vanessarama.net

I’ve been slack, haven’t I? In my defense, I’ve been very busy at work. It’s good busy - I’m working on some stuff that’s very exciting - but it’s busy, and when I get home I don’t feel much like sitting in front of a computer any more. There have been various family and health related things happening, too.

The good news is that as of yesterday, I’m on leave. We’re going to the Northern Territory for ten days. The bad news is that 48 hours before I step on the plane, I’ve come down with a nasty cough and overall crappiness. This often happens when I get a holiday, most notably causing me to miss Bath in its entirety while we were in the UK. Bah, I say! I plan to spend the next few days taking it easy and getting lots of sleep, hopefully to kill the evil little bacterial bastards before the trip begins.

So, knitting. I have added to my stash a little, with orders from the Loopy Ewe. I’ve also tried to use the stash a bit.

Here’s the Babette blanket I’ve been making from leftovers, so far:

And again:

This is Babette Grand-mere. Made from 12-ply scraps, she’s the grandmother; there will be an 8-ply and a sock yarn version as well. Good mindless crochet.

Here are the latest actual knitting projects…

Pattern: Falling Leaves from Knitty
Yarn: Anne by Schaefer, colourway ‘Scottish Thistle’
Needles: Two 2mm circulars
Modifications: used Wendy’s no-pick-up gusset heel.
I love the way the colour variations in this yarn are distinct yet subtle. It doesn’t detract from the pattern at all.

Next up:

Pattern: Generic stocking stitch toe-up over 64 stitches
Yarn: Regia Bamboo
Needles: Two 2.5mm circulars

You will notice that these are very long, plain socks. I am hoping they’ll be good to wear under my hiking boots. Again I used Wendy’s heel.

And finally…

Emily has named these ‘Eviscerated Seaweed’, which kind of suits them

Pattern: Broad Spiral Ribbing from Charlene Schurch’s More Sensational Knitted Socks
Yarn: Wollmeise Sockenwolle, in ‘Suzanne’ colourway
Needles: Two 2.25mm circulars

Yarn and pattern work well together.

Again, I used Wendy’s heel. I’ve found that it really works the best of all for my high instep, and I intend to use it as much as possible from now on.

And last but not least, the Horcrux socks!

Pattern: Horcrux Socks by Susan Lawrence, from the Six Sox Knitalong on Yahoo
Yarn: Cherry Tree Hill Sockittome in ‘River Run’ (from the Loopy Ewe)
Needles: Two 2.5mm circulars

This was a great, fun, easy pattern. The Sockittome yarn is very stretchy and the socks seemed to knit up really fast - I christened them ‘Greased Lightning’ because of that, and because of the lightning bolt. Here’s an in-progress shot showing the lightning bolt pattern:

I just love them The only problem is the heel - a horseshoe heel, it would be good for narrow heels but not as good for my wide heels. Ah well. I love them anyway

Well, I’m off to bed to sip Lemsip and try to get better before I have to go on holiday. Wish me luck!