Yesterday was a momentous occasion – I posted off the samples for my first (online) magazine submission!! I’m not allowed to show any photos of the finished items but rest assured you will ALL know about it when the next issue is published in the autumn.
In the meantime I have been working on some socks (surprise, surprise!). They are almost finished but I thought it was high time for a blog post so here is an “in progress” photo…..
Slip slop socks
The yarn is Schoeller & Stahl Fortissima Colour, and as you can see it is a self striping yarn with quite long colour blocks. From the sole stitches you can see how it would stripe in stocking stitch but I wanted to break up the stripes a bit so have used some slip stitches. It is just enough to add a bit of interest to the yarn and when you are knitting. I would be curious to see how it would work in a yarn with shorter colour transitions.
The circular needle you can see dangling there is a new acquisition. One of the ladies at my knit group picked up a set of KnitPro Karbonz DPNs at Wonderwool Wales a couple of weeks ago. I wanted some instantly but as I very rarely use DPNs I was agonising over whether to get some. I need not have worried because on doing a small bit of research it turns out they also come in straights and fixed circulars!! Yippee!! So I ordered a 100cm, 2.5mm circular from Meadow Yarns because they had the best price, and it turned out that the service was also excellent. The needle arrived in a couple of days and for only 95p P&P – and there was a little gift of a herbal tea sachet included.
The Karbonz are made of carbon fibre with nickel plated brass tips and a black plastic cable which is strong but also flexible. The tips are about the same thickness as Addi Lace which are my usual preferred sock needles, but interestingly the DPN version is even pointier. In fact that is why I ordered them because I was expecting them to be the same, but on comparing them with the DPNs, the DPNs in exactly the same size are very obviously pointier. I don’t know if this is true of all the sizes, which go from 2mm up to 3.5mm. The carbon fibre makes them incredibly lightweight, and they are super smooth and easy to work with. And they don’t smell funny if you don’t use them for a few days – has anyone else noticed this with the Addi Lace needles? I think they start to tarnish a bit and begin to smell metallicky, but the Karbonz don’t do this. The price is a few pounds higher than other brands, but as a treat these are a very nice needle to get hold of.
So as these socks are almost finished I now need to decide on my next project. I have a collar and seaming to finish on my Notre Dame de Grace sweater, and I also have a Paulie cardigan about 30% done, but I am itching to start something new. I have been mulling over a little yarn-bombing idea for a while now, and just a couple of weeks ago I found the perfect yarn. There was no knit group at the yarn shop that week so a few of us met at a local garden centre, and while there we had a little yarn swap. Sarah brought along 2 balls of this yarn…..
Ribbons & Purls
which is going to be perfect for my little scheme! I’m not sure how I am going to get away with decorating the object in mind due to it being in the city centre and under the scrutiny of CCTV cameras but we shall see!
