The pattern on the leg and the top of the foot are from the Hermione Everyday Sock pattern, but I used my own ‘recipe’ for the sock. The yarn is Rhichard Devrieze – Peppino. One skein is 65g, which might be enough for a pair of socks, but I didn’t want to risk it, so bought two skeins. I’m using 2.25mm knit pro zings (magic loop method).
Filed under Knitting, Sock Knitting, Yarn Stash
I have bought a few of Kate’s knitting books – Colours of Shetland, Yokes, Inspired by Islay and The West Highland Way – and I am currently knitting Braid Hills Cardigan. I also follow her blog. I was very keen to read this book as I find her knitting essays to be thoughtful and eloquent.
I wasn’t disappointed. This is a very personal memoir of a person who had a stroke and their subsequent rehabilitation and recovery. It is a positive and thought provoking look at illness, feminism, disability, ability, knitting an design. It has made me think about the world and how I move through it with my able body. It has made me think about the design of the objects in my life and how U put up with poor design (because being able-bodied I can). For example, my sewing table is the wrong height and the gap for the chair is in the wrong place, inconvenient but still usable. However, I notice I don’t sew as much as I would like.
Every chapter was interesting. I kept thinking this is my favourite only to move onto the next one and think ‘no this is my favourite’. It made me think about brain injury and how because it is invisible we might not be as sympathetic or as accommodating as we should be – for example, when we are in a crowded space behind a slow moving person, etc.
It also made me think about community – our local community, our knitting community, etc and the connections we make.
Filed under Book Review
I started working on this house late last year to use as a model for my girls, but soon realised it was going to take a long time and that they wouldn’t have the patience to finish it. I wondered if even I had the patience (dedication) to finish it, but when I added the back stitch the design popped and now I feel quite motivated (I doubt it will be finished this year).
The design is from the 2016 Family Circle Christmas Special – you might still be able to find the pattern here.
I bought the plastic canvas from Spotlight and I am using 6 strands of DMC floss, 2 for the backstitching.
Filed under Cross Stitch
I finished my Christmas socks. The yarn is the Christmas yarn from WYS. I just did a plain sock – twisted rib cuff, eye of partridge heel flap and I used Kate Atherley’s wedge toe instructions (I like how the toe is rounded rather than pointy).
Filed under Knitting, Sock Knitting
Bayeux Tapestry by Carola Hicks
I have always been fascinated by the Bayeux Tapestry and one day I will get to see it in person. I find it fascinating, but also I want to know about the people who made it. What were there lives like?
Here is the blurb …
The vivid scenes on the Bayeux Tapestry depict the events leading up to the Battle of Hastings in 1066. It is one of Europe’s greatest treasures and its own story is full of drama and surprise.
Who commissioned the tapestry? Was it Bishop Odo, William’s ruthless half-brother? Or Harold’s dynamic sister Edith, juggling for a place in the new court? Hicks shows us this world and the miracle of the tapestry’s making: the stitches, dyes and strange details in the margins. For centuries it lay ignored in Bayeux cathedral until its ‘discovery’ in the eighteenth century. It became a symbol of power as well as art: townsfolk saved it during the French Revolution; Napoleon displayed it to promote his own conquest; the Nazis strove to make it their own; and its influence endures today.
This marvelous book, packed with thrilling stories, shows how we remake history in every age and how a great work of art has a life of its own.
It took me a while to read this book – not because it is difficult (It has a chatty accessible style), but there is a lot of information. It is split into 6 sections:
There is information on the possible patrons, lucky escapes (Napoleon and Himmler), various people who drew it and studied and some even made replicas!
If you are at all interested in textiles and social history, you will find this fascinating.
Another review
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2006/mar/18/featuresreviews.guardianreview5
Filed under Book Review
My Lady’s Quaker
I kept making mistakes on this quaker motif…
Finished version from Jardin Prive
The one in the top right corner.
I have put in some tacking lines – I hope this fixes my counting issues.
Filed under Canvas Work, Cross Stitch
Christmas Socks
I am still working on my Christmas socks – although I might have to move onto some secret squirrel things before I get finished.
I went to Knit Purl – it is a beautiful store. Definitely worth a visit.
And then on the way back to the come I passed Laneway Quilts – so I had to pop in and bought more sock yarn (of course). I am so amazed that two stores can co-exist so close to each other in a relatively small community.
Filed under Knitting, Sock Knitting
Christmas Sock Progress
I have turned the heel, but still to pick up the stitches for the gusset.
Yarn: Fairy Lights from WYS, I am making the pattern up as I go along (very vanilla though).
Check out the knitted and crocheted poppies at the War Memorial in Kings Park.
Filed under Sock Knitting
My Lady’s Quaker
As someone who prides themselves, on my ability to do maths – this cross stitch has humbled me. The motif in the top right I must have stitched at least twice.
The pattern is My Lady’s Quaker from Jardin Prive – 32 count Belfast linen, DMC threads (Black and a Variegated Red)
Filed under Cross Stitch
Fairy Lights Swatch
A new start. This is Fairy Lights from West Yorkshire Spinners (it’s the limited edition christmas one). I bought it directly from them and it arrived within a week.
I am using my Addi Crasy Trio needles (size 2.25mm) and my gauge is 8 stitches/inch.
My original plan was to knit something with a bit of texture – maybe a cable, but the colour pattern is interesting, so I am just going to knit a plain vanilla top-down sock.
I am going to cast on 66 stitches and knit a 1 by 1 rib for 2 inches (although I might do a twisted rib).
Filed under Knitting, Sock Knitting
