A new technique

I have now learned a new knitting technique. Socks, toe up, two at a time on one long circular needle. It went like a charm and I love it! More to come! (Pictures too!)

New books!

I haven't written much lately, for two reasons. One is, quite simply, the Holidays, with the cooking, shopping, tree-decorating, gift-wrapping and, let's not forget, being on vacation and doing nothing except eating, sleeping, watching TV and doing crossword puzzles.

The other reason is that two of the projects I'm working on are for people I'm afraid will get the bright idea of reading this blog. So, you'll have to wait until the projects are finished to see them!

But I'm here for a reason tonight: I wanted to talk about my new books!


Toe-Up 2-at-a-Time Socks
Publisher's site

First there's this one I've been wanting to grab for a long time. The main reason I want to learn this technique is that my mother gave me wool she bought in New Zealand. One ball is supposed to be enough for a pair of socks. I have small feet so I'm not afraid to run out; but wool this special, I want to use it all, I don't want any leftovers! With this technique I can knit from both ends of the ball and have virtually no leftover at the end!

The Ohio Knitting Mills Knitting Book
Here's the publisher's site.

I saw this one when it first came out and thought it was a very beautiful book. I had only seen it online though, I'd never leafed through it. Those are patterns I'd actually like to make!

Socks à la carte 2: Toes Up!
From what I can gather, this is the publisher's site.

I've been wanting to try different styles of heels for a while, and this seemed like a great reference for the most common types of toes and heels. It also shows several different types of toe-up cast-ons.







Creepy Cute Crochet
Publisher's site

Finally, I splurged and bought a sqweeeeee! book... you'll see... they're squeeeeee cute! And... this will force me to learn to read charts, which can't be a bad thing, right?








Lots of projects to come!

Good night everybody!

Beautiful yarn

A gift from a friend. I don't know what I'm doing with it just yet. Socks? Fingerless gloves? Something else entirely?...

Recycled wool

Remember that recycled wool I dyed? I used my friend's yarn winder to turn it into center-pull balls... Isn't it great?

First socks

My very first pair of socks was made in January and February, with this pattern
http://www.redheart.com/Libraries/ProductDocuments/148/LW1619.pdf

Before you ask, the wool was a self-striping wool: Red Heart's Heart and Sole.

I had so many problems with them...

First I misunderstood the instructions and made a sock that would have fit a 5 year old kid. I put this one aside and started the second one in the right size. Once this one was done, I put it aside and took apart the first one to remake it. But once I was done with the heel on the remade first one, I realized I'd made a mistake in the other sock... so I finished this one, took apart the other up to just after the heel, and re-knit it. Phew!

I don't like the shape of the toes. Next time I'll make them shorter. And I'd like to try short rows for the heel.

But, I think they're pretty nice :-)

I'm in danger!

I found a wonderful yarn store right on the way home from work. A real yarn store, not one of those places selling only acrylic... Those places are very dangerous for me, and this one is really too close to be good...

Actually, I wanted to see how much a ball winder would cost. I totally forgot about it once I was in the store!

http://www.effiloche.com/

Enjoy!

One down, three to go!

I took apart my first sweater! Yippee! I'm impressed by the insane amount of yarn I ended up with. I'm happy :-) Next, I can dye it!

Recycling wool

I've been wanting to try this for the longest time... So, finally, I went to l'Armée du Salut and bought three shirts for about 18 $. Two of them (100% wool) will be for dyeing, the other (a mix) will make nice socks or slippers. Really, a Gap 100% wool shirt for 8,50? They are presently in the wash with Woollite, partly because I don't trust their cleanliness, partly to get rid of the smell.

I really wanted to try dyeing with Kool-Aid, but it's proving nearly impossible to find in Montreal - the traditional, unsweetened kind, at least. I'll see if I can find some in the U.S. in March.

In the meantime, I'll dye with vinegar and food colouring, which does exactly the same thing, without the fruity smell. But Kool-Aid has such nice, vivid colours!

I promise pictures :-)