I went to Dunsborough for the weekend. It was fabulous – very relaxing.
While there, I bought souvenir yarn (yes that is a thing) from Text and Co – this fantastic store that sells books and yarn (heaven).
Sock Plans
I have started a new sock using Fortissima Mexica in colour 908. I am using 2.75 mm zings.
I have started with a 2 by 2 twisted rib, which I really like, however I cast on 76 stitches (seems too many, but that was what my swatch suggested) and I want to use crosshatch lace, which is a multiple of 6. So I need to drop to 72 stitches. I can rip out what I have done and start again.
Rnd 1: *K3, K2tog, YO, K1; rep from *.
Rnd 2: *K2, K2tog, YO, K2; rep from *.
Rnd 3: *K1, K2tog, YO, K3; rep from *.
Rnd 4: *K2tog, YO, K4; rep from *.
Rnd 5: *K1, YO, ssk, K3; rep from *.
Rnd 6: *K2, YO, ssk, K2; rep from *.
Rnd 7: *K3, YO, ssk, K1; rep from *.
Rnd 8: *K4, YO, ssk; rep from *.
This is what I have from The Sock Knitter’s Handbook by Beth Parrott and Charlene Schurch.
Filed under Knitting, Sock Knitting
Cinnamon Stars
I have been working on my Cinnamon Stars cross stitch. It’s going quite well, slow but steady progress.
Filed under Canvas Work, Cross Stitch, Cross Stitch, Embroidery
Finished Object – Socks
I finished my Christmas socks! They’re short socks for wearing in summer (it was 39 degrees yesterday!).
The yarn is from Daffodil Road – in the Poinsettia colour-way.
I used my usual needles (Knit Pro Zings – I really like these needles)
The sock is just a rib, heel flap and gusset and a foot. I used Kate Atherley’s toe construction.
Filed under Knitting, Sock Knitting, Yarn Stash
Halloween Cat Is Finished
I finished my Halloween Cat cross stitch (from Satsuma Street). I started in June 2018, so that took quite a while to finish!
Next up Cinnamon Stars from Plum Street Samplers.
I have purchased all of the ‘called for’ threads (the weeks dye works and gentle arts ones) and I am using 32 count linen in a grey shade
I bought this fabric at a craft fair and it had no information apart from count and size.
Filed under Cross Stitch, Cross Stitch, Embroidery
Update – Mid Jan 2022
I have been working on a few of my projects. Miss P’s blanket is progressing (slowly), I switched to Knit Pro Zing needles and it has been much nicer.
I am on to the second sock of my Christmas socks, turned the heel, so now it’s just the gusset, the foot and the toe (I am maybe a third of the way through)
And finally my Halloween Cat cross stitch is very close to being finished – I just need to finish off the last cat and do the back stitching (there’s not much of that – whiskers and mouth).
Filed under Canvas Work, Cross Stitch, Cross Stitch, Knitting, Sock Knitting
The Fabric of Civilization – Virginia Postrel
I saw this at my local book shop and had to buy it.
Here’s the blurb…
From Paleolithic flax to 3D knitting, a global history of textiles and the world they made
The story of humanity is the story of textiles — as old as civilization itself. Since the first thread was spun, the need for textiles has driven technology, business, politics, and culture.
In The Fabric of Civilization, Virginia Postrel synthesizes groundbreaking research from archaeology, economics, and science to reveal a surprising history. From Minoans exporting wool colored with precious purple dye to Egypt, to Romans arrayed in costly Chinese silk, the cloth trade paved the crossroads of the ancient world. Textiles funded the Renaissance and the Mughal Empire; they gave us banks and bookkeeping, Michelangelo’s David and the Taj Mahal. The cloth business spread the alphabet and arithmetic, propelled chemical research, and taught people to think in binary code.
Assiduously researched and deftly narrated, The Fabric of Civilization tells the story of the world’s most influential commodity.
This book is fabulous – well written and researched. It made me think about string, banking and weaving in a whole new way. There are chapters on Fiber, Thread, Cloth, Dye, Traders, Consumers and Innovators. Each chapter is a deep-dive into its topic.
If you are at all interested in Textile History (or just History for that matter), then this is the book for you. Easy to read, but very informative.
You can also listen to Virginia Postrel on this Haptic and Hue podcast.
Filed under Book Review, Inspiration
Christmas Sock
I have finished one Christmas sock, which I started sometime in December (didn’t write down the date I started).
It’s a short sock, just a cuff and foot and I tried to make the cuff a bit more interesting using a twisted stitch.
Filed under Knitting, Sock Knitting
2021 in Review
This year I concentrated (almost exclusively) on Miss A’s blanket. So, apart from that, I really didn’t finish much.
One pair of socks, a chicken (and a duck), and I worked on A’s quilt and my halloween cross stitch.
Next year I will be working on Miss P’s blanket, so once again not much will get done.
Update
We went to Rottnest for a few days, and I took a little cross stitch away with me
14 count Aida done in the hand. And it reinvigorated my love of cross stitch, so I have been working on my Halloween Cat (by Satsuma Street).
Miss P turns 18 in early 2023, so I have started her blanket. It’s the same as Miss A’s but in purple shades.
The last is my Christmas sock, which is going to be short – for wearing in summer. It was 44 degrees yesterday (that’s 112.2 for you Fahrenheit people), so you can see why I need short socks. The yarn is Poinsettia from Daffodil Road Yarn. I bought it last year, but I imagine they do something similar every year.
I have tried to do an interesting rib – I used Gaughan’s Twisted Stitch Source Book and did a K2P2 rib, but the K2 has a right twist every second round. I think it is very effective.
Filed under Cross Stitch, Cross Stitch, Knitting, Sock Knitting