Fabric : Fibre : Family
It seems so long since Father’s Day, and I’d completely forgotten to share these socks with you.
As you all know the drill by now….it’s all about the yarn with these vanilla socks from Regia….and the sun is shining….I’m just going to let the pictures do all the work.
Hope the sun is shining with you…..have a great weekend.
Project notes
| Pattern: | Regia 4ply sock pattern |
| Pattern cost: | Free |
| Yarn: | Drops Fabel |
| Colourway: | Ocean View |
| Purchased at: | Wool Warehouse |
| Yarn cost: | £4.60 (for 2 balls) |
For quite some time now, Summer’s Grandad has been telling her stories about a small mouse named Monroe and his wife, Marilyn, who live in their home and have fabulous adventures.
As a girl with a wide creative streak, she is entranced by these tales.
Whilst I was making Spencer the Pug for Dylan (who’s now called Robertson, for reasons that escape me), it seemed a fine opportunity to make Monroe and Marilyn for Summer.
Obviously, for a project such as this, there is only one designer you need…Julie of Little Cotton Rabbits. I’ve waxed lyrical about her delightful family of woodland creatures before, so this was a complete no-brainer.
Julie’s patterns are not a quick make. They are beautiful heirloom knits and as such need a little work. But neither are they a difficult knit.
You just need to pay attention to her scrupulously written pattern and all will work out. She holds your hand all the way, not just with the knitting but with the sewing up and stuffing too!
And at the end of it you get these magical little animals to delight someone special in your life.
Project notes:
| Pattern: | Boy mouse with a cabled sweater |
| Pattern cost: | £6.75 |
| Yarn: | Bergere De France Calinou |
| Colourway: | Bleu Nuit & Lac |
| Purchased at: | John Lewis |
| Yarn cost: | £7.00 |
Who ate all my time! I can’t believe it’s over a month since I last posted.
Life here is super busy. Isn’t everyone’s?
After many years of battling we finally have some support in place for the children, so have social workers, family support workers, and conferences and workshops coming out of our ears! Funnily enough it’s also led to a friend (also an adoptive mum of a chap with additional needs) and I to realise that there is a huge hole in the market for a one-stop-website for parents and guardians like us.
Over coffee one day, lamenting the lack of such a resource, and wondering why somebody didn’t do it….we realised that we were just the people to fill that gap. Now we are working hard for an Autumn launch. Its exhilarating and exhausting in equal parts, and the steepest of learning curves, but we’re only a month in and getting great feedback, so watch this space.
With all this going on, you can imagine that crafting time is limited….I haven’t looked at a tapestry sheep in weeks, and my sewing plans are gathering dust. I’m slowly working on a waistcoat for Dave, but I’m awfully glad he’s patient!
Thankfully, I have been knitting. Most recently finished are these beauties.
Look at those colours!
Look at those perfectly matched stripes!
Sock perfection! And a happy husband. I’ll take that win!
Of course I have another pair of socks on the needles, for conversational knitting occasions. But I also have Galaxie from Quince & Co. for evenings in front of the TV.
Image copyright Quince & Co.
I’m knitting it in Finch in the colourway Stream.
Image copyright Quince & Co.
Both the pattern and the yarn are sublime. I’m happily doing a few rounds a night and enjoying the making. I’m usually a product driven knitter, so this is a lovely change for me. And it’s nice to be knitting a garment other than socks!
It’ll be ready for Autumn too.
Project notes
| Pattern: | Regia 4ply sock pattern |
| Pattern cost: | Free |
| Yarn: | Zwerger Garn Opal |
| Colourway: | Kim |
| Purchased at: | Black Sheep Wools |
| Yarn cost: | £7.99 |
Whilst the husband, Dave, has always been a big fan of the hand-knitted sock, the rest of the family is starting to get in on the act. Most recently, the lovely Miss Summer.
As she’s growing like a weed at the moment, I decided to go with a tube sock. With no heel, not only are these a ridiculously simple knit, they also last longer as she grows.
These are knitted from the toe up, so although they’re simple, it was a new technique for me. Not a difficult one at all.
And as you can see from the pictures, these are well worn. Summer absolutely loves them and is clamouring for another pair.
**********
To complete the flamingo love, I embroidered the back of a store bought denim jacket for her.
I didn’t have much choice. Whilst we were out shopping she said how much she loved the jacket, but that it would be so much better if only it had an embroidered flamingo on the back. And that would be something I could do for her, wouldn’t it?
You can’t argue with a 10 year old! She’s got the skills of a Hague lawyer, that one!
Project notes:
| Pattern: | Tube Socks For Kids by Jane Richmond |
| Pattern cost: | Free |
| Yarn: | Jawoll (not sure which one) |
| Colourway: | Pink |
| Purchased at: | No clue! |
| Yarn cost: | Who knows? Who cares? ? |
I’ve had some lovely red yarn in my stash for years. Since my last visit to Yarndale, in fact. Which was, according to this wise old blog, in 2013.
High time it was knitted up, I think. Especially as I’m all about the stash busting this year.
I had planned to make it up into the lovely mitts in The Japanese Knitting Stitch Bible, but they called for DK, and this was most definitely 4 ply. (In hindsight, I had enough yarn to use double, but there we go!)
So I put the Ravelry Pattern Search feature to work, and spent a happy while looking at pretty mitten patterns. So. Many. Pretty. Mitts. It was a dirty job but someone had to do it!
In the end, I stuck an imaginary pin in the screen and chose Twiglet Mitts by Martine Ellis. How could I resist this all over lace pattern?
It turned out to be such a good choice.
These were a joy to knit, and are equally joyful to wear. The colour is a deep saturated burgundy red, that goes with all my coats. They are lighter weight than the Kindling Mitts of my last post, but perfect for warmer days when you still need something on your hands. I added a few pattern repeats to make them longer on my wrist. An easy enough modification.
I was always rather resistant to fingerless mitts, no matter how pretty. But as a dog walker, unless it’s so bitterly cold that you need your fingers covered so you don’t part company with them, fingerless mitts are a joy. Clipping leads off and on (not to mention fiddling with little plastic bags when nature calls) is so much easier. I’m a convert!
And if you knit these mitts, I think you might be too.
Project notes:
| Pattern: | Twiglet Mitts |
| Pattern cost: | Free Ravelry Downlad |
| Yarn: | Drops Baby Alpaca Silk |
| Colourway: | Red |
| Purchased at: | Yarndale |
| Yarn cost: | Who knows? Who cares? 😉 |
Still harping on about the Christmas Lurgy, even though we are racing towards the end of February, but it’s all relevant to this story with another happy ending.
Whilst I’d been really sick the week before Christmas, it was Boxing Day when the flu took hold of The Husband. Although born in Somerset, he’s a Northern Bloke by heritage, and made of stern, manly stuff. For him to actually take to his bed when ill is unheard of in the 12 years we’ve been together. For him to be in bed for nearly 4 days was like stepping into the Twilight Zone.
The kids were under the weather and I was still reeling from it, so we hunkered down and worked on getting well. After a few days of this, though, Cabin Fever struck and my cherubs morphed into obnoxious little hellions!
By the evening they’d shredded even my last nerve and I’d sent them to bed, poured a stiff drink and turned to Instagram for solace.
Kristin (@kristinm100) had posted the most adorable pair of mittens, and they hadn’t been lost in the craziness of Instagrams algorithms! I commented and asked if she could share the pattern name.
5 minutes later my inbox pinged and there was the pattern for the mitts.
I’ll admit to being rather overwhelmed by the kindness (although it’s not the first time Kristin has done something lovely for me.) That little pattern, sent across the miles from Canada by the magic of the interwebs, from a woman I consider a friend, but whom I’ve never met, absolutely turned a truly shitty day into a positively magical one.
I instantly set to work to source the perfect yarn, and came up with Blacker Yarns British Classic DK knitting yarn in Grey. This is a crisp, hardy yarn, in the fashion of Shetland wool. The colour is the perfect grey, and whilst I wouldn’t knit this as a sweater next to my skin, for mitts it is cosy, and warm, and, I suspect, will take a bit of a beating!
Now obviously I had to wait for the yarn to arrive, it being the holidays and all, but that didn’t matter.
I was making friendship mitts. Mitts that every time I wore them I would think of Kristin and her kindness.
I’ve got other mitts like this. My lovely Goats of Inversnaid mitts were a yarn and pattern gift from my friend Christian (who lives considerably closer than Kristin). And the hat that goes with them has been commandeered by Miss Button, who also gets to share the love.
It strikes me as nothing short of miraculous that such a simple act of kindness and friendship can result in bonds forged in the shared love of an age old craft. Bonds that transcend age, race, background, education, socioeconomic status and good old fashioned geography.
That a few clicks of a keyboard can lift the spirits of someone thousands of miles away.
They say that random acts of kindness can change the world. That you never know, if you do something small, how big an impact it can have on the recipient.
I have a pair of hand-knitted mittens that are testament to the veracity of that sentiment.
They are a happy blessing indeed.
Project notes
As an aside, this pattern is so beautifully written. Every row is clearly detailed, so even an relatively inexperienced knitter could make these. Those of us with a few yards of yarn under our belts can whip these up in no time, but still feel a happy sense of accomplishment.
| Pattern: | Kindling Mitts |
| Pattern cost: | £3.90 |
| Yarn: | Blacker Yarns British Classic DK |
| Colourway: | Grey |
| Purchased at: | Blacker Yarns |
| Yarn cost: | £4.80 |
Just when you thought it was safe to peep over the parapet…here are more unblogged socks from last year.
I promise this is the last of the pairs I made for the hubby, but Miss Minx has agreed to pose for photos at the weekend if we can squeeze it in. Her socks are much cuter!
However, these aren’t too shabby, if we squint and ignore the mismatching. This was the last ball of sock yarn in my stash and I swear I’m only buying either plain or matching stripes going forwards.
Thankfully the colours in this yarn are so lovely all is forgiven.
The fact that it makes the most perfect stitches also helps!
It now feels rather odd not to be knitting socks. Hubby had so many that over Christmas he went all Marie Kondo on his sock drawer. It’s now only full of socks that spark joy. Thankfully there are plenty, which leaves me free to knit other things.
So I’m swatching for a sweater for me.
And casting on these little beauties for Miss Minx for Easter.
If you’ve never come across Little Cotton Rabbits’ delightful animals before, go, check them out. They are just beautiful!
Project notes
| Pattern: | Regia 4ply sock pattern |
| Pattern cost: | Free |
| Yarn: | Zauberball |
| Colourway: | Not a clue! |
| Purchased at: | Deep stash! |
| Yarn cost: | Who knows? Who cares? 😉 |
Phew. A New Year is upon us and I’m glad. Christmas Chez Stitches was immensely quiet, mainly due to us all contracting flu (including the grandparents) and after opening gifts and eating the feast, we all retreated to our beds.
I didn’t even have the energy to knit, so spent the time between coughing and nursing everyone, curled up on the snuggler with George and some simple embroidery. It’s been most therapeutic and I can’t wait to share with you soon.
However, first up is the only Christmas gift I made last year. Another pair of His Simple Socks by Elizabeth Seidle. I love this pattern so much.
This time, although I used the same 3 ply yarn as the last pair, I knitted on 2.75mm needles, and am so happy with the result. The fabric is soft and elastic and just all round much nicer that before.
The colours are much more subdued too. But these are for Grandad, and he has more traditional taste than Hubs!
Although, to be honest, if he hadn’t liked them as much as he did, I think they’d have had a home here, subdued colours or no!
Project notes
| Pattern: | His Simple Socks by Elizabeth Seidle |
| Pattern cost: | £3.50 |
| Yarn: | Bergere De France Goomy 50 |
| Colourway: | Bleu |
| Purchased at: | John Lewis, Liverpool |
| Yarn cost: | £4.50/ball |
Oooooh it’s nearly Christmas. And whilst I’ve all but avoided the madness of making lots of gifts, I have finished all the sock yarn in my stash. More on those later, because my treat to myself for achieving this was to, finally, knit the Mind the Gap yarn from Trailing Clouds over on Etsy.
I bought this yarn at the beginning of August, following a tip from my lovely friend, Julia, who is happy to enable all the stripy sock knitting Chez Stitches. Within minutes of her text arriving with a link to the yarn, it had been ordered. And it’s been sitting patiently in a drawer until all less exciting yarns had been converted into socks.
I haven’t been so patient about wanting to knit it. But, it was well worth the wait!
The yarn is just delicious. Its 75% British Blue Faced Leicester, 25% Nylon. Crisp enough to get really nice stitch definition, yet squooshy enough to feel lovely in the hand. It’s not remotely splitty, and slips off the needles at just the right rate (I knitted these on KnitPro Symfonie DPNs).
The colours…..oh, the colours are deeply saturated and sublime, and represent each of the colours of the different lines on the London Underground. The name of the yarn is a reference to signage and announcements on the London Underground, which extoll you to “mind the gap” between the train and the platform, and therefore avoid untimely mutilation, or worse!
Thankfully, the yarn is dyed in such a way that you get perfectly matching stripes all the way through. Joy!
This is the first project in a long time that I was sad to finish. I really wished that Trailing Clouds did other, equally luscious, colourways, because I’d be sure to purchase more yarn from her then.
If you like a stripy sock then I cannot recommend this yarn highly enough. It’s just wonderful.
Hubby is overjoyed that they’re finished (to be fair, I did make him wait!). I’m trying to get him to save them till Christmas. I’m not sure I’ll succeed!
And speaking of Christmas…this time next week it will all be over. So I’m ducking out until the new year. 2017 has been a bear! Whilst we have much to be grateful for, and many blessings to count as the year bimbles to it’s close, there have been trials and tribulations this year that I am glad are behind us.
So for the rest of the month I shall be spending family time, chilling out with my loved ones, and edging slowly into a new year that I am hopeful will be gentler and lacking in drama.
Let me take this opportunity, then, to wish you and yours a peaceful and joyful Christmas, and a new year filled with happy adventures and dreams come true.
I’ll see you there!
For her birthday, we bought Miss Button a pack of bulky yarn, as she’d said she wanted to learn to knit.
I’m fairly sure I don’t need to tell you what happened to that yarn…..
Yep, I knitted it.
There are surprising few patterns out there for tweenagers that require bulky yarn.
Funny that!
But I came across this pattern for a shrug and set to.
It’s a lovely pattern and a quick and simple knit. I’ll admit it’s a tad roomy for Miss B at the moment, but that’s not a bad thing. She’ll get lots and lots of wear out of it. It’s a great throw-on for cooler days that don’t yet need a coat. And, for a girl with a passion for all things flamingo, it’s just the perfect colour.
I altered the neckline so that there is a defined top and bottom to this shrug.
The yarn is squooshy and soft and reminds of that Minky fleece fabric.
Not something I’d want to wear, but a hot pink, squooshy, fleecy shrug is quite the thing when you’re 9 and 3/4s.
Project notes
| Pattern: | Tiny Terrapin by Sara Gresbach |
| Pattern cost: | $6.60 |
| Yarn: | Rico Essentials Big |
| Colourway: | Neon Pink |
| Purchased at: | And Sew What, Chorley |
| Yarn cost: | £3.79/ball |