Welcome to Wool on Sundays :)

Until extremely recently, I would have said life is too short to be knitting socks but my eldest daughter loves socks and yesterday was her birthday so, having suddenly been persuaded by blogland that true beauty, quality and endurance can be found only in the hand-knitted sock, I took up the mission. I LOVE the traditional two coloured Scandinavian socks at Garn Studio but, but as this was my first attempt and I as had limited time, I decided on 3.5mm needles and a single colour. The socks are one shoe size too big for my feet (in the photos) but my daughter says they fit her perfectly and are really warm and comfortable :)

I decided I’d be better with a short circular needle than dpns and I bought the one below from artofyarn on ebay. It was more expensive than I’d hoped but it just radiates quality workmanship and it is in a different class altogether from any other knitting needle I’ve ever used. From a practical point of view, I found the short cable quite difficult and awkward, especially to begin with. I struggled to get my hand into a comfortable position and I would just get into a flow and then have to work the cable stitches and lose my hand position. I really could have done with an inch or two longer needle or a shorter right thumb and I was more than once reminded of the scene in Anna Karenina when Levin is scything the grass and after a while it goes easily of it’s own accord but then he recollects and tries harder and at once everything clumsy and difficult again. I’ve recently learned that I knit in the English Way and I think that if I learned the Continental Way I might have found it easier. This is definitely something I should investigate further…

ADDI PREMIUM CIRCULAR KNITTING NEEDLES 30cm length – size 3.5mm from artofyarn (ebay)

By the end of the first sock, though, I’d pretty much got to grips with it and, on balance, I found it easier than dpns – not least from the point of view of keeping everything neatly together when I had to take it out with me. If you have some knitting experience, this is quite a quick and easy pattern although I think the two two coloured designs would be quicker and easier as they are mostly in stocking stitch. And my next socks are going to be toe up because I did have to order a fourth ball of wool to finish the second sock and I’d have happily left them a bit shorter or had a different coloured band at the top but I didn’t want half a foot in a different colour!

My other yarn adventure, this week, has been more felted knitting.

I stuffed this dress with a carrier bag before putting it in the washing machine to stop the insides felting together (the arms were an after thought). I again used my 1/2 hour 40° cycle but I put it through a second time to shrink and felt more.

This was mainly an experiment in shaping and I was very pleased with it. It seems I’m easily pleased by small things of little consequence and when I open the machine door and find the felting has actually worked, I feel that I’ve just witnessed a small miracle!

If you have any wooly thoughts or projects, I’d love you to link up with WOOL ON SUNDAYS. The rules as usual are:

1). Posts must include some content – makes or musings – related to knitting, crochet, felting, spinning or yarn.
2). Projects sewn from felt or wool fabric or stitchery using wool are also welcome but please don’t link posts that are exclusively about sewing, quilting and fabrics.
3). Posts don’t have to be from the past week but please put a link to WOOL ON SUNDAYS or grab the button from my sidebar and include it in or at the bottom of any posts you link up.
4). Visit anyone else who links.

Happy December :)

Janine @ Rainbow Hare

(If you subscribe to my blog by email, firstly, thankyou :) Secondly, I really recommend you view the web version because otherwise you end up with a random scramble of photos and I don’t know how to stop that happening).

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