I feel like I’m so behind with my blogging, I know it’s only been 11 days since my last blog, but I already had a pile of things to share with you then.

It’s been a little bonkers lately round here, school holidays mean I’ve been avoiding the office as much as possible – I share it with my gamer son, Kye who gets really animated.  Presently he’s sitting behind me, having a conversation with his virtual friends in the UK.  They’re obviously hard of hearing, because he’s shouting rather loudly and I’m having to remind him I’m in here too 😒

When I have braved the office it’s been to work on the latest issue of Olann and, to ready it for publishing today.  This was an issue we’d been planning for a while and we both really enjoyed working on it.  That said, I’m very glad it’s out there now, as I find I get quite panicked towards D-Day.

You might have seen my latest pair of socks on the podcast?  I thought it would be fun to look at them a little more closely as they use a pattern I’ve never knitted before, Cat’s Sweet Tomato Heel, by Cat Bordhi.

I knitted my usual 60 stitch sock on two 2.25mm/60cm circular needles and finished them with the French Toe I love and only followed Cat’s instructions for the heel.

The heel is worked over two thirds of the stitches rather than half, as in a traditional sock pattern.  Using short rows, you knit wedges and then decide how many of the wedges you need for your perfectly fitting sock.  I knitted three.

Cat’s pattern is as always, full of handy tips, suggestions and diagrams which helped enormously.  After knitting my first sock, I did find I had a small hole on either side, which needed to be stitched.

The second sock went much better and I seem to only have a hole on the one side.  Improving already 🙂  Looking at this photo, it looks a little more ladder like, doesn’t it?

The sock fits well, although it does feel a little snug over the top of my foot, where it meets my ankle.  I’m assuming that means I might not need to knit the last wedge fully, but it will need further investigation.  I love the way the yarn has knitted up and I’m even more thrilled as it had been languishing in my yarn stash for some years.

I currently have a pair of socks on my needles that I’m working on for me and another 3 pairs that are in the sin bin, 4 if you count the single sock I showed on the podcast 😦

If that wasn’t enough, I’ve also started knitting a pair of the Rose City Rollers, but there not for me.  At least I don’t think they are, as ankle socks aren’t my thing.  If it’s cold enough to wear socks, it’s cold enough to need more cover.  I’d cast on 64 stitches as per the pattern, but after knitting 12 rows, I tried them on for size.  They were huge around my ankles, so I ripped them back and cast on 60 stitches instead.

I’m going to head off now for a much needed break from the noise.  Before I do, I must share some of the other woolly gifts I received for my birthday like I promised.

More pretty socks to come, as the hubby picked up these for me.  I didn’t have the heart to tell him I already had the same shade in the Wendy Roam, so perhaps it will end up being something else, or socks for someone else.

The Rico Circus yarn is interesting.  I really thought it was a cotton blend when I first saw it, but it’s not, it is a standard wool/nylon blend.

He also bought me this lovely doughnut of Findley Dappled laceweight yarn from Juniper Moon, which I was originally going to knit held together with the yarn my friend bought me (see the bottom of the last post).  You might remember that I’ve plans for that if she’s managed to find me another hank, so I’m not really too sure what to make with this.

There’s a lovely version of the Sideways Sugar Shawl on Ravelry using it, but I’m not so sure my crochet is up to it.  In truth, I’m also suffering a little from shawl overload.  If you have any ideas, I’d love to hear them?

Off to make a cuppa and try and get help with photographing some of the other projects I’ve finished.

Happy Making

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