Sock Knitting....

Another of my addictions especially as we are heading into Autumn is sock knitting....mmmmm, I think I must have quite an addictive personality!!

I like to knit socks in the evening whilst watching television.  I like easy to follow patterns that I don't have to to think about too much and which grow quite quickly so that in a couple of evenings I have a wonderful pair of socks to show for my efforts.

Sock yarn is available in wonderful self striping mixes that create the most wonderful socks with each pair being different.  I find that ribbed socks work the best for me as they hold their shape well and don't slip down.  

There are hundreds of great patterns on Ravelry and I decided to make a basic ribbed pair designed by Kate Atherley.  You can find the pattern here: Basic Ribbed Socks  

The yarn I have used for this pair is Regia Design Line.  I have had this yarn in my stash since last winter and thought it was time it saw the light of day.  The colour mix is lovely...mainly blues with a little pink & moss green.  I am so happy with the way they turned out.  I made the socks in the traditional way on double pointed needles but the pattern also gives instructions to make them on circulars if you prefer.  I've not tried socks on circulars as yet.....I think I love working on my double points too much.

 

I really enjoyed knitting these socks, the pattern was so easy to follow and I would highly recommend the design to anyone just starting out knitting socks or like me someone who wants an easy knit which you don't have to concentrate too hard on but which gives great results.

I can see this pattern becoming a firm favourite of mine and I have already casted on a new pair that I am going to make for my lovely father in law.

Crafty Catch Up

It's been a beautiful, warm sunny day and the gorgeous weather spurred me into action and I finally got around to taking some pics of the baby items I've been working on....

A knitted cocoon and hat set...great for babies first photo's

 

Knitted Car Seat Blankets with matching hats....so cute!

Two Granny Square Blankets....I'm still addicted to making these, I love turning those little squares into warm and cosy blankets

Toddlers Cardigan...I think this would look so cute over a pair of jeans or denim skirt and tights.

and finally newborn diaper covers.. I used Squiggle Chunky for these and love the great colour choices available.

I've listed all  the above items in my ebay shop : Precious Newborn Knits

My new knitting design 'Lara' has gone to be test knitted today so fingers crossed I should have the pattern available in the next week or so.

Sorting My Stash....

I admit...I'm addicted to buying yarn especially when I feel like I have found a bargain.
The only downside to my addiction is where to store all that delicious yarn...well I have a craft room with  shelving heaving with boxes and bags full of my 'bargain buys'.

I've spent the last few days trying to sort out my stash and re-assemble my yarn boxes into some kind of order so that I am able to find that 'particular' yarn much more easily.  In the past it has been a case of rummaging through numerous boxes and bags trying to track it down so I now hope that as I have everything sorted & arranged by colour and ply that I will be able to find that elusive ball much more easily.

I've also been working on a new baby knitting design which is coming along nicely and I am hoping to be able to send the pattern out to one of my lovely test knitting ladies sometime next week.

I'm knitting the design in one of my favourite yarns for babies...Sirdar Snuggly..it is always a delight to knit with so soft and as the name suggests very snuggly.  It also comes in a great range of colours too!

Spice Cake

I've not been able to do any knitting for the last couple of days due to a recurring shoulder and wrist problem I have but what to do to stop the boredom setting in......bake cakes of course!!

I love to try new recipes and found this very simple one to make a low fat spice cake on the allrecipes.co.uk site.  I find this site so useful and have had successful results from the recipes on the site.

The cake is very, very simple to make with minimal ingredients:
flour, syrup, brown sugar, cinnamon and mixed spice with no eggs or butter being used.

The cake took literally minutes to mix and have oven ready....

and this was the finished result

the cake is absoloutely delicious and one I am sure I will be making again in the future

You can find the recipe here: Low-Fat Spice Cake

Rain, Rain, Go Away....

The weather has been terrible here today...I was awaken about 6.30am with the rain beating against the bedroom window. I had a peep outside and the rain was literally bouncing off the floor it was so heavy.  
It has been quite warm and humid here for the past couple of days so I thought that maybe the rain would help to clear the air but to no avail as it is still so stuffy.  
Needless to say we have had a few more downpours throughout the day.....I felt so sorry for a young man stood waiting for a bus this afternoon, he was wearing a short-sleeved t-shirt with jeans and the heavens decided to open, the poor lad was literally dripping wet.  The rain came so fast and furious that the road outside our house looked like a stream.  Thankfully we live on a slight hill so no fear of flooding.


Nasty weather aside I have been catching up with some knitting.  Here are the little bonnet sets that I made with the snowball wool.  The yarn is quite fiddly to knit with and once I have used up the balls that I have in my stash I won't be buying any more.  I think I prefer the all cream set to the white and pink.


I made these sets to fit 3-6 Months and added a simple pair of stocking stitch mittens with drawstring ties.  I think they will be great for the winter.


I've listed them for sale on my website: 

Tipeetoes.co.uk for baby knitting patterns