Inspiration Wednesday - Animal Yokes

So, not that long ago I came across the owl jumper by Kate Davies and fell in love. This is firmly on my to do list. Even more so after encountering a method of doing cables without cable needles via Mason-Dixon. Shockingly I've never done cables, mostly I think because I've never seen cables I really had to knit before. As the pattern calls for circular needles too, the cost of investing in a circular needle set (I like the idea of interchangeable needles, I've put off buying any circulars at all so I could justify this to myself when the time came) and cable needles was somewhat prohibitive.

Almost immdeiatly after that first encounter with the owls I then spotted this gem on eBay (from this seller, brazenoleoman). I wasn't the lucky bidder, but it got me thinking...

...animals on yokes. A bit of hunting on Ravelry found me some squirrels and reindeer too.

Cycling socks

This weekend just gone (Sunday evening in fact) I finally finished the second sock of my second pair of cycle socks. Kind of ironic given that I crashed my bike on Saturday morning - going to fetch my new Rowan magazine from the parcel office too! Spent a goodly portion of the weekend saying "ouch" repeatedly whilst watching my bruises go from pale blue-green to deep purple. 

Anyway, back to socks. I struggled with these to be honest and largely I think it was my needles. It seems to be very easy to forget that bad needles equal a bad knitting experience, you never think on it. A project just seems 'hard'.

I knitted my dad some socks for Christmas out of Kaffe Fassett 4ply Regia yarn and invested in some 5" Brittany sock needles too (because my sock needles were elsewhere engaged). I could not believe what a difference these made! My old DPNs were metal 10" jobbies and the strain and awkwardness working in the round with just twenty stitches per needle was not apparent to me until I got hold of the 5-inchers, I was whizzing round by comparison. Not to mention the added portability, sock knitting went from absolutely-not-bus-knitting to the perfect handbag carry-along, instantly. Today on the bus (hurts a wee bit too much to cycle still) I missed not having a pair of socks to work on...

They're Hedera from knitty. I like the lace pattern, nice and stretchy, ideal for cotton socks. I like the idea of the reinforced heal, but I think in reality this is too big a feature for the kind of shoes I wear (who am I kidding - the only pair of shoes i even own right now). I might do a toe up version with the same lace pattern (all be it in reverse).

New Year

So, New Year, new blog resolution. Write Something! Make Something!

Part of the reason for a total lack of enthusiasm was a terrible work load towards the latter half of last year. Another reason was the theft of my laptop. For a time I even gave up knitting (in the mistaken belief it was stopping me working)!! After going slightly mad for a while, I'm back on the knitting and some lovely christmas presents have me inspired again.

Amongst the goodies:

Embroidered Flora and Fauna by Leslie Turpin-Delport and Nikki Delport-Wepener...

...Rob Ryan Skirt from Cloth Kits...

...and a much coveted swooping swallow necklace from the Etsy shop Verre Encore.

As well as that, after barely having a minute to walk down the garden last year either, January gets me thinking of spring....

So, here's to the New Year and avoiding the financial crisis by making bread, knitting socks and growing some killer veg!