Oak Ribbed Socks by Nancy Bush, from Knitting Vintage Socks
MadelineTosh Tosh Sock, Twig
2.5mm dpns
Modifications: Lengthened the feet

Start: November 2011
Finish: January 2012
Ravelled: here

So far in my knitting career my Mum, Dad, sister have all received socks made by my hands. Although Matt didn’t let on, I suspected that he was feeling a bit left out. These socks were part of his birthday present for this year, and I think they were a success.

There was a bit of trial and error involved in making these socks. Initially I cast on the Yarrow Rib Socks from Knitting Vintage Socks using 2.75mm dpns because that was the size I had and the swatch was to gauge. The fabric was looking a bit loose, so I had some concerns that they wouldn’t wear that well. After seeking advice from Twitter and SnB, they were frogged and I started again using smaller needles and the Oak Ribbed Sock pattern. As it happened there was a bit of frogging going on at that SnB meet up, as a friend was frogging a pair of socks that were knit up on 2.5mm Knitpro dpns, and the resulting fabric was so firm it could have stopped bullets. Bulletproof socks were apparently not the goal, so the 2.5mm dpns were kindly leant to me.

This was my first opportunity to try Knitpro/Knit Picks/whatever they’re called at the moment needles. Although there’s little risk of metal dpns breaking, I’ve been put off buying or trying Knitpro needles because of the broken circulars I’ve seen or heard about. After knitting one of the socks, I went out and bought myself a set of metal 2.5mm dpns. They feel nice and solid in my hands, have a decent point and are a good weight for me. I’m unlikely to move away from my circular needles of choice, Addi turbos, but I’d definitely consider buying more Knitpro metal dpns in the future.

Tosh Sock is a great yarn to work with, and although it softened up a lot after blocking, I think it’ll wear really well. The colour way, twig, caused me a few headaches though. It’s lovely in the skein, but even fairly basic patterns kept getting lost in the mix of light and dark brown. Before making these socks, I started a Shaelyn Shawl and swatched for A Thousand Splendid Suns, but it just wasn’t working out. Even with this sock pattern there’s a bit of pooling, but I think it works well enough and Matt is happy. Before casting these socks on I bought another skein of MadTosh Sock but in Graphite. There seems to be less variegation in that colour way so hopefully finding a pattern to go with the yarn will be easier.

I’m very slow on the Nancy Bush sock pattern uptake, so the next paragraph or so will be nothing groundbreaking for anyone else who has used a knitting pattern by Nancy Bush. I remember borrowing Knitting Vintage Socks from the library not long after it was released and was impressed not just by the patterns, but by the sections at the front about the different kinds of heel and toe. Even though Oak Ribbed Socks are just ribbed socks, but little things like the rib ‘seam’ to the bottom of the heel, the welsh heel and the three point star toe made it a fun knit.

These were meant to be finished in time for Matt’s birthday. They were finished the night of his birthday so I was kind of on time and also kind of late. Irrespective of whether they were technically on time, they’re done, he seems to like them, and I don’t think they’ll be the last pair of hand knit socks he’ll get.

Cornsilk Pullover by Amy Herzog
5ply yarn from the Bendigo Woollen Mills bargain room, avocado
3.75mm needles
Modifications: Combined two sizes, lengthened the arms

Start: July 2011
Finish: November 2011
Ravelled: here

Besides blocking, it’s finished and I’m very happy with it! Look at the back, it fits like a glove!

I actually finished it on Monday night. The seaming took a lot less time than expected, which I can only put down to my cheer squad (thanks DrK!). The sleeves are a bit bumpy in places but I think it’ll be fine once I’ve given it a wash.

This is the first Amy Herzog pattern I’ve knit, and I’m impressed. The pattern was pretty clear, and the result is pretty pleasing. To fit with my body shape, I combined the bottom half of the 38 inch size and the top half of the 36 inch size. To make them fit together I rejigged the waist decreases a little bit, and seemed to work quite well.

This jumper was more or less knit in tandem with my sister’s Manu. Working with this yarn was like working with jute in comparison to the Pear Tree I made Manu from. However, it didn’t seem too bad once I’d finished with the Pear Tree and was working almost solely on this jumper. There seem to be a lot of guard hairs in this yarn which are probably the source of its jute-like texture. While I’m happy enough with the fabric, I’m not sure I’d buy this yarn again if the opportunity arose (unlikely, as it was purchased a long time ago from the Bendigo Woollen Mills bargain room). It just happened to be in my stash, it was the right gauge and there was a jumper’s worth.

Using slightly dodgy yarn for the sake of using it up probably isn’t the best approach to knitting with stash. However, I tend to be a bit of a bad weather friend to my yarn, sticking with it until I’ve found a use for it. That’s not to say I don’t destash, but the process of letting my yarn go can be a bit more difficult than it should be.

The yarn was originally purchased to be used for my colour work vest. I evidently wasn’t very good at judging how much yarn I needed, because there was enough left over from the vest to make this jumper and there is still a fair bit left. It was also purchased during a brown and green phase, which has now morphed into a brown, grey, blue and red phase. I contemplated overdyeing it after finishing, but I’ve thought of two skirts and one dress I can wear it with, so light green it shall stay for the time being.

Almost as exciting as actually finishing something is the fact that it was cool enough today for me to wear it to work. To be honest, it could have been in the high 30s like it has been in other parts of the country of late and I would have still worn it. I wasn’t going to let a little thing like heatstroke get me down.

Manu by Kate Davies
Around 700g Pear Tree 8 ply, grey
3.5mm, 3.75mm and 4.5mm needles
Modifications: Lengthened the sleeves and the body, mirrored the pleats

Start: July 2011
Finish (sort of): September 2011
Ravelled: here

It’s been over a month since finishing it, but I gave it to my little sister only recently. When she unwrapped her cardi she cheekily exclaimed ‘about time!’, as she’s been asking (in the form of whinging) for a jumper or cardigan from me for a while. As soon as it was unwrapped, she put it straight on and seemed pretty happy with it. Lucky for her.

The best part of this pattern is the little details; the icord cast on and bind off, the pleats and the sweet icord buttonholes give the cardigan polish. It’s those details that made the acres of stockinette stitch worth it.

There were only three minor modifications that I made to the pattern. The first two were to lengthen the body and sleeves, based on the measurements on a cardigan my sister often wears. The other modification was to mirror half of the pleats, which I did after seeing a few versions on Ravelry with that modification. The cardigan just seems to look more balanced in comparison with the having all the pleats facing the same way. It was lucky that the size I made had an even number of pleats, because I’m not sure how I would have dealt with mirroring an odd number of pleats.

After the little yarn hiccup at the start of the project, it was a joy to work with. Lovely and soft, a few lighter nubs for variation and the fabric had a lovely halo. It looks like I might be able to make something small for myself with the leftovers, but that does little to deal with the nagging feeling that I’ll never be able to get that yarn for such a good deal again.

Even though I’m calling it finished it’s not really. When I gave it to my sister, I mentioned that she could have pockets on it if she wanted. Her response was ‘I like pockets’ which more or less translates to ‘I would really like it if you added pockets to this cardigan, dear sister’. Pockets she will have, but only after I manage to get the cardigan from her. I predict it will be officially finished in July 2023.

Kalajoki Socks by Tiina Seppälä (rav link)
4.5 balls Patons Patonyle 8ply, red
3.25mm DPNs
Start: June 2011
Finish: July 2011
Modifications: see below
Ravelryed: here

It may not seem like it, given how close this post is to the start of the Sheep and Wool Show, but I finished my Kalajokis with plenty of time to spare. Sadly the weather gods have not been smiling upon me lately, so I’ve had to wait for half-way suitable photo weather, before writing this post.

The biggest modification made to the pattern was to make the socks knee-length rather than calf-length. If you’re interested in making knee length ones yourself, these are the modifications I made:

• Cast on 74 stitches rather than the 54 given in the pattern.
• Knit 14 rows of twisted rib for the cuff, rather than 10 rows given in the pattern.
• Starting with the first row after the ribbing, I decreased 2 stitches every 5 rows 10 times (54 stitches remaining).
• Knit around about 2.5 repeats of the river ribbing for the leg, rather than the 1.5 repeats (give or take) given in the pattern.

The calf shaping is pretty crude, particularly when compared with the shaping used in the Delicious Knee Sock pattern. That said, the socks seem to stay up and it looks fine, which is all that matters really.

It was a really enjoyable pattern to knit; not something that I could work on without concentrating on it a little, but still simple enough to take along to a Stitch n Bitch. The rib snaking down the side of the socks is really striking and reminds me of ric rac a little bit. Not sure if anyone else sees that though…

The Patonyle 8ply I used makes for a lovely soft and warm fabric. Sadly, it also made for a sock that is too thick to fit in my everyday boots which is a bit of an issue. However, I do have a backup plan so I should still be able to wear them this weekend.

In my excitement about getting the socks finished in time for Bendigo, I completely forgot to think about the knitting that I should take with me and don’t have anything suitable on the needles. Such a rookie mistake! The current frontrunner is a Turn A Square for Matt using leftovers from my stripy knee high socks (he’s brought me enough cups of tea to warrant a beanie), but I cannot rule out a last minute change to the lineup…

Delicious Knee Socks by Laura Chau
0.7 ball Noro Kureyon Sock, S149
0.7 skein SweetGeorgia Yarns Tough Love Sock, Espresso
2.25mm DPNs
Start: April 2011
Finish: June 2011
Modifications: no slipped stitch or cabled seam
Ravelryed: here

During the week I finished these socks. As mentioned in an earlier post about them, these are the first socks I’ve knit for myself and I’m smitten. The two yarns worked really well together and they are so warm, perfect for this time of year.

Working on the cuff in only Tough Love Sock meant that I got a bit more of a feel for the yarn, and I quite like it. The nylon content (20 per cent) makes it a wee bit squeaky, but it feels very hard wearing and I’m still completely enamoured with the espresso colourway.

There’s quite a bit of both yarns left over, so Matt may score a thin version of Turn A Square to wear under his bike helmet. But only if he’s good and keeps bringing me cups of tea after dinner.

Another thing mentioned in a previous post was the pattern, and I still stand by what I said then; it’s a really good pattern and highly recommended it if you’re planning to make knee socks. Actually, the only thing I should mention is that the pattern has a short row heel. While that means you get a nice contrast heel, I’m not sure if I like how the short row heel turns out when you pick up the wrapped and double wrapped stitches. Are they any other forms of construction where you can get that kind of contrast heel? I’m pretty much a beginner when it comes to sock construction so I don’t really know… The heel aside, I’m contemplating making a non-striped pair of these in grey, and with the cabled seam variation given in the pattern. And maybe the over the knee version rather than just below the knee.

Finishing these socks means that the red knee sock challenge has commenced. I cast on the first sock on Monday, and I’ve now finished the leg and am onto the heel. Given it’s now just shy of a month before the Sheep and Wool Show, I think they might just be finished in time. Famous last words.

Lyttelton by Kate Davies
5.5 balls of Rowan Cotton Glace, Mystic
3.00mm and 3.25mm needles
Start: January 2011
Finish: March 2011
Modifications: heavier-weight yarn, larger needles, smaller size
Ravelryed: here

The yarn I used was a 5ply rather than the recommended 4ply, so I ended up making it extra small width-wise, and medium length-wise. There’s not actually an extra small listed in the pattern; I just made the smallest size, less one repeat.

As with the cowl, I was fairly staunchly anti-shrug, but there are shrugs and there are shrugs. Lyttelton’s probably a bit longer than your average shrug, so lets just say it’s more of a bolero. I had some fairly well documented teething problems with the pattern, but this was due to my ineptitude rather than the pattern. I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before, but once again just for my sake, it helps a lot if you read the pattern.

Once in the groove, I really enjoyed knitting it. One of the things that helped the enjoyment was cabling without a cable needle. If you haven’t tried it, I highly recommend taking a look at Grumperina’s tutorial. I think it saves time, and is a lot less fiddly.

Lyttelton is the first Kate Davies pattern I’ve made, and I’ll be definitely making other designs from her in the future. On a slight tangent, Kate’s latest cardigan pattern, Deco, is due for release in the next couple of days. Although I don’t have any suitable yarn for it in my stash, I’m really looking forward to its release. I’ll definitely be making one for myself.

Back to Lyttelton:

I bought this cotton when I was a uni student. I remember marvelling at it when it arrived in the mail, as it was probably the most expensive yarn I had bought up until that point. It was purchased specifically for the Lace Camisole, the cover pattern from Sarah Dallas’ Vintage Knits. However, before I cast on, I searched knitting blogs to find out how other knitters found the pattern (remember the days before Ravelry? yeah, it’s a bit hazy for me too). The reviews were not altogether positive, so the yarn languished in my stash. Lyttelton is probably better suited to a wool or a wool blend, but the grey cotton goes with a few things in my wardrobe, and I was keen to use the yarn up.

As it turns out, I didn’t quite have enough yarn for Lyttelton. As the colourway had been discontinued years ago, I put out a call on Ravelry for scraps (before Ravelry, how did people find just that last little bit of yarn they needed to finish? I don’t know either). Luckily, someone very generously helped me out, and I was able to finish it. It’s nice to see yarn that’s been in my stash for so long transformed into a finished item.

I should mention that much to my great annoyance, one of the balls I used had two knots in it. Usually I can handle the occasional knot, but two knots in just over 100 metres is quite frustrating. It was particularly frustrating because I knew I was running short so every centimetre of yarn counted, and I find weaving in ends of cotton yarn particularly tedious. As mentioned before, the colour was long discontinued so there was no point complaining to Rowan about it; I could whinge to myself and whinge to Matt, but ultimately I just had to put up with it.

So far I’ve only worn Lyttelton long enough to have photos taken. Currently it sits in my wardrobe, waiting for a warm enough day to be worn. Maybe that day will be soon?

Gaptastic Cowl by Jen Geigley (rav link)
200g Bendigo Woollen Mills Rustic 12 ply, Sunflower
8.00mm needles
Start: February 2011
Finish: March 2011
Modifications: Smaller needles, cast on more stitches, knit fewer rows
Ravelryed: here

This is such a straightforward pattern, but the result is very pleasing. The pattern suggests making it 15 inches in width, but I only made it 8.25 inches. I never wanted to make it 15 inches wide as it would just be too bulky for me, but as luck would have it, I ran out of yarn just after half way. As it is, I’m really happy with the width.

For a long time I was anti-cowl, but this pattern has made my steely resolve waver somewhat. I’m still not a huge fan of the smaller cowls, but there are a few longer cowls that I might consider making in the future.

The yarn started life as a diagonal lace scarf. However, it curled badly so I ended up with a kind of draught stopper/rope thing. It seems much happier to be a big seed stitch cowl. It’s possibly a little rough for use around my neck, but I got used to it pretty quickly.

I’m starting to feel like the kiss of death for certain Bendigo Woollen Mills colourways. Sunflower and the light grey I used in my Golden Hands striped vest, were discontinued a few years ago. This run continued last week when this year’s shade card arrived — two lovely rusty red colours, Rust in Rustic and Tuscan in Classic, have also been discontinued. So, if there are any Bendigo Woollen Mills colourways that you’re not a fan of, let me know and I’ll start liking them. It’s a surefire way to get them discontinued.

As a postscript to my last post, I’ve decided to frog Pickadilly. The more I think about it, the more I’m convinced that they problem lies at the yoke. I’m determined to make it work, but it does mean reworking the pattern (again) to make it fit well. As DrK mentioned, top down raglans aren’t as easy as they appear on the surface, even though they’re often put forward as the ‘easy’ jumper pattern. While seeing a jumper or cardigan (slowly) appear before your eyes is very alluring, it doesn’t make it immune from fit issues. This pattern is a perfect example of that for me. Thank you everyone for you input, you all helped me take the in out of indecision.

Tailored waistcoat from Golden Hands Volume 1 (page 6)
About 180g Bendigo Woollen Mills Rustic 8ply, Graphite
About 100g Bendigo Woollen Mills Rustic 8ply, Flannel
4.00mm and 3.50mm needles
Start: November 2010
Finish: February 2011
Modifications: none that I can recall
Ravelryed: here

I’m mostly pleased with how the vest turned out. The curved front pieces are a really nice touch, as is the invisible cast on which was used on all the ribbing. Almost all the ribbing was knit as separate pieces and seamed, which was a necessary evil given the cast on. I did notice though that the ribbing did not hide sloppy seaming; I ended up having to redo the ribbing around the armholes because my sloppy finishing resulted in the ribbing bulging out. Once I stopped being lazy and started paying attention to what I was doing, the ribbing came out really nicely.

At the moment I’m hesitant to call the vest a success because of two pretty big things that I’m uneasy about. The first is the waist shaping: the shaping from hip to waist is pretty severe which makes that section jut out a bit. It’s possibly only noticeable only to me, but if I had my time again, I’d space the increases out a little more.

The second is the length: as I was knitting the back it looked like it was bordering on being too long, but when I tried it on, it was bordering on too short. I’ve given it a pretty severe blocking, but am not sure it’s helped much. Unfortunately I’ve run out of graphite, so it’s not possible to add in a couple more stripes. I’ll just have to learn to live with it.

Although I have a couple of reservations (none of which I might add are fatal flaws, but merely things to be wary of), it is a pretty straightforward pattern and it makes for a nice plain vest. If you are interested in this pattern and are located in Australia, it’s worth scouting around op shops as I often see copies of Golden Hands in the ones I frequent.

Now that I’ve finished something, it feels like my crafting year has finally commenced. It’s such a relief to know that I’ll have at least one finished project this year!

It seems difficult to start with the new year with the past still lingering in the background. As mentioned in the previous post, I’m really pleased with 2010′s last finished knitting project.

Shirt from Patons book 929, Quiet Days in Jet and Skol
5.5 skeins of Cascade Yarns 220 Heathers, Bainbridge
3.75mm and 5.00mm needles
Start: September 2010
Finish: December 2010
Modifications: Shorter body, lengthened sleeves
Ravelryed: here

This is the second jumper I’ve made for Matt and I think it was a much greater success than the first one. Most importantly, this is the first attempt at knitting it, as opposed to the one and a halfth or second or whatever version I got to on the suave sweater. It’s also a bit more fitted than the first one so I think it’ll get a bit more wear. All in all, another win for Patons knitting patterns from the 70s!

Like most of my knits these days, it was largely stocking stitch, but I don’t remember getting bored at all. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that I’m in slight mourning that I don’t have to work on it anymore. That’s not to say I’ll be unravelling it and starting again though…

Cascade 220 was great to knit with. The yardage/meterage was fantastic and the colour matched the pattern well. Initially I had concerns the twists would disappear in the slightly flecky yarn, but I think it looks fine. Most importantly, 6 skeins was exactly the right amount. There’s probably enough left over for a hat, but not much more.

The buttons, as usual, are from Buttonmania.

Normally the end of a project signals the beginning of another. In this case, finishing Matt’s jumper brought me back to two works in progress which is my usual number. I’d love to start something new, and have already chosen my next project, but really must finish something off first!

It seems the knitting theme for this year was dark and grey. For many years I was very much a brown and green lass, but these days it’s all about the grey. Looking at my Ravelry queue, next year may be fairly grey too. Just for variety’s sake, I’ll try to provide the odd flash of colour where I can.

A lot of these knits have been used or worn a lot. Matt’s gloves, my herringbone mitts and Still got a good work out during the depths of winter. My grandfatherly vest has been fantastic in this indecisive weather, and Bottom’s Up, despite my concerns about it being too short, is starting to get quite a good run. This encapsulates knitting as a hobby for me; as enjoyable as I find creating objects using sticks and string, it’s knowing that my projects will be used and loved that provides the greatest satisfaction.

It probably a bit funny to follow that profound statement with the declaration of my favourite project of the year, particularly because it’s as-yet unworn and unblogged. Without stealing too much material for my next blog post, I’m thrilled to bits with how Matt’s dashing jumper turned out.

Fare thee well 2010. Let’s hope 2011 will be just as productive, and a little less tiring. Thank you everyone for your comments, emails and readership, I really appreciate the time everyone takes to read my funny little blog.