Slack

Well, I’ve been a bit poor with my blogging the past few days – whoopsy! I’m very sorry. I spent the weekend lazing because I couldn’t do any work. I’ve done all I can at the moment, and I’m waiting for my tutor to send me things to do. DB has gone to Birmingham till Tuesday, so yesterday afternoon I had the place to myself. I got my yarn out, and had a play with my new toy – the SNB Happy Hooker book! I really want to make the baroque cardi, and I never realised till I went to the designer’s site that I’d been lusting after it on various yarn shop websites, purely because it was a different colour! I’m still not that big on crochet, but there are some sweet little scarves and garments, and a very lovely pair of Camilla Engman arigurumi patterns which I can’t wait to learn to make (that kind of thing is a big reason to learn to crochet. I also have plans for some KSH crochet, but we shall see what comes of that)…
Anyway, DB took the camera with him, and I have a couple of finished objects to show you, so I tried taking a couple of pics with my mobile, stuck the memory card in the laptop, and found a few other pics that might be of interest 😀
First of all, this pic might be a bit dark for some people, but this is something I made AGES ago – the IK rib and cable socks for my friend’s birthday (the ones in Cool Lorna’s Laces, but you can’t see the colour really). This was the pattern I wasn’t really happy with, BUT this pic makes it look quite nice, so I’m almost tempted to make a pair for myself from that big ball of cheap sock yarn I need to use up (that one with enough yarn to make at least 5 pairs).

Secondly, more socks. These are made in Diakeito Diamusee, a yarn I bought from Depth of Field in Minneapolis. This yarn knits up beautifully, is super soft, and I am totally besotted with the colourway.

At first I thought they might look a bit too rainbow for me, but the designer of this colour has got it spot on.

I bought the yarn primarily for the softer pastel shades, but I realised as I knit that to have a yarn purely in those colours would be quite bland, and in this colourway even a little vomity (sorry :D). The brighter colours on their own would be really overbearing, at least for me, even on socks. Combining the two makes for a really beautiful pattern. The yarn is 100% wool, and has a little halo around it, and I can’t stress enough how warm and lush it is. When I put the first sock on, I totally fell in love with it, and knew I’d made the right choice for how to use the yarn.

I don’t even mind the colours not lining up – with this yarn, it adds to the charm of the socks. What makes it even better is that I still have, out of 120 g, about 55g left to use as I see fit. Not enough for another pair, but enough for some mittens for my little hands, a short scarf, a hat, and goodness knows what else! The pattern? I used one I bought at Depth of Field for any yarn and any size. It is super easy to follow, but a little strangely laid out on the sheet, so you end up losing which section you are working on when you glance at it. BUT, the maths is spot on – the fit is perfect!
In other crafting news, the Elfine socks have languished a little, but I am moving now a bit better. I’ve only done the toe of the second sock, but that is moving on from the cast on! I’ve also done a little more of that bitch Clapotis, and I like her a little more. She kept my lap warm last week when I knit her in cold weather, so that helped a bit. Plus I dropped more stitches, and she looks nicer too. Still a way to go though! I’ll work out where I am in % terms later, but I only have a couple more repeats before I’m half way through the straight section. I’m waiting for some more yarn to be delivered too, from Curious Yarns. I won’t tell you what though. It is destined for a gift for someone who might read this, so I’m just teasing right now 😀 I wonder who has a birthday coming up?
Finally, here is something else that has been almost finished, ripped, almost finished again, ripped again, finished and ripped, and is finally finished apart from one tiny detail (a button). As I say, the camera isn’t here, so a mobile pic will have to do for now. I’d still like to see what people think of the fit etc though (I plan on making a second to the full pattern).
I present to you……
Angelica!

Ta da! I didn’t have enough yarn for the sleeves, I had to rip out after the first one was WAY too big, and redo the sleeves of this one about 3 times, but she is ready to wear. Almost. I can cope with this though. She feels a little big on the shoulders, but that might be down to her being meant to have long sleeves and therefore shaped for that. I have lots of silk for another one, so I’m hoping that there will be enough to do good long sleeves. I ordered the 500g for the first one, and was probably about a sleeve short, so I should have enough with the 600g Kerrie sent me in my choice of colour. I hope! Her custom colour is also a bit more wearable for my taste – I do love this blue, but it doesn’t go with many of the clothes I have. I’m sure I’ll find something to wear with it 😀
That’s it for now. Dinner calls.