FO: Blisco

I can't believe I forgot to post this... possibly the thing I'm proudest of so far this year:

This is starts out as a really interesting knit and then moves into straightforward stockinette.

Pattern: Blisco by Lily-Kate France.
Yarn: Patons Linen Touch DK in colours Carnation and Lilac.
Mods: Shortened the sleeves a bit.
Project: Online at Ravelry.

FO: Booties

These have been a long time coming. Cast on in March(!) I've finally finished them today, more than three months later.

Why so long? I don't love them. I think the contrast of the black against the orange is a bit too harsh but I didn't have enough orange to finish them any other way. (I don't hate them either mind).

They've spent around two months waiting for 18 stitches to be grafted - that's it. The baby they were knit for is now rather too big for them so they'll go in the gift box and wait for the next baby to come along :)

Pattern: Stay-on baby booties
Yarn: The last of the Regia Stretch Color in colourway Edmonton, bought for my first ever pair of socks and also used for some blanket squares.
Mods: Knit in the round, slightly shorter leg.
Project: Online at Ravelry.

FO: Harvest Dew Socks

My first FO in a while:

These socks were knit for April's Rose Hiver sockdown theme. The pattern is really straight forward without being boring and I'm very happy with them.

For a bit of a new experience, I started these top-down socks with a provisional cast-on and dived straight into the leg chart without any ribbing. I knit the pattern as written from then on until the toe which I shortened a little. Once I'd grafted the toes I then went back and picked up the live stitches from the cast-on and knit the ribbing. I really like this as a way of knitting socks. I'm pretty sure I get a better fit from top-down socks but I also never seem to use up as much yarn because I always seem to have a leg pattern that is tighter than I thought. Knitting this way I should know much more quickly if I've cast on too few stitches for the leg (rather than have the ribbing trick me into thinking I'm OK) which will allow me to knit longer top-down socks.

Pattern: Harvest Dew by Rose Hiver.
Yarn: Eden Cottage Yarns (was Wild Fire Fibres) Fantasia in colourway Samhain.
Mods: Knit toe as written until 21st per needle then repeated only the decrease row until 13st remained per needle and grafted the toe shut. Provisional cast on (as above).
Project: Online at Ravelry.

On Socks and Swatching

Last weekend was a trip to the in-laws for Mr Me to do some odd jobs and sort through bits and bobs. I took along plenty of knitting and had high hopes for finishing off some socks and swatching for the next few projects.

I did get the swatches done. This first one is for Laika:

The yarn is Schoppel Wolle Admiral in colourway Turquoise from The Sock Yarn Shop. I've swatched on 3mm and 3.25mm needles since the pattern calls for 3mm and I've noticed recently that I've typically needed to drop one needle size for most patterns. I've not measured the swatch yet but I'm pretty sure this will be my next project.

The second (final) swatch is for Paulie:

I've bought two completely different sets of yarn for this (I blame Mr Me for the second lot, he was definitely enabling) and in both colours bought two options for contrast stripes. This is Stylecraft Life 4ply from the haberdashery stand at our local indoor market (for a nice cheap cardi I can wear and wash over and over again without worrying too much). The colours are Cobolt (the grey is the same in both halves of the swatch) and Zing (yellow) and Melon (pink).

I'm not totally settled on which colour I'm going to use yet. Pre-swatching the yellow was an afterthought - I picked out the grey and the pink and then added the yellow just before purchasing. Now I've swatched I'm quite fond of the yellow. Thoughts?

And the socks...? Not finished - I guess I was being a bit ambitious.