And even more socks

 

This winter has been very productive! After the rainbow socks that I showed in the previous posting I started on a pair of DK socks for my youngest son. I used the Fast Forward pattern by Kate Atherley again, and knitted these two at a time. I was quite proud of myself for mastering that skill, but to be honest, I didn't enjoy it very much, so have gone back to knitting one sock at a time. No second sock syndrome here so far ;-)

My son was very happy with his socks and our dog Shaggy liked them too! I immediately started on a pair for my middle son, again with DK yarn from Heathermaid, this time using the Sail Away DK Socks pattern by Felicity Ward. I also used my new Addi Sock Rockets magic loop needles - so much better than the old one that kept twisting.

These socks were a succes with both my son and our dog...

Sadly Shaggy got hold of one sock less than a week after I finished them...

I have mended it, and once again reminded my son not too leave his socks lying around where Shaggy can get them!

I had ordered three balls of DK yarn from Heathermaid, planning to knit a pair of socks for each of my three sons. But as our oldest is now living in the Netherlands, where it is summer, I decided to knit a pair for myself now, and a pair for him later in the year, to give to him when we visit the Netherlands in December. 

I wanted to try something new, so made the Sailors Rope DK Socks, also designed by Felicity Ward. Love the cable! I finished the pair earlier this week. When I tried to make some photos, Shaggy wanted to be in them as well:

That was my sixth pair of this year! And I'm not done with sock knitting yet. But winter is almost over, and before long we won't need warm socks here in Queensland, so I've started something a bit different: lace socks!

I bought some very soft alpaca/merino/nylon yarn from Heathermaid and have started on the Florentine Lace Socks. To be continued!

More socks

  

My Rainbow socks are finished! I brought them with me on our winter holiday to Tasmania and knitted at night in our cabin, sitting near the wood stove, very cosy :-).

 This is my fifth pair of socks, and the first with a so-called afterthought heel (as it is called in the pattern), although I have found out that is actually a peasants heel or a forethought heel, because some scrap yarn is knitted where the heel needs to be, and then removed when the sock is finished to knit the heel. While I am very happy with these socks, I did not really enjoy this process and don't think I will use this technique again.

In Hobart I found a yarn shop and of course I had to buy a small souvenir...

More sock yarn! ;-)

It will have to wait its turn, as first I need to finish these DK socks for my youngest son:

For these I am using the Fast Forward pattern from Kate Atherley again, and this time I am knitting them TAAT (two at a time). So far, so good... The yarn is again from HeatherMaid on Etsy.

Winter is coming

 It's almost winter here Down Under and the nights are getting colder. Recently I dug up my beloved handmade socks again, the very first pair I ever knitted, back in 2017 when we lived in Sydney. Oh no, there was a hole in one of them!

I could have mended that hole, but the soles were also getting very threadbare... Time to knit a new pair!

In May 2017 I bought some blue self-striping sock yarn in Melbourne, when I was there for the National Gymnastics Championships. I made a start on the first sock (they were meant to be for my gymnast son), but then in July we went to the Netherlands, where my mother-in-law taught me to crochet... and the sock disappeared from sight... until a few weeks ago!

I was pleased to find that I still knew how to knit, and surprised at how much I enjoyed it! After a few weeks of knitting regularly both socks were finished (I had to Google how to cast on, as I had completely forgotten!). They fit very well, just like the previous pair (I used the Basic Ribbed Socks pattern by Kate Atherley for both pairs).

I'm very keen to do some more knitting in the coming months, so have ordered a few balls of self-striping yarn from HeatherMaid on Etsy.

I've already started knitting with the rainbow yarn - it's so much fun to watch the colours appear!

For this pair I am using the Pin Striped Socks pattern designed by Julia Swart. Can't wait to add the afterthought heel to my sock-knitting repertoire!

PS I am also quilting the t-shirt quilt, bit by bit. I tried an all-over pattern, but that wasn't a success, so I am now quilting in the ditch. It's about halfway done. Not really enjoying that part, but still excited about the quilt itself. Stay tuned!

Small Double Wedding Ring Blanket

A few days ago I finished this small Double Wedding Ring Blanket - a fabulous pattern designed by Jennifer Olvarez.

I love the pattern that is created by these motifs, but wanted to see if I enjoyed crocheting them before I committed to a larger project.

And I did indeed enjoy it, so I have now ordered enough balls of red Cotton 8 ply from Bendigo Woollen Mills to make a queen-sized blanket!

The other day I saw a post on Facebook about these leggings and I couldn't resist...

 ;-)

Budgie

When I was a little girl, I had a blue budgie called Tweetweet that I loved very much. So when I found this pattern by TNGiftsUA on Etsy, I had to make it.



This was a quick holiday project - it took me only a few days to finish it, while watching the Australian Open.



Isn't it cute?



Something else I found on Etsy is this gorgeous copper shawl pin from Crafty Cat Knitty Bits:



Perfect for my Happy Whirl shawl!

Weekend in Sydney

Last weekend youngest son and I travelled to Sydney, where he and his partner competed in the Luna Park Ballroom Dancing Championships. They did very well and took home two silver medals and one bronze!



You can watch them dance the waltz and the quickstep here:



We stayed with our Dutch friends in Sydney. They have two Cocker Spaniel puppies, so I crocheted a bone for each of them:



Happy to say that they loved their presents!



On Sunday morning we visited the Organic Markets in Marrickville where I bought this hemp twine:



Perfect for another market bag!

Melbourne

Last week youngest son and I travelled to Melbourne to watch his eldest brother compete in the Australian Gymnastics Championships. Unfortunately Hugo injured his knee on the fourth apparatus during the first competition and was pulled out. His team won gold on the day and thankfully he could join them on the podium, crutches and all!



He had an MRI the next day which showed that his ACL was torn. Bad news, as this means he will need surgical reconstruction followed by 9-12 months of recovery. He's taken it in his stride however, and has signed up for a judging course, so he can still go with his clubmates to the State Club Championships at the end of June, and judge instead of compete. He also hopes to do some coaching this year. The brilliant photo below was taken by one of the photographers of WinkiPop Media minutes before his injury, high-fiving his coach after a succesfull rings routine:



Hugo's injury understandably put a damper on our stay in Melbourne, but Robert and I did get to do some sightseeing and met our Dutch friends for dinner, which was lovely. It was Robert's first time in Melbourne and he loved seeing the autum colours - something we don't have here in Queensland! (more Melbourne pics on my photo blog here)



I took him to Hosier Lane to see the street art, but he wasn't very impressed - he called it Stinky Street!



We did like this painting (more street art photos on the photo blog here):



Here is another kind of street art - an art deco mosaic constructed in 1933 by Napier Waller on the facade of Newspaper House in Collins Street (more art deco photos on the photo blog here, and some art nouveau photos here):



We really liked the cubes in Flinders Street:



There was even a crocheted one!



I had brought a ball of yarn and a hook but didn't do any crocheting. We did visit my favourite shop in Melbourne, Morris and Sons:



I bought some yarn as a souvenir ;-)



Love the warning on the label!!



All in all we did have a good time, but were happy to go home on Sunday (Hugo flew home on the same day with the Queensland team). Robert hopes to go back to Melbourne in December for the ballroom dancing championships!