SP Package!

Thank you SP for another package!

Puffin Postcard, Yellow Sock Yarn (!), Bert's Bees Lip Balm, Lindt Chocolate and some dark chocolate with orange.

Not a lot of knitting going on at the moment. I'm still feeling under the weather from some medical stuff last week. I was hoping to get that pair of felted clogs done but that doesn't look like it's going to happen.

Temperature: -23C
Sunrise: 9:28am
Sunset: 6:46pm

More FO's!

Wow, I'm just churning them out!!
Back in January, Glen decided that we (I!) needed to make his brother a Jayne hat for his birthday. I scoured the 'net for appropriate coloured yarn (it was tough!!!) and finally settled on ordering from WEBS. All of the yarn but the yellow arrived a few weeks ago so I waited for the backorder to be shipped and it arrived today! I cast on right away since we're now 18 days past Glen's brother's birthday and it still has to ship to Australia. This was probably one of the quickest hats I've ever made.

Pattern: Jayne Hat by Dryope
Yarn: Valley Yarns Berkshire Bulky
Colour: 10, 12, 15
Needle: Size 8 (16"circ and 4 DPNs)
Mods: Pretty much followed the pattern exactly. It's a bit small so next time I'd cast on 7 or 14 more stitches.

Next we have a pair of felted clogs that have been languishing in one of many WIP bags... It requires too much concentration to be able to knit it at work so that's why it hasn't been worked on. I always forget how fast these are to knit, I've already started on another random pair and have one (minus the second sole) done.

Yarn: Gjestal Naturgarn No. 1
Needle: Size 13
Mods: I work these on straight needles instead of a circular. I don't mind sewing them up.

And then!! Another pair of socks. Basic 64 stitch plain sock. Socks have become my work knitting. They're super simple and any concentration you have to do (turning the heel) is quick and it's easy to put down without losing your place.

Yarn: OnLine Supersocke 100 Tropic
Colour: 929
Needle: Size 1 DPNs

Another FO!

I'm on a roll!
I finished my earflap hat yesterday and got some pictures of me wearing it today. I wanted to get a shot too of how frosty my eyelashes get just from the walk home from the post office (less than a 10 minute walk). It wasn't as cold here as it has been for the last couple of weeks so my eyelashes aren't as frosty as they normally are. I know I look a bit dorky but at least my ears won't get frostbite and I won't have to keep taking my massive mitts off to tug my toque down all the time. (sidenote: My parka makes me look HUGE... I'm really not that big...)

Pattern: Official Kittyville Hat (no cat ears or devil horns)
Yarn: Bernat Big Value
Needles: Size 7, 16" circular and size 8 DPNs
Interesting tidbit: I bought the yarn in the summer a number of years ago and it happened to match my parka perfectly. I've been meaning to make some sort of winter accessory for ages.

When the weather gets cold again I'm going to see if I can get an even frostier picture than that.

Temperature: -26C (windchill -35C)
Sunrise: 10:28am
Sunset: 5:49pm

New socks in less than a week!

I just finished a pair of self-striping socks for me!
I did the heel flap experiment and it all turned out! No pooling!! Once again, I made them "identical" for the hell of it. The only thing different again is the colour on the ends of the toes.
I think I'm going to take a break from socks and knit a few hats now... I have a Jayne hat to make for Glen's brother (just waiting on yellow yarn) and I desperately need an ear flap hat for myself. I have a really nice black cabled hat that I made but for some reason it doesn't like to stay over my ears. So I think a modified Kittyville hat is in my future. Off to dig in my stash I guess (which btw, I think I might be having a huge destash coming up... We're running into visa/immigration issues with Glen and are getting papers ready for my eventual exit to Australia so, if and when we do go only my "special" fibres will be joining us over there...) Stay tuned!!

Temperature: -37C
Sunrise: 10:41am
Sunset: 5:36pm

Self-striping short-row heel socks!

My first pair of self-striping, short-row heel socks are done and in the mail!
I got them finished on Saturday and they are virtually identical. The only thing is that the end colour for the toes is longer on one sock. I normally don't go to the extra trouble to make two socks exactly the same colour-wise but I thought I might as well since they striped so nice. It also helped with not having to do a lot of measuring haha.
Like I said in my previous post, I'm not as thrilled with the heel as I thought I would be which makes the whole thing a little disappointing for me. The heel seemed to want to sit more towards the bottom of my heel rather than towards the back of it. Since I'm new at this short-row heel thing I don't know if this is a matter of fit, pattern, my foot, or if this is just the nature of the heel.
They're going to my mum (like A LOT of my "first tries" do) so we'll see how they fit her (her foot is a touch wider and shorter so I think they might fit her better).
I've started a heel-flap sock with the same yarn so I'll see how the stripes work out for them. I'm not too concerned if the stripes are a little thinner for a few rounds around the instep as long as the colour doesn't pool (yuck!)


Temperature: -33C
Sunrise: 11:04am
Sunset: 5:14pm

(we're gaining 4 minutes in the morning and 4 minutes in the evening per day).