FO: Cthulhu Ski Mask

There are not many things I like more than a nice cup of tea, but it does dribble down my tentacles a bit. You can tell I'm English by the dainty bone china cup I am holding.

So yes, the Cthulhu mask is finished and is ready to be sent off to its new owner, who has already expressed some delight in this picture, so hopefully it will do down well. I took the picture with a nice cup of tea because some readers expressed some unease with yesterday's pictures, and nobody with a fondness for a nice cuppa and a chocolate biscuit could be harmful.

This was a relatively fast project using both knitting and crochet as it was worked in Aran weight yarn and 5.5mm needles. The main body of the mask is knit, with the tentacles crocheted. The 'eyebrow' is made out of an iCord which is steadily increased in diameter towards the centre with a cluster of stitches forming the little bump between the eyes. None of the skills used in knitting and crocheting this pattern are 'difficult' but the pattern is really quite vague in the information it is trying to convey. It's not a cheap single pattern at $6, and really has a lot of vital information missing, such as what type of increase is used  (it turns out, after experimentation, that it's a kfb increase, so if you don't guess at this all of your numbers very quickly fall out of place) and in various places the designer does not mention whether an instruction is carried out once or continued around the rest of the round.

The instructions for resizing the patterns amount to telling the knitter to work it out themselves, which is fine if you are an experienced knitter but is almost certainly rather confusing for less experienced knitters.

It's actually a really fun project for the HP Lovecraft type geeks out there, but not a fun pattern to follow. I've added copious notes to my Ravelry project page in case anyone does get stuck with it, but hopefully the pattern will be amended.

OK, now I am going to post the picture where I tried to look a little more 'mean', because this is a monster, after all.

Pattern: Cthulhu Knit and Crcohet Ski Mask

Yarn: Stylecraft Special Aran

WIP: Cthulhu Mask

Have you ever knit or crocheted something with the power to actually scare you?

I think this may have been featured in an episode of the X-Files once; the melty wool face episode that gave you nightmares for 6 months and burned the image of the hideous creature into your retinas. It doesn't much help when the camera pans out, either.

It is perhaps the visual connotations and memories of growing up in the time of the IRA bombings in London, one of which went off a few minutes' walk away that make balaclavas and ski masks visually unappealing, or it may be just that they look like a hollowed out face, I'm not sure. But this isn't the finished item, by any means. No, what this piece needs is adornments.

This is the mask with one of two sets of tentacles resting, as yet unattached, on the front of the ski mask. It's in representation of one of H P Lovecraft's creations, the Cthulhu, a green, tentacle-faced monster. I've been asked to make this by a friend, and it looked like an interesting project and something a bit different from my recent sock knitting. It's coming together pretty quickly - I all but finished the actual mask part in an evening and have been crocheting the tentacles in front of episodes of The X-Files, just to make it even more unnerving. Hugh The Manatee keeps coming to my rescue, though, always on hand to slay the scary beast.

FO: Greenwood Hat

This is another finished knit from my time without the Internet and the second pattern from my book. After Holly's Handwarmers, composed only of knit and purl stitches and knit completely flat, this hat introduces picking up stitches, knitting in the round, the simplest of colourwork in the form of stripes and a simple k2tog decrease, but keeps it simple by only using the knit stitch (no purls) throughout. It's knit in a quite bulky yarn to make it a quick and unfiddly knit, and to keep the hat lovely and warm.

The construction is interesting, with an elastic hat band knit sideways in garter rib, before stitches are picked up to knit the remainder of the hat bottom-up. It's one of those projects that is very quick to complete but gives a lot of visual impact in return for simplicity, and a little bit of extra decoration in the form of two buttons. 

When searching for some suitable buttons for this project, I just could not find anything that was the right shape or shade. I tried wooden buttons, but the contrast was too jarring, and the best I could find was this sad and sorry choice of two:

One set were far too light a blue and too close to the green side of the blue spectrum, and the other were slightly brownish black, but crafty folks will find a way, and a rummage through my craft cupboard held the answer in the form of some acrylic paints which I mixed to an appropriate shade.

Old Treasures And New Yarn

Last year, not long after I had moved home, I was privileged to be visited by a friend who I had known for a long time, but never met. As well as my online knitting friends I have a group of online geeky friends, and there are a fair few that span the divide. Wullie is not a knitter, but he bought along a couple of wonderful gifts, courtesy of his mum. One was a slim paper knitting pamphlet of patterns and general knitting tips and guidelines, and the other was this glorious publication:

This book is absolutely beautiful. It's very different in style and content to modern knitting releases. Published in the 1950s it contains relatively few photographs (there are 24 photographic plates in total) but it is absolutely packed full of the most wonderfully detailed illustrations.

The correct twist of each stitch is noted and I feel as if I can 'see' what' is going on with each knitted stitch in a way that sometimes isn't quite apparent with photographs of pieces of knitting simply because of the limitations in capturing the nuances of a fuzzy, soft yarn and lack of shadow between stitches with knitted fabric. The illustrations seem to have been made with so much care and attention to detail that I can spend hours gazing at the 400+ hand drawn pictures in this book.

Another lovely quality of this book is that it does not condescend to the reader. It tells the reader that designing your own knitted fabrics or stitch patterns is not difficult, and that anyone can achieve something truly unique if they just have the mind to try, and to experiment. At the same time the book is very good at laying down the instructions on how to complete any specific type of knitting stitch in a very exacting way.

The wealth of information in this book is pretty amazing. It has sections on many regional and international knitting styles, as well as details on how to knit many types of lacework and cabling, how to knit just about any shape or type of fabric and the best applications for each of these styles of fabric creation. Most of all it seems to impress the belief that knitting isn't difficult and yes you can achieve any technique in knitting, no matter that they may first seem difficult or confusing, but that this book is there if yo do happen to get stuck or need some guidance. I like this attitude: of course you can do that.

I've read through the book a couple of times and have a few ideas for a future projects where I want to put a few newly gained skills and pieces of knowledge into practice. A couple of them might even come into play with the new project I am about to cast on. A friend has asked me to knit something a bit different from my usual socks and other winter-warming items, and to complete it I needed one of these:

New yarn is always fun, but this is a pretty run-of-the-mill workaday yarn. However, the fun comes when you realise that it is actually a yarn behemoth. Check it out with its little brother:

It's a 400g ball of Stylecraft Special Aran yarn. I actually only need about 200g to finish the project, but this single ball worked out cheaper than buying two or three 100g balls of an equivalent Aran weight yarn. Now that it is here I shall cast on tonight! 

FO: Amazing Magic Rainbow Socks

I absolutely adore these socks. I really do think they are the best socks in the world. They are extra-long, extra comfy and are knitted from amazing rainbows. They have everything I love in a sock - beautiful colours, a fantastic colour progression kept in tact with a contrast short row heel, and they are made to be smiled at.

I knit these socks toe-up, to make sure that I used every single bit of the yarn (an amazing 'Magic Carpet' hand-dyed by The Yarn Yard) and I really did achieve that aim - I had about 8"/20cm of yarn left over when I had finished them. I have never used a yarn quite like this before, and I think it is a revelation. The Magic Carpets are such a wonderful idea: a double-stranded knit sheet of fabric saturated with bright, eye-popping colour, and a single sheet is plenty to complete a pair of socks of good length. Because they are double stranded you have the choice of knitting two socks at a time without having two untangle two skeins every round, or you can knit the socks one at a time (which is what I did).

To create these socks I first provisionally cast on my total number of stitches using scrap yarn. I then began knitting with the Magic carpet yarn until my piece of knitting was 8cm shorter than my foot length (to allow for a 4cm toe and 4cm heel). At this stage I knit across half of my total stitches with a short length of scrap yarn before knitting over those stitches again with the working yarn and continuing to knit until I had just enough yarn to bind off with. The last few inches of the leg are knit in a 5x1 rib pattern which in turn progresses into a 2x1 rib, for comfort and elasticity. It also looks pretty cool. Once the main body of the sock was knit I undid the provisional cast on and knit a short row toe, and then undid the row of scrap yarn stitches to knit an identical short-row heel. This is the same method I use for many socks where the main beauty of the sock is in a yarn that has a smooth colour gradient or stripe sequence that would be interrupted by knitting a flap & gusset style heel or a short row heel 'in situ'.

Because of the way the yarn is dyed, you are guaranteed two absolutely matching socks: each strand of yarn begins and ends at the same point in the colour change and blends between colours at the same rate. I absolutely adore these socks, more than I can even put into words. I think they would make any dull day a happy one, and I think that many people are likely to agree with this because every single time I have posted about these socks during the process of their knitting people have asked where did I get the yarn from? Well, I have delayed putting this post up in order to let The Yarn Yard get some of the Magic Carpet yarn into the shop, which has taken a while as each is individually hand dyed, but they are in the shop now, but in very limited numbers, so grab them whilst you can as I don't think they are stocked very often. I would like them for all of my next birthdays until I am too old to knit, please, because then I could never feel sad as my feet would be too happy!

Pattern: Short Row Heels and Toes for the Sock Enthusiast
Yarn: The Yarn Yard Magic Carpet

The Knitting Pocket Bible

A week ago, Rachael (ChasingTheYarn on Ravelry) asked if I would share more about my book here on the site. I guess I'm still a little bit shy about it, whilst at the same time feeling very proud of it, inside.

So, what's it all about, Mimi?¹

Well, it's 172 pages packed full of information, facts and trivia about knitting. Firstly, it's full of interesting knitterly knowledge, from the basics which list seven different materials that knitting needles are made from and the origins, construction and uses of nearly thirty different types of yarn and fibre, through to the history and applications of knitting through the ages.

The description on Amazon reads:

From making stripes to making shapes, from tension swatches to avoiding tension headaches, from creating fringes to dealing with frogging, you'll find all the handy, easy-to-follow advice you need in The Knitting Pocket Bible to ease your woolly worries. There's also valuable advice on what items to make for friends and family, tips on what to do if you drop stitches or it all goes wrong and a handy guide to deciphering knitting patterns. Wondering how to set up a knitting group? Not sure which wools and colours to use? Find tips on all the rules and regulations or running a knitting group, make sure you've got all the right knitting needles and knitting equipment you need to make your knitting project go as smoothly as possible. Knitting doesn't even need to be woolly - find out all the alternative types of yarn to knit with, from eco-friendly hemp to baby soft bamboo. Small and durable, and perfectly designed to be dipped into again and again (just like your wool stash!), The Knitting Pocket Bible is sure to be a trusty companion in your knitting bag whatever your knitting project. This beautiful hardback edition has both dust-cover and gold embossing on the spine making it the perfect gift. Every Pocket Bible is lovingly crafted to give you a unique mix of useful references, handy tips and fascinating trivia that will enlighten and entertain you at every page.

I didn't write that pun-tastic description. You can tell that because I would definitely have said 'pulling shapes'. I also didn't write the author description, but it makes me smile:

Mimi joined the knitting community a couple of years ago but is already an expert knitter making anything from giant monkeys to pirate themed mittens from only wool and needles. Most importantly she knows that receiving and giving knitted socks is worlds away from store bought ones, even if they are Armani.

Expert knitter. Blush. Still, monkeys and pirates, someone did their homework.

Sections of the book focus on equipment (including yarn) used by knitters, detailing the essential knitter's tool set but also the more frivolous knitterly gadgets. It also discusses how to go about obtaining yarn, from the normal purchasing sources down to spinning your own. There are guides to the basics of knitting, fantastic when you need a memory jog to remind you how to carry out a particular stitch. There are sections on putting garments together, how best to join seams side to side, top to bottom, side to back... whatever you need. There is information on adapting patterns, choosing the right yarn, choosing the right pattern and deciding what to knit for which person. There are sections on embellishments, blocking, how to read charts and interpret patterns and also five patterns which each introduce new skills to the knitter.

My favourite bits of the book are perhaps the handy tips and bits of trivia scattered throughout the pages. They are the kind of little snippets that when leafing through the book make you want to turn to anyone who will listen and say 'did you know this? ' These fun little facts range from the size of the biggest ever ball of yarn to the origins of the belief that sheep grew on trees. Now, I know that last one makes you want to read more, yes?

The Knitting Pocket Bible is available in hardback format from Amazon and all other good book retailers, and is also available in Kindle format and via iBooks on iTunes for those readers who are digitally enabled. You can download a preview chapter to your device or read an extract of the book online, via Amazon. And don't forget to enter the draw to win a copy before the end of the month.

¹(I'd hope that at least 30% of the people who read that sung it, in their heads, in the voice of Cilla Black).

Travel Knitting and Kitchener On The Go

I hit the road with Mr Awesome for two days last week, whilst he visited various towns in various counties for work. They were long days with a lot of driving, and I travelled with him to keep him company during the long spans of time in the car. Whilst he visited various places for 20-60 minutes at a time, I stayed in the car with my audiobook with the thought of some wonderful distraction-free time to get some knitting done, and an excellent opportunity to get some extra knitting done on the three single socks of shame.

I decided cast on the second of the Magic Rainbow Socks for some mindless rounds of stockinette, but as I didn't want to carry around too many different balls of yarn, or yet to sit down to add in the contrasting short-row sections for the heels and toes, I decided to leave those parts until the end. Towards the bottom-right of the above picture are three rows of white yarn, which I used as a provisional cast-on. I quite like to make a crocheted provisional cast-on, but as I travel with the bare minimum of knitting supplies (because I am forgetful) I often knit a few rows in waste yarn as a provisional cast-on instead. In the bright magenta section of the sock is a single row of orange yarn. This is a line of waste stitches which will later be unpicked, ready for a short-row heel to be knitted in place. As I have decided to leave the heel and toe knitting until the rest of the sock is complete, this really is the easiest of knitting projects, a continuos parade of knit stitches, a mindless carousel of travel knitting.

So that my mind did not turn to complete mush, however, I also bought along my half-completed Interlochen Cables sock for a bit of stitch variety. 

I completed the home-journey to the toe in a couple of hours and was ready to kitchener stitch the toe shut with a sense of satisfactory flourish when I realised that I did not have a tapestry needle with me (because, again, I am forgetful). I was be-moaning that I couldn't 'sign off' this mini-victory of completing the first sock when helpful Twitterers @lilysunshine, @Turtlepurl and @PileOfSheep all pointed me towards a technique developed by Techknitter in which grafting the live stitches is achieved without the use of a tapestry needle, instead using the three knitting needles (perfect, as I had been working with DPNs). The needles are held he same way as when doing a three-needle bind-off, with one needle for each row of live stitches to be joined in the left hand and a third needle to work the stitches in the right. The yarn is cut to allow the end of the yarn to be pulled through each stitch and the stitches worked in a pattern of knits and purls on the front and back needles in turn, slipping some stitches from the needles and leaving some on until the next round, very much like traditional kitchener stitching. The results are speedy and simple, and great when your tapestry needle is feeling shy.

The only slight difference that I could see was that my stitches seemed to lean or bias slightly on the kitchenered row.

I don't know if it's the way that I knit it, but I'm really not worried about it at all. It's on the very edge of the sock and may well straighten out when the socks are blocked, so I'll definitely use this new discovery of Techknitter's again, and can well see it being my new go-to way of grafting live stitches from now on.

You can read all about Techknitter's Kitchener Stitch Alternative on her wonderful blog.

FO: Holly's Handwarmers

These mittens are a past FO from the months when my blog was offline. They are Holly's Handwarmers - the first pattern from my book, The Knitting Pocket Bible. They are a necessarily easy project as I wanted each pattern in the book to introduce a new skill in knitting - these handwarmers are intended to get newer knitters comfortable with knitting and purling, and changing between the two stitches with ease. They are knit flat, so newer knitters also need not feel intimidated by having to learn to knit in the round.

The fingerless mitts were intended to be a perfect 'first project', an actual real and usable thing to make after the first squares of knitting have been experimented with, and a first piece of knitting to show off. They are constructed mostly in rib (for ease of fit) but also feature a motif of two diamonds in moss stitch for added interest.

Further patterns in the book go on to introduce knitters to the skills of knitting in the round, picking up stitches, cabling, lace and short-rows, all in uncomplicated, easily achieved projects. I've been asked by a commenter in a  previous post to talk a bit more about the book and what kind of information is in it, who it is for, etc, which I promise I will do at the beginning of next week.

Pattern: Holly's Handwarmers by Mimi Hill from The Knitting Pocket Bible
Yarn: Rowan Pure Wool DK

WIP: Interlochen Cables Socks

These socks were cast on at Christmas, a relief from the interminable delights of Strictly Come Dancing on Ice Factor. The socks carry an all-over cable pattern, which makes them visually quite arresting. I Love the impact these cables make, and also the lack of fuss in making them. They are not the fastest knit in the world, being worked over 80 stitches on 2.25mm needles, and being worked entirely (sole excluded) in the cable pattern which is based on a 2x2 rib repeat.

However, the cable pattern is worked over a 16 row repeat, half of the cables being worked every eight rows, and the cables do not travel, meaning that you only cross the cables every eighth row, so you get a lot of visual impact without much fussy cabling, which is even faster if you cable without the use of a cable needle.

I haven't really picked these up since we returned from our Christmas trip, mostly because I had cast them on as a side project to keep me occupied whilst we chatted with family and in between board games and introducing the grandparents to The Princess Bride. I'll get back to them eventually, but I think the order of action sees me completing the Magic Rainbow Socks first.

Pattern: Interlochen Cables Socks by Angela Sivers, from Think Outside the Sox.
Yarn: Eskimimi Knits Semi-Solids.

WIP: Spinning Candy Twist Fibre

This beautiful fibre is a 70% merino, 30% tussah silk blend from Sara's Texture Crafts on Etsy, in the colourway 'candy twist', and was a wonderful Christmas gift from my lovely friend Goddess Jasmine. I had a little play with the fibre before deciding how to spin it. The colours are blended quite closely, so I think the resulting yarn will probably show the resulting colour from the blend, rather than me separating out some of the colours to make a yarn that progresses through the tones of the fibre. The silk contend also adds a slight sheen to the fibre as well as some wonderful strength, so I decided to spin this finer than I usually do to hopefully end up with a 2-ply lace weight yarn.

One of the problems that I have with my own spinning is that I have trouble producing a heavier-weight single ply, but I can spin as fine as you like. As I'm going purposefully quite fine with this yarn for later playing it's going to take me quite a while to finish it, but it's something that I do look forward to as I hope to be able to knit the resulting yarn into a summer shawl, in preparation for some better weather in a few months, where hopefully the fine silk threads will catch some of that summer light.

This is the first time I have spun fibre with any silk content in, and every now and again  come across a miniscule bobble that is almost like a 'knot' of silk. I wondered whether to pick these out or leave them in, but eventually decided upon the latter, occasionally making the very tiniest little 'slubs' that you might imagine.

The silk is a wonderful addition and a lovely little treat. Tussah or 'wild' silk is particularly interesting as unlike with Bombyx silk moths, which are killed (either by boiling or piercing with a needle) to allow the cocoon to be unravelled in one long strand, Tussah silk is made from cocoons which have already been abandoned by the emerged moth, so the staple length of the fibre is far shorter and the moths are left to go on and produce more silk worms who in turn produce more silk for me to spin.

FO: Librarian Monkey

Over the weekend I decided to knit a new monkey-chum to take care of and guard over the new bookcase we have newly assembled in the living room, to guard over our books and games.

We needed someone dedicated and trustworthy, as well as diligent - someone who would ensure to check that the right games and DVDs went back in the right cases and that knew enough of the books' contents to give handy pointers on where one might find an interesting short-repeat lace pattern, or an Estonian shawl.

Librarian Monkey knows all these things and more.

He has one problem in that he has no 'bum' to speak of, so he doesn't sit up very convincingly. In fact, he sometimes looks drunk on the job.

I'm also assured that he has an assistant on the way, one 'Ginger Monk', who is apparently very good at alphabetising any selection of disc-based media that you may place in front of him. I'm hoping that Washing-Up Monk follows shortly afterwards.

Librarian Monkey comes from a long-line of similar monkeys produced from the pattern Jerry, The Musical Monkey, by Rebecca Danger. His blueprint came to me as a gift many moons ago from Andi, of Untangling Knots. Currently, he has over 500 brothers and sisters inhabiting Ravelry.

PS: If you read this blog via RSS feed then some people may have noticed that I am putting up some of my old posts from the archive stored on the Wayback Machine. This may take a while as there is no way to download the posts so I have to hand-copy and paste in the text and then re-add in all the pictures one by one, but some people may see these archived posts in their feed as new items, depending on the service they use. Hopefully they will find some  interest in the archived articles as I have been doing. Librarian Monkey approves of the archiving of all past reading materials.

WIP: Wishbone Socks

I started these socks as my first knitting project after my break from knitting, the internet, Life, The Universe and Everything. The pattern, Wishbone socks by Nancy Bush, is a simple, easily memorisable pattern from the Interweave Knits 2009 accessories magazine, and makes for quite a quick knit as the lace pattern seems to grow very quickly.

I think I needed a cheery knit and the bright yellows of this slightly stripe Schoppel-Wolle Admiral Ombré in Banana Joe was exactly what the knit nurse ordered to bring a little sunshine into life.

After the first sock I managed to lose the paper pattern that I printed out from my digital copy of the magazine, so the first sock has been waiting for me to get computer access again so that I can check on how to start its partner, and I just may have cast on three whole new sock patterns since then. Naughty. Still, I'm going to look at it this way: I have three sock projects on the go at the moment - one is a plain sockinette sock, another is a cabled sock and this is lace, which makes them three entirely different types of knitting and therefore justifiably happy partners in the WIP pile, and when I finish them I'm going to have three pretty amazing pairs of socks.

Snowy Days and a Wintry Mood

A fresh blanket of snow decided this morning to lay upon the patchy duvet of flakes laid down last Saturday, so the world outside today is bright, and cold, perfect for layering up on hand-knits and cosy wintry accessories.

Talking of the joys of winter I can't be the only person who started making their Christmas cards back in January, right?

I actually started stitching the motifs for these Christmas cards back in October of last year, but then I moved house, settled in for a month and a half and then my other half and I found out we were to be moving house again mid-December, so the little cross-stitched panels were put in a box, ready to use another time.

They are very simple motifs, stitched in bright greens and reds, perfect for a contemporary Christmas pallet with a touch of a more traditional craft.

I've still got a healthy little stack of motifs to work through, but it's a nice source of simple, instant gratification crafting, and something to come back to throughout the year so that it isn't a stressful rush to get them all made a week before Christmas.

As well as the cross-stitch motif cards, I have made a selection of cards using Christmas themed playing cards as the basis of the toppers.

We found this set of individually designed playing cards when sorting out some old belongings of Mr Awesome, where they were destined for the bin unless I could use them in any way. Well, of course I could find something to do with them. They're a great source of design inspiration in themselves as each card is designed by a different artist, so there are many different styles and colour pallets to play around with.

As I have given up on knitting gifts for all but the very most important people in my life and those people that I think might appreciate something handmade, these cards will be a nice way to give a little thing that I have created to all of my friends and acquaintances this year, without knitting under the stress of deadlines. Plus, it's great fun.

DIY Sock Blockers, The Return

Giant socks call for giant sock blockers, and because I think paying £20+ for plastic sock-forms is not for me I decided to call up my crafty side and make my own.

A couple of years ago I came up with a good formula for making custom, perfectly sized sock blockers. I used this same technique to make my new sock blockers, though this time I managed to find the plastic placemats that I had searched for in vain last time.

I bought two different types of placemats, both from Ikea, to make two sets of sock blockers. One in Giant size and one for normal sized feet.

The frosted white place mats decorated with birds are KLISTRIG mats, prices at £2.39p for four. They measure 36x29cm, which is just about large enough for a UK6/7 sock, I'd say. I actually cut my pair of sock blockers from these mats and then cut an extra almost-rectangular piece, just narrowing slightly down it's length, out of the excess of the mat to allow to slip into the leg of a longer knit pair of socks, such as my Rainbow Socks. The mats are actually pretty flimsy material, which while making it very easy to cut does make them more difficult to insert into a damp pair of socks.

The Black patterned mats in the background are part of the LJUDA range and are sold individually, priced at £1 each. They are larger (37x37cm) making them perfect for even the UK size 12 sock blockers I cut from them, and they are also made of a sturdier plastic, which makes them easier to place into damp socks, though they are slightly harder to cut out with scissors.

I'm extremely happy with my new sock blockers, and though they are not as wonderfully free as my cardboard alternatives they were fantastic for sock blockers in a hurry at a fraction of the price of buying a ready-made pair, and with custom measurements are sure to be pressed into regular use.

FO: Giant Birthday Socks

Knitting secret socks is a difficult task at the best of times. Trying to sneakily knit to schedule can be fraught with problems as you approach the deadline, trying to escape for a little bit of illicit yarn-wrangling at snatched moments. When the socks you are knitting are for rather larger feet than those you are used to knitting for, the task becomes all the more momentous.

Last night these sock for my other half's birthday today were still hanging up in front of the radiator, with fingers crossed that they'd be dry and ready to give this morning, which (luckily) they were. But why did I leave it so late to finish and block them? Well, the truth is, I didn't. I left plenty of time to knit these large UK size 12 socks, but last week, just as I was about to cast off the second sock, I had a sudden, awful realisation. One sock was narrower and longer than the other.

How could this be? Well, in my rush (complacency, maybe?) I had managed to cast one sock on with eight fewer stitches than the first. Operation 'knit a giant sock in four days' then commenced. I am not going to pretend that it wasn't stressful knitting, but I am very pleased with the result, and, importantly, the recipient seemed pleased with them.

The Main yarn is Regia Canyon Color in shade 2804, with heels, toes and cuffs worked in a semi-solid grey Regia Stretch yarn. I worked the short row heel and toe details in the solid yarn to make the main yarn stretch further, but also so that the stripe progression down the front of the leg was kept in tact, making for an attractive sock, which is something I spoke about at length on my previous blog.

Since I lost my first blog, my posts about the whys and hows of short row heels and toes have been among the most requested on the boards and via PMs on Ravlery, so I decided to re-upload a few posts from the archives that people found useful or interesting, starting with posts like the photography tutorials and DIY sock blocker making how-tos, published under the original publishing date so that they do not interrupt the actual timeline of posts with old content. Because it relates to this first FO, the first of these posts from the archives are now up.

Short rows for socks, part I: Why and when.
Short rows for socks, part 2: How. 

WIP: Magic Rainbow Socks

For a long time I have kept what I thought of as my 'best' yarns, my favourite skeins, away from my needles, not wanting to knit them because they are too precious, but recently I have come to think that I deserve to have great knits made from great yarn.

And this is one of the greatest yarns I have ever had the pleasure to knit with, a Yarn Yard Magic Carpet.

Magic Carpets are double-stranded sheets of knitted fabric which are then gradient-dyed. Each one is unique, but because of the double-stranding you can knit a perfectly matching pair of socks. I decided to unravel my Magic Carpet and wind the two strands into separate centre-pull balls, rather than try and tackle the new skill of two-at-a-time socks using magic-loop, mostly because I am forever enamoured by my DPNs.

I decided to knit the socks toe-up, to ensure being able to use absolutely every single centimetre of this glorious rainbow-hued yarn, and to keep the colour progression smooth I inserted short-row heels and matching toes in a contrasting undyed yarn (also saving a little extra yarn for added sock length!

The deep sock cuff makes the top of these socks really stretchy and comfortable - starting out as a 5x1 rib and progressing to a 2x1  rib nearer the edge. One sock down and one to go, I'm 50% of the way to the most magical pair of rainbow socks ever knit.

Hello. Again.

Oh, er... Hi.

This is a bit awkward, bumping into you like this. It's been a while, hasn't it? How have you been doing? Me, er, yeah, I'm fine. You know, had a bit of a hard time there for a bit, but everything is a lot better now. Actually, it's pretty fantastic and I am happy. The old blog? Nope, it's gone I'm afraid, but hey, check out this new one. It's all shiny.

So, what was I up to whilst I was away? Well I moved house quite a few times, and I have lived in quite a few different areas of the country now. From around other areas of the North-West, then right up to the North East, in Whitley Bay, where I met a lovely knitting group who met at Ring-a-Rosie, and then down to where I live now. Oh, and my book came out!

I didn't really mention on my last blog that I was writing a book. I wanted to keep it a surprise for the day it was released, but by then I had moved, I never had access to the internet and I lost my blog, so perhaps my biggest and proudest F/O to date never got its moment in the spotlight.

So, instead, I'm going to kick this new blog off with a bit of excitement. I've got a copy of my book, The Knitting Pocket Bible, to give away to one commenter drawn at random.

The draw will take place on Thursday 1st March, selected by a random number generator. If you would like to be contacted via Ravelry, should you happen to be the person drawn from the hat, then leave a link to your Ravelry Profile in the URL field of the 'comments' section. The competition is open worldwide, and if, perchance, you happen to win and already own a copy, just provide me with the name and address of a lucky friend and I'll swish it their way. Or keep two copies for yourself - you can't be too careful now.

Of course, if you can't wait to get your hands on a copy, then it's available via all good online retailers. UK folks may want to find it cheapest on the very catchily named finditcheapest.com. Alternatively it is available in both the Kindle store and on iBooks, for those who prefer their books to be less papery.

So, there we go, a first post, and that wasn't too awkward. I'll get back to updating you with news of knitting and crafting soon, but for now please update your bookmarks and RSS feeds to this new website address and don't forget to comment for your chance to win.