Much news on the knitting front!

Hello again - look, look - this is my second post in the month of October! Amazing! Say hello to Mr (or Ms) Sheepie up the top of the page there!

I have lots of knitting goings on to report back on. I decided it was time for a good shake up of projects planned and projects languishing half finished and a metaphorical (and literal in some cases) spring clean of my knitting cupboard seems to have done me the power of good. I can tell because I have in fact got a finished object to show you!

Let's hear it for my latest socks:

(As Kath noted in her last comment I have gone crazy for making photo mosaics in Flickr - they do make everything look great!)

So these beauties are knitted from the Hourglass pattern in autumn Knitty, the yarn is Regia Kaffe Fassett in the Mirage Fire colourway knitted on my favourite 2.5mm bamboo DPNs. If you'd like to have a look at the Ravelry version of this info you can find it here.

I do think this pattern deserves its Knitty rating of extra spicy - it is certainly the trickiest sock pattern I've managed to complete so far. This makes me wonder whether I might have another try at Pomatomus some time as they are rated at the easier piquant level - maybe my knitting has reached a suitable level now to be able to manage them.

That's not to say that I didn't make any booboos on these socks - the first one had to be frogged twice whilst I was knitting the leg but I found that once I stopped trying to second guess the pattern and 'make sense of it' in my head but instead just put my faith in the pattern and followed the instructions everything turned out fine. A valuable lesson to learn indeed. Needless to say I am really pleased with these socks and I love the colours in the yarn too (they are slightly more subdued in real life than in the pictures) - an all round success I think!

The day after I finished the socks I cast on for my next project - one that I am very excited about:

The Adamas Shawl! Free pattern here; Ravelry pattern page here. I decided I really wanted to knit something lacy and warm and cosy that I would be able to get a decent amount of wear out of - Muir wasn't cutting it, I should have known when the yarn didn't turn out to be the colour I expected of it that the project was doomed to failure. So this is a plain brown shawl - no flowery bits (to suit my conservative tastes) - it's been really fun to knit so far. I'm using a very lightweight 100% merino wool from Adriafil for this project - I started off using it single stranded but it was just too flimsy for my liking when it was knit up and so I've started again holding the yarn double. So far so good - I like the way it is looking so far, it's going quite quickly and I am so enthusiastic about the project at the moment that I am hoping for rapid results - I'm not sure how I'll feel once the rows are lo-o-ong - but hopefully it won't put me off too much. Watch this space...

Lastly, a few other bits and bobs that seem worth mentioning... the yarn that I salvaged from Muir will be repurposed and become Firestarter socks; Thermal is no more - the yarn ended up in the bin too, it was already on its third incarnation and once I'd unravelled it again it was so pilled and tangled I decided to put it out of its misery - Thermal is still a favourite pattern of mine though so it make a comeback in a different yarn one of these days; I'm tinkering with knitting a Brea bag at the moment but might start again in a colour other than black so that the cabling shows up better; my Ravelry queue is sort of manageable at the moment - let's hope I can tick off some of those projects to make way for some new ones before the winter is out.

I'll try and keep the updates coming as well...

Back with a Bang

Sort of at least! I can't believe how long it's been since I posted last - where has all that time gone!!?? I've been feeling the blog guilt - but I've not had anything to post about really (this is meant to be a knitting-related blog after all!). But now I've got an FO and that says to me that it's high time I posted to the blog!

Without further ado I present to you a plain and boring pair of socks (hey- it's still an FO even if it isn't that interesting!):

Yup, 68 stitches around plain stockinette socks - 2x2 ribbing at the cuff, short row heel (winged it on the first sock and used some written instructions (from somewhere on the internet but I can't remember where exactly) on the second sock - guess which one turned out best!), standard toe - 2.5mm bamboo DPNs.

Those with elephant-style memories will notice that this is the same Opal Hundertwasser yarn that was on its way to becoming my Sidewinder Socks in the last post on the blog. I'm afraid to say that the Sidewinders had to bite the dust. I finished the first sock - my grafting looked absolutely dreadful... I would have been ashamed to show it to you! Once I'd finished it was clear the first sock was too tight - I couldn't even get it over my heel - pah! It didn't seem worth faffing around with a sock which needed so much of the dreaded Kitchener stitch and turned out too tight despite careful measuring of both my foot and my gauge swatch. So ... I gave up.

I really liked the yarn with it's bright stripes and associations with Hundertwasser so I wanted to do it justice - I figured that a plain stockinette sock would be as good a way as any of showcasing such vibrant yarn. So that's what I did, as you can see from above :o)

There's more I could post right now - I want to try and dig out my pictures of my visit to the Hundertwasser Haus in Vienna (they aren't that exciting but they would tie in well here) and I need to show you my latest WIP - but I'm a bit pressed for time so it'll have to wait. But not for long hopefully! Adieu for the time being.

The incipient springing of spring

Ah... what joy! The weather here in Birmingham at least has been decidedly pleasant and warm for the last two days - I've been longing for it (I feel the cold - a lot!). All of a sudden I am noticing the leaves starting to appear on the trees (especially the horse chestnuts) and daisies and forget-me-nots are back in bloom in the park - yay!

What better way to celebrate all this seasonal cheeriness than with a fitting FO? Here is my version of Elfine's Socks at last:



Details:

Elfine's Socks from My Fashionable Life (Ravelry page here)
Piece of Beauty sock yarn in beautiful, beautiful 'Sweetgrass'
2.25m needles (sock number 1 on Brittany birch DPNs, sock number 2 done using Magic Loop method)

They've actually been finished (and up on my Ravelry project page) for a little while but with their leafy lacy-ness and zingy green yarn now feels like a very good time to post them on the blog at last! As you'll see I've been practicing my techniques by Magic Looping on the second sock (necessity being the impetus here after I lost a second DPN from my set of 5) - I have to say I was quite pleased with how I got along with that way of working, I may well try it again in future. The socks are just a teeny bit tight - but wearable - which I consider a good development in my toe-up sock skills - I've had issues with my cast off being too tight in the past. These socks are definitely a step in the right direction.

My next project is also of the socky variety, but I am going for something a little bit different to keep my interest levels up:



This colourful but bizarre thing is a Sidewinder sock (Ravelry link) using my Opal Hundertwasser yarn. Ever since I saw that yarn I knew I wanted vertical stripes as suggested in the promo pictures. The yarn came with a free pattern (in German) which I could decipher easily enough but it sounded a bit too simplistic to offer a good fit - and the comments on Ravelry confirmed that that seems to be the case in practice and so I turned to Sidewinders. They are really ingenious I must say but there is one major sticking point for me... the grafting... so so so so much grafting - and that is something I'm not terribly good at! The picture here was taken at the end of March and shows almost all of the knitting complete for the first sock, I completed the rest of the knitting quickly enough but I still haven't completed all of the grafting so that I can try the thing on!! Soon, soon.

I have faced an obstacle in the last week though:



I was attacked by a hot griddle pan which has hampered my knitting (and general hand-moving abilities) but I am well on the mend now and if I can get this first sock done I should be able to start the second one over the weekend.

Send good grafting vibes!!

Playing catch-up

I'm sure people are starting to get bored of hearing how busy life has been for me between posts and how that prevents me from posting more often... I'm afraid, though, that that's just how things are around these parts at the moment. The usual demands on my time are the culprits with the added addition of a job interview (playing the waiting game at the moment) and the associated shopping (I am now the proud owner of not one, but two suits - sure I will need them at some point in the future!).

In the midst of all this I have managed to come up with an FO and buy more yarn (the latter of those never seems to be very difficult though!).





Here are my Broad Spiral Rib socks at last - who would have thought something so simple would take so long?! Nonetheless they are lovely warm socks and nice and snug because of the ribbed pattern so that's all good. I much prefer the way the striping worked out on one of the pair but the second sock is not bad either :)

So that's another WIP out of the way... Elfine's Unfinished Socks will be accompanying me off on holiday this week as will this new addition to my stash:



This is two out of the three skeins of Socrates Sock Yarn I ordered from Violet Green in the colourway Dusty Answer. I've never ordered yarn before that has turned out to look quite so unlike its website photograph... the photo I am posting here is really quite a good representation of how the yarn looks in real life - do you think it looks much like its photo on the website? Fortunately enough I actually quite like the yarn in the flesh, purples and teals/turquoises being colours I'm into at the moment so I'm prepared to let it slide, although I think I would have been happier if the yarn actually looked how I thought it would! This is destined to become some sort of lace scarf or stole, I'm not 100% sure exactly what will happen, although I will admit that I am very taken with Muir from Knitty so it might become an adapted version of that. We shall see. I plan to just pack the yarn and some needles and have a play, whether what I come back from holiday with is more than just a swatch or a tangle remains to be seen!

Craft imitating life

Well it looks like its been a while... life has been busy and not always that much fun recently. My thesis is proving tricky at the moment, every small change I want to make seems to necessitate six more changes somehow until I don't know what I'm dealing with anymore - I am working on trying to tame the thing though :o). I was rejected for another job (which I was sort of prepared for but it made me feel a bit sad nonetheless) and was treated to the delightful news that the PhD proposal which I worked so hard on for so long earlier in the year was not even considered (nobody even looked at it!) because of an administrative error that wasn't even my fault - what a waste of time that was! I'm not that upset about not being able to do a PhD this year as I had my doubts anyway but what does bother me (and I know this sounds odd) is how many choices this leaves open to me - try and get funded again next year, walk away from academia forever, stay in my current job, look for a new job (but what?) - I just hate having to be decisive! I would describe my current state of mind as somewhat scattered and I think my knitting projects reflect that to a certain degree...

I was working away quite happily on Elfine's Socks - to the point where the first one was very nearly finished:





(Incidentally the detailed shot of the lace is a pretty good representation of the actual colour of my Piece of Beauty Sweetgrass yarn). But as soon as all the serious making of life decisions wormed its way to the forefront of my mind (against my wishes!) I started making mistakes in the lace and having to rip back all the time - I don't want to ruin these socks so I put them aside and cast on for something a little simpler...



Yes, socks again (of course) but this time a mere 4 row repeat for these Broad Spiral Rib Socks in Trekking XXL shade 100. I'm not really following a pattern; I think I've knit enough socks now that I ought to be able to cobble one together as I go along... so I decided to challenge myself to do just that. I allowed myself to be inspired by Adam Knits!, searched around the Internet for the stitch pattern and just cast on. I've got down to the heel once realised that the stitch count I'd chosen was wrong and ripped all the way back, what you see above is my second attempt with slightly more stitches and which will hopefully make for a better looking and more functional heel. I'll carry on with these for the time being until my brain is in a place where it can cope with something trickier again.

Never fear though, I plan on giving my brain a helping hand to reach that place - I decided I deserved a rest so me and the boyf have arranged to head off on holiday to Spain at the beginning of October - anything academia-related will be banned (thoughts included) so I think I'll be reserving a place in my luggage for the Elfine's Socks - they ought to be safe :)

Of course there are more immediate things that can be done to cheer yourself up in times of crisis and indecisiveness and, hence, cake:



It certainly did the trick ;) - even if only temporarily... I predict more cake in my future!

Lombard Street

Crikey, it really is all socks all the time round here at the moment. I wonder whether whatever I end up doing after my Masters is finally finished will leave me enough time and mental energy to work on something more taxing than socks?

For the moment I think I will have to be content with woolly footwear. Retaining my sanity whilst faced with a lot of stressful work is one of the (the?) main reason(s) I knit - it was when I was studying for my finals that I took up knitting again after a very long break because I needed something to take my mind off university and the knitting bug bit. Looking at things from that angle I think socks are the perfect knit for calming the mind - they are more gratifying (for me at least) to knit than a scarf (and a lace shawl I think would not be too relaxing even if it must be supremely gratifying), you don't have the worries associated with whether a sweater is going to fit, socks are very forgiving in terms of fit and if you end up with something you aren't quite satisfied with it's not too awful because the investment of time hasn't been too great, the last thing that an already unstable mind wants to contend with is the frustration of realising that a much coveted sweater that has eaten days of time in its creation is in actual fact not going to look as good as you thought.

Therefore, without further ado, I present to you my latest socks:









Lombard Street socks from Magknits
Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Sunshine from Cnyttan Patterns
Clover Bamboo 2.5mm DPNs

These socks are a case in point, in some ways I am very pleased with them - the fit is excellent I am very pleased with the way the heels and toes came out (and with the picot edge - first time I've completed a pair with this detail), I love the yarn it suits the pattern brilliantly - BUT the colour, I loved it in the skein but on my feet I'm just not so sure about it, like I said though the investment of time has not been great and I have a wearable finished product (what's the point in being too vain about socks, very few people will see or pay much attention to them unless you want them to) so I will not let this bother me and move on to the next sock knitting adventure. By the way I would certainly knit this pattern again, very nice, exceptionally quick and worked excellently with this yarn (just not in yellow!).

The next sock knitting adventure is as previously mentioned Elfine's Socks using my new Piece of Beauty yarn, beyond that I have a couple more ideas up my sleeve for further socks. I hope no one is getting too bored yet?!

Sockapalooza Synchronicity

Look who else received their socks today! I am so relieved that the socks fit the wearer and that they are otherwise to her liking. A most serendipitous day for me and my pals in the world of sock swapping :) (Have I gushed enough now? - I promise I will calm down soon!)

A photo story

What could be in here?



A pretty little box and an envelope, that's what:



And inside there is a tissue paper parcel and a pretty notelet:



And inside that tissue paper parcel is the best of all...



POMATOMUS SOCKS!









These are my Sockapalooza 4 socks from the wonderful and obviously very talented Michaela, needless to say, I love them :) Thank you so very much Michaela, as you can see they fit perfectly, the yarn is lovely to wear and are they especially welcome after my own failed attempt at the pattern (which resulted in the Monkey socks, so it wasn't all bad).

I am so pleased with what this swap has yielded for me so far - I only hope that the socks that I knitted make it to their intended recipient and please her just as much as I have been pleased with these socks.

Thanks once again Michaela!

Just Rewards

Well, I think I am largely recovered from the rush to get my Sockapalooza socks sent off. Now it's time for the just rewards...

My pal emailed me earlier today with the shipping details (I should be able to track it on its journey thanks to DHL... maybe that's a little too obsessive though?) for my sock package ... it's on its way, it's on its way! I am very, very excited to see what will be inside.

Being the impatient type that I am though I decided I deserved a reward sooner. Hence the arrival this morning of this:

I was rather impressed with the Piece of Beauty yarn I used for my Sockapalooza socks, so I decided I'd treat myself to 100g of the same - although, of course, it is not the same because mine is in the quite fabulous Sweetgrass colour. I love it! It's got more of a yellow tinge to it than my rather blueish looking photos and is, in short, quite luscious. As for a pattern I'm thinking Elfine's socks - inspired by some beautiful examples.

First of all, though, there are the Lombard Street socks to be finished, I'm working on the heel flap of the second sock... onwards!

Mission accomplished!

My Sockapalooza 4 socks have been completed and now sent - phew!

After all the worry caused by my own idiocy (see the previous post!) I managed to get them done pretty much on time.

I worked the second sock with 1x1 ribbing (thanks to Knit-Nurse for explaining first principles to me - much appreciated) and that did seem to improve matters as far as actually getting the sock over my heel was concerned (hopefully the same will be true for my sock pal). So then I undid the 2x2 ribbing from sock #1 and reworked the cuff of that one - thankfully there was just enough yarn left after unravelling the first attempt to rework the cuff without having to join new yarn. Finally a good block on a sock blocking device fashioned from a wire coat hanger left things looking a lot neater. Et voila!

Both socks certainly have imperfections, and, as I say, I am still concerned as to whether they will fit my sock pal (I suppose that is an inevitable problem when knitting for someone you don't know and can't call upon for a fitting), but overall I think the end result is acceptable...

I hope that my sockpal agrees!

Sock stats

Pattern: Falling in Love by Anniken Allis in Magknits Feb 2007

Yarn: Piece of Beauty 100% BFL superwash in Cuban Rose less than 1 skein

Needles: Clover Bamboo 2.5mm DPNs

The next worry of course is whether or not the socks will safely reach their destination... I hope Royal Mail can be trusted. Other than the socks my package comprised the remainder of the yarn in case there is need for alterations (there was quite a bit left but I think the length of the finished socks is not too skimpy), two prime examples of Birmingham's finest delicacies (i.e. a big bar of Bournville and a packet of miniature bars of Dairy Milk - hope sock pal likes chocolate... never thought of that potential issue...) and a selection of 'beautiful' postcards of the area:

Brum postcards don't seem to be very inspiring at all unfortunately, but I think the ones I managed to find are not too bad, one even includes the much vaunted (around these parts at least) fact (?) that Birmingham has more miles of canals than Venice... I've never checked but it's a nice idea!

And so my own Sockapalooza mission has concluded. I eagerly await (with a certain degree of trepidation) news of my sock pal's reaction and of course receiving my own socks... the best is yet to come I am sure!

Has anyone seen a weekend?

What happened to the weekend? It seemed to flash by so quickly I barely noticed its presence! Anyway, although it is a day late, here is the promised knitting update:



I now have one complete Falling in Love sock for Sockapalooza 4 as well as one sock knitted up as far as the heel. I haven't worked on these since I was in Croatia but I shouldn't have any trouble finishing the second sock before the deadline.

I added 2x2 ribbing to the cuff of the first sock and used the sewn bind off as inspired by Knit-Nurse but I'm still a bit concerned about the sock being difficult to get on to the foot. It did fit over my heel (my feet are not that dissimilar in size to my pal's barring foot length) but with a fair bit of tugging - what if it doesn't fit my pal? Eeek! I'm trying to think of ways to lessen the problem but I'm not sure what to do for the best... should I undo the ribbing and just knit another lace repeat and then bind off? Or how about 1x1 ribbing - would that be any stretchier? Or will a damn good blocking sort the problem out? Anyone have any thoughts on a possible solution? It's not the worst problem in the world, it doesn't render the socks completely unwearable but perhaps it would be better if things were a little less tight...



The Lombard Street socks didn't see any action until I got home from Croatia but I've been quite enjoying knitting them so far and they are getting along quite quickly. I will probably finish this first one and then return to the Sockapalooza socks before starting the second Lombard Street.

Things have already progressed since the photo I'm posting here, I have finished the gusset decreases and am heading for the toe. The Lombard Streets have a flap heel and I think I have managed to make my personal best heel on the first sock, it looks so neat and tidy and with not much in the way of unsightly holes - in the pattern the designer notes that it is better to put the instep stitches on hold on waste yarn whilst working the heel flap (as opposed to leaving them on one or two spare DPNs) as this will mean less of a hole at the corners of the heel. I'm certainly impressed with the way that tip seems to have paid off - who would have thought something so simple could make such a difference? I'll have to try it on some other socks and see if it yields the same results.

Anyhow, that's quite enough rambling for now, but, regardless of rambling, yay for knitting content! Hopefully my next post will be just as on-topic!

Wetterbericht

This weatherpixie is meant to show the weather for Dubrovnik (which is roughly where I am heading off to for my hols next Thursday). At the moment it seems appropriate that the yarn that I have chosen for my additional holiday knitting is this one:

Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in the nearly solid colourway Sunshine. Let's hope that this remains an appropriate match - I certainly don't want to escape rainy Birmingham for an equally rainy Croatia - come on weather gods... smile for me!

I ordered the yarn from this website on Wednesday (around lunchtime I think) it arrived yesterday morning at about 9:00am - how's that for service? Most impressive I reckon :)

The yarn is destined to become the Lombard Street Socks from Magknits. I seem to have gone a bit cabling crazy since I started the Falling in Love Socks.... Incidentally I intend to finish the Falling in Love socks before I start the next pair, but it's surely better to take too much yarn on holiday than not enough?

Lovestruck

I decided in the end that I couldn't wait to start the Sockapalooza 4 socks, so I dived straight in after I had finished the first toe-up cotton sock for my boyfriend (so nothing to cross off on the manifesto yet).

As much as I liked the Seduction sock pattern it needed resizing for my sockpal's foot measurements and I wasn't in a fit mental state to work out the maths required. So first of all I tried the Simply Lovely Lace Socks from Interweave Knits Spring 2006. But the twisted stitches did nothing for my lovely yarn so I ripped it out after an inch or so.

I've picked a new pattern though and I've been going well over the weekend, look:



Doesn't the yarn work up well, just plain stockinette looks great and no pooling or any weird effects at all. The front of the sock is yet more exciting and I'm quite pleased with it even though I have made one mistake with the lace chart which I decided not to go back and fix (hope sock pal won't mind!)



Here again (with flash - yuck!) so that you can see the stitch pattern:



The pattern is Falling in Love from Magknits. Haven't changed anything yet but I will be putting some ribbing at the top of the leg as has been done here. I'm definitely loving this pattern and the yarn is knitting up beautifully. I'm excited to keep working on these which is good. The toe of this, my second ever toe-up sock, was much more successful than the first attempt. I used Knitty's Magic Cast-On and remembered to twist my M1 stitches so as not to leave holes when I increased. I must make sure that I can whichever heel option it is I choose turns out just as neatly. There are a couple more lace repeats on the foot before I get to that though...

Under the radar...

... that's where I've been. Stress levels are riding high around here, moving house over the coming weekend and the associated preparations being the major culprit, throw in some trips to research libraries I've had to make for uni, and my general background levels of hassle and it all seems to add up.

So I've been up for some mindless, calming knitting - of course a stockinette sock is just perfect for that, but doesn't make for great photos. Here we go nevertheless:

But wait! The photo tells us that this isn't as mindless a sock as it might be. It is in fact My-First-Toe-Up-Sock (TM)! Inspired to no small extent by My Knitting Manifesto (I've decided to be good, only once I finish the second sock will I cross off the item on the manifesto) I decided to give toe-up a go, and it makes the stockinette a bit more interesting to have new construction techniques to think about as well, especially when the person you are knitting for has size 11 feet (that'd be the boyfriend then). I've found it's gone quite quickly but I'm not entirely happy with this first sock of the pair. I used Toe Method 2 from this pattern by Wendy for the cast on, the cast on was fiddly but actually looks OK on the sock. I used the wrong kind of increases for the toe which doesn't look so good but I will remedy it on the second sock (I know they won't match then but the boyfriend is into function over form when it comes to his socks). I didn't want to do the gusset heel from Wendy's pattern so I used the short row heel from this Knitty worksheet. I've wanted to improve my short row heels since I knit the first one for my first RPM sock (yes the second RPM sock is still stuck in the second sock hinterland). This current short row heel turned out rather holey, so that is another thing I will try to improve on with the second sock of the pair I remember having read about this tutorial from misocrafty so I think I will try to follow it for the heel of the second sock. So there you go that's what I've been up to and what I will be doing in the immediate future.

As for further in the future I am still vacillating over both my summer holiday project and my Sockapalooza socks. Who knows, maybe they will in fact turn out to be one and the same thing - perhaps this is the sensible course (no wonder I didn't consider it before!)

Hey hey it's the monkeys

(Yeah, I know, the title of the post is hardly original - I know at least that Cara at January One has used the same gag and I'm willing to bet shes not alone either - it's just too tempting a thing to want to write when your sock pattern is called Monkey...)

Anyway, without further ado:






Monkey socks from Knitty by Cookie A. Regia Bamboo Colour in 'Jamaica'. 2.5mm bamboo needles (for consistency's sake of course... or maybe just because I have bamboo needles in the right size).

I like this pattern a lot, as I've said before. The socks could stay up a little better but I think this is more likely to be a result of the yarn than the pattern. I think I might very well have to make another pair of these in a Regia wool or something similar - I think the pattern would show up a lot better then as well.

Bandwagon jumping

This weekend I did this:

I'm seeing so many people working on these Monkey socks at the moment and Knit-Nurse finally pushed me over the edge. That and the fact that I needed something other than unpicking Thermal to work on over the long weekend. Why not look here and here for two other examples of Monkey-knitters (that sounds a bit weird!) from my blogroll. I love this pattern and would heartily echo everything that Cara at January One has to say in that respect. The yarn is Regia Bamboo which I originally bought to knit Pomatomus (an attempt that ended in failure and a sulk big enough to prevent me from blogging about it) but I guess working another Cookie A pattern instead is a fair substitute. The yarn has a white thread plied into it which seems to make lace patterns get blurred quite easily but it is just about OK for this pattern. I do like the feel of this yarn though, nice and soft and more comfortable to wear than a cotton blend I think, we shall see how durable it turns out to be.

Of course the other purpose for knitting these is as a warm-up for Sockapalooza 4. The main areas I've noticed in this sock that I'd like to get better on are to have a neater looking gusset - in respect of both the picked up stitches and the decreases (my toe decreases look fine so I would like to achieve a similar look for the gusset decreases) and a neater join at the cuff of the sock. I will work on these aspects in the second Monkey sock and hopefully they will be remedied before I start work on my pal's socks. A few more ideas are coming on that front and I have now been in contact with my pals in both directions, this is getting very exciting!

Happy New Year!

First of all: the best of wishes to anyone out there reading this :)

Second of all my latest FO. I actually finished these in 2006, on 29th December to be precise.
It is of course the Jaywalkers:









There's not much to say about the process of knitting these other than it was great! I followed the pattern without any changes - I even bit the bullet and finally figured out how to do decent Kitchener stitch (as detailed in my last post) so there wasn't any need to change the toe.

I used Regia Canadian Color in shade 4736. A very nice yarn in my humble opinion. I really like the colours and the variegation shows up the stitch pattern of this design very well I think.

In evaluation I would have to say I like these socks a lot, the fit is good especially around my oddly small ankles and heels so they are not half as droopy as any of the other socks I've knit for myself. The only odd thing is that the flipside of the non-droopiness is that I find them quite difficult to take off but that is not the worst problem in the world and worth it when the benefits it affords are taken into account :)

So once again, a Happy New Year to all and here's to a successful 2007.