Socks, Socks, Socks

April 23, 2015 LeftFootDaisyLeave a comment

It’s all things socks here in the shop at the moment and why not? The sock I’d been knitting in one of the previous posts is now finished and I’m itching to cast on it’s companion so I can move on to my next ♥ pair ♥

I’m going to have a go at knitting a pair using the Cotton Premium from Opal. Unlike most standard sock yarns, the fibre in Cotton Premium is a blend of 38% wool, 32% polyamide & 30% cotton making it more ideal for the warmer months. A standard 4ply yarn, still with 410m on the ball but the addition of cotton also makes the colours more muted, almost pastel in tone.

My only dilemma now, is which colour to go for?

Along with the Cotton Premium I also bought another new range of sock yarn for the shop. Gallery is another Opal yarn and the colour combinations this time, could be described as anything but muted.

So it stands to reason that a delivery of new sock yarn must mean I might possibly have to have a bit of a clear out I guess?

Any of the discontinued balls of 4ply sock yarn in the basket are €5 each to clear. Most of them are fairly Autumnal shades, but I’m thinking Christmas presents (yes I did say it, sorry).

Don’t forget that although it says ‘sock’ on the label the yarns are all standard 4plys and will work to most 4ply patterns. Who doesn’t need a Hitchhiker or two?

Happy knitting!

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Sharing – But only if the internet connection lasts!!!

April 19, 2015 LeftFootDaisy4 Comments

There seems to be so much going on at the moment that I feel like I’ll fall behind if I don’t begin sharing some of it with you and there’s too much to put in a Facebook post, so please excuse the disjointed nature of this post. It’s probably a truer indication of how my mind works – on a good day that is 😁

(The balloon flower was gifted to me by one of my young students, Miriam, yesterday morning and it set the tone for a lovely day.

The sun was shining and I finally managed to get round to photographing these lovely blankets that Jackie Dunn whipped up for the Chernobyl Children’s Trust. Aren’t they just fab?

As are the scarf and 7 hats that she also made 💕

Some of you might have already noticed that I’ve finished my 3rd pair of socks this week. I had literally been dragging my heels over knitting them because they’re not really my colours and was planning on using them as boot socks. However, I’m prepared to swallow my words and admit to rather liking them.

Just so you know, I’ve knitted them in Heart & Sole sock yarn from Sirdar in shade 107 (Hip Hop) with 2.5mm needles and they’re really comfy 🙂

I’m on a total sock knitting binge and am actually making two separate pairs at the moment, one is a 6ply pair just to see what they’ll be like (I’ll be sure to let you know). The second pair are flying up, so much so that I’d reached the gusset part earlier today, but we were off to see Fast & Furious 7 and I needed knitting 😕 So I decided to risk it and try to work my decreases in the dark movie theatre, what’s the worse that could happen?

I’m dead chuffed with my cinema knitting. Not only did I manage to work my k2tog decreases neatly and without dropping a stitch.

I also completed my ssk’s too and 5 rows of the leg, despite being thoroughly engrossed in the antics of Dom, Brian, Letti, Hobbs and the rest of the team.

Happy Knitting!

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Edinburgh Part 2 – Exploring

March 23, 2015 LeftFootDaisyLeave a comment

Soooo many things to see, I have to go back. Preferably when it’s a little warmer and there’s a chance of the sun putting in an appearance, but return I will. It would have been sacrilege not to snap a photo of this daisy I spied carved into the end of a bench.

Edinburgh was everything I’d imagined and more 💞

No trip to the Scottish city would be complete without a visit to the castle of course, dominating the skyline as it sits perched above the other buildings. My word, you definitely know how high it is too when you get up there, because it’s blooming freezing.

The castle itself is fantastic and much bigger than I thought, think fort rather than castle. Cobbled paths lead you to the different buildings which contain room after room of memorabilia from Scotland’s history. My favourites were the National War Museum and the Regimental Museums, I’ve recently developed a bit of an interest in military history and am hoping to visit The Imperial War Museum in London again this year 🙂

The Scottish National War Memorial is a truly moving place, which commemorates the dead of the First and Second World Wars and of military campaigns since 1945. Around the main room you will discover books with lists of the fallen soldiers from each Scottish regiment. The number of books provides a poignant reminder of all that lost there lives in defence of their country.

In truth we didn’t leave ourselves enough time to truly experience the sheer volume of things to see at the castle and will have to go again when we’re next in Edinburgh 😉

We rode the obligatory tour bus, but only managed to take one of the three tours and after dragging my poor husband to several yarn shops and haberdashery departments there was barely any time left for a wander through the cobbled streets, stopping for coffee and cake. I really can’t sing the praises of the public transport system in Edinburgh enough. An all day pass for the buses and trams costs only £3.50 and you can travel the length and breadth of the city

Edinburgh is a bit of a haven for yarn shops, having already visited the yarn festival I thought it only fair on hubby not to take us too far out of our way.

I’m a bit of a department store haberdashery junkie, I just can’t help myself and have to look at everything. Jenners House of Fraser is smack in the centre of Edinburgh and their haberdashery department in the basement, was jam packed with a rainbow of colours from Rowan and Patons. Having popped in briefly on Saturday afternoon before they closed I was able to resit the urge to purchase something in order to save my pennies for the festival. if Rowan is your yarn of choice though I’d recommend a visit to either Jenners on Princes Street or the John Lewis which you’ll find in the St James Centre. John Lewis also had some of the fantastic but seriously pricey Wool and the Gang yarn and kits too.

Kathy’s Knits on Broughton Street offers some beautiful yarns, patterns and notions, concentrating on British yarns sourced from around the country including Blacker Yarns, New Lanark, JCRennie, Jamieson & Smith and Eden Cottage. I didn’t stop long enough to purchase as it was drizziling a little outside and I didn’t want to risk having a grumpy, sodden husband. Next time when the sun is shining I’ll be sure to stay longer 😎

Ginger Twist Studio is an indie, vintage inspired yarn shop on London Road crammed full of yummy yarn, most of which is hand dyed. I’d met Jess at the yarn festival, but as I follow her on Instagram I wanted to pay a special visit to the shop. We popped in briefly on Monday when Jess was busy unpacking after the show. You wouldn’t want to turn up with a massive group of knitters as Ginger Twist is a little on the compact side, however this little haven is a hand dyed yarn lovers dream destination.

Never one to resist hand dyed I opted for a hank of luminous lime sock yarn and the necessary shopper.

Up near where we were staying in Haymarket was David Drummond’s a traditional sewing machine and knitting shop with a vast selection of all things knitting, sewing and haberdashery. Rather happily I discovered some Wendy Alfresco Aran on special, which I purchased to crochet up a quick granny shawl on the way home. Four balls in a great charcoal shade for less than £10 – bargain!

In amongst all the travelling, walking, eating and touring I managed to get my knit and crochet on too. The bottom project is a granny shawl in Rico Galaxy Chunky yarn that I took with me to keep my hands occupied whilst on the plane (it’s a gift for a dear friend). I also managed to finish one sock and start it’s twin, but didn’t want to risk having my Knitpro Karbonz taken off me on the plane, hence the Alfresco purchase. You can kind of make out the lovely shade of grey in the photo and to jazz it up a little, I’m adding some rows in yarn from my stash.

I’ll be sure to post up some pics of the finished garment, but I could end up boring you as I’ve developed a bit of a hankering for granny shawls at the moment.

First there was the blue one I made for myself here and then you might recall the photo from a previous post with all the ends needing to be sewn in? Well I finally found the time to do so and to give it a quick block too.

I love it and it’s really warm having been made in the now discontinued King Cole Chunky Merino. Hopefully, you can never have too many shawls?

The photographs make it look rather bright, when I like to think it’s a little more subdued ✨ only a little mind.

Happy Knitting!

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Needle Ramblings February?

February 12, 2015February 14, 2015 LeftFootDaisyLeave a comment

My effort to knit or crochet as much as possible in 2015 is going well so far, six weeks have passed since the bells chimed in the New Year and I’ve managed to get a ✌️ second ✌️ pair of socks for my (always cold) tootsies knitted.

The yarn I’ve knitted is one I fell in love with on Instagram from Yesterdaydream; it’s their 4ply Superwash Merino wool in County Fair you can find their Etsy Shop here. As the yarn is so pretty, I stuck with the plainest of sock patterns which meant they were great for working on at knitting group and the cinema 👍

I’ve actually made another pair of socks too, but they don’t count towards my ‘pair every 2 months’ challenge to myself as they were a gift for the lovely Léann, my sons girlfriend. They’re chunky socks because she’s currently in Poland on her Erasmus and it’s mighty chilly there . I adapted them from the Basic Chunky Sock Pattern from Patons that I was singing the praises of recently on the Facebook Page. I used the Serenity Chunky yarn from Wendy because the alpaca fibre should help with added warmth and I love the colour range too 🌈 I would probably have managed to get the pair (size 5/6) out of the one ball at a push, but had already decided to go for the coloured heel and toe. If you decided to knit them yourself I’d err on the side of caution and have an extra ball to hand just in case. The pattern calls for 6mm (I think) and I’ve used a 5mm to make the socks more dense, they’re still soft and cosy and are great as boot socks or for padding around the house in as slippers.

I love my tags, which have washing instructions for you to mark on the reverse. I’d taken this photo with the intention of saying where I bought them, but I’ve completely forgotten :-0 A search on Etsy turned up some lovely ones though.

I also finished the Cobblestone for Du as promised, but the word disappointed doesn’t even come close to describing how I feel about it. I even knew before I’d finished it, but you still live in hope don’t you?

So what am I unhappy with?

1) It’s too big – I made the medium and should have made the small.

2) It’s too boxy – probably a combination of the pattern and point 1 above.

3) The garter stitch yoke is clumsy looking – I think if I could bring myself to knit it again I’d switch to a smaller needle for the yoke.

4) The wrapped stitches are a little too obvious for my liking.

5) The yarn I used is rather unforgiving for this pattern, Sirdar Bonus Aran is a good basic yarn, I’ve used it several times before and have always been happy with the finished project. However the wool content is minimal and had I used the yarn I purchased originally for my son (a beautiful 100% Blue Faced Leicester), the jumper would have probably turned out much nicer because wool is springy and more forgiving.

I’ve also finished crocheting another shawl for myself, but as you can see there’s the small matter of ends to sew in yet.

Having finished (or nearly finished) a few of my projects it seems only right to cast on again, doesn’t it 😉

My next pair of socks are going to be a pink stripey affair, plain again to facilitate easy knitting whilst talking.

I’ve another chunky pair on my needles too, as I’m teaching a friend how to knit socks. I’m quite smitten with the pair I made above so thought they might be the best way to go in this instance.

I’ve also cast on a Flax in the medium/large size using Rico Country Aran for one of four of us Kye won’t wear anything resembling a woolly jumper. Fingers crossed maybe, just maybe it’ll work out right for Du to make up for the enormous Cobblestone. Sixteen hundred and eighty projects on Ravelry, including one from Dina is a great indication of how popular this pattern really is and if that wasn’t enough to convince you, it’s a Tin Can Knits design too.

🌻 Happily 🌻 though, I can report that he is actually wearing it, mostly in the office/sewing/gaming room that we all share and which can be a little chilly even when we’re all in there.

If you look closely, what looks like bobbles are actually threads that he gets covered in from working on his latest sewing project, more about that in a few weeks 🙂

Happy Knitting!

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Yarn Shop Day – Saturday May 3rd

April 26, 2014April 26, 2014 LeftFootDaisy4 Comments

It seems like I’ve been trying to write this post for weeks now what with computer and internet problems *sigh*

Anyway….

Yarn shop day (taking place on Saturday May 3rd) is all about you showing your love for local yarn shops. It is also an important opportunity for bricks and mortar shops – such as ourselves – to remind our customers how valuable our personal experience and knowledge of all things wonderful and wooly really is.

Whilst the online yarn market is fantastic for those that cannot manage to get into a shop or can’t find something particular it is also unfortunately taking away from the tradition of local yarn shops. There is nothing better than going into your local yarn shop and having a good squidge and play with the wool, as well as getting hands on help and advice. Knitters and crocheters alike are an enthusiastic bunch and our shop has often played host to a number of excited discussions about new projects and ideas between strangers that have bonded over their love of the craft.

Yarn shops are fast becoming an endangered species and every week I will have someone come in and say how nice it is to have found a wool shop because they no longer have a local one. A visit to the yarn shop was something I looked forward to as a child and even now I still get excited when I go to a new place and discover they have a yarn shop to explore.

So in the spirit of all things woolly we are planning the following events, giveaways and special offers to celebrate Yarn Shop Day.

The first 15 customers to spend €25 or more receive a baby knits goody bag.
11am – There will be a demonstration on how to use the amazing Clover Pom-Pom Makers.
2-4pm – We are holding a competition to see who can knit a “Knit Happens” stocking the fastest.
There will be a woolly raffle with prizes including Knit Pro needles, Scrumptious Yarn and a variety of books. (Details of the raffle will be posted here and on Facebook in the coming days.)
A free Sparklemouse pattern will be sent to your via e-mail when you spend €5 or more.
Clearance packs of yarn and books will be available to buy throughout the day on our market stall outside at less than even Stash Dash Prices.

Throughout the week we will try (I stress the word try) to pop up photos of some of the items that will be putting on the market stall and using as raffle prizes.

Woolly Clearance

April 16, 2014 LeftFootDaisy4 Comments

The time has come to accept that my addiction for all things woolly might be getting a little out of hand. I know, I know, most of you had probably already spotted it some time ago now and for those of you that know me, you’ll know it’s not going to stop any time soon.

Facing the facts, I need to make space before I disappear into one of the stock rooms and never return -“suffocation from yarn, there are worse ways to go”.

After discussing it with friends, family and anyone who’ll listen, I’ve decided to give in and try an ecommerce site. My lovely customers have been asking me to do this for years now and I’m concerned they’ll think it’s so much more than it is (apologies in advance).

It is a clearance shop, with clearance prices. The yarn will only be sold in packs of 10 balls and you can buy as many packs as you want at the much reduced prices.

I intend to work my way steadily through the boxes of Stash Dash yarn one at a time and will therefore be popping up new products on a weekly basis (I’m aiming for Tuesdays). The yarn will be from all the companies we stock and will include acrylics, wool, cotton, blends, etc, though once it’s gone it’s gone.

Postage here is still extremely expensive, with An Post the cheapest at this stage.

They’re prices are – €6.50 for 500g/1kg or €7.50 for 1.5kg/2kg

You can of course purchase your packs of yarn on the website and collect them from the shop, but I’d ask you to contact me to ensure I have it waiting for you at the shop for collection.

We’ll see how it works, maybe it will go so smoothly that I can be persuaded to look at running with a proper online shop at some stage.

For now this is where you’ll find us Online Clearance Shop

Please be patient with us, hopefully there won’t be too many teething problems 🙂

Happy Knitting!

Oh Dear

March 31, 2014 LeftFootDaisy6 Comments

Oh dear indeed…….

The number of projects I’m currently working on has gotten a little out of hand lately and I only realised how bad things were getting when I opened a project bag and discovered about a third of a blanket knitted in beautiful, Sublime Baby Cashmere Merino that I’d completely forgotten about. Hoping to regain control I frogged it! All 600 metres of it!!!! Ouch!

So in an effort to overcome my problem and in the hope that I’ll manage to complete some of the ongoing wip’s I’d like to confess.

Sorry for the awful pic, the sun wasn’t shining my way.

So…. They consist of

A piece of green knitting that needs to be felted and made into brooches.

One lace sock that needs it’s equally lacy partner.

3 balls of yarn for a gift that needs to be knitted ASAP as the birthday is looming.

There’s a beautiful piece of red knitting belonging to 8 year old Aoife from my children’s knitting group that needs sewing up into a cowl.

There’s a shop sample jumper in Stylecraft Stars.

Another shop sample is the woolly sheep I’ve made in Sirdar’s Snowflake Chunky and Snuggly Dk that needs sewing up and stuffing but I’d like to make some more legs so it’s a little more multi-coloured.

There’s the blue, grey and red Alice Cardigan that I’m knitting for myself.

More socks for me too.

Ongoing are the Knit Happens Stockings for the East Cork Rapid Response.

Also the Attic 24 inspired crochet flowers.

Catrina aka Purl Petal is to blame for the crochet squares. If she hadn’t brought her beautiful blanket into the shop to show me, I wouldn’t have needed to start one. Go and check it out http://www.ravelry.com/projects/PurlPetal/granny-squares-crochet-blanket

10 in total

EXCEPT THERE’S NOT

Whist I was pulling out my patterns and books I realised that I’ve also been working on a jumper for my son Durahn, but have stopped because I need to check his measurements.

Also, if this really is a confession, then I should probably include the bag of crochet bunting that I add to occasionally. The two easy, cinema knitting scarves that I have hanging on the back of the door and my beautiful Moody Blanket. The main part of which is finished but I need good light to photograph knitting the applied i-cord edge for a ‘how to’ post.

This is the missing, offending jumper for my son. It’s beautiful and the yarn is lovely to work with but he’s 6 feet tall so it’s gonna be the right size even if I have to tie him up to measure him.

How many wip’s do you have on the go? I hope it’s not as bad as me.

I can’t even claim that they’re mostly for the shop this time.

Happy Knitting!

(we’re going to sweep gracefully over the three other projects I frogged and the crate full of items that just need sewing up too 😉 aren’t we?)

Guess What? It’s Stash Dash Time

February 8, 2014 LeftFootDaisyLeave a comment

For those of you that have been before you’ll know what it’s all about, the rest of you would probably best to read this previous post here http://knitmidleton.com/2012/07/23/everybody-keeps-asking-me/

Basically, we cover up all the shelves and lay out as many tables as we can fit into the shop; on top of these we put all the yarn we’re discontinuing. There could be whole ranges of yarn, shades of yarn and some you might not have seen before. There will be odd balls, several balls and packs of balls, no matter what, all balls are €3 each. (All sales are final, no returns)

There are things to consider: you have to book your slot if you’re coming in before 1pm. You only have 20 minutes (you’re timed), you have to prepare, dig out the patterns, check your favourites on Ravelry, make sure you know how much double knit/aran/chunky you need. There is nothing else available to purchase on the day and there isn’t usually the time to help you calculate yarn amounts, suitability, etc. You get the most out of the day if you’ve already worked out what you’re looking for.

Have a look at the post linked above if you’re not sure and make sure you book your place for the morning if you want one, quickly before they all go.

This is what you should be expecting.

Happy Knitting!

New Year – Time For Change?

January 2, 2014 LeftFootDaisy4 Comments

Two days in to 2014 already and my brain has been working overtime on things to do in the coming year. I’m not a New Year Resolutions kinda girl, so whilst I’ve made a mental note to quit the indulgences of the past couple of weeks, get back on my anti-inflammation diet and try to do more exercise in the coming year I’m not going to be too upset if I fall off the wagon, so to speak.

There are however, things I am going to try to alter in the hope that some little changes will allow me a little more time to do some of the more important things like, dare I say it – Exercise more 😦

Top of my list is to get more organised, already I can hear my family groaning. I do try really hard to set myself deadlines, but it’s sticking to them that’s the problem. My head gets so full of ideas for the shop, designs, kids crafts, etc that I easily get distracted. So I’m going to get better at writing things down, that way hopefully, I won’t be constantly running through my ‘list of possibilities’ in my head.

I’m also extending this writing it down thingy to my ongoing projects too, as I’ve been slack with posting them onto Ravelry and have wasted at least a couple of hours mentally running through what I made in 2013.

From what I can remember I made the following, but I know I’ve missed some things.

1 cardigan for me

1 jumper for Dina

2 waistcoats (1 for the shop, 1 for me)

2 pairs of socks and 2 single socks (need to make a 2nd lace one and I’m now half way through the other 2nd sock, see below)

12 hats

8 scarves/cowls

Moody Blanket (must do icord border)

Poncho

Wrap

3 – tea cosies

6 Crochet bunting triangles

5 knitted/crochet brooches

Christmas Angel

4 Baby Cardigans

sample squares for the shop

Blanket squares for charity

Innocent Smoothie hats

If I’m honest, it doesn’t seem like a lot of knitting, must try harder. As a little extra note to self “should also knit from my stash a little more”.

Starting as I mean to go on here’s my last/first project of 2013/2014. I’m just about to start the heel flap so it should be finished by the weekend.

I’m also going to start another Il Grande Favorito with some beautiful Sirdar Connemara from my stash.

All sounds very good so far, but I have a small confession ……..

Whilst waiting for the photos for this post to upload I decided to clear up my email inbox a little and now I’ve become distracted by this lovely DIY Fair Isle Hat deigned by Meg Myers for Classic Elite Yarns.

Which yarn would work best now?

Happy Knitting in 2014

xxx

Delicious Yarn

December 7, 2013 LeftFootDaisy2 Comments

I dropped a little hint about this lovely yarn from Hedgehog Fibres in my last post. Having unpacked it, lined it all on the table, looked at each individual hank and generally just fawned over it for some time, I feel I can now share.

Twist Sock is 100g hand dyed yarn. Beata the lady from Hedgehog Fibres describes it as a blend of 80% Blue Faced Leicester wool and 20% nylon. High twist will ensure durability and marvelous stitch definition. Soft, yet durable and machine washable. Best of both worlds!

With colours that shift beautifully from one to another. Randomly dyed to prevent striping or pooling, as much as possible, my yarns create variegated effect that looks good in plain stockinette or advanced stitch motifs.

No dye lots, dye is applied randomly, therefore no two hanks are the same.
Machine wash. 4ply. Approx. 365m/100g

What’s not to ~~like~~ love? Not just for socks either, there’s sooo many lovely 4ply projects out there.

Now I guess you’re gonna want to see the colours?

The photos really don’t do the colours justice, you’ll have to come and pay us a visit to see the deliciousness (can yarn really be this gorgeous?).

Happy Knitting!

Confessions of a Fibre Strumpet

Tag: socks

Socks, Socks, Socks

♥ Follow me on Bloglovin Here ♥

Sharing – But only if the internet connection lasts!!!

♥ Follow me on Bloglovin Here ♥

Edinburgh Part 2 – Exploring

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Needle Ramblings February?

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Yarn Shop Day – Saturday May 3rd

Woolly Clearance

Oh Dear

Guess What? It’s Stash Dash Time

New Year – Time For Change?

Delicious Yarn

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