Sock Yarn KAL

Hello!
Look what I've decided to take part in!

I've been a fan of the My Sister's Knitter blog for a while, and so when I saw Andi was hosting this Knit-A-Long, and I wanted an excuse to cast on another pair of socks, I thought this would be perfect!
I've never taken part in a KAL before, and guess what? I was missing out!! It is so lovely to join a community of other knitters all working on similar things... everything from shawls to sweaters to socks, but all sharing in a love of sock yarn!

So what am I working on?
I have decided to knit another pair of Monkey Socks, by Cookie A. (Pattern info HERE), with some modifications to last time.

I knit my last pair on 2.5mm needles, and they turned out just a little bit baggy, so this time I have gone down a needle size to see if that helps. Also, the heel flap on the pattern is plain stockinette, but after knitting a few pairs with a ribbed heel, I have decided I like that better, so will be doing a ribbed heel on these socks too :-)

I am loving how these are turning out - the yarn is lovely and soft, and the pattern is fun and quick to knit!

Bits and Pieces...

Hello world!
Phew! These past few weeks have been the kind of weeks where they haven't been busy for any other reason that there has been lots of little things to do. So I thought I would join in with the "Taking Stock" posts that other bloggers have posted (like Danielle's and Julie's) and share a little of what I've been up to...

Making... my crochet blanket! It is still very much on the go - I am adding rounds to the last 4 squares as and when I can, and am loving every minute! Blog post soon to show you what I decided to do about my lack of sparkley pink...

Cooking... CUPCAKES! Oh my, are these cupcakes good or what?!?!

Reading... the Eragon books, at my sister's recommendation - and I can see why! Adventure packed! Also, this gem from the Yarn Harlot.

Wishing... I could go to Paris again - it's permanently on my bucket list!

Enjoying... cups of new flavours of tea bought from the market on a trip to Cambridge earlier this week.

Loving... being home and getting to spend time with my mom (and the rest of my family, but she's the only one who will listen to my rambling on about yarn and knitting :-P )

Feeling... happy! But also tired - lots of things happening to keep me busy!

Noticing... the sounds of the birds in the morning, much better than the city noises at Uni!

Watching... Gossip Girl. I am trying to make my way through all the episodes, simply because all their clothes are so pretty! Only a season and a half to go...

Wearing... these loom band bracelets. They are apparently the hottest new craze for kids, and having learnt from my sister how to make them, I can see why! They are quick, easy and fun to make and are nice and colourful.

What have you been up to this week?

Friday Link Love...

Hello! Happy Friday! I hope you have all had a lovely week :-)
Here are some things which have made me smile this week...

To live here would make me smile so much.

These words are pretty...

I actually teared up a little watching this video - what a nice thing for them to do!

I'm not the first to post this video, but I love it's message - it is so great to get kids away from the computer and creating again.

In fact, not just kids! This is a great article about adults and technology too...


Enjoy! :-)

I'm hooked...

You know the crocheted granny square I made at our Knitting Knook? Well that evening I cast on another one... which then led to another being made, then another... and now I can't stop!

They are so fun to crochet, and now that my skills are improving, they are becoming faster to make as well. I found it so difficult for years to pick up crochet, but this is the year that it really clicked!

You can't tell from this photo but the coloured rounds are also sparkly, which makes it extra fun!

I had been hoping to make up nine squares, with borders, but I am starting to run out of the pink that is the outermost coloured round on each square... so I am wondering what to do! There are two options:

a) I do the other 4 squares with a plain pink I had planned to use in the border (it is still the same shade, so wouldn't be too different) and risk not having enough for a substantial border... 

or b) Make the other 4 squares up to where the pink would be and see what colour I have enough of to do the outer coloured round (so 4 squares would have a different outer colour)?

What would you do?

Knitting Knook...

A few days ago I had the pleasure of spending a full day with my knitting group! (I know... a full day knitting! It was bliss!!)

We are affiliated with the university's Student Volunteer Centre, who were hosting a celebration of some of the projects that they run. We were invited to have our own little "Knitting Knook" for the day, showcasing what we do, so that people could drop in and take part if they wanted to. The other societies that were there were all very friendly, and some people from MagicSoc entertained us with a few tricks, leaving us astonished! At one point I had a deck of cards in my hands suddenly turn into a glass block without me noticing! The two boys, after their performances, then asked to learn to knit - so it was a lovely atmosphere where everyone could share their interests :-)

Here are our knitters...

We decided to focus our attention on putting more blankets together for the hospice - we have had so many squares donated to us, so there was a lot of scope for what we could do.
And we all learnt something new too! None of us are really a fan of sewing knitting up, and one of our lovely knitters showed us how to crochet the squares together - it is SO much faster! (Something I really could have done with when putting the other blanket together!)

I decided to use my newfound crochet skills to make granny squares out of remnants that we had left over from other charity knits. I already knew what the group had, so it was just a case of thinking about what to make, and granny squares seemed like the best option :-)

I did underestimate my skill, and overestimated the speed of crochet. I had somehow gotten the crazy notion that I could make the whole blanket in a day... well with the magic trick performances and all the chatting we did, I only got one square done...

(This photo was taken at the coffee shop me and a friend went to afterwards - it was a hot day, and no other place in the Uni had air conditioning!)

The day was scheduled to take place from 11am-3pm, but with the coffee shop visit I was knitting from 11am-6pm! That's the thing with crafting, once you start you just can't stop!

It was a really lovely day and I feel so lucky to have such wonderful knitting buddies :-)

Strawberry Stripes...

Here is another finish that was completed a while back, but I hadn't ever gotten around to taking the pictures...
Introducing... Strawberry Stripes!

 

 I really love these socks - they're striped, but the stitch pattern makes it just that little bit more interesting...

And look!!! The stripes match! If you can remember my dilemma here... It was such a kerfuffle trying to get matching stripes, but I managed!

Although I have decided that if I ever again want to make matching socks, I will knit them in plain yarn! :-P

Ravelry info here.

Friday Link Love...

Happy Friday!
Here are some more links to love! Without realising it, I do seem to be having a theme each week - this week it seems that I have been gravitating towards blog posts about interior design, and pinning lots of pretty room pictures on Pinterest! So here we go - a series of links about house stuff that I like...

Love this country cottage... oh and this one too.
This entryway is beautiful.
I love love love rooms with big windows - this living room and this studio are lovely.
Can I just say that the cozier the furnishings the better - like this and this.
I also seem to be gravitating towards circular windows - these are pretty, and the view from this would be great!

What would your dream house be like?

Cafe Au Lait Tam...

Ta Da!
This is the twin to a hat that I knit for a housemate for her birthday - I loved the pattern so much that I just had to knit another one!
I blogged about it in progress here...

...and this is the finished product! I'm really happy with it :-)

The colour makes me smile - with the stitch pattern it reminds me of forest walks...

And just because I was having fun with photography (oh the things you can spend time on when you don't have exams!), here is a close-up of the stitch pattern...

 I'm thinking this in blue would be stunning... like ocean waves!

Ravelry info here.