These have been on the needles since January, and I decided to be disciplined and finish them before I started the next pair.
Yes, that’s two pairs of socks finished in the last few days. But no, my halo isn’t really shining, because there’s still a few other UFOs lying about.
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:
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!
Yarn: leftover Merino/Cashmere 4ply from The Knittery
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:
My eyes got very leaky as I unpacked it:
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:
But wait! There’s more:
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:
As some of my Ravelry friends know already, my plans for May were somewhat disrupted. Instead of travelling in the outback, I had to go to Sydney, following the discovery of a brain aneurism. Yep, not exactly what one wants to hear after having a CAT scan, but – looking on the bright side – I’m lucky they discovered it now, rather than on an autopsy, as they can be fatal if they burst.
I’ve seen the neurosurgeon in Sydney twice, had a cerebral angiogram and an MRI, and now I’m back home for a short while, waiting to hear when I’ll be going to hospital. The good news is, I’ll be having the less intrusive procedure – inserting a stent and coils through the artery from the groin. The bad news is, that’s because they can’t do the full clipping surgery (which is cure rather than treatment) because the aneurism is the wrong size and shape, making that surgery too dangerous. So, the procedure I’m having will take about 5 hours, under general anaesthetic, but all going well I’ll only be in hospital for a couple of days, and can then fly home and resume normal life – with some daily blood-thinning medication.
My strategy for dealing with all of this – and keeping my blood pressure down! – has, naturally, involved yarn 🙂
I called into Tapestry Craft in Sydney, and added a little to my stash:
Kid Seta yarn
Grignasco Bambi yarn – probably destined to become some more lacy fingerless mitts.
I also knitted to while away some of the time:
The first Conwy sock for me is finished, and the second on the way. The yarn is Heirloom Argyle 4ply, and although it doesn’t show well in my quick photo, its a lovely heathered green.
And I’ve done about 6 pattern repeats of the Swallowtail shawl, using The Knittery’s luscious silk/merino lace yarn.
How did I go with my April goals??
1. Finish the Jo Sharp Fisherman’s gansey (only a few more inches on the front to go, then knit the collar and sew it all up) (Is there an echo in here?) – Well, almost! I’ve finished knitting the front. I’ve started knitting the collar. I’m a bit stuck on how the heck to increase 2sts at each end of every row, though. Any suggestions??
2. Finish the baby jacket (only have to do the button bands – but I hate picking up button bands, so this project has stalled too long!) – Ahem. Um. Maybe we should just proceed to the next item.
3. Finish Dad’s socks and post them to him. – Yes!! Done, posted, received, and they fit him and he likes them.
4. Finish Kerry’s fingerless mittens. – Yes!! Done, given to Kerry, they fit her and she likes them and wore them home.
5. Start something new – a new jacket, or a lace shawl… or maybe both. I’ve got a gazillion patterns to choose from in my Ravelry queue. – Kind of. I’ve bought the Jo Sharp yarn. I’ve started a swatch.
6. Exer-stash fund: earn a bonus $10 for two kilos lost, plus walk at least 60 kilometres. Ahem. <Bron looks embarrassed>. In between gammy leg playing up, and feeling unwell, I’ve only done 17.4 kilometres this month. I haven’t weighed myself this past week, but I’ve possibly gone down another kilo.
May goals:
I’m going to be away travelling for a chunk of May, so setting many goals probably isn’t realistic. But I will set a couple:
1. Relax and enjoy the trip!
2. Select suitable knitting for travelling, and achieve something during the 5,500km we’re driving!
I finished the fingerless mittens for my friend Kerry today, and gave them to her. She loved them, and wore them home, so I’m very pleased with them.
Yarn: The Knittery 4ply merino/cashmere
Pattern: my own
The true colour is a little darker red than this – more like that in the previous post.
The first of my friend Kerry’s mittens is finished, and work underway on mitt 2. Next time I make mittens or gloves, I really should knit the left one first, because it would be so much easier to photograph – holding the camera in my left hand while taking a photo of my right is a touch challenging!
Kerry’s hand is a little longer than mine, so her fingers won’t be hidden!
Since Dad’s socks are finished, and Kerry’s mittens are almost finished, and my fisherman’s gansey will be finished soon, I’m now planning my next project/s. I desperately need respectable cardigans/jackets for winter; I feel the cold, but sometimes jumpers (pullovers) don’t work as well as cardigans for respectable dressing. Daniele at our LYS ordered in some Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran, and when i was in there yesterday I used the gift voucher I have and bought 10 balls of the quartz shade, and put another 10 balls aside to pick up later.
Now I just have to decide what pattern to use – I still haven’t found the perfect one, although I’m seriously contemplating the Bianca’s Jacket, with adaptations – longer, and straight fronts. I’ll knit up a sample in the lace pattern and see what I think.
Dad’s Conwy socks are finished. I’ll post them off to him today.
Next on my list of projects to finish this month is the fingerless mitts for my friend Kerry. I’m on the first one, and have started the first cables:
I love this yarn. I can see more of it in my future 🙂
I’ve finished the first of Dad’s socks. Unfortunately, I’m running a little later than I’d hoped, and didn’t finish the pair in time to post yesterday to make it to Dad for his birthday on Saturday. (Don’t worry – contingency plans for an alternative present to arrive on the day have been enacted!)
I’ve adapted the Conwy pattern by Nancy Bush. I first knitted a sock in this pattern some years ago, back in my early sock knitting days, but it came out way too small for me. Dad’s feet and mine are roughly the same size, so this time, I used larger needles, and I didn’t do the decreases to shape the leg. I figured tramadol that the rib/cable pattern will shape to his leg, and allow for any ankle swelling he might get.
Now, I’m working on sock 2 – and hoping to have it finished so I can post them on Monday. Sock 2 should be quicker, as I’m not stressing about the size, and I’m more familiar with the pattern. And, thanks to Ravelry, I have notes about the mods I made and how I knitted the heel and the toe, so sock 2 can end up looking at least similar to sock 1!
On other matters, my niece loved her lacy fingerless mittens, and her two friends who were there when she opened the parcel loved them, too!
First, a check of how I did against my March goals:
1. Finish the Knittery merino/cashmere jaywalkers – frogged – just couldn’t get the sizing right
2. Finish the Jo Sharp Fisherman’s gansey (only a few more inches on the front to go, then knit the collar and sew it all up) – this is the gansey that never ends. I’ve knitted quite a few inches and am now up to the neckline. Only a few more inches to go. (Haven’t I heard that somewhere before??)
3. Finish the baby jacket (only have to do the button bands – but I hate picking up button bands, so this project has stalled too long!) – Ahem. (Have I mentioned how much I hate picking up stitches for button bands??)
4. Knit at least one sock in a pair for my Dad (both have to be finished in the first week of April, in time to post for his birthday.) – I’ve knitted almost half a sock. Had a bit of a panic about whether it would fit, but I think it will. Now I just have to decide what to do about the shaping.
5. Knit fingerless mittens for my friend Kerry. – I made the cabled mittens, originally for her. Then I discovered the mistake in the cable pattern, so they’re for me. Kerry has tried them on, though, and chosen red for her pair, and I’ve started them.
It wasn’t one of my goals, but I alsomade the lacy mittens for my niece, and I posted them off to her today. I’ll find out on Friday if she likes them!
Despite battling a nasty viral bug, I also walked 32.3 kilometres on the treadmill, earning $32.30 for the exer-stash fund, plus a bonus $5 for losing a kilo.
So, on to my April goals:
1. Finish the Jo Sharp Fisherman’s gansey (only a few more inches on the front to go, then knit the collar and sew it all up) (Is there an echo in here?)
2. Finish the baby jacket (only have to do the button bands – but I hate picking up button bands, so this project has stalled too long!)
3. Finish Dad’s socks and post them to him.
4. Finish Kerry’s fingerless mittens.
5. Start something new – a new jacket, or a lace shawl… or maybe both. I’ve got a gazillion patterns to choose from in my Ravelry queue.
6. Exer-stash fund: earn a bonus $10 for two kilos lost, plus walk at least 60 kilometres.
Yep, that all will keep my busy.
