Meet Jekyll, Though It Could Be Hyde

I am making my first ever pair of socks. First. Ever.

I got some very gorgeous cashmere from eBay a few weeks ago. It is a 4ply 100% cashmere with no label or other information about it. As soon as I touched it, I fell in love, but decided, unselfishly, that it had to be used on something just for me since, with no label, I couldn’t design something with it due to the lack of information provided. See, unselfish to the core me.

So, since it’s a sock weight yarn, I decided to give some a try.

I’ve always been interested in making socks, since I started knitting again back in April 2011, but they always seemed daunting. After asking advice from my lovely group on Ravelry, I chose something that I didn’t think looked too taxing, worked with 4ply and the only pair of tiny dpn’s I have, 2.25mm.

The result was Jekyll and Hyde by The Sexy Knitter, Sarah Wilson.

Since I’ve got a solid coloured yarn, I figure these will be very much Jekyll, however, if they give me any trouble they will definitely become Hyde.

I’m also pretty worried about the second sock syndrome which I know for a fact I will get since the pictures you have seen took me a good 2 hours to knit up last night. Tiny needles and light weight yarn make Kelly a slow ass knitter!

Wish me luck! I will post my progress over the coming weeks/months. This may take some time!

She Makes Miska!

When I called for testers to … well, test my Miska hat pattern, one of the knitters who offered her help was the lovely Robyn Devine from She Makes Hats

She knitted the hat for her beautiful son, Owen, and he looks amazingly cute in it.

Since then, Robyn has done a post about the hat on her blog. How sweet is that!

You can see the post and Robyn’s thoughts on the hat here:

http://shemakeshats.typepad.com/main/2012/05/test-knit-miska.html

Plus you can see the gorgeous Owen modelling it in his extra canny stylee!

Two posts in one day. I need a lie down…

Thank God for Russell Brand

So last night I had a near death experience.
I’ll explain through a series of text messages between me and Terry.

Background: I HATE spiders. I am absolutely terrified of them. I don’t care that in the UK they are not exactly large. They creep me out and I don’t want them living in my house, esp my bedroom.

Terry sometimes works nights. He is a care assistant in a home for mentally retarded adults.

Here are the text messages;

Me: There is a gigantic spider walking towards me in the bedroom right now. I don’t know wtf to do. I might seriously have to sleep downstairs. All this time you’ve been on days and the fucker picks tonight to have a wander out of its hole. Take a break and pop home? Wahhhhh! xx

Terry: I would but this Nurse is a bastard and wouldn’t let me. Get something to hit it with chick? xx

Me: Well it was up really high but I got up to see just how big it is and it fell on the floor. I think it was stunned cos it just stayed on the floor and didn’t really move so I got that heavy Russell Brand book and threw it at it. The book bounced off it so I think it’s dead. I threw another book at it to make sure. I daren’t go near to check in-case it moves. It’s huge! Like 2 inches and its body was fat. Omg I swear I won’t sleep haha! xx

Terry: Look… If it bites you, you will die in your sleep painlessly… oh wait. Haha! Try and get some sleep chick I’m sure you will survive haha! xx

Cody (The black cat in front)

Me: I’ve put a video on top off it now. I’ve figured that even if it survived the Russell Brand book, it’s got too many broken legs to grow back in one night. You will have to discard the corpse tomorrow cos that’s what boyfriends do. I’m a bit wired from my near death experience but going to try to settle down now. I should go on that show, adrenaline junkie! Haha! Na night chick xx

After that I got my cat, Cody, to lay with me. She has never caught a bird or rodent in her life but is the most awesome bug catcher I’ve ever seen. I felt safe knowing she would protect me.

New Pattern: Miska

Copyright of Zegrae Stylefoto. www.zegrae.co.uk

Miska £3.00

Miska Moushka Mickey Mouse! Can you tell I have a 3 year old? This hat reminds my boyfriend of a mouse. It is super cute though. “Miska” is the word for “mouse” translated to Slovenian. A simple and cute hat, ideal for a beginner. Pattern calls for the brim to be knit straight with the stitches for the hat picked up later. A set of pictures help with the pick up of the stitches from the middle top stitch. Two pom poms acting as ears make it super cute for children and adults alike.

(PDF download only)

or see it on Ravelry.

Sizes: 

To fit size:

16 – 20 inches (Toddler / Child)

(20 – 24 inches (Teen / Adult)

40.5 – 51 (51 – 61) cm

Materials:

Approx 50g Stylecraft Special DK in Silver.

100% Acrylic.

1 Size 6mm / USA 10 circular needle

1 set size 5mm / USA 8 DPN’s 

Tapestry needle

Stitch markers as necessary

20 sts / 22 rows = 4 inches (stocking stitch)

20 sts / 34 rows = 4 inches (garter stitch)

Skills required: 

Knit and purl stitches

Knitting in the round

Picking up stitches (picture tutorial included) 

Decrease techniques

Instructions are provided in written format.

Originally published May 2012.

PDF file size: 419KB

Round Our Way

I’ve been meaning to do this for a while but the weather has been so bad, it just hasn’t been possible. Anyway, we’re having a sunny day today, so here is my walk to collect Kaden from nursery.

The farm right next door to Kadens school.

Pick up the nipper who gets a bit close sometimes!

Oh, yes, we live near a field of cocks! Dear me!

Balancing along at the end of the green.

Almost home (that’s not our door)

I didn’t take photos right up to the door since we have a road to cross here and then some teenagers were playing with a quad bike which was scaring Kaden a little.

I love where we live now though. In comparison to the built up town we once were. So much better for Kaden here. And when the school headmistress knows every child by name, I have a good feeling.