May 7

FO: Paint the Town scarf

Two FO posts in a row, am I on a roll or what?! My Paint the Town scarf came off the needles, got a wash, a block and is ready to be pranced around.

Pattern: Paint the Town by JumperCables
Yarn: Hedgehog fibres sock in Canal House and Seed, and Undercover Otter Squirm Sock in Blackheath Woods

The most appropriate summary of this project is stockinette for days.. nay, actually, it’s stockinette for months. I started this scarf due to a massive craving for a simple, no brainer project that would still result in something I’d love to have. I would say the project fulfilled all of these requirements, but mostly has cured me out of my stockinette craving. Seriously, hand me some lace or cables right now!

But I really do not want to complain, because gosh there is a lot to love about this project. Obviously the yarn. Oh the yarn!! Both the hedgehog fibres and the undercover otter yarn are exactly what I was looking for and they go fantastically well together. The subtle semi-solidness and light speckles are super pretty and the resulting fabric is so light and drapey.

Which brings me to another thing I love about this, I feel like I can wear this in a million different ways. It’s really hard to judge from the pics, but this thing is massive. MASSIVE I tell you. I don’t have exact measurements, but it’s way taller than myself, so I’m guestimating it to be well over 2 meters. This means I can either wrap it around my neck as a normal scarf or go full blown coccoon and wrap up my entire body in it. Which is brilliant and practical.

Anyway, like I said, stockinette cravings are gone, new projects have been cast on, but more on that next time (there might also be a pile of new yarn..).

Apr 28

FO: Wheatly socks

Hurray, my weathly socks are done! Granted, they look more autumnal than spring-like, but to be fair that is exactly what the weather is doing as well. So ACTUALLY, they are super seasonal and this was obviously very intentional.

Pattern: Wheatly socks by Kerri Blumer
Yarn: Spun Right Round sock yarn in the Bug Jar colourway

Each of these socks were actually knit up super fast individually, for some reason there was just some massive gap between making them. But, if you are looking for a textured sock pattern that is interesting to make, while still having a super simple to memorise repeat, then these are definitely the socks for you. It would take me a couple of repeats to remember the pattern and then I’d basically go through the sock in no time.

This is already the third pair of socks I’ve made with Spun Right Round yarn (previous pairs include the super fabulous Prairie Spring and Vinnland socks) and it just never disappoints. There’s always a perfect balance between colours, and each skein I got almost literally spoke to me. This might make me sound mad, but these skeins knew exactly what sort of socks they wanted to become, and I was just following their command. The yarn is really soft, but I can tell you from my previous socks that they stand the test of time fantastically (both when it comes to colour and wear).

And now I am about to cast on some crazy colourful summer socks, because surely the weather will get inspired by that and follow suit!

Apr 17

Knitting here and there

Hello lovely people, I hope you are having a relaxing Easter holiday. For me Easter mainly means a long weekend, which I’ve been trying to use as relaxation time. I also figured it was a good opportunity to take stock of my knitting. For some reason I feel like it’s been ages since my last FO, when in fact it’s only been 1 month. One obvious reason though is how spread out my knitting currently is.

Last week, seemingly out of nowhere, I got bitten by the hexipuffs bug again. I started the Beekeeper’s quilt in 2014 (oh my..) and don’t have all that much to show for it, with only occasional bursts of hexipuff knitting. In the meantime I’ve hoarded up a semi impressive stash of left-over sock yarn and I was feeling the urge to start knitting scrap yarn socks. It didn’t feel quite fair though, knowing this quilt was hopelessly waiting to be finished. So in just a couple of days I managed to add 18 new hexipuffs to the collection.

This brings the total amount to a not so super impressive 54.. Which doesn’t sound all THAT bad, but put together it would barely fit my two cats comfortably (granted, they are a bit on the larger side..). So I’m still nowhere near finishing this project, but at least I already feel good that it’s not completely neglected anymore.

I’ve also been working on the Paint the Town scarf, which I think is now getting decently scarf sized. Plus, I finally decided on my third colour! Initially I was going for a lovely purple, but I don’t think it would really work with colour nr. 1 at all. So this greenish/turquoise is a much better fit (and happens to be one of my favourite colours). Still a couple of more cm’s of the white with yellow speckles to go though before I can start striping in the green.

Aaaand that’s not all! I’ve also finally started working on my Wheatly socks again. The first sock was finished super fast, but then had to be lonely for a while. Now sock number two is finally under construction. I’m ready to start the heel flap and this pair should be finished in no time.

How is your knitting going currently? Are you super focused or also a little all over the place?

Apr 2

Painting the town

I’m happily knitting along on my Paint the town scarf, even though it’s one of those project that makes you feel like you can knit stockinette for hours without seeing length being added. Having started the second colour has helped though, and I am feeling more and more that ripping the previous shawl I was making with the yarn was the right decision.

The little yellow flecks in the white yarn are making me happy, as is the current lovely spring weather. Outdoor knit pics, yay!!

Also the name of the pattern seems appropriate, as I was visiting Vienna last week. It is a truly magnificent city with buildings that are colourful on both the inside..

 

and the outside..

Leave it to me though to have a sixth sense for finding a yarn store! We walked into this street and as my friend was admiring the church, my yarn senses started tingling.

And sure enough, there it is! A yarn store!!

And no, I did not leave empty handed 🙂

Mar 18

You win some, you frog some

I finished a pair of vanilla socks in the loveliest blue-green tones (yarn by Nicole C Mendez). This was some perfect knitting for my current somewhat chaotic and stressed state. Since this winter seems to be never ending I’ll even still get a chance to wear them before spring arrives.

Very satisfying, and then there’s a project that’s pretty much the opposite. Last summer I started the Claire de Lune shawl. After working on it for a week or so the project got neglected. I finally decided to pick it up again, but the stitch count made NO sense whatsoever. I do think it’s a gorgeous pattern, but I’m not in the mood for figuring this out at all. So the project was ripped and I decided to go for the more straightforward Paint the Town pattern. Only I tried to use the momentum created by the frogging and basically jumped right into it. Yeah, never a good idea with super wrinkled yarn. So the project was ripped again, the yarn wound into a hank and I washed it. Let’s hope third time’s the charm, because I cast on again and am quite happily working on it right now. I think these three colours will be lovely in a simple stripey scarf.