Celtic Cast On

A little progress on my test knit.

This was my first time trying  corrugated ribbing while many people have concerns about this type of ribbing not being stretching enough mine seems to be VERY stretchy and slides on and off with ease.

This was also my first attempt at a pin stripe sole which I love love love. It jazzes up a plain old sole and goes well with almost any fair isle pattern. I have no doubt I’ll be using the pinstripe on future socks.

The test knit was for only one sock and thats a very good thing because I ran out of yarn for this pair AND my Leezards. These two pairs aren’t going to be completed by the end of the month but I will resume once the yarn arrives.

In the meantime I’ve been fervently knitting up two more test knits. One is for the fabulous Miss Lily, that I’m very excited about. I’ll have progress to share on these knits shortly and a little FO for T as well.

Help!! I’ve cast on for yet ANOTHER sock!

This one IS a test knit but no more cast on’s! I’ve got some serious knitting to do.

I cast on for my Lizard Socks and I can’t put them down!! I just want to knit one more row to see what that  little Lizard looks like and before you know it he’s almost done.

I’ve had sock patterns on my mind a lot lately and its all down to these books I borrowed from the library.

Lots of wonderful patterns  to choose from I just wish I had more hands and needles to knit them all NOW!

 There are several beauties from these books added to the queue. Can’t wait to knit them up this Fall.

I did finish my Mojo’s before casting on for this month’s Mock.

*They are the same height, I just had one foot up higher than the other in this picture.*

Pattern : Mojo Socks by Donyale Grant

Yarn: Claudia’s Handpainted in Plumilicious

Needles: U.S. #2 DPN’s

It was crazy how fast the second sock flew off the needles after such an intense Cookie A pattern. All those rows of  knits and purls were just what I needed.

Talk about a hard pair of socks to photograph, if the light wasn’t distorting the colours then the pattern was getting lost in the colourway. These socks are a definite must see in person as the pictures just don’t do them justice.

 This pattern incorporated my first toe ups and my first after thought heel.  I love the fit of these socks! I always seem to have trouble making the toe long enough but not too long with top downs. I’ve been seen ripping back and reknitting a toe several times before getting the perfect fit. I didn’t have that problem with these and the fit throughout the foot is perrfect! Maybe toe ups are for me! I have several toe up patterns lined up so only time will tell.

I had a little help obtaining the pictures for this post from a little Garden Fairy…… ummm maybe a Garden Gnome… yes a very LOUD Garden Gnome! Her squeals can be heard echoing around The Ridge on a daily basis!

It’s a new month with SKA and a new mystery sock! This months sock it a fair isle design by Chrissy Gardiner. I’ve been queuing fair isle sock patterns since I took the plunge into colour work with Opus last year.

This months challenge was the perfect opportunity to give fair isle socks a go knowing I’d have a whole group of people to help me out if I got stuck.

I’ve completed clue one on the first sock and plan to get started on the second sock as soon as possible so I don’t get behind. I think they’re going to be pretty!! I’m really challenging myself this month by knitting not one but two designs! Here’s a little sneak peak at what I’ll be casting on for soon.

The colour work bug has arrived!!!

Pattern: Cookie A mystery socks from SKA group on Rav

Yarn: A piece of Vermont in the Jam colourway

Needles: U.S. 2 DPN`s

After so many comments about how well they matched my Lupin`s it would only be fitting to have the finished pics… with the Lupin`s of course

This was my first CookieA pattern and won`t be my last. Even though this was the most intricate sock pattern I`ve ever knit, I enjoyed the challenge and even learned to cable without a needle!

I`m sad A Piece of Vermont is no longer producing yarn. This colourway is AWESOME, I can only imagine what the rest would have been like. I might even have to a  little nosey on Rav and see if I can`t find any more in someone`s stash.

 Finishing these on time was a feat in itself, its amazing what one can do when you work on a sole project There are TONS of socks I`m itching to cast on but I`m going to make myself finish my second Mojobefore attempting anymore. Ohhh and there are sweaters to talk about too. So many patterns so little time!

What patterns are you drooling over?

I’ve been working away on my mystery socks. Time is definitely a ticking and I’m unsure at this point whether I’m going to make the June 30th cut off.

One sock is complete and the other is in the works….

I was trucking right along until last night when I picked up my sock and realized I had  skipped the cuff altogether and started off with the leg chart. *groan* I made sure to use my highlighter second time around, highlighting CUFF, LEG and RIGHT SOCK. This was just before I frogged the entire thing. Hopefully it won’t take too long to re knit.

I’ve had lots of questions about the yarn I’m using. It’s  A Piece Of Vermont in the Jam colourway gifted by Lynne. The dyer is no longer making this yarn which is unfortunate as I have really enjoyed working with it  and seeing the subtle colour changes as I knit. It looks quite a bit different knit up than it did in the skein, I was quite surprised to see deep blues and some pinks throughout.

Boston and Molly are enjoying lots of outdoor time but wish black fly season was over. It’s much more enjoyable when you aren’t getting your ears eaten.

Boston : “I know I heard something squeak in here, you find it yet Moolee?”

Moolee: “sniff sniff sniff, Nope!”

I’m so happy with my little Lupin bed. Two years ago I made the bed and planted two packets of Lupin seeds just before Fall. Last year only two plants grew out of about 20-30 seeds with 3-5 flowers on each. I was quite disappointed as I was expecting it to be full of them. This year however the Lupin’s have bloomed VERY early and I have over 20 flowers on each plant. I just need one more plant in the front there and my little bed will be perfect. Can you imagine what it would have been like with 30 plants?? lol I bought some more Lupin seeds yesterday, packets with multiple colours, with plans for more Lupin growing this year. We have a whole side hill that would look sooo awesome covered in colourful Lupin’s.

Its mystery sock month again at Sock Knitters Anonymous and we all know I can’t resist a mystery sock. Especially when the designer is Cookie A. The technique for this month is cabling and or travelling stitches which Cookie’s patterns are usually chock- full of so it should be an interesting knit.

Even though I LOVE her designs,I have yet to knit a Cookie pattern. I’ve had the monkey socks pattern in my queue for a loooong time but I just never seem to get around to it.  I’m enjoying the process of these and hopefully its gearing me up for some more Cookie patterns in the future.

I’ve got alot of catching up to do as the last clue is released on Saturday but I’ll still have until the end of June to complete the pair. Care to join me?

Where has the time gone??

Spring has sprung on The Ridge and we’ve even had some lovely summer days lately.

The dogs are enjoying the fresh air and ability to get out for a good romp without being clabbered in muck.

T has reached the 6 month mark, learning and doing new things every day.

and I????

I have been KNITTING!!!!!!!!

Albeit only here and there when I get the chance but some knitting is better than no knitting right?

Here’s a little run down of what I’m working on :

Manu: Manu is…..well….. not even on the needles yet, turns out I don’t have the right size needles to even swatch for this one yet so its sitting patiently waiting for me to cast on. I’m excited about this one because stockinette is super easy to pick up at any point and knit a few stitches and also proves to be good car ride material, I can see me getting alot accomplished on this in a short time once its off the ground. I want those needles ASAP!

Minimalist : That poor half a sleeve I have left to finish. I’m at a point in the pattern that I have to increase after knitting so many rows, this requires pen paper and counting…… by the time I drag all that out it will be time to put it all away again.

KrisKnits Monthly Discloth KAL:  I’ve been keeping up with this and have some finished cloths to show you save February’s cloth where I ran out of yarn… doh! I only had a few rows left too.  It’s sugar and creme so I’ll have to wait until we go for a little weekend in Maine to get more to complete it.

Mojo’s : AHA! Now this one I have made progress on. One sock is down with only one more to go but as it turns out I need those needles for another project at the moment so sock number two is on hold. * I didn’t knit these two at a time because each sock is a different pattern.*

Here’s a little look at the after thought heel on my mojo sock. It was my first attempt at this technique, very simple to do  just like knitting a toe and fits well.  I’d say my first toe up sock was a success, I will definitely be knitting more toe ups!!

What’s on your needles? 

We have knitting!!!

Tadpole is getting into somewhat of a routine…. enough so that I can pull a project and knit a few rows ahh bliss.

I cast on for the Mojo socks by Donyale Grant

I love how these knit up in a solid colourway but I’m running low on solid sock yarns so in order to use up the stash I chose Claudia’s Handpainted in Plumilicious. They are not turning out to bad, no pooling and the pattern seems to show through quite nicely.

This is the first toe up pattern I have attempted and I think I like it. The pattern uses the Magic cast on, which is demonstrated here by Cat Bordhi, love her teaching method. The cast on was so easy and will definitely be my go to cast on for toe ups. I also love how you can try it on as you go and boy did that foot ever knit up fast. I’m wondering how the gusset and heel are going to be knit but if all goes well I think I’ll be investing in a couple of sets of circulars for this method of sock knitting.

I’ll be knitting these socks one at a time because each sock has its own pattern. This should keep it interesting and hopefully avoid SSS.