Tour de fleece day 13

I have started on my second big project for the tour, 100g of superwash merino from Shunklies. The colours are lovely greys and blues with just the occasional hint of purpley pink. This photo in no way does the colours justice-

I am using my wheel to spin a thin single, I have saved half the fibre and will make a second single to ply it with. Hopefully it should end up commercial sock weight, although it may not end up as socks- after trying really hard to master avoiding overspinning during the tour this may be on the underspun side, we will see how it comes out.

Beautiful yarn

I have beautiful new stash to show you all, and what makes it even better is that I won it (dances with happiness). Mmmmmm, yarn.

I never really got the whole podcasting about knitting thing, because knitting is something you most definitely need to look at and squish but I thought I would give the playful day podcast a go, and I am pleased I did. The knitting chat is good plus there is talk about food and drink (ah, knitting and food, two lovely lovely things!). I have since tried another podcast and still like this one the best so will be going back for more.

You can find the blog and links to the past podcasts here. Go listen, enjoy and tell greentrianglegirl she is wonderful.

The yarn itself is a lovely semisolid sock yarn from the Knitting Goddess. It is lovely, soft and squishy merino and nylon in shades of green, I even got to choose the yarn and colour I wanted. I need to choose a pattern for it now, it will be part of my A-Z challenge, but needs to be something with some lace or cables to make the most of the lovely colour. You will see this again in sock form within the next few months (if I can resist it that long and don't accidentally cast on an extra pair of socks).

The Knitting Goddess's shop can be found here, it is filled with much loveliness, maybe hide your credit card somewhere safe before you follow the link?!

Road trip!

Road trips are great, and when they are yarn based, with knitting buddies are there is cake they are even better.

On Saturday four of us from my knitting group hit the road for a yarn shop crawl. We called in at a fabric shop too, which was interesting, but nothing to buy there.

I didn't take pictures of the shops, so actual shop reviews will have to wait for my next visit, but here are my lovely stash additions.

A Crazy Zauberball from Create and Knit at Breedon on the Hill. There was cake from the shop near here too but I did not take a picture of that.

Some fantastic navy Regia with silver sparkles. I need to find more solid colours for socks with lace and/or cables as crazy colours tend to hide the stitch patterns and who doesn't love a bit of silver sparkle! This was from Threads of Life at Castle Donnington, we got to drive past the crowds going to the Download festival on the way which was entertaining. They have a lovely shop dog too, so an all round win.

Finally some bargain bucket finds from Threads at Keyworth. A super shop literally bursting at the seams with   yarn. The silk is a replacement for some I used up, I still need a second ball so the dye lots will not match but I figured for socks the colours will be close enough. The galaxy will probably be combined with some of the sock yarn scraps I have floating around to make some socks, maybe worked toe up.

On the way home we stopped for some more cake and to do a little knitting in public as it was World Wide Knit in Public Day, I was too busy eating my brownie to take its photo!

Shop review- Tangent Treasures

When I stop being on a yarn diet I do so in style, this is the tale of my second yarn purchase this month, with another yesterday and possibly more at the weekend. More on yesterday's purchase when the postie brings my purchases.

We took a trip to get some pizza, it is special pizza from a wonderful pub with an Italian wood fired pizza oven. The first time we went a few months ago I spotted  a yarn shop on the way and insisted we stop, but because I am disorganised I never got as far as doing a review, I did take a photo, here it is:

They have a website too with location and opening times, that can be seen here. Opening times are very useful as it meant I could plan a trip for Sunday and time it for when the shop would be open. More shops should give out useful info like that. 

The shop is in Willington, Derbyshire (the pizza is in Repton at the Bull's Head if anyone wants to know)

The shop itself is tiny, but there is a lot in there yarns as well as a wide range of other gifts (not necessarily knitting related). I made a beeline for the sock yarn which has its own shelf but there are lots of other weights and types. Lots of very nice Collinette but also a range from basic acrylics to fancy yarns (I can't remember brands but lots of heavenly squishiness). They also stock knitpicks needles.

The owner is lovely, we chatted about yarns and magazines. There is even a man chair to sit your other half in while you browse.

Prices seem pretty standard, the Jitterbug I bought the first time was a little more expensive than online, but cheaper once you consider postage. The yarn I bought this time was the same as its online prices. And as always you get the advantage of being in an actual shop talking to people and squishing the yarns, which I always think is worth a little extra cost.

On to my purchase, a ball of Katia ole in blues and purples.

I need to make at least one more trip as they have one more sock yarn I have not tried but quite fancy, and then I can just go and browse the lovely yarns.

Oh and the pizza was delicious!

Scrap down- Juggling ball

Just the one so far, because one counts as a scrap down whereas four would not.

Pattern- Swirl ball by Eve Clevenger
Yarn- Regia 4 ply
Needles- 2.25mm

I worked the extra row and then cast off in the first section colour to give a neat finish. However, this makes one segment fatter than the others (it is the green on the left back). I think the extra row is not necessary, just the cast off in green would have be fine and would make a less noticeable difference.

I also wrapped all the turns on the short rows, but only picked up the wraps when working the full length after a colour change.

This is a great pattern, I love the swirl effect and it is really easy to do. It is also well explained and a good way to practise short rows.

Working the ball with sock yarn on small needles makes it about the right size for a juggling ball, the idea came from a project called artisan juggling balls by Aztoni. To fill it I filled a stocking (clean and unworn, nasty cheap ones) with 87g of millet seed bought from a pet shop. All the seed was pushed down to the toe then I twisted the stocking and wrapped it over itself. Doing this about five times used up the length of the stocking and made a nice firm ball. The top bit was trimmed and the whole thing sewn inside the fabric cover.

Scrap down- Northern lights hat

So far I seem to be getting through the leftovers from my A-Z socks. When the socks are done I have been making a blanket square and then finding a small project to use up most of the rest. Anything left over after that goes back into the blanket bag. It means I don't get too many squares from any one yarn.

Pattern: Wasabi baby hat by Mary Hough
Yarn: Cherry tree Hill Supersock in Northern Lights
Needles: 3.5mm dpns
Mods: Stopped increases at 96 sts as it was getting huge. Made hat about 5 inches deep. Worked 6 st i cord for the top.

Someone on Ravelry suggested starting with a 6 st i cord of the length you need and working the increases from there. This seems a more sensible way to work this pattern.
The sizes given in the pattern would make a hat big enough for an adult, thought maybe the given needle size was wrong.

Scrap down- Stripy pink dress

My scrap down plans have been a little unsuccessful recently, I keep picking small projects that take an unexpectedly long time. However, this one was a fairly quick and simple pattern to make a doll dress.

Pattern: Soxxy dress by Fawn Pea

Yarn: Hand dyed superwash4 ply in raspberry sauce, either merino or bluefaced leicester

Needles: 2.5mm dpns Mods: Increased the length of each section (skirt, body and bib) to fit doll. Worked one strap from each bib section (front and back) and grafted to held three stitches on opposite part rather than working both from the back and sewing together.

This made a cute little dress, hopefully it will fit as I sized it using a paper outline of the doll. The skirt curls more than I want it to, the pattern instructions work one round of k1p1 rib to avoid this but I think it could have done with more or something like a seed stitch border.

Share your square

Sunday has rolled around again, so it is time for another blanket square from my never ending sock yarn blanket.

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This week it is made from leftover mini mochi in the rainbow colourway, it is some of what was left after making the A socks in my A-Z sock knitting challenge. The colours in this yarn are fanstastic!

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Use the linky below to share your blog posts about your squares or other modular shaped projects, it is always great to hear the stories behind them.

Yarn diet- free pass 2

I have worked out (probably I am a little slow here) the five free yarn diet passes from the 1st January to 1st June is one yarn purchase a month. So this is the yarn purchase for February, if it were a food diet this would be much like having a large slice of tasty chocolate cake (I was going to take a photo of some cake, but I ate it before I remembered!).
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Mostly I would like to say omnomnomnomnomnom

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I did have a good reason for this lot, most of my A-Z sock patterns need single colour or subtle changes, and what I have in my stash could well be described as a riot of colour. There is little point spending hours on cables and lace if neither can be seen through the colours, so plains it is.

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I also had a bit of a dilemma about where to order from, there were three yarns I wanted to try and no shop seemed to sell all three. In the end I settled on Great British Yarns, because they are the only place to get Knitpicks over here and I really wanted to see what it was all about (shop review next week).

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The two blue skeins are Knitpicks gloss, 50g in each, it is a merino and silk mix.

The red is Knitpicks Stroll Tonal, it is shades of tasty red and a superwash merino and nylon mix. I actually prefer this to the Gloss, although it is the slightly cheaper of the two I think it is smoother, maybe a result of the superwashing (both very nice though).

The other two are UK yarns, the charcoal is an Alpaca mix for socks made with alpaca merino and nylon.

The undyed is the most gorgeous organic merino 4 ply, spun by waterwheel in Cornwall. I bought it to be socks, but I think it is not really spun tightly enough, to be honest I could just sit petting it, it is softer than a very soft fluffy bunny!

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I also managed to not buy yarn, despite going to two places where it is sold and driving past a third. I think I may not even need to do a March purchase!

Scrap down- Phone sock

I have been trying out some dye colourways for the shop, and also some different ways of achieving a goal. With this I was trying out the Jeweller's Dream colourway and attempting to make the colours spiral around a small circumference piece of knitting (like a sock).

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The spiraling worked, but only kind of, it is not really steep enough so you end up with slightly fuzzy stripes instead.

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To use up the dye trial yarn I cast on 60sts on 2.25mm needles, worked some ribbing for about fifteen rounds, then knitted plain- basically the start of a vanilla style sock. When it was about the length of a phone I reduced two stitches either side for a couple of rounds (like the start of toe decreases) then Kitchener stitched the end closed.

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It makes a pretty phone sock, and was all done in an evening. Only problem now is that my ancient mobile (it barely even takes photos!) does not fit, so this is one for the gift pile.

Yarn diet free pass 1

This week I have used up one of my yarn diet free passes. I need to build up my sock yarn supply quite a bit if I am going to make it to 26 pairs this year. I would also like to try out some of the different brands and indie dyers along the way. Stalking the Rav destash groups is a good way to do this and save a few pounds at the same time.

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So, to "ahem, help out a fellow Raveller" I have relieved her of these beauties and I thought I would share the lovely with some photos on here (but not literally sharing these, sorry :D).

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First up is by the Yarn Yard, I already have a pattern picked for this, I think it will be perfect.

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And second is Cherry Tree Hill supersock merino. I am not sure which pattern this will be used for, but it is very pretty indeed.

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There were a couple of others, but a fellow Knitter swooped one and I talked myself out of the other. Probably a good thing!

Secret Santa sock swap

I am really posting these so I can link to them in the Ravelry group, not for purposes of yarny gloating (although- Whoop! I have yarn :) ).

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I took part in a secret Santa swap with the UK sock knitters group. I was going to enter a couple of other, but this was the only one with a spending limit (£15, sock yarn must be included). I prefer it when they have a target to aim for, avoids feeling guilty or getting annoyed when it doesn't even out by a long way. It is also fun to try and get the best value for your money by finding bargains and making items.

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The parcel arrived early in the month as the posting deadline was the 1st. As I wanted to open it as a Christmas present I had to wait for most of the month with this tempting me. It was hard work, so in the end it had to be hidden out of sight. In fact I hid it so well that I forgot to take it with me when we left to stay with my family over the holiday- there was some colourful language when I realised half way down the motorway!

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It did mean I had a lovely extra present waiting for me when I got back. Each part of the parcel was wrapped up so it was a bit like opening a stocking.

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And inside was this wonderful display of treasures. The sock yarn requirement was met twice over, with some undyed and a lovely pair of 50g skeins called Same difference in the Menace colourway. From looking at them I assume they are dyed as a pair but one has red as the dominant colour and one has black. I have not decided how to make socks with them yet, either non matching fraternal socks or the leg in one and the foot in the other on both socks.
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The parcel also contained some lovely treats, including needles (magically in the size I don't own, how did she know?!), chocolate, wool wash and a little felted flower bowl with some cute stitch markers.

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All in all a lovely swap. I am off to share this on the Ravelry thread and then to enjoy some knitting. I am allowing myself a few days of knitting and loafing around before the thesis writing starts in earnest in the New Year. I have something quite different and exciting on the needles!