Sock it to me

There's something really calming about always having a pair of plain, easy to knit socks on the needles - all ready to go in their little project bag which can be grabbed and stuffed into a handbag at the last minute. You can knit them in the car and on the train and in the waiting room and all sorts of places. There's very little to think about with plain knitting, but the fab colours and patterns keep you going. So here's the latest finished pair - all purpley and soft.
 And I'm already on the second one of their successors - Don't think I could travel without a pair of socks on the go...

Keep on socking!

And the birthday socks are done - yay! I left them toeless til he could try them on but the length was fine so I could have been braver and finished them off last night! So one pair of nice thick chunky manly socks which he rather likes so that's good. The wool is a mix of one strand of North Ronaldsay aran and Jamieson's dk blue- so very Northern Isles.This pattern is a great way to mix yarns to get a thicker sock and use up bits and bobs so there might be more of these on the way!

Sockity socks socks

~Socks all round!! Here are some pics of lopi socks I made for my sister a couple of months back when she'd had an operation on her foot. The pattern is Joan Gooth-Buchanan's Fireside Socks from Spin Off's Socks. It knits up really quickly and is great for using up all sorts of odds and ends. I've got another pair on the needles at the minute for boyfriend's birthday (eek which is tommorrow so better get cracking on them). This time I matched up some of the remainders of the North Ronaldsay grey aran with a skein of Jamieson's Shetland double knit - so they're Northern Isles socks for sure as I brought both yarns back from Orkney and Shetland trips in various years!

And they're mine!!

Yes, finally got a pair of these socks that I can keep for myself.... (the others went to mum who's not been that well and loves having them to wear about the house as they're very cosy so that's okay really) which is just as well cos I'm starting to think it would be nice to do a different pattern! It's fyberspates space dyed blue faced leicester sock wool and ridge and furrow pattern. And the blanket is growing - it did really need more wool so I sent off to Shetland for about another 600 grms - there's nothing worse than a too short and too narrow blanket when you're trying to snuggle on the sofa. So, what should I try to finish off now?

More socks, sand and cake

Getting faster with this pattern now - just finished another pair for my mum, who was fascinated with the pooling of the colours and now owns 3 of these in different colourways. So have finally cast on a pair for myself...

We went out for some fresh air on Saturday - walk on the beach with the throwing of stones optional - then some nice tea and cake in the tearoom before back home for more food and DVDs. Nephew is one-armed cos of a kick boxing fall last week.... (yes auntie was in charge....) oops.

This cheery little robin was singing away inside Dobbies on my way home, made me smile!

Getting to the sole of it

I love warm chunky knitted socks to slip on in the evenings and relax round the house in. But I wear holes in the heels. I have darned the socks twice. And there are more holes in the heels. So they sat in the basket for ages looking forlorn. And I had an idea... maybe I could use the sleeves of a jumper I felted by accident to make felt soles that I could sew on ....? Yep it works! So now have double thickness soles and hopefully a darnfree winter ...

Summer!

Is here! A gorgeous couple of days to brighten us all up - and exhaust us in this heat too of course... So I thought it was about time I updated this blog. April was very busy workwise and on May I went to Donegal for a holiday but got ill so ended up recuperating at my sister's (and getting introduced to the wonders of facebook...) so have just come back to my flat and am trying to tidy up today. Nice 15 minute spurts of course, which means I can have wee rests and do things like the blog update and all the other online time eaters. I'll dip in and out with some pics too though. Kinnagoe Bay, Inishowen, Donegal / Gran's new socks! / Sunset at Giant's Causeway, Antrim / On the beach / And the glorious meringues at the Sandhead cafe in Dumfries & Galloway!

Another day

Another day in the convalescence house - today's achievement was to get the ironing done! It was a long term pile - pre Christmas anyway - so it feels good to have it out the way now. The fireside socks knitted up really quickly and are fun and colourful. The blanket is still growing, though now that the rows are longer it seems to grow more slowly. I'm drinking my 2l of water, eating proper home cooked meals and about 6-7 portions of fruit and veg each day, so hopefully all this will have a good effect!

The world is white

The snow started again before I went to bed last night and yep, when I pulled back the curtains this morning it was all white! Today's challenge was hoovering the whole flat and a bit more tidying - kitchen drawers this time. So once the ironing pile is done that would mean the whole flat is pretty tidy and sorted. Now, how does one manage to keep it that way ....? On the whole use up the odd skeins thing I decided to try and see if I could get a pair of cosy socks from this gedifra wool - only 2 odd balls. It took a few tries to make the socks long enough but leave enough wool to finish them off, but just managed to squeeze out something useable. On to the second sock now ...

Cosy toes!

Been still struggling with this nasty virus/tonsillitis/thingey. It's a bit sneaky cos you go to docs, get tablets, start to feel better, and think yay I'm on the mend. So you go to work. You come home and are exhausted and start feeling rotten again, throat gets sore so you go to docs ... hhhmmmm. So to cheer yourself up you go online order cheery wool and knit socks! This is the first pair I've actually finished. I started a pair in January (when I had flu...) but they were on thin needles and I never finished the second one) These ones are lovely - the wool is Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted and is gorgeous though a bit extravagant ... and the pattern came out of the One Skein book. I've fancied doing this pattern for ages and now love it so much I'm knitting another pair with stash wool (Falkland Islands). And my feet are warm!