Oh dear...

It has been a long time, hasn't it? I'm still knitting, and have joined the timesuck that is Ravelry (username thislittleknitter). I'm hoping that starting my studies will give me more of an incentive to write things other than my thesis (ie procrastination!) and doing a little bit on this blog may help 'warm me up' for my other writing.

And I have knitting! including some unfinished project retirements and alterations to finished (or so I thought) projects to make them wearable, such as shortening the sleeves on my Snow White (scissors were involved). But my camera, which is also my phone, is being fixed.

Oh well.

So glad they fit!

My secret sockpal for Sockapalooza 4 was Jess. Glad she likes them :) They look much better on feet and I'm glad it's not just my camera that makes them look very bright!

Sockapalooza 4 Socks!

My socks arrived from my pal! They are fabulous! They are made from Socks That Rock mediumweight in Monsoon, with a garter rib pattern. Shown with Maine moose and lobster lollies. My pal is Julie - thanks, Julie! :)
The yarn is amazing. I've read on people's blogs for ages that they love it and always thought, oh, it can't be that good, but blimey!
My wonderful pal sent me the remainder of the ball and I was compelled to cast on a baby sock IMMEDIATELY. Where can I get this stuff??? I LOVE IT. The closest I have come to it before is Cherry Tree Hill, which you can get in the UK, but it is not quite as soft. It's really nice to knit with and the socks feel very substantial and they are cushy and warm. I have already worn them even though it is 'summer' and look forward to wearing them loads in the winter.
Mmmm, new handmade socks... they fit perfectly and I love the colours! It is very difficult to take pictures of your own feet!

Thank you so much, Sock Pal! :) :)

An effed-oh

Snow White is now finished. You can buy this beautiful pattern from Ysolda.
On me (rubbish photo copyright the Boyf, but you can see how the ribbing creates a corset effect). The neckline is a picot cast-off (head removal not mandatory) and the back of the neck is really clever (not pictured here because it was even more blurry than this photo):
Obviously I would wear it with a slinky skirt rather than lumpy jeans. And the wellies by the front door are not part of the outfit, though they have come in very useful during this 'summer' we've been having.

And on Titch:
I recommend visiting Ysolda's site for considerably better photos.

Next up: more wee socks and a beanie hat for my BFF's baby T, and a Kim Hargreaves cardi, Lilac. Though I will probably omit the flounce at the bottom and do something simpler instead. My mother has knitted this cardi and says it is easier than it looks... Oh, and I have a dissertation to write by the end of September. Ha ha ha.

Oh look, knitting

The Sockapalooza 4 socks for my pal are done, just need to package them up with a few other goodies and send them off. I will be posting this week so they should arrive before 7 August. I hope she likes them! I decided to continue the stripes into the rib part at the top of the sock as otherwise the red would be too dominating - it really is quite bright. The brown tones it down quite nicely in the stripes but the heel and toe are pretty loud. The stripes are 3-round with the pick-up-the-stitch-below-and-knit-it-together jogless jog, which is not that jogless but I'm hoping that as I put the colour change on the insides of the legs it won't be that noticeable.
I'm also still working on the test knit of Snow White for Ysolda, I'm really behind :( but it's coming along. I've joined the body and sleeves and am about halfway through the yoke part. I'm following the pattern to the letter because it's a test knit but I can tell the sleeves are going to be very long on me - if I knit it again I will make them shorter. I'm really liking the seamless construction, though it does make it more difficult to work on in the car, which is why the socks are now finished!

Knitting at last

Finally my essays are done and I've had a breather (if you count ripping out a bathroom and two walls, and work going haywire a 'breather') and now I have time for knitting!

I'm making inroads into Ysolda's Snow White test knit. It still looks like a hat :) but I'm confident it will work out fine, I certainly have plenty of negative ease! I keep thinking it's going really slowly, but then I remember it's in the round and I'm knitting the back and the front at the same time. This is it resting on my book, and I'm just at the end of the decreases and ready to do the straight waist bit before starting the increases.
I'm also still practising the continental rib on my test sock (I'm just doing my normal throwing action for the ribbing on Snow White) and I was getting worried that it wasn't pulling in very much so the sock wouldn't stay up, it was too loose, I should abandon continental as a bad job... Uh, yeah. It pulls in.

I'll have to be careful I don't cut off the circulation to my knees.

In my madness

One essay is nearly done, I'm about two-thirds of the way through the other one. My brain hurts. And now my ankle hurts, along with most of my muscles, as we've been rock climbing (indoors, we're not that crazy) and I slid off the wall and scraped it on a hold. Ow :( whinge, whine. Obviously I need to go more often so I stop being so rubbish!

But in knitting news, as well as the Sockapalooooza socks by August, I have signed up to test knit Snow White for Ysolda by the end of June. She has very kindly added an XS to the sizing, as I'm of pixie proportions and the pattern has negative ease, and after quite lot of effort and an enormous swatch (for me anyway! I usually just plunge in) I have gauge using some Jaeger aran in 'dark denim' from my stash, and attempted the double rib tubular cast on (from her fab tutorial, which made it much easier than I thought it would be) and knitted the first 6 rounds.

It looks... small. :) Picture when there is more than a tangle of blue-grey string wrapped round an Addi Turbo...