We interupt this knitting to bring you an emergency sock....

I've had to set the blanket (and the continental knitting) to one side this week in favour of an emergency pair of socks. My MIL has a circulatory problem and has to go into hospital next week for some tests. Now there probably aren't many people in the middle of our UK heatwave who are craving a pair of thick woolly socks but she is one of them. And she is so appreciative of my handknit socks that it's hard to resist.

After all, it's nice when your knits to go to a good home where they will be looked after.

So, I dusted off some dk weight yarn (Patons Diploma) and the pattern for Thuja which I've been meaning to try for ages, and after two days I have this:


Not bad eh?

I have never knit socks with dk-weight before and I am feeling very pleased with myself at how quickly they are knitting up. They have reminded me though how much I dislike using DPNs. I usually use a 30cm 2.5mm Addi circular for socks and just slip them onto DPNs for the heel/toe but I didn't have a 30cm in the right size for this yarn (3.5mm if you are interested) and in the interests of speed I decided to crack on and use some Brittany birch DPNs.

There's nothing wrong with them you understand - they are smooth and pointy in all the right places - but DPNs are just plain fiddly and I can't be persuaded otherwise. Added to which my two pre-school sons keep finding all sorts of inventive uses for them when I (inevitably) leave them lying around.