the number of boot socks you can possess (although as previous posts have explained – teenaged boys + washing machine + wool socks = unmitigated disaster) and I still have quite a lot of scraps of the various yarns I used for creating them.

Added to which, my wardrobe of preloved goodness has expanded this winter, and my colours are all rather autumnal.

I  needed a hat to match.

So I made one.

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After which, beloved son number 2 requested one (he has a very chilly wait at the bus stop on his way to college in the mornings).

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And I really love the colours he chose (and banana cake. And coffee).

After which, I made another one just because I could.

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(I also made the lebkuchen because they’re my favourite and the blooming shops have stopped selling them now that Christmas is over. If you love them too, go and check out this recipe. It’s really simple and they’re bloody delicious).

If you have 100g or so of aran weight wool in a few colours and fancy a spotted, dotted, striped hat of your own, you can find the pattern here. And if you do make it, give me a tag? I do love to see it!

Happy Hump Day <3

Tumbling Vines Sock Pattern

Posted on by Alice Neal

Good morning!

Monday.

Awfully windy out there, up here in the North-East. Today is a day for ALL the knits. And there’s very little that brings me more gentle pleasure than knowing that the majority of what I’m wearing was fashioned with my own fingers.

Today, it’ll be boot socks, sweater, hat, mittens, cowl… The works.

And I’ve found myself thinking… it might be time to knit a skirt? Does that work? Any experiences you’ve had with successes or failures would be greatly appreciated. Will you spur me on to try it? Or will you tell me I’m a madwoman for even thinking of it? I can’t decide if it’d be a neat thing to have, or end up looking like a baggy nappy (or diaper for our friends across the Pond)…

Anyway, enough ramblings and to the point of being here today (I haven’t had my coffee yet, and last night was not the greatest in terms of unbroken sleep, so forgive me if I seem to meander into side-roads with little regard for having lost my way). If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook, you’ll know I’ve recently come up with a new sock pattern, which I have now created both in Drops Nord yarn, and in Fondant Fibre glittery sock yarn. I’m littering this post with pictures so you can see how they came out, and if you fancy giving them a go yourself, you can find the pattern over here. Or from Yarn Canada here.

So feast yer eyes on the lacy creations.

Now.

Kids at school.

Coffee and time to finish writing up my Stashbusting Hats (which most definitely need a new name).

Have a glorious week. Once you’ve got over the fact that Monday has rolled around way too fast.

<3

Double Pattern Heaven

Posted on by Alice Neal

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So, at long last written up and published, ladies and gents I present to you the third (and fourth, as it happens) designs in my super-chunky range using Paintbox Yarns Wool Mix Super chunky (which comes in affordable 10-ball packs and 5-ball packs, for your delight and delectation) 😉

And on my way to designing the vintage pink jacket / cardigan pictured above, I began with something a little smaller, to work out my design before I got cracking. I started with a little bolero, but I didn’t like the way it ballooned out at the bottom. Although it looked gorgeous on the hanger, on the body it gave the impression of a bit of a humpback, which was really not part of the vision. So I frogged it back a way and took it in to finish up with the rather pretty wraparound pictured below:

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Both of these are super-quick projects, given the chunkiness of the yarn, and the patterns are available together as an instant download if you are already a patron here. (See also all the other patterns available for instant download by clicking on the tabs above).

Otherwise, you can find the double pattern here.

Happy knitting!

Lilac and Lime Bobble Boot Socks

Posted on by Alice Neal

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We know about my Beauteous Boot Socks, don’t we?

You see, in the summer, I’m in flipflops, and autumn, winter, spring, I’m in boots. I’m not sure I actually possess any shoes.

And in the winter I get chilly tootsies, I’m afraid, so big chunky boot socks are the way forward for me.

And we know I’m a Mama, too, right? And I have some rather fabulous teenagers who, I am delighted to say, have been helping me with the laundry.

See, the thing is… Well… Put it this way: Note to self – Don’t put wool socks in the general family laundry basket. Keep them separate and wash them myself.  I am now the proud owner of some very tiny, thick, heavily felted boot socks. Which, I confess, are a thing of beauty in themselves, but entirely useless when it comes to wearing them now… sigh.

So, it was time for a pair of superwash socks, which even if they are put in the machine a bit hot, are far less likely to end up quite so tiny.

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I had this really gorgeous yarn in my stash (I do love colour-changes, as you may have noticed) Lang Yarns Merino+ Color which is pure merino. One of my favourites. And I had some Drops Nepal, too, which only occurred to me rather too late was something that will also shrink (I’m a little tired, I confess, which often leads to a rather slower brain 😉 ) so having put a little research in, I would suggest Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran (also a superwash) in Citrus to match the ones I made.

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This weekend, like most just now, has been a bit gruelling. My youngest needs meds through the night, 3-hourly, and I couldn’t get back to sleep after the 3am dose. My lovely husband is off in the woods with his bushcraft buddies on their monthly trip, so I turned on the light and got on with my socks, Netflix and headphones. And having started them yesterday lunchtime, by lunchtime today they were finished so they’re a fairly speedy knit, too (though I don’t recommend the crazy early starts if you have the option to snooze merrily till the sun is well and truly up).

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(If you fancy a crack at these, you can find the pattern here).

In other news, I’ve got to the heel-turning point on my second Toast sock, so I’ll be updating you on those in the not-too-distant, though I’m rather hoping for a better night tonight, so it may be a few days yet, fingers crossed!

Right – back to school-runs, teatimes, the daily grind and squeezing in a few stitches where I can.

Have a gorgeous week! <3

Getting all your cats in a row

Posted on by Alice Neal

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I’ve used Millamia naturally soft merino quite a bit of late, so it seemed the natural choice when I wanted to design a jumper for my youngest, little Teddy. He’s quite a sweaty little beast so I didn’t want anything too chunky, after all.

I have begun to love developing charts for intarsia and fairisle. I consider myself a relative novice, but a very enthusiastic one, and I was especially pleased with the rows of stripy cats.

With raglan sleeves and a rolling edge neck, the ‘Kitty Cat’ pattern is now available over on loveknitting.com AND if you’re quick, the Kitten Mitten pattern is free for the rest of this month.

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To bare or not to bare…

Posted on by Alice Neal

… *snigger*

I have two patterns for you.

That’s rather the point.

One, I hinted at at the end of my last post and I cannot tell you how thrilled I was with the way it turned out.

Knitted in stunning Louisa Harding Amitola, with its shiny silken sheen and delicately changing colours, and Millamia naturally soft merino which holds a stitch like no yarn I’ve used before, the stripes kept me hooked throughout the working of this piece. I was forever impatient as to how the next colour would look blended into the rest.

Here, you can see what I mean:

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For the body, I used Millamia naturally soft merino in Putty Grey and Louisa Harding Amitola in Dark Rose.

The ribbing on the cuffs, neck and button band are in the same Millamia wool, in the shade Storm.

It is knitted in the round, top down, with a circular yoke and I blooming LOVE it. It’s light enough to grab as you run out of the door, and warm enough for a snuggly extra layer. I used mother of pearl buttons BUT whilst I think they look beautiful, I have already had to replace 3 broken ones. They are terribly fragile 🙁

Anyway, here it is, in all its glory:

If you fancy having a crack at it yourself, you can find the pattern here.

 

The second piece…

…is all together more risqué. But it was equally fun to create.

Knitted and crocheted in Cascade Yarns Ultrapima 100% cotton in sand and taupe, which look to me like a dull gold and silver, it produces a really lovely, airy but sturdy fabric. Perfect for super-hot days / evenings. I would recommend a little dress tape, though – no running after the kids in this one! 😉

So, you’ll need basic knitting and crochet skills for this one and you can find the pattern over here if you fancy giving it a go.

In other news...

This King Cole Galaxy with integral silver sequins became another piece of knitting / crochet fusion which I may well get around to writing up. It’s light and airy and perfect either on its own or as an off-the-shoulder top layer.

 

And, this jumper in Drops Karisma will be written into a pattern soon, too.

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And this cardi, knitted in Drops Karisma and a beautiful hand-dyed yarn all the way from The Flying Kettle in the ol’ U S of A (look her up on Instagram, her stuff is gorgeous!)

Oh, oh, AND, this sweater:

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I have an AWFUL LOT of pattern writing to do 🙂

By the way, do you like my t-shirt?

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Right, I’d best get on and start writing, then! TTFN <3

 

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A Spring Poncho

Posted on by Alice Neal

… in cotton and linen.

Ooh, I love how this knitted up.

I wanted to try something other than wool. I’m a bit of a yarn snob and only really like using natural fibres, but since Mother’s Day and my mum’s birthday fall in the same week this year, and my troublesome Mum is allergic to wool (aaaaaaagghh!!) I thought I’d better have a play with something else.

So I bought myself some Drops Bomull-Lin – a 47% / 53% blend of linen and cotton. It calls for 5.5mm needles, but I wanted something rather more drapey, so I used 6mm circulars. And drapey it jolly well is.

Humble beginnings:

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(and do forgive my stitch markers – in spite of having half a million of the pesky things, I invariably end up using knotted scraps of waste yarn)

Hiding away:

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I’m totally addicted to House just now. On Season 2. It’s the perfect knitting companion 🙂

Beginning the border:

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I chose a ridged eyelet lace for this one.

See? It progresses:

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Et voila! C’est fini…

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If you fancy having a crack at it yourself, you can find the modestly priced pattern over here.

This is not, however, for my mum. I have something else in store for her, so no surprises spoiled, you’ll be enormously relieved to hear 😉