Hand Knitted Socks and a Wip Parade of sorts.

I started knitting this pair of socks using the ‘Seeing Stripes’ sock pattern from West Yorkshire Spinners and Rico, Supeba Fair Isle 4 ply, back in February last year and almost made it 

 down to the toe on the first sock.  But because I wasn’t particularly happy with my choice of yarn, I put it to one side and couldn't bring myself to pick it up again.  That feeling didn't go away and lasted for the rest of the year, so it wasn't until I set myself a challenge for January, that I went back and picked them up again.

So what was the big challenge?

I decided that I was going to work on every wip (work in progress) that I have during the month, something I’m able to achieve because I only had 7  brought forward from 2024 and the plan was to put at least one thread  in each of the six cross stitch projects and finally finish the part knitted socks.

I won’t lie, I had to force myself to pull them out, but once I did, I finished the first sock and completely knitted the second sock in just two days.

But can you spot the mistake?

Silly me started the first sock with a 1 x 1 rib and the second sock with a 2 x 2 rib, but fortunately they are for me and there’s no way I’m going to pull one out and re-knit it.

 Moving on to the cross stitch wip’s that I carried over; 

The first thing I pulled out was the ‘Bee Contained Stitching Box' by Betsy Morgan from the Inspirations ‘Helping Hands 2’ book.

I started this in August 2023 and didn’t pick it up at all last year.  I think the 1 over 1 stitching was putting me off but once I got back into it, I really enjoyed working on it and have nearly finished the largest piece of the stitching.

Next, I worked on Log Cabin Christmas from Little House Needleworks, which I started in April last year.  

This is a 9 part piece, so I had a mini new start for this and stitched on part 4 – In The Woods Bear.

The next project was another multi part piece and that was ‘ A Gathering of Samplers’ from the Ackworth Collection, which consists of 12 little Quaker Samplers that go together to make a book.

Again, it involved another new start and that was pages 5 & 6 of the book.  I came very close to a finish on this too.

Sing For Joy from Cottage Garden Samplings was next up

and I had not stitched on it since starting it as part of my 12 in12 New Years Eve starts in December 2023.

Project 6 was another Christmas stitch, ‘Toy Shopee’,  which is a Diamentions Kit.

I started it November 2024 and got to here,

but it’s hard going as anyone who has stitched one of these kits  knows, …….the changes of stitches and number of threads used for those stitches can be a bit confusing sometimes.

None the less, I made some good progress on it.

Last up was ‘My Stitching Box’, another multi part project from Jeanette Douglass.

Again, it involved another mini start for part 2, which was the lid of the box.

If I had to choose a favourite designer, I think hands down it would have to be  Jeanette.  I just love how delicate her designs look  and the subtle colours she uses.

So, it's not been a bad start to the year, but that wasn’t it for January.   I also had 3 other new starts, one of which was the year long stitch-a-long ‘ All Year Round Sal.

Then there was my 12 in 25 Christmas ornament

and my new Chatelaine

and last but not least I had one fully finish, which was the Country Charm Cushion.

I wonder if I can keep the pace up during February…..you’ll have to watch this space!

 

Happy Crafting!

Sue

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‘Palace of the Winds’ Wednesdays

Deciding to stitch on Palace of the Winds by Jan Hicks every Wednesday has worked out really well for me so far and I’m getting so much done.

The last time I posted about it was just over two weeks ago, when I was here

Three more days of stitching and I’m now passed the half way mark, at 51.43%, having stitched 12810 stitches.

Just 12098 stitches to go then!

I also cast on a new pair of socks, although I’m not totally happy with the yarn I’m using.

The pattern is ‘Seeing Stripes’ pattern from West Yorkshire Spinners, but I’m not convinced that this Rico, Supeba fair isle 4 ply is actually a self-striping sock yarn.

It reminds me of the fake Fair Isle cones of yarn I used to use on my knitting machine, where the changes in colour looked like multi coloured Fair Isle using just that and a main colour.

Oh well, Ill just keep going and we shall see how they turn out!

 

Happy Crafting!

Sue

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 Palace of the Winds

Designer - Jan Hicks Designs

Fabric – 36ct Evenweave – Light Grey

Threads – Cottage Garden  Threads

Knitting Pattern - ‘Seeing Stripes’ from West Yorkshire Spinners.

Yarn - Rico, Supeba fair isle 4 ply (75% wool - 25% polyamide}

 

Vanilla Socks by Kay Litton

My third pair of socks are finished, but I’m still very much on a learning curve as far as knitting them goes.

So far all three pair have been knitted top down but I seem to be having a problem getting the cast on just right.

The first two pair I cast on and knitted the rib and the rest of the sock with a 2.5mm needle, but while the tension for the rib and rest of the knitting was fine, the cast on edge was a bit tight to get over my foot.

For this pair I changed it up a bit and decided to try the cast on and rib on a 3mm needle and the rest on a 2.5mm.  This time the cast on edge is fine but the rib seems too loose, so I’ve still not got it right yet.

I’m wondering if I should use 3mm to cast on, then change to 2.5mm for the rest on the next pair or even try a toe up pattern, in which case the top of the rib will be the cast off.

Does anyone have any experience or thoughts!

Regardless, I just love the colours of this yarn and I’m going to have very cosy toes over Christmas!

Yarn – West Yorkshire Spinners, Signature 4 ply

Colour – Holly

I also put a few more stitched into my first ‘O Tannenbaum!’ pillow and apart from the very top edge, I now have a sleigh.

Chart – 0 Tannenbaum! – Brenda Gervais

Fabric – 36ct Heartland – Picture This Plus

Threads – Called for – Weeks Dye Works, Classic Colorworks and Gentle Arts Sampler Threads

 Happy Stitching!

Sue

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Winter Woodland - Patricia Ann Designs

 As you will know from my last post, I was going away for a short break last weekend and I had already made a small start on my November ornament for 12 in 23.   

I managed to finish it on Thursday afternoon, before going away on Friday.

Winter Woodland was a chart from the latest special Christmas Ornament edition of Just Cross Stitch magazine.

Because I had already decided to take a pair of socks to start and my October Mill Hill Ornament to stitch on while I was going to be away  and they were already in my bag, I  decided to have another new start on Thursday evening.

I’ve had ‘Oh Tannenbaum!’  from Jeanette Douglas kitted for some time and I made a small start  on the sheep pulling the sleigh.

So now onto my trip.

The main reason for my short break to Bournemouth, down on the south coast of Dorset,  was to visit my 93 year old Aunt and some of my cousins.  I’ve not seen any of them for at least 6 years, so we had lots to catch up on! 

My cousin and I had booked  a lovely hotel for three nights, with a sea view and we were looking forward to a walk along the beach and the smell of that salty sea air.

We made the most of it but sadly, as you can see, the weather

wasn’t kind to us, with a severe weather warning in place for Saturday and Sunday for high winds and rain.   

Typically, we were coming home on Monday, the weather changed and the sun came out.

We did manage a rather large Sunday roast dinner and a few G & T's though!

Stitching wise, I took my Mill Hill Santa ornament with me to stitch on the train and made some good progress on him.

And I also took some knitting and started another pair of socks.

I wanted a pair in Christmas colours and this yarn from West Yorkshire Spinners was perfect.   It’s their Signature 4 ply called ‘Holly’.

When ordering the yarn I went a bit OTT and also ordered three more balls.

‘Fairy Lights’ which is sparkly and  ‘Robbin’, both also West Yorkshire Spinners Signature 4 ply  and ‘Partie’,  which is Superba fairisle 4 ply, so I think I will have toasty feet this winter!

I'd like to take this opportunity to wish all my friends from across the pond a very special Thanksgiving.  I hope you have a wonderful day spending time with your family and friends.

Happy Stitching!

Sue

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Vanilla Socks

 

This week has been mostly about finishing my socks and just the tiniest amount of stitching.

First off, I wanted to complete my 2^nd pair Vanilla socks, pattern from Kay Litton on Raverly.  I only the feet and toes left to knit, so I knew they wouldn’t take too long finish.

They were knitted 2 at a time on a 2.50mm circular needle, using West Yorkshire Spinners Signature 4 ply in the colourway Wildflower.

I’m so happy with the way they came out and I’ve definitely caught the bug for sock knitting because I’m already looking for more yarn.  I want to do a pair in Christmas colours next I think!

Then it was on to trying a bit of stitching but as I’m still resting my  hand as much as possible and only managed a little new start.

 This is  ‘Smell My Feet’ from La-D-Da and it’s a free chart on her site.

For this, I’ve used a scrap of 28ct Ooak  (Roxy  Floss Co) that was left over from Which Witch and Silky and DMC threads from my thread collection.

 

Happy Stitching!

Sue

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Chart – Smell My Feet

Designer – La-D-Da

Fabric – 28ct Ooak – Roxy  Floss Co

Threads – Silky (Black) DMC 9Mauve & Green)

Stitched – 1 floss thread over 2 linen threads.

Finishing

 Unfortunately, I think I’ve damaged a tendon in my right hand, meaning, I’ve been unable to stitch for the past week, and it’s been so frustrating because I have so many things I wanted to work on.

I think it happened about two weeks ago when I was trying to undo a tight lid on a bottle of water, because the pain started the day after. At the time, I still managed to stitch a little bit but it gradually got worse as the week went on and I’ve ended up not being able pick things up or grip anything with that hand because of the shooting pains.

Cold compresses, strapping it up and rest are apparently the only things that will heal it, so no stitching for me for a little while, at least.

The small bit of stitching I did manage to get done was to finish my second piece from the Winds of Autumn Book, by Blackbird Designs, 'October 31'.

I was going to finish it the same as in the book but then decided to do it as a flat. I edged it with some beaded trim and attached it to a black metal spiders web with a magnet.

That was it as far as the stitching went, but this morning while fully finishing that piece, I finished and framed three more pieces.

The first was ‘Which Witch’ from La-D-Da.

And  Autumn Dream from Cottage Garden Samplings.

Then it was on to ‘Spell of the Moon’ from Blackbird Designs. 

 I was undecided if I wanted to make it into a small pillow and in the end decided against that.  What I ended up doing was making it into a flat.  I covered the backing board of the frame with a piece of wool fabric, added a strip on black lace and then mounted it onto that……..and there you have it!

Before I gave up on creating completely, I decided to give a little bit of knitting a go, thinking that the knitting needles would be easier on my hand than the sewing needle.  

That didn’t turn out to be the case, but I did manage to get a good start on a pair of socks.

This is my first time trying two at time with magic loop and it’s not going too badly, although I did tangle the yarn a few times.  I’m knitting the ‘Vanilla Socks’ pattern by Kay Litton, using West Yorkshire Spinners Signature 4 Ply, in Wildflower (872)

So that’s it!

I’m not expecting to have anything to share with you next week, so until our sewing needles cross paths again,  

 

Happy Stitching!

Sue

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Before I leave you, here's a quick photo of my dresser, all ready for Autumn and Halloween.