Winter sock addiction

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The weather is definitely cooling off here, and we’re heading into our frosty winter. Armidale winters are great – yes, it’s frosty and we have a fair few minus temperatures, but they don’t last long in the mornings, and the days are mostly sunny and dry.

Still, it’s great weather for handknit wool socks, and since I’m also racing a deadline for my book, sock-knitting is comprising most of my knitting at present. I know it sounds strange to some, but, as I’m a slow writer, a simple pair of socks on the needles keeps my fingers busy (and not clicking all over the internet), my mind open to creative thoughts, and my butt firmly in my chair in front of the computer.

I have two sock projects on the go at the moment:

Pattern: Charade Socks Yarn: Saffron Dyeworks Amara

The pattern is Charade Socks by Sandra Park, and the yarn is Amara sock yarn from Saffron Dyeworks. I’m enjoying both the yarn and the pattern – simple but effective, and they work well together.

I’m knitting the Charade socks my standard way, on 5 dpns, one sock at a time. But I have been thinking about trying two socks on two circs for a while, and yesterday I bit the bullet and cast on these:

Toe-up socks in two circulars

And yes, I’m adding an extra (new) challenge for myself, and knitting them toe-up! So far, it’s going fine. I have tried toe-up once before, but the heel simply didn’t work for my foot shape, so I’ll have to work out how to do a heel flap for these ones. I’m using Bendigo Luxury in 8 ply, so they’ll knit up quickly, and I’m using the stitch pattern from the Charade socks, since I’m enjoying it. I’m not using an actual sock pattern, just figuring it out as I go along, acording to standard sock techniques and what’s worked for me in the past.

Now, must disconnect from the internet again, and get back to writing (and knitting!) I’ve only got 6 weeks to get this book finished…. hmm, I wonder how many pairs of socks that will be!

Socks!

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I knitted my BIL a pair of Thuja socks for Christmas, and then decided to try the pattern in a finer yarn, and make some socks for me – or for my father, if he needed more socks! I finished this pair a couple of days ago, but Dad says he has plenty of socks, so I get to keep them – and I’m wearing them right now 🙂

Thuja Socks, in fine yarn

The yarn is Bendigo Woollen Mills Luxury 4 ply – nice and cosy for winter! I have a few more colours, just waiting to become more socks. (‘Cos a girl can never have too many hand-knitted socks!)

I adapted the pattern for 4ply yarn, and with some decreasing in the leg because my legs aren’t as sylph-like as they used to be.

Winter warmers

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It’s not knitting, or weaving, or spinning…. but I excavated my sewing machine today, raided the fabric stash, and made two dog coats. Our dogs are littermates, but the blonde one, Jaffa (aka The Princess Dog) has seizures, and the medication for those has slowed her down a lot compared to her sister, and has some side effects  including stiff joints. They both sleep outside in the (very large) dog run at night, but although they have kennels, over the years any blankets, mats or cushions we’ve put in there have very quickly become tug-of-war toys… so their kennels are currently bare wood. With winter coming, we’ve started having frosty nights, and I think that Jaffa is starting to feel the cold. Commercial dog coats didn’t appeal to me, though – artificial fabrics, expensive, and I wasn’t sure whether they’d survive long with our terrible twosome.

I had some wool fabric remnants, so after a little searching on the internet for inspiration, I cut out coats for them – a double layer for Jaffa, and a single layer for the much-more active Tansy:

Dog coat - hand made

Hand made dog coat

They’ve been wearing them inside tonight, and don’t seem to be bothered by them – no scratching or trying to get them off or anything like that. It remains to be seen, though, what they’ll be like in the morning!

Finished – Shetland Snow

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I started this shawl on January 1st in a burst of enthusiasm for the 10 Shawls in 2010 challenge… and then became sidetracked by designing and knitting Brangian and her variations. So, my Shetland Triangle languished, with me picking it up and knitting a few rows every now and then… but I decided a few weeks ago to start finishing up some wips, and now I’ve finished this one.

Each year, at the Romance Writers of Australia conference in August, there is a silent auction with all funds raised going to cancer research. Last year, I wanted to donate a lace scarf, but I struck a problem in adapting the pattern and didn’t manage to get it finished in time. So, this year, I’ll donate this shawl along with some signed books to the auction.

It’s a grey, rainy day, so it was a challenge to photograph her:

Pattern: Shetland Triangle. Yarn: Bendigo Luxury 4 ply

Pattern: Shteland Triangle. Yarn: Bendigo Luxury 4 ply

The pattern is the wonderful and easy Shetland Triangle (Ravelry link), by Evelyn Clark. The yarn is 4ply Luxury from Bendigo Woollen Mills. I also added beads from Empire Beads to the last two repeats and the edging (Czech seed beads Round Pearlised White 4.5mm GB5/0):
Shetland Triangle, bead detail

FO – Brangian variations

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I finished knitting my fifth Brangian shawl the other day – this time with a few minor variations to the pattern:

1) Instead of the yo, k1, yo spine in the stocking stitch section, I worked a m1R, k1, m1L spine, and reverted to the yo, k1, yo spine when I started the lace section. This is how that looks:

Brangian shawl - spine detail

2) I knitted an extra repeat of Chart 1, but only the first 8 rows of Chart 2 before continuing on to the edging chart, and then 3) I worked the last two rows of the edging chart again, just to make it a little deeper (and because I had plenty of yarn left!):

Brangian shawl, lace variation detail

Although I like the original version, with the broad border of alternating buds before the edging, I also like this single line of offset buds between the main lace and the edging – I think it highlights both the edging, as wella s the long lines of lace in the main lace section.

Here she is, in all her (early morning, bright sunshine) glory:

Brangian Shawl

This image is closest to the real colour – it’s just on the purple side of blue. Just.

Yarn: a 50/50 silk/merino fingering, that I bought undyed from the Yarn Workshop, and dyed myself.

Size: small

Needles: 4mm circular

Unblocked measurements: Width 98cm, height 50cm; (38.5 inches x 19.7inches)

Blocked measurements: Width 145cm, height 69cm; (57 inches x 27inches)

Still knitting…

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Yes, I’m still alive, despite the lack of blogging evidence to the contrary in the past few weeks.

On Wednesday March 31st, I started a new Brangian shawl… while sitting waiting at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney for a procedure on my aneurism. A gorgeous 50/50 silk/merino yarn, a pattern I’ve knitted enough times to have memorised – definitely good hanging around hospitals knitting.

The plan was that the procedure would go fine, I’d be in hospital overnight, and then I’d have a week in Sydney, followed by a few days with my family in Canberra. Well, the plan worked… up to a point. I was out of hospital on the Thursday (although I had to wait to do some scans, and wasn’t discharged until evening) and then had the Easter weekend with DH and my sister, enjoying the shops and cafes of inner Sydney. DH flew back home on Sunday afternoon, and I was looking forward to a few more days in Sydney…

Monday morning, I was back in RPA hospital, where they found a blood clot in my groin (right next to where they’d accessed the artery for the procedure). I was in RPA for a week, while they put me on to blood-thinning meds and eased me on to Warfarin. After a week, I was able to be transferred by air ambulance up to Armidale hospital, and I had another two nights there.

So, 9 nights in hospital, feeling relatively fine = much knitting and reading time. I confess I did more reading than knitting, because it’s a bit easier for me to block out the noises of a busy ward while reading, and canulas in the hands make knitting a bit tricky, but I did make a fair amount of progress on my shawl, and it was lovely to pick up when I needed to focus on something beautiful.

Now I’m home, and fine, although I’ll be on warfarin for another month or so, until the blood clot has cleared up. My shawl isn’t finished yet, but I only have a few more rows of pattern before I start on the edging chart.

I’m varying the pattern in a couple of ways this time:

1) In the stocking sticth section, instead of working the centre spine as yo, k1, yo, I’m doing it as m1R, k1, M1L – thus not having the line of lace ‘holes’ down the centre. I quite like the effect – a small ridge, but not as prominent as the holey spine.

2) I’ve done an extra repeat of Chart 1, but will only work the first 8 rows of Chart 2. This will mean that there’s only 1 line of offset ‘buds’ between the main body of the lace and the edging, rather than the 3 lines of alternating buds.

Here’s a little preview of how she’s looking so far:

Brangian Shawl in progress

And now, in totally not-knitting-related news, I shall just mention shout from the rooftops that just before I went into hospital, I found out that my second book, Dark Country, is a finalist in the romantic suspense category of the prestigious Romance Writers of America RITA Awards… and now I’m finally celebrating by having a book giveaway over on my writing blog. So, if you might like gritty romantic suspense, set on the edge of the Australian Outback, do hope over and enter. (Sadly, my characters are so busy dealing with bad guys that they don’t get time to knit, so there is little yarny content  – but my heroine in Dark Country does spend some time wearing a handknit Aran cardigan.)

FO – Large beaded Brangian

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This is the large version of Brangian, knitted to the pattern but with added beads (‘cos I do love the sparklies!) I finished it during the week, but it took me a few days to organise myself to block her, and then another day or two to get some photos outside. It’s not the best photo – the sun was bright – but it gives an idea of her, anyway!

Pattern: Brangian Shawl. Yarn: Bendigo Luxury 4ply

I added beads to Charts 2 & 3 – I didn’t have a close match in colour, so I used the Dark Amethyst AB mix from Empire Beads – I think it gives the colour an extra lift!
Brangian shawl Beadiing detail

This is the fourth Brangian I’ve knitted this year – I think I can say the pattern is well-tested now! I’ve got another one in laceweight on the needles, but it hasn’t progressed very far yet. I’m going away for a week or two on Tuesday, so I’ll take that one with me and aim to make more progress. And in the meantime, just for a change, I’ve been trying to finish a Shetland Triangle that I started on January 1st – only one or two more pattern repeats to go on it, and the edging, and then I will have liberated an Addi circular, and can cast something else on to it!

Dyeing an autumn day

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I’ve had some undyed yarns in the stash for a while, and in the past week or so I’ve got out the dyepots and transformed them. I used to be a haphazard dyer, but I’m aiming for a little more discipline and stretching my skills, for planned results rather than happy accidents!

I don’t (yet) have a proper dyeing space set up. I’ve been dyeing outside, on a plastic-covered fold-up table, with my camping stove on an old milk-crate; this works, except I’ve discovered that breezy days are not the best days to dye, especially with limited working surfaces – sudden gusts can blow dye powder just where you don’t want it, and therefore two skeins have some tiny spots of darker colour.

I’m not usually very ‘arty’ about dyeing, but I got inspired in this last batch to aim for the colours of an early-autumn day. And this is the result, before reskeining:
Hand painted yarns

And here they are, after reskeining:

Hand painted yarns after reskeining

From left to right: First Light; Warm Sun; River Picnic; Sunset; Night Sky.

I plan to do a lot more dyeing, but need to have a better and more efficient set-up. I bought a second camp-stove the other day, so now I can have two pots going at once. And perhaps another fold-up table might be in my near future… I do fantasize about a textile studio, with space for looms, and stash, and a long bench, sinks, stove etc for dyeing, but if that ever happens, it’s a way off yet.

Racing the clock

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When I was researching in the UK a few years ago for my Honours thesis (on 18th century British worsted textiles), I came across a newspaper article about a coat made entirely in one day, from raw fleece to finished product. I can’t at present find my notes, but I think that one was earlier than the similar event, described in the following article, which originally appeared in the Leeds Mercury, and was reprinted in the Maitland Mercury & Hunter River General Advertiser in it’s first edition on January 7, 1843.( Courtesy of the National Library’s Historic Australian Newspapers site.)

MOST EXTRAORDINARY PERFORMANCE IN THE MANUFACTURE OF A COAT.- The somewhat surprising statement which we published on the 2nd instant, of a beautiful brown dress coat having been manu- factured and made in Leeds in the space of 19 hours, can scarcely equal the following as a feat of expedition, one we should think, unparalleled ín the history of coat-making. The late Sir John Trockmorton, Bart., a noble minded gentleman, and one ardently devoted to improvements in agriculture, with a view to encourage the growth of British wool, at five o’clock in the morning of the 25th June, 1811, presented two sheep to Mr. Coxeter, of Greenham Mills, Newbury, Berks, for the purpose of proving that a coat could be made of the wool before night. The sheep were immediately shorn, and the wool sorted, &c., it passed through the usual process of scouring, dyeing, scribbling, spinning (on the jenny,) weaving (by hand,) and a fine kersey cloth was manufactured before four o’clock in the afternoon. The cloth was then put into the hands of tailors, who completed the coat at twenty minutes past six, and Sir John had the pleasure and satisfaction of appearing in it at a public dinner at seven ? Some thousands of persons were present, who at the appearance of Sir John, rent the air with their acclamations. The said coat is now in possession of the nephew of Sir John late member for Berks. We have seen a large painting in the inn at Newbery, representing a view of Mr. Coxeter’s manufactory on the morning of the day, when this extraordinary performance took place at the above mills, also representing Sir John in his celebrated coat, and portraits of the most distinguished persons present at the dinner.-Leeds Mercury.

I suspect that this type of racing-against-the clock challenge was not entirely uncommon at the time, in the days of entrepreneurial gentleman clothiers and manufacturers, prior to the wide-spread introduction of steam-powered machinery. It’s quite an amazing feat though, when you consider all the process that had to take place, and only the spinning done by machine, everything else done by hand. I can only assume that it was a dry day, given that the processes included scouring, dyeing, and presumably at least some wet-finishing of the kersey cloth. I hope Sir John didn’t catch a cold over dinner, if his coat was still slightly damp 🙂