70's style

I was born in 1969 so consequently spent my formative years in the 70's and I think that the colours of that time have seeped into my brain. I remember my parent's house where I grew up had a bright orange carpet and purple walls plus brown furniture. This seems to have made a lasting impact on my tastes as I was extremely excited by these fabrics (which I've started to make into yet another bag).



The blue is Carnaby Street by Robert Kaufman & the other is Poppy Dot Orange by Erin McMorris.

Of course other things in the 70's were lousy. I grew up in an industrial town in the North of England and it got pretty grim as the industries began to disappear and people began to lose their jobs. And in the 80's it got yet grimmer without even the benefit of funky fabrics.

On the knitting front, last week I blocked a Clapotis that I actually finished mid January. The Claoptis isn't the most interesting pattern to knit, but it's good for knitting groups and on the tube when you need something semi-mindless. I made it in Sea Silk & I'm very pleased with the drapyness and the weight of it.

All about socks

Over the last month I have undergone a huge change in my attitude to handknitted socks.

I knitted my first sock a couple of years ago however I was very much a sock cynic thinking 'What is the point of handknitting a sock just to hide it away in your shoes where it will be worn out in no time at all?' So I knitted my first sock out of a desire to try out all the soch knitting techniques - dnps, turning heels, short rows etc. I used lovely Old Maiden Aunt yarn and had a enjoyable knit and I had a nice little pair of socks at the end of it.

However I still wasn't absolutely convinced about the value of handknitted socks.

I went on knitting socks because of the project portability and the lovely yarns plus of course the fabulous patterns. When I had to go away from home for business trips I'd always take some of my socks because they were such comforting things so slip on at night and remind you of home.

Last year I knitted quite a few pairs of socks including socks for friends AND I went on a Lucy Neatby sock knitters course. But I still wasn't a totally convinced sock knitter.

So what has changed? This cold weather has finally made me realise that handknitted socks aren't just ornamental socks to wear at home. They are very practical being warmer, more squishy and thicker than shop bought socks. The change is now I feel that I don't have enough handknitted socks and I need to knit more so I don't have to worry about running out. In other words I've gone from being a Process sock knitter to a Product sock knitter.



So it is slightly ironic that it has taken me since last April to finish my latest pair of socks. I picked them up again as part of my WIP drive and actually it's taken me about 3 weeks to finish them off. They were knitted on 2mm needles in beautiful yarn that Jon from Easy Knits gave me on a funny drunken afternoon (you can read about it on his blog 13/04/2008 entry). The yarn is a bamboo/merino mix & I loved the colours - pink, yellow and beige.

The pattern is Having Hope by Diane Mullholand which I more or less followed although I made a few adjustments for the quirks of my feet. Diane wrote this pattern in order to raise money for cancer research (which is a cause that is also close to my heart).

I'd rather have a cup of tea

A quote from a recent Economist article:
TO SOME there is nothing so urgent that it cannot be postponed in favour of a cup of tea. Such procrastination is a mystery to psychologists, who wonder why people would sabotage themselves in this way.
I simply do not understand what could possibly be more important than a cup of tea.

However speaking of procrastination I have began a finishing drive on my neglected WIPs. In the case of this beaded South Seas stole I had only about a weeks worth of knitting before it was completed. I had completely stalled with this one due to the tediousness of the edging.



Here are the panels:




I love geometric designs and I was very excited about the bottom right panel. If I was going to knit this lovely design again I think I'd make the shawl panels symmetrical and skip the bottom left panel altogether.

I used 'Posh Yarn' that I bought in Wales last year. I can see why people go so crazy for it, in fact I didn't knit this shawl in public in case I was mugged by a fundamentalist posh yarn knitter.

Finished Mittens

I've just finished these Fiddlehead mittens:



I used some Harrisville Designs New England Shetland yarn that I bought when I was on holiday in Victoria, British Columbia. Luckily when purchasing this random holiday yarn I bought a contrasting colour. Even if I say so myself, that was very sensible indeed and it makes it quite set apart from other less sensible decisions I've made when purchasing yarn without a motive (I'm talking about YOU Lana Grossa!).

The Harrisville yarn was perfect for stranded work although a bit too skinny for these mittens as they came out too small for me to add a lining as in the pattern. Oh well - that just means that they were finished sooner & they are still nice and warm. The good news is I have plenty of yarn left for a second pair with the colours reversed (at some unspecified point in the future).

The yarn was nice to work with but it's very (& strangely) easy to snap.