F is for...

F..........Flipping boring sock. So boring in fact that I haven't been motivated to blog about it and certainly can't bring myself to photograph it. It isnt the fault of the pattern - Faux cable socks - but the yarn is a dull nasty brown and is anything but inspiring.
It was an impulse ebay purchase and in my defense - the colour looked much richer on the monitor. The perils of online purchasing! Having said that the intended recipient is my father in law who seems happy to wear grey, beige and brown without complaint, and is so keen to get his hands (?feet) on handknit socks that I think he would wear them in any 'male' colour. I can't see him in pink socks, but you never know.

So spring has sprung and I am dying to cast on all manner of prettily coloured projects but I have been very good and plugged away at these until I had completed the heel turn and gusset decrease on the second sock. Knowing that I only have a few more hours knitting time on them meant that I felt completely justified in casting on for this beautiful scarf:

Monkey Bread by Anne Hanson
Yarn: Shilsadair luxury dk




I am on a bit of a free pattern binge at the moment but fell in love with this great scarf pattern, as well as the name. As with all Anne Hanson patterns it is beautifully well written and includes instructions for two different scarf dimensions, an infinity version and a matching hat - bargain!

The yarn is a dream to work with as well - a blend of cashmere, angora and merino lambswool, it is as heavenly as it sounds. More importantly, in a luscious shade of purple it is anything but brown!

E is for Embossed Leaves

E is for Embossed Leaves
Originally uploaded by l.tilbrook

The sock madness shows no signs of abating - E is the latest sock off the needles and I have several candidates lined up for F.

The bad news is that the Abotanicity is languishing in my knitting basket. I have reached the lace portion which I was really looking forward to, but I'm not finding the pattern very intuitive. To make matters worse there are lots of yarn overs at the beginning/end of pattern repeats which makes the use of stitch markers problematic. Each row seems to take forever (although every other row is plain knit - for a bit of a rest) and much concentration is needed to get to the other end without dropping a clanger.

Needless to say - a house full of small people and husband means that I don't get much dedicated knitting time. I will get there in the end I'm sure but it feels a bit dis-heartening at the moment.

How long?

Baby Wraplan
Originally uploaded by l.tilbrook

For some strange reason it seems to have taken three whole months to finish this tiny cardigan- some quirk in the space-time continuum surely! I had somehow managed to finish the whole thing, including buttons, weaving of ends and some nifty embroidery but had procrastinated and still had 1 sleeve stitches on DPNs.

It is a testimoy to my deep loathing of using DPNs that I left the poor little thing lying in my workbasket for 3 months rather than spend the 10 minutes needed to finish the sleeve and cast off.

Still it is done now and it can go into the gift basket with a rather smug feeling until an emergency baby gift is needed.

Hard decisions

My recent post about pattern thrift has been prompting me to go through my Ravelry library - taking a cold hard look at the patterns I have bought or downloaded and what prompted me to do so. I discovered another nifty Ravelry feature - to think I have spent so much time on the site but yet can still find 'new' things. In the library feature you can look at downloads you have actually used - so you can look at a particular book you own for example and see what patterns you have made from it. My 'top purchases' are:
Last Minute Knitted Gifts - 5 patterns
Favorite Socks - 5 patterns
Whimsical Little Knits - 4 patterns (admittedly 1 pattern used 3 times for the wonderful Hap blanket)

Whilst I can't remember the exact price I paid for these books I am guessing it was in the order of £10-15 each, which approximates to £2-3 per pattern used.

This compares against my stack of Yarn Forward magazines which I have an annual subscription for (estimated annual cost of £45) and I have getting for 3 years worth. Of these I have knitted a grand total of....ta da.... 1 pattern ... and that one ended up being frogged.

Whilst I love getting a magazine through the post every month and I do love the articles - do I love them enough to justify the exepnditure. On balance - probably not. It makes far more sense to buy an independently published pattern book knowing that I will knit at least a couple of patterns from it.

The wonderful new Ysolda book is calling to me - and £45 will give me enough to buy the book and enough yarn to make one of the projects if I shop wisely.

D is for Diagonal cross-rib socks

Diagonal cross-rib socks
Originally uploaded by l.tilbrook

I am really pleased with my sock knitting progress so far on the A-Z challenge. I am really enjoying the challenge and the deadline is helping to keep me on track and prevent too much distraction.

If I concentrate fully on the sock I can finish it well before the next letter is due to start and then this gives me a few days to pull out another ongoing project and work on that.

I really must get back to the Abotanicity sweater but I'm at the stage where I need to put all the stitches onto waste yarn and check the fit before starting the lace skirt. For some reason the thought of putting over 350 stitches onto waste yarn and then putting them all back on the needles is putting me off slightly - can't think why (lol).

Pattern thrift

Inspired by a recent podcast by Hoxton Handmade I have been busy browsing my saved patterns and library on Ravelry. Her insightful and though provoking podcast centered on the issue of paying for patterns and value for money. I am the first to admit that I often spend a few pounds on a pdf download (almost without thinking) but then the file sits there in my library, neglected and unused. A quick look at my pdf store shows that I have 56 pdf patterns, a grand total of 0 of the are queued or in progress and a paltry 9 have been converted into actual finished items.

In my defence I would say that some of them were free downloads and some of them I have paid for but knit more than once - Ishbel and Damson both spring to mind - but even so I have to question why I have so many files downloaded that I haven't knit.

I already have a lot on the needles at the minute but am browsing patterns for a friend who is expecting her first baby. In the same way that I intend to 'shop the stash' for suitable yarn, I will try to do the same with my pattern stash and come up with something to knit, rather than buying or downloading yet another pattern.

The Ravelry search function comes into its own again with the 'in my library' option which allows you to filter your search to give you all the patterns you already own - a darn good idea and one I intend to put into practice very soon.

C is for Cusp socks

Cusp socks
Originally uploaded by l.tilbrook

Continuing with the 2011 A-Z sock challenge, the C socks are officially finished. They would have been done a few days ago if I could have put the Abotanicity sweater down long enough.

In truth I wasn't that happy with the lace pattern on these socks and I'm not sure how comfortable they will be. Having said that they did even out a lot during blocking and they look much better now, so we shall see.

Now to decide on a suitable candidate for D.

So far I have Devon - yet another Cookie A and Django, or I could go for the Diagonal Cross-Rib. This is a favourite of my mother-in -laws due to it's super stretching properties, and it is her birthday coming up.

Time to go for some daughter-in-law 'brownie points' I think.