Category Archives: Knitting

FO – Retro Rib Socks

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Retro Rib socks

Retro Rib socks

Pattern: Retro Rib by Evelyn A Clark, from Favorite Socks: 25 Timeless Designs from Interweave. Yarn: The Knittery 4ply merino/cashmere; shade – waterlilies.

I love this yarn; it’s so warm and cosy. Although it’s officially spring today, we’ll still have plenty of cool days to wear these.

And speaking of yarn, this was the other lot of yarn I bought in San Francisco:

Ginko bamboo/silk yarn

Ginko bamboo/silk yarn

It’s from ArtFibers, and is 87% bamboo, and 13% silk. I’m not sure exactly what it’s going to be yet, but I think I might weave it, maybe in a point twill or similar, with a plain contrast silk.

Travelling yarns

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I’m finally back home, after spending most of the past month travelling. I did have a week at home in between the San Francisco-Gold Coast-Sydney trip and the Melbourne-Canberra trip, but I didn’t get around to posting much.

So, I’m catching up here and posting pics of some of the stash enhancement acquired in San Francisco;

Trekking sock yarn

Trekking sock yarn

Koigu sock yarn

Koigu sock yarn


Seasilk from Handmaiden yarns – a beautiful gift from my friend Theresa.

I bought a couple of cones of gorgeous bamboo and silk yarn at ArtFibers, but I haven’t photographed them yet, as I posted them home form the US and they arrived just before I left for Melbourne. I think I’ll be using them for weaving.

Stash enhancement in Sydney was not as exciting – just two balls of Sullivans sock yarn which was on special at Lincraft:

Sullivans sock yarn

Sullivans sock yarn

Sullivans sock yarn

Sullivans sock yarn

In Melbourne I managed to restrain myself from buying yarn at Cleggs, although I did go in and drool a little. On the Melbourne-Canberra trip I managed to do some knitting, mostly on the two days in Canberra. So, I’ve finished two Tudora neck warmers:

Cream Tudora

Cream Tudora


Pattern: Tudora, by Cheryl Marling, from Knitty.com, Winter 2007. Yarn: 12ply pure wool, bougt from Wangaratta Woollen Mills at least 25 years ago! Button: Bought from WOW Wool shop in Armidale last week.

Crimson Tudora neck-warmer

Crimson Tudora neck-warmer


Pattern: Tudora, by Cheryl Marling, from Knitty.com, Winter 2007. Yarn: Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran. Button: from my button stash – probably bought more than 20 years ago.

San Francisco

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I’m in San Francisco, at the amazing Romance Writers of America National Conference. So, not much time to blog, but had to mention that I went yarn-crawling on Wednesday with some fellow writing knitters (or is that knitting writers?). Theresa, aka Knitterary, who I already knew, was one, and the other two were Ravelry-met new friends – Tara and Rachael. Rachael’s a SF resident, and a great yarn-tour guide, taking us to two fantastic yarn shops which each had shelves and shelves and shelves of gorgeous yarns. You can read her account of the day here.

Yes, there was stash enhancement. Yes, there will be photos at some stage – although of the yarn only, as I forgot to take photos of the four of us out and about.

I don’t have time for a longer post just now (I’m off to teach a workshop soon!) – but I want to say a huge Thank You! to Rachael for a great outing – and to Tara and Theresa also for their company. I definitely enjoyed myself!

Sock in progress – and The Book

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I’ve now finished one of the Retro Rib socks, and started on the second one. I love the yarn – The Knittery’s merino/cashmere 4ply. I’ve used it before for mittens, and am going to love wearing these socks.

Sock 1 is pictured here with my major finished project of the week – The Book. My first author copy of my first novel, due out in Australia in September, has arrived. It’s beautiful. It’s still a thrill to hold it in my hands, and it’s sat for the past few days on the dining table, where I’m currently working, so I can always see it.

Retro Rib sock

Retro Rib sock

I’m off to San Francisco for a writers’ conference on Saturday, and will be taking sock 2 with me (and the book!) Knitterary will also be there, and we’re planning on going yarn shopping before the conference starts. I’ll have limited internet access for a while, but I’ll post pictures when I return of any stash enhancement I’ve done!

Berocca Socks

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Another FO:

20081307BeroccaSocks2
Yarn: Berocca Sox. Pattern: the basic Patons 4ply pattern I’ve used for years.

This was another yarn from the box my friends sent to me. I think these will be great with jeans – I’m looking forward to wearing them tomorrow!

I like to have a plain pair of socks on the needles, to knit while I’m working at the computer, so now these are finished, I’ve cast on another pair in yarn from The Knittery that I bought a while ago.

Back home – and knitting!

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Sorry for the long absence from the blog. I was in Sydney for a couple of weeks, doing the surgery thing, and although the brain side of things went well, there were other complications, necessitating longer in hospital than anticipated. However, I’m on the mend and doing very well now, and home and getting back into the swing of things.

I didn’t get a heap of knitting done while in Sydney, although I did have a visit to Tapestry Craft. I was quite restrained though, and only bought a couple of balls of 4ply:

20080711GrignascoRedYarn
They’re destined to be lacy fingerless mitts. (The red is a little darker and richer than the photo appears.)

Last night, I finished this gorgeous pair of socks:

20080711DreamySocks

The pattern is a slight adaptation of Socks for Veronik, from Interweave Knits (Holiday 2007). The yarn is Dream in Color Gaia – from the box of yarns that my wonderful friends sent me.

I love the colours (especially the little flashes of electric blue), the yarn, and how it all works with the lace, and can’t wait to wear them 🙂

Medicinal knitting – and shopping

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I’ve been making good progress on the Berocca sock, but got to the point the other night where I needed to add in dark blue contrast yarn for the heel. Night not being the best time to start knitting with dark yarn (especially with one slightly blurry eye!), I picked up another set of needles and started knitting the Dream in Color Gaia yarn into a pair of lacy Veronik socks. So, even though I finished two pairs of socks just recently, I now have two more on the go!

20080606BeroccaSock

20080606DICsocks

I’m really enjoying knitting both projects. I’m very happy with how the Berocca ‘fair-isle’ is coming out, I love the subtle shades in the Dream in Colour – it’s working very well in the lacy pattern.

You’d think, that with the recent generous gift from my friends, and my own purchases, I’d have enough yarn. And I do. I’m still enjoying fondling and dreaming what I’m going to do with it all. But at the weekend, I made the mistake of clicking on the Yarnomat website. And I managed to convince myself that with surgery to come, and time in hospitals and hotels, that a couple of skeins of Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn counted as medicine. Or therapy. Or both. Before I could argue a dissenting case, two skeins had leapt into my shopping cart, wrangled my credit card from my purse, and committed themselves to coming to my place.

(At least I currently have the excuse that I’m not right in the head, right??)

Anyways, DH brought them home from the PO box last night. This is the first time I’ve ever seen Cherry Tree Hill yarns in real life. They’re beautiful. Now I’ve got even more yarn to fondle. I may even get some of it knitted up, sometime in the next few months!

20080606CherryTreeYarn2
Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Potluck – colourway Jewels

20080606CherryTreeYarn1
Cherry Tree Hill Supersock merino – colourway Blueberry Hill

Finished – more Conwy socks, and 1940s cap

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I wanted to get a couple of current projects off the needles so I can start playing with my new yarn.

This is my second pair of Conwy socks, finished yesterday:

20080530GreenConwy1
Yarn: Heirloom Argyle 4ply
Pattern: adaptation of Conwy by Nancy Bush (Knitting on the Road)

I’m not sure yet whether these will be for me, or for my brother-in-law. It might depend upon whether I can knit him another pair before his birthday in early July. I made him a pair of plain socks a couple of years ago, which he wears every morning in winter, so it’s probably time I made him another pair!

I’ve also finished this cap, from a 1940s Sun-glo knitting book of patterns for men. The patterns are all service-style, with names such as ‘Pilot’, ‘Digger’, ‘Helmsman’, ‘Observer’ and ‘Major’. The yarn I’ve used is probably rather more ‘feminine’ than the original pattern-writer had in mind!

20080526MauveHat2

Yarn: leftover Merino/Cashmere 4ply from The Knittery

The gift of friends

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I’ve been part of an online writing group for 5 years. They are a wonderful, warm, generous group of people, and over the years we’ve become very close. We’ve shared all the ups and downs of writing, and all the ups and downs of life. We’ve seen kids airlifted to hospital, struggled with our own illnesses and those of families and friends, grieved for those we’ve lost (including two of our own), celebrated the arrival of four babies, and partied when each member gets published. Through all of it, the support of the group for each other has been amazing and powerful. It doesn’t matter that I haven’t met some of these people face-to-face; I know them, and they are my dear friends.

Yesterday, my DH brought home from the post office a large box. When I opened it, I found:

20080527Box

My eyes got very leaky as I unpacked it:

20080527UnpackingBox

Rather than sending a bouquet of flowers, my friends sent a bouquet of yarn. Joanna, one of my friends, lives not far from La Knitterie Parisienne, in Studio City, LA (where all the Hollywood knitters pop in to buy their yarn), and so she took the collected contributions from the group and went yarn shopping. (You can read her account of it here.) With the enthusiastic guidance from Edith and Merrill at the shop, she put together the most wonderful gift of beautiful, luxury yarns:

20080527Stash

But wait! There’s more:

20080527BookAndBag

The book is part of my friends’ gift; the bag was generously given by Edith and Merrill to add to the gift.

A huge thank you to all my friends; also to Edith and Merrill at La Knitterie Parisienne; and especially to Joanna, for all the time and thought and love in organising, packaging (with notes about each yarn, and Edith’s suggestions for it) and sending it.

I’ve been fondling yarn last night and this morning, and I dreamed of yarn 🙂 I’m hoping to start a project today, so that I’ll have my friends’ yarn beside me – and the knowledge of their love and support – all the time until I go to hospital, and while I recover.

For those who want to see each yarn, there’s more below the fold:

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