Today’s walk was accompanied by my newest sweater on it’s first outing, knitted hat, fingerless mittens and socks. I wanted to do a shawl/scarf/cowl as well but I almost fainted from overheating!
Late last year I started to knit garments, I started with a couple of lighter summer knits and I have just finished my 3rd Autumny/Wintery sweater and I have just cast on the Love Note sweater…. it’s like I don’t know what else to knit!
Last year was shawls, and I made so many that even after giving loads away I still have a big container full, at least tops take longer so I shouldn’t have too many to wear for my wardrobe for a little while, I just need to hope for the cooler weather to hang around a bit so I get lots of wear out of them 😀
The thicker yarn with the tiny needles made it a hard slog, and I wasn;t really enjoying it, so in the end I made them shorter than I was planning on and also did a rolled top rather than a rib.
They are incredibly comfy and warm, and they fit well in my sneakers for morning walks in the (ahhemm) *cold wintry weather though.
*Cold for Tauranga is below 10ºC (50ºF).
I think if I spin yarn for socks in the future I’ll try and do it a wee bit thicker than this one and make it a DK so I can use bigger needles and really enjoy the whole process 🙂
I love having a pair of socks on the go, they’re the perfect handbag project. I can easily whip them out while having a coffee in a cafe, or on a quick car trip (when I’m not driving), waiting for appointments, or in the last 5 minutes of my lunch break.
My work mates are also used to me knitting on socks in team meetings, they understand that it really helps me concentrate on what everyone is saying.
The last couple of months, working from home has meant I’ve been able to knit on bigger projects in meetings because they don’t have to fit in my handbag, and so, my socks have been suffering from lack of attention.
On Monday this all changed, with the whole of New Zealand open again except for the borders and the country now in recovery mode. And so my socks have once again returned to their rightful place as the knitting to grab as I’m heading out of the front door.
It’s been a pretty wet long weekend. I also took a couple of days off to make it extra long. So it’s been great to have loads of crafty time, to play and to go for nice bracing walks inbetween showers.
I finished my first proper weaving project and I’m totally stoked at how it’s turned out.
I booked into a weaving class at the Handweavers Guild in Auckland at the end of June which is exciting! http://handweavers.org.nz/
The edges were way more consistent and the start and the end are even the same width! I ended up using about 20grams of the purple merino sock yarn and 2 of the batts that I’d spun from Twisted Zisters. It probably took about 16 hours of weaving time all together, not including the hour or so to thread it up.
I have no idea what I’ll do with it – for now I’m just enjoying looking at it 🙂
I also spent a day spinning some fiber that I’d got from Anna Gratton Ltd, it’s a mix of Corridale, Mohair, Silk and Nylon Glitter.
The glitter was a bit hard on my fingers which were a bit tender by the end of the day, and the mohair got up my nose just a bit, it looks really pretty though, so I’m glad I persevered. I think it’s about a sport weight, I haven’t given it it’s bath yet, so it may or may not fluff up a bit more.
Then lastly the embroidery… this was supposed to be my main project for the weekend, and I’d organised in my head that I’d go and get my supplies on Friday and then get started on Saturday. But, best laid plans and all that… Seems that 20cm embroidery hoops have been in big demand because after lots of hunting around shops I didn’t find the right sized hoop until Tuesday, and by then I’d kind of lost motivation. So I started it, but only because I felt like I had to, rather than wanted to.
The carbon paper tracing was kind of fun and I thought I’d made a pretty good start – then I went wrong and had to unpick a bit, which meant un-threading my needle – and do you think I could re-thread it? I lost patience after the 5th attempt and put the whole thing away for another day!
Cup of Tea and a Yarn 