Monthly Archives: January 2018

January 31, 2018 · 11:55 am

More Socks!

First Sock

I wanted a project I could easily do on the plane and I also wanted something that I hadn’t started so if my needles were confiscated it wouldn’t be a problem.

I decided on socks – plain vanilla socks – although I am going to attempt an afterthought heel. I bought this colour because it is the colour of my girls’ netball team, so either I will wear them when I coach or one of the girls will wear them (probably Miss P).

I am using my Addi Crasy Trio needles – the needles are 2.25mm -, the yarn is Fortissima Mexiko Cotton Stretch  (Shade 59). It is quite rough so we will see what it is like as a sock.

The toe is a wedge toe and I used Kate Atherley’s 3/2/1/0 recipe – you can find more information on Knitty.

I have Elizabeth Zimmerman’s Knitting without Tears, which discusses how to make an afterthought heel (essentially she knits another toe – and it is a basic toe a decrease round followed by a plain round until 20 stitches are left and then she grafts it).

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January 30, 2018 · 4:55 pm

Live Simply – Update

Progress on my Sampler

I have made some progress on this – after a disasterous counting error, which involved much ripping. I am very slow, but it is all about the process rather than the end point.

I have been using the diagonal pin stitch to start, which has been a revelation (no weaving in ends – well at least at the start).

I bought myself a new light with a magnifier (this one). I thought it was like my other light and was charged using a USB cable, but no it has batteries – 4 AAs. It has made a difference but I find it a bit tricky to orient myself, my hands and the light.

I have been watching flosstube and wanting all of the charts they mention, but I already have two on the go and the cost of shipping the charts from the US is prohibitively expensive (I need downloadable PDFs, but I appreciate that it is easier to pirate these than paper charts).

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January 20, 2018 · 5:14 pm

Finished Christmas Socks!

Finished christmas socks

I finished my christmas socks – I think one of them is inside out in the image above.

So now I am going to start knitting a pair of Smooth Operator socks using Fortissima Mexiko Cotton Stretch (in colour 59).

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January 13, 2018 · 5:48 pm

Live Simply

Live Simply – Cross Stitch Progress

I have continued to work may way through my Craftsy class – I now know how to do the pin stitch on linen (brilliant – why didn’t I know that?)

Once I get going, I find this quite easy. I am thinking 32 count Belfast Linen might be my thing. I tried to buy more at Spotlight today, but I had to buy the whole 10m role – that’s $880 – so I said ‘no thanks’ to that and I will buy more from the Crewel Gobelin.

Second Christmas Sock

I am still knitting the second sock – I have reached the toe decreases.

I did a much better job on the gusset this time. I found this article on avoiding holes and it was fabulous (no holes!).

The yarn and the needles have both been great – yarn from passionedflower (on Etsy) and the needles are the new Addi ones.

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January 3, 2018 · 1:40 pm

A New Year

Christmas Sock and Live Simply Cross Stitch Progress

It’s a new year! Happy New Year everyone. I don’t have any resolutions for this year (I never stick to them anyway), nor do I have any crafting goals (they don’t happen either), but I do have a word/theme – Simplify. I hope to finish a few things and not buy anything more (because I am finding my collection of yarn, fabric, embroidery supplies and books over-whelming and anxiety inducing).

I wanted to make a Christmas sock – I didn’t get the idea until a week before Christmas, so it was quite hard to find yarn (or yarn that had some chance of getting to me in time). I bought peppermint pie from passioned flower on Etsy. Great service and the yarn is beautiful – I will definitely be purchasing more for next Christmas (maybe in October?). I am just knitting a plain-vanilla sock – I contemplated attempting an after thought heel, but I wanted something easy that I could knit while sitting by the pool, watching TV etc.

You might notice in the above image that I am using Addi Crasy Trio needles – they’re fabulous. I don’t really like magic loop and when I use dpns I get ladders at the jump between needles, but these are brilliant.

I have also been working on my Live Simply cross stitch. This is the project from the Craftsy class. This is the first time I have used linen (32 count Belfast) and I love it. I prefer the way this looks to Aida. One thing I am struggling with is stitching path – I want to have as few jumps as possible (and I am not even that keen on weaving through the back of other threads to get to the next spot). It is a bit like the network Travelling Salesman Problem. Is there any technique or method I could use?

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