Sunday 13 November 2011

At last - some knitting!

Hello! Thanks for stopping by. My bodyclock has just about adjusted to the 3 hour time change (coming back from Greece and putting the clocks back an hour on the same day played havoc with my sleeping!) and my fingers haven't been idle over the last couple of weeks either!
I decided to have some easy knitting for the plane, so took some Regia stripy yarn to knit Mr JK a pair of socks for Christmas. I bought this yarn when we were in Cologne this summer - the colours are supposed to mimic the German flag! So far I've knit one whole sock and am working my way down the foot of the second, so they should be finished by next weekend. The other sock I took required a little more concentration - the Fishbone Gansey sock from Knitspot. I'm using the skein of Woolen Rabbit Kashmir yarn that I received from Kim in the first Clubhouse swap. It feels absolutely gorgeous, and my toes (or perhaps Mr JK's!) are going to be utterly pampered in them.
Odd socks
I finished knitting up the October yarn from the Fall in Full Color club. I had decided not to knit the shawlette that had been designed especially; instead I took inspiration from Snoopydog's Miss Doolittle scarf (another Knitspot pattern) and knit myself another scarf!! I managed to get 20 repeats on each half of the scarf, and was careful when I grafted the two halves together not to pull the stitches too tight. I am really, really happy with how it turned out. The colourway is definitely growing on me!
Miss Doolittle (6)
Talking of happy, I finished knitting the last pair of socks for my University friends - the yarn I used was Wendy Happy, a 100% bamboo yarn. It feels very silky, but I'm not sure how well the socks are going to hold their shape.
Happy Ribbed socks (2)
Last weekend was our annual meet up, so I was able to hand over all the pairs of socks. They were very well received, and I have been asked to knit some more for next year! Always nice when your knitted gifts are appreciated! Here we all are modelling our socks!
Best foot forward!
I have been a very lucky josiekitten recently. Just before we went to Greece I received a parcel from Kat. We have become good friends through the FIFC clubhouse, and in the autumn I sent her a Knit Nation bag (Kat is a TOTAL bag addict!!) and a skein of Natural Dye Studio yarn. I was thrilled to unwrap not only a skein of Socks that Rock yarn, but also a project bag sewn by Michele over at ThreeBagsFull.  The eagle eyed amongst you may already have spotted this bag in use when I was knitting on the beach in Greece! Thank you dear Kat, it was a lovely and generous gift!
Gift from Kat (1)
I did a skein swap with my friend Julia, in Germany, and ended up with a skein of sparkly Zauberweise yarn. It is gorgeous and the silvery thread really does twinkle. I think I may knit a shawl or a scarf to show it off, it's too pretty to stay hidden in my shoes!
Zauberweise sparkly yarn
I also received a parcel from Kim. We have become great friends since we first 'met' in the FIFC clubhouse, and this was our third swap. I sent Kim a selection of yarns that I'd bought at Knit Nation along with her very favourite Granny Wobbly fudge (it is just the yumiest, crumbliest, most delicious fudge I have ever tasted, and I have discovered that it's possible to buy it over the Internet - bad news for my waistline!!) Kim chose my yarns during her annual Rhinebeck visit. I had three gorgeous, squishy skeins of yarn - from top to bottom, a monster skein of Miss Babs merino yarn in shades of plum, a deep purple shade of Eidos from The Sanguine Gryphon and very pretty merino and silk laceweight yarn from Fiber Optic Yarns.
Swap with Kim
Kim also bought me some delicious fibre from Spirit Trail - it's 50% merino and 50% silk and is truly beautiful. Its shimmery lustrousness is so difficult to capture in a photo, you'll just have to take my word for it!
Spirit Trail fibre
I received a little thank you card from Innocent Smoothies this week too. The little hat on top of the bottle is just amazing. It makes all those that I knit seem very boring!! It's nice that they bother to thank all the knitters individually - and the cards are hand written and peronalised too. A nice touch, I think.
Innocent thanks 005
Florence went on a Very Big Adventure today - it was her first time outside, as she'd been microchipped at the vets this week. She thought that it was a very big world outside for pussycats .....
An awfully big adventure (2)
..... and she didn't go far at all. In fact, she decided that it all looked a lot better from inside the door!
An awfully big adventure (9)
I'm sure she'll be a bit braver next time! Have a good week, and I'll see you soon! xxx

9 comments:

snoopydogknits said...

Wow, an abundanc eof socks and yarn. The yarns and bag are really gorgeous. What a lucky josikitten you've been! Hope you have a good week. Ros x

Lynne said...

Love all the socks, and I've said it before, but Miss Doolittle is gorgeous! Florence is brave exploring the outside world, she's such a lovely little cat. :)

Unknown said...

what great knitting. I am so jealous.

Helsie said...

I love your finished scarf and though the colour is not one I would choose I bet you get lots of use out of it as the colour is a good neutral which will go with lots of things.
Are you planning on a new cat as a companion for the dear little black one?
Cheers

Stadtwaldvogel said...

Hey Helen, the scarf is just great! And you must have been so busy knitting so many socks... Have a good week! Yours, Julia
PS: I can highly recommend Woolgatherins rovings, they are my favorites!

Alice Yu said...

Florence is such a sweetie! Ah I have yet to knit a stitch from my FIFC- am so impressed with your FOs. :)

Emma (GirlAnachronismE) said...

i love the hand knit socks, and Regia are right, that colour does look just like the German flag. Also, the scraf shows off that yarn perfectly, and might have just found its way into my queue...

Lyn said...

I am always in awe of people who can knit such lovely socks!
It was the sort of day for staying indoors I feel!
xxx

Kim said...

Love that picture of Flo just contemplating the world while she sits just inside her door. . . .