Socks etc

 

My Bachelor of Arts is completed! I'm still waiting for my final results, but very confident that I have passed my last three subjects. It's been a hectic few months, with many hours spent studying and writing essays, but also lots of knitting, because I find knitting very useful as a way of dealing with stress (and also to spend an hour or so before bed not looking at a screen).

I finished the two pairs of socks pictured above - they were gifts for friends, and both of them loved their socks, always nice to hear!

Next I made a pair of fingerless gloves (the pair I made in 2017 was getting a bit worn). These are the Cafe au Lait Mitts, a free pattern on Ravelry. I adjusted it a bit to do the palm side in stocking stitch. The yarn is Lionbrand Feels Like Alpaca from Spotlight - so soft!

Next I used the yarn I bought in Japan to make a hat:

This is the Crème Brûlée Cable Knit Hat, another free pattern from Ravelry. I really like the pattern - this hat is a bit tight for me, so I've donated it to my son. I may knit another one for myself.

When the hat was finished and I was looking for my next knitting project, I realised I could make some socks with all of the leftover DK sock yarn from Heathermaid that I have collected in the last few years. I used all of the blue/green/purple yarn to make this pair of socks:

I've now started on another pair with all of the red/orange/yellow yarn. Stay tuned!

Lovely socks

 Finished! The twentieth pair of socks I have knitted, and tenth pair of Sail Away DK Socks. Definitely my favourite pattern. Made with the gorgeous self-striping DK sock yarn from Heathermaid.

This pair is for me :-) - but I've already started on the next pair, for a friend:

Yes, same pattern, same yarn store! ;-)

Update

 

The Rustling Reed socks for my youngest son are finally finished! Our dog Shaggy likes them too :-).

I've started another pair of Sail Away socks with gorgeous DK yarn from Heathermaid - my favourite pattern as it's just plain knitting without thinking, very mindful!

As you may have noticed, I have changed the name of this blog from Blue Jacaranda to socks etc. The reason for this is that I have closed my Blue Jacaranda shop on Etsy, after 12 1/2 years. As I am now finishing my Bachelor of Arts course and getting ready to start a higher research degree in September, I find I have no more time or energy to deal with questions about quilting patterns. It was fun while it lasted, but that era is now over.

I toyed with the idea of deleting this blog as well, but decided in the end to leave it as it is (but with a different name). I will occasionally post something when I've finished another pair of socks (or another creative project), but that won't be very often.

Back from Japan

 The photo above was taken in Japan, where I finished two pairs of socks (left and middle)! The third pair is almost done - the recipient (youngest son) was happy for me to take my time as he already has two pairs of handmade socks and won't need any yet, now that we are back in Queensland.

I went shopping at a craft store in Kyoto for some Japanese yarn. I couldn't find any sock yarn (what they had was German or American), so bought this:

I'm thinking of using it to make either gloves or a hat...

At the lovely BnB that we stayed in, they had beautiful tissue box covers - you can see one on the table in the photo above. I had a good look at them and when we got home, dug up some Japanese fabrics from my stash. 

Isn't it pretty? And very easy to make. I thought of writing a tutorial, but saw one on this lovely blog (that I discovered by accident when looking for some info about New Year's Eve rituals in Japan).

Japan was amazing - I'm working my way through the more than 2500 photos I took there, and am slowly adding some to the photo blog. Kinkaku-ji, or the Golden Pavilion, was one of my favourite spots, as was Saiho-ji, or the Moss Temple. Great memories :-)