I am so weak!!

I have absolutely no willpower whatsoever. :-( Despite have three "half" pairs of socks (i.e. they all need their partner!) I cast on in my lunch hour today with the Opal Prototype yarn which arrived in the post yesterday. I just couldn't wait to see what it would knit up like.

And I'm really loving it. :0)

Fairly regular random stripes, if you know what I mean ;-)




Today has been pretty stressful. Work was manic - I'm going on annual leave next week so have been trying to clear all outstanding stuff before I go - I finally managed it at about 5.00 p.m. :-(

Then I had to collect my pet rat Robbie from the vet - he's had an operation today to remove a tumour from his side. He coped with it really well but the little sod has already tried to pull out one of his stitches so he's now wearing one of DH's shop-bought socks like a sweater ;-) I can see me staying up with him all night, just to make sure he won't pull out any more. Okay, I'll look like crap in the morning but at least Robbie won't pull any more stitches - and think of all the knitting time I'll get!

Socks ..... oh, and S.E.X.

These socks were knitted for my almost-5-year-old son. He picked the yarn himself at our LYS. It's Sirdar Town and Country (#0102 I think) and is a mixture of greys. It was a little boring to knit with, sort of like watching black and white TV, if you know what I mean. ;-) But he loves them and couldn't wait to wear them to school on Tuesday to show everyone. Apparently, the day before, his teacher showed everyone the socks he was wearing which I'd knitted for him (stripey ones) and he was well chuffed!
And these really knit up quickly - I made one sock last Sunday and the other on Monday, so they probably took about 8 hours in total.

And this lovely lot came in the post today, from S.E.X. I had on Ebay last Friday. ;-) I bought this Opal prototype yarn from beautiful-yarn-and-socks, a German seller on Ebay. This yarn is a new development by Opal apparently so I have no idea how it will knit up (stripey or otherwise) but I can't wait to find out. :0) And the colours are luscious IRL, very vibrant. A nice change after the monochromatic madness that were the T&C socks!

Sahara so far

Well, it's an awful photo ;-) but this is the progress I've made so far on Stitch Diva's Sahara. I subbed with Sirdar Just Bamboo, on 5mm needles. It's a lovely yarn to knit with, has great drape and a lovely sheen. The colour is more dusky pink IRL.

I was unsure about the 3 inches of negative ease in this pattern, as I really don't like garments that cling but wasn't sure if it would look the same if I went up a size. Anyway, I bit the bullet and went up one size larger than usual and the fit is perfect. I must admit, I didn't try it on as I went because it just seemed like too much faff taking all the stitches off the circ, etc.

I think I'll do the neck border next - DH thought it looked a bit "gappy". Men - sheesh!!
And I'm still not sure whether to do long sleeves or short. Originally I was going to do long but I live in hopes of the weather warming up some day soon and think I may get more wear out of it with short sleeves. Maybe by the time I've finished the neck border I'll have made up my mind .........

Lumieres

That's the colour of the Bergere de France v-neck sweater I've just finished, from their Designer Knits for Women booklet. It's knit with BdeF Prisme yarn on 6mm and 7mm needles so is a fairly chunky knit. But that also made it a quick knit :-) It only took just under 2 weeks from start to finish.

I've had this yarn in my stash for a year so I thought it was time I used it. It's quite unusual yarn, almost like a tube, but it knits up into a lovely warm fabric, ideal for this chilly spell we're having.

I'll be wearing it to work tomorrow because it's blooming freezing there at the moment. Even though the heating is on, I've had to put an extra heater on in my room to keep me toasty warm :-)

How cute is this?

This is just too cute. :-)

This sock blocker keychain came in my welcome pack when I joined the Fyberspates sock club. I knitted the sock toe up with some Posh Yarn Lucia I had left over from the July 2006 sock club yarn, but I can't remember the name of the colourway.

Am I really sad to want a different sock to match all my outfits? Perhaps it's best if you don't answer that question ........................... ;-)

Fyberspates - A New Addiction

I finally finished my knee highs today and love them. :-) They are knit on 2x2.5mm circs using Fyberspates sock yarn in the Ocean Forest colourway. I used the double eyelet rib pattern from page 168 of the Ultimate Sourcebook of Knitting and Crochet Stitches (A Harmony Guide), altered slightly to knit in the round. I think I used almost all 425m of the 100g skein - I was left with a bit of yarn the size of a pea ;-)

I enjoyed knitting with this yarn so much that I joined Fyberspates sock club (http://www.fyberspates.co.uk/index.php?cPath=56_128&osCsid=49b57b518d4f5eba92750d96ed60b86b) and my club yarn arrived in the post today. It's simply gorgeous.

It's 90% alpaca and 10% nylon and is lovely, soft and ever so slightly fluffy. I love the colour and think I'm going to make a pair of socks with the baby cable rib from Sensational Knitted Socks. Can't wait to see what next month's club yarn will be .....