Getting colder...

It is forecast to get very chilly at the end of the week.  In preparation, I have finished my slipper socks.

I have cold feet all the time.  I wear socks to bed in the middle of summer, so big cosy socks are a necessity for winter.  These socks are rather chunky and a little silly.  They were made using two strands of double knitting yarn, rather than the worsted the pattern called for, and 5.5mm needles.

One thing to remember is that these are rather slippy-slipper socks, and should not be worn on the laminate floor!  With warnings to prepare for winter, I pulled out my granny square blanket.

This has been ongoing for 7 years, this year I am determined to get it finished!  I was pleasantly surprised by how much I had done, I have finished sewing up 200 squares, only another 50 squares to sew and then a border...  And in other news, Mark has been guinea pig shamed!

Knitting and a little snoozing...

I'd seen the one row lace scarf by Turvid and thought it looked great.  Although I couldn't quite believe the comments that it was so easy.  Can lace ever be easy?  I cast on with some squidgy drops merino extra fine, and surprise, surprise... it was easy!

The pattern calls for a one row repeat (hence the name) and once you have knitted a few rows it becomes super simple.  I managed to rattle through the ball in two days, and made the strip into a twisted cowl.  I am now ready for Autumn!

I also realised how difficult it was to take a picture of yourself wearing a cowl without a) looking like you have 4 chins or b) looking like you have really odd shaped breasts!  In other knitty news, at the weekend I went to the Knitting and Stitching Show at Ally Pally.  I was surprisingly restrained with buying goodies, although I did get some lovely self-striping Rico superba yarn which will make some very cute socks.

I also treated myself to a copy Pop knitting by Britt-Marie Christoffersson, which has some amazing knitting samples in it, that I can't wait to experiment with.  On the needles currently I have some rather silly, but very practical slipper socks.

My attempt to progress on these this morning, was halted by a rather sleepy Jeremy cozying on my lap.

Who wouldn't want to climb in to a fleece sleeping bag on an overcast October morning?  And I think we can all agree that this is good foot action!  Glasgow is home to some VERY exciting knitting events this week here, here & here.  Maybe you can catch one?

The C word...

As it is October, am I safe to mention Christmas?

Acrylic scraps have become little Christmas stockings courtesy of Jean Greenhowe's free pattern.  Each sock took about an hour to make, an easy TV-watching knit.

I can't wait to fill them with sweets!  Have you started any Christmas knits?

Hats for Him.

I asked Mr Crafty if he would like me to knit him a hat. "Yes" came the reply, and then the clause "can it be blue, yellow, red and white".  Little stripes or big stripes I wondered, "big stripes, obviously".  So this hat came to be.

It is apparently inspired by the colours of a Raleigh Burner BMX, and incidentally is the same colours as the flag of the Podlaskie Voivodeship.  I used the Tristan pattern by Drops, I like the texture it created, but don't really like how the pattern disappears on the crown.  As this hat is on the bright side, I knitted a more subdued hat for Mr Crafty, for work wear.  I used the fantastic Farm Beanie pattern by Allison Britt, which I had used previously.  I knitted it in some stash that I had previously used to make some hand warmers for Mr Crafty and his terrible glove problem.

Mr Crafty is now ready for winter!

Off the Loom

On a very bright, but chilly, Saturday morning I took the train to Bridge of Allan for the British Tapestry Group AGM and workshop.

Off the train I stopped to admire this heron standing in the sun.

Through four different weaving activities we created pieces to be joined together in one collaborative structure, although with our donated tapestries.  A circular cardboard loom produced this jellyfish.

Woven trees, or is that a wine flute?

Hidden secrets inside matchboxes.

And yes, I have missed my stop.  And finally weaving on to branches.  How different these will look as the leaves fall. 

Together these create a structure.

Could this be a shelter?  Harnessing secrets, surrounded by a miniature forest, covered in magical charms?  You can see more pictures of the day here.

Weaving Rubbish

Fruit and vegetable shopping can be an ethical minefield.  Do I buy the loose apples flown from the other side of the world, or the local apples wrapped in plastic?  The loose bananas, with nature's natural packaging of a banana skin, or the fairtrade bunch of bananas wrapped in plastic?  It is difficult, and I'm not sure there are any easy answers.  After a trip to the supermarket, I realised I had all of this packaging just from fruit.

It was quite scary when I put it all together.  Instead of throwing this all away, I used it to weave a tapestry for the British Tapestry Group 'Off the Loom' workshop this weekend.  Members were asked to contribute tapestries made with recycled materials for this workshop.

I cut the packaging in to strips, and also used some old warp as a header and footer.  I particularly like the ends, I purposely kept them not woven in.  You can see some of the other tapestries produced for this workshop here.

Hats and a Star

September is here, there is a chilly feel in the air and my knitting is reflecting this.  In an attempt, possibly futile, to use up my stash, I cast on hats for my parents.  For both I used the Farm Beanie pattern by Alison Britt.  This is a quick knit, using 4mm dpns using DK yarn.  For my mum I picked some purple yarns.

 

And for my dad, a green and brown chenille-type yarn (the label had gone missing a long time ago!).  In hindsight, knitting the the chenille-type yarn was a bit of a pain, as it was more difficult to see the stitch definition.

And whilst the air is feeling autumnal, I am thinking ahead, and my first Stjarna star is finished.  Have you started any Christmas knits?