Plodding on

And so, as the weeks turn towards the end of March, I plug away at my big pile of WiPs and gift knitting. And you know what? This weekend I finished two, both PS2.0 related 😀
First up, we have Conwy from Knitting on the Road, knit in HipKnits 100% cashmere sock yarn in Storm, and using 2.5mm Brittany dpns.


I love these socks. They are yum. The cashmere felt a little harsh at first, but softened up so much during the knitting process. I do appear to have had some kind of winding related accident with this yarn though.


The first sock is visibly wider than the second, but the row gauge was exactly the same. The first sock is also really fuzzy and a little paler than the second. I think this is down to me winding like a demon by hand (before the advent of the swift) off the back of a chair, and letting the outside of the ball of yarn get all fuzzed and sun-bleached while the inside was protected and loved in its cocoon of cushiness. There is a lesson in this. Don’t leave yarn where it can get battered and fluffed up, and don’t wind like a demon because you are obsessively making the hank into a centre-pull ball, only to find that the ball winder won’t work properly with the chair back and makes a big mess. Don’t take your frustration out on the yarn and speed up so that you end up pulling it stupidly tight and making it go a bit wiggly.
I have also learnt from this that I don’t like using calf shaping in my crew socks (a term I learnt this week thanks to Ruth) or making a long leg. I do go for a shorter leg length in general anyway, but these aimed to be about 8 inches before starting the heel flap (I stopped once the shaping was complete, probably about 2 inches shorter than the pattern recommended), which is another 2 inches or so. The shaping combined with my mad stitch gauge has made one sock a bit too loose on the leg for my liking, and one sock just nice. In addition to this, I have learnt that I can make one pair of long socks and one shorter pair – I still have 44g left from the 100 which is plenty for another pair of socks for me, or lots of baby socks in a lovely soft touch yarn 🙂 Shame it isn’t machine washable, the only thing making me stop and think about whether I would make baby or me socks.
Next up, a gifty for Cherry 🙂 I had to hold back on publishing this post in case she read it, as she has a tendancy to sneak a peek on here when she is bored (hello petal! [waves]). I wrote and photographed all this on Sunday afternoon (so you see? I haven’t even finished the weekend and I have finished two things 😀 There won’t be anything else for a looooong time now ;D). Cherry needed some cheering up happy things, and we were going to get a lovely Etsy thing, but it sold out 🙁 Instead, I had a brainwave and remembered the chats we had about how ace Totoro is and how lovely these crochet patterns for the little and big one are, and how she would need to learn crochet, and I would need to learn how to crochet without killing someone with yarn drowning accidents or flinging of the hook in the process. So I made her the little one 🙂


I’m quite pleased with my first attempt at crocheting in the round, but it isn’t very good, certainly in comparison to the designer’s. But I can appreciate how simple it is now to use crochet to make something from nothing, to create something that you don’t have a pattern for just by using your brains and playing around a little. I ad-hoc’d this quite a lot, cutting out rows all over the place, and I messed up the ears as for some reason they are two different lengths, and the tail looks smaller than her tail, oh and I didn’t make the eyes, I just stitched and the feet are mad. And not pink. Definitely purple. But he’s lovely if I do say so myself, for all his faults. Cherry will have found him on her desk by now, with a little letter from him pointing out that he missed the last catbus home and could she look after him instead.
Last but so not the least – new stash.


First the freebie Phildar Phil’Douce, and second, 5 hanks of Malabrigo worsted in Velvet Grapes, destined to be a Cosmic Pluto top down cardi (v2 to be precise), but not quite yet. I still have hopes that my hourglass will be done this month, and after that I will knit Chrissie and the bag inbetween the next colour scheme on the PS2.0 rota, which I think will incorporate my stripey alpaca cardi, and also some more gift knitting.
And I would like to knit a nice piece of lace for someone at work who is having a birthday bash next month, but I can’t see that happening without nearly killing myself again, so it might have to be a Purl scarf with some stash yarn that would suit her just perfectly. Can I still make scarves for people to use in April? Maybe in the UK weather 😉 Or maybe I should go down the sock route, which would mean buying more yarn probably, which right now I would like to avoid if possible. Does anyone have any good suggestions for spring gift knitting that is quite quick but looks good?