Dots and Stripes. Dotty Stripes.

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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

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

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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!

Super-Boxy Sweater

I have at long last written up my pattern for my dolphin blue chunky sweater.

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It’s a super-speedy knit and, given the fact that we had snow at the beginning of this week here oop north, you might yet get some use out of it before Spring makes its presence more permanently felt!

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It’s designed to be roomy, oversized, boxy and a ‘throw on’, and can be worn up on the shoulders, or pulled down for an off-the-shoulder look. And it’s also designed to be worn mid-hip so you can pair it with jeans or a skirt very easily, or with a long tee underneath for a layered effect.

And it’s written in two oversized sizes, in Paintbox Yarns Wool Mix Super-Chunky, in my case in dolphin blue.

You can find the pattern here, or it’s available for instant download along with a growing back catalogue which is also instantly available when you join me as a patron here.

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Sandra Dee Socks

Some time ago, I bought some beautiful Blue Faced Leicester superwash sock yarn from The Knitting Gift Shop. They’re a hop, skip and a jump from me and run by a truly lovely couple dedicated to producing as locally as possible.

But it’s taken me this long to drum up the dedication to commit to knitting and designing lacy socks and, following the success of my Dolly Socks, I decided it was time to put this beautiful stuff to work.

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(I have another skein of it waiting for me, and am currently working up the courage to try dyeing it myself, for a truly unique project – any tips or pointers for yarn-dyeing gratefully received!!)

So here they are, anyway. My Sandra Dee Socks (click the name for a link to the pattern, or check out the patreon links up at the top, for info on instant access to this, to February’s patterns, and to all future patterns):

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Happy knitting, lovelies! <3

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Lace, we’re gonna need more lace…

Just a little update.

High on the beauty of my Dolly Socks, I cast on a new pair immediately.

These ones are being knitted with Blue Faced Leicester washable sock yarn I bought from The Knitting Gift Shop.

I’m casting the second on tonight, and I’m already a bit too excited about how they look.

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What’s on YOUR needles this week?

Happy Knitting, lovelies <3

 

Dolly Socks ftw

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Anyone who follows me on Instagram will know I’ve been playing a lot with socks, chunky and fine, of late.

And one of my newest discoveries is Toast, a washable sock yarn with cashmere by Debbie Bliss.

My first foray with them produced these

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(which I will write up next 🙂 )

But before I do, I got a bit excited about this yarn’s squishy softness and the way it holds the integrity of each stitch: it was clearly a contender for a bit of lace…

So I picked up the needles and a gorgeous ball of silver yarn, and

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I didn’t need to get beyond this to know these were going to be beautiful.

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And they’re NOT boot socks. These babies deserve to be seen.

So slip them on, dig out your mary janes (my chestnut beauties are Duckfeet. You may have heard me singing their praises before), and BRING ON THE SPRING!

If you fancy knitting a pair yourself, you can find the pattern here (or check out the patreon page up at the top, for info on instant access to all future patterns).

Happy Knitting, Lovelies <3

Oh, a couple more, then…

Aphrodite has been wearing her sweater since yesterday. It’s not especially cold, but she seems rather taken with it and objects when I try to take it off.

So today I coaxed her to a spot in the house with a little more light, so you could see it in all its glory. Or her. See her in all her glory.

I give you Aphy, in her Juno’s Friend Jumper.

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