While watching the election coverage the other night, I finally finished a pair of socks.
I was’t sure I had enough of the mauve yarn to complete two toes – so I dug through my stash for another leftover. Came up with the turquoise. There was enough in that ball to finish the pair of socks.
Into the stash they’ve gone.
I’m conducting a workshop on Saturday with a group of women interested in learning how to do heirloom sewing. In preparation for the day I made a new panel myself (in part because I need a couple of new nightgowns to replace two that are just about to rip apart from long wear).
I started the panel with a lace insert, added pintucks to each side, followed by a row of decorative stitching, then tucks, some hemstitching, more decorative stitching, finishing with a final row of hemstitching. I added an entredeux to the bottom where the skirt of the nightgown will be attached.
This panel is ready to be made into a nightgown.
A couple of weeks ago, in preparation for a workshop on constructing a small bag with lots of zippers, I made this embroidered iPhone Case. I used a scrap of linen I had on hand, did a cross stitch embroidery in a contrasting thread, then made the bag. I chose zipper tape that blended with the fabric colour, but added contrasting zipper pulls. Because I have made so many, I can whip up a zippered bag in under a half hour!
Also, I always have a pair of socks on the go. This pair took at least a week longer than usual because other things kept getting in the way of my knitting time. They are now done.
And last, I had two pair of socks with holes in the toes – first time in 25 years – since I started knitting socks!
It takes me an evening to knit a new toe. These socks are repaired – like new – and back in my sock drawer. I’m working on the second pair – they needed more radical attention – both toes and heels were seriously weakened – I decided to salvage the legs and knit new feet. The first of that pair is getting close to finished.
So Saturday I will be helping the gals with their heirloom sewing. On Sunday I hope to cut out a tailored shirt from a very wild linen print I’ve had in the stash – my intention is to wear it as a light summer jacket.
I’m keeping myself in “create” mode.
On November 19, a friend and I did the annual Eastern Shore Annual Seaside Christmas trail – starting with a visit to Harbour Breezes Day Lilies where I picked up some delicious home made cranberry/orange compote. We visited a bunch of craft shops but our best stop was Jeddore Variety just before you get to Jeddore (from Halifax). One of my friends in the building who lived in Jeddore for many years raves about the store; she always comes back from shopping there with lots of goodies.
I made some amazing finds there – my best buy was sock yarn for $13.99! I bought two balls, including this one. Should have bought more! Lots of interesting gadgets and arts and crafts supplies. Prices were unbelievably low for quality goods! Definitely worth a trip of its own.
I liked how this pair turned out. A good colour combination, too.
On to the next pair – probably the same pattern in greys and rose shades. Should be satisfying to make. Maybe I’ll even keep them – the colours fit with my wardrobe.
This has probably been the most labour-intensive sock I’ve ever knit!
The lovely dark blue and canary yellow ball of yarn caught my eye when I saw it at LK Yarns a couple of weeks ago. What I couldn’t know was the rest of the colour pallet was dull. I knit the yellow cuff then I pulled out the yarn from the centre of the ball (which I always do), found a medium blue yarn and started knitting. I expected the colour to change within a reasonable number of rows – didn’t happen – 25 rows into the sock I was still knitting medium blue – no yellow or dark blue in sight! When I peered into the centre of the ball, I could see a range of pale greens, but it was clear the last colours I’d get to would be the yellow and dark blue.
This particular ball of yarn turned out to be exactly two pattern repeats – each pattern intended to be a single sock – there was a white segment in the centre of the ball to mark the end of the first repeat. So I was going to end up with a very dull sock!
I unravelled the medium blue back to 9 rows, then picked up the dark blue from the outside of the ball and started knitting. The leg turned out mostly bright blue/yellow – just turning into the soft green as I began turning the heel. But then I ran into more green and more green. A sock for a size 7 1/2-8 shoe was going to finish on a pale green and never get to the medium blue. So I started splicing the yarn. I knit small amounts of the various greens until I got close to the toe, the I picked up the blend into a pale blue, then spliced it again to get to the medium blue to finish.
One sock done. Now I have to watch closely while knitting the second sock – carefully counting rows, so I can work up a colour match for the second sock.
Not gonna buy that yarn again!
Not much to say here. Just another pair of socks. These have a home already. My friend Patsy has a friend who is willing to buy a pair of hand-knit socks. She wears a size 7 shoe so I’ve made the foot on these a wee bit smaller than I would normally hoping they’ll fit without having to shorten them for her. I’ll send them via Patsy when I’ve finished adding new feet to a pair of well-worn socks of hers.
I cut off the worn feet, picked up stitches on the legs, knit new heels on each. Last night I knit the gusset on one of the socks then spliced in another variegated yarn – sort of close to this pattern. I don’t seem to have any leftover from this particular ball of yarn so I’m using whatever I have. There’s enough yarn in the ball to knit two feet but I’m not sure I can get the two feet to match. They’ll be inside her shoes so I’m not worried about any mismatch that happens.
I made these socks from a ball of Opal yarn using the colour pallet from the famous van Gogh painting “Vase kit Sonnenblumen.” I liked working with these colours. I happened to find a golden solid that blended almost perfectly with the yellow in the variegated yarn.
Into the giveaway stash.
I’ve started the next pair – this one Opal Rainforest 17-4 Ply Sock Yarn – a nice combination of greys/whites/yellow/turquoises. The repeating pattern is a bit shorter than the Van Gogh pattern above.
As I sit knitting I have the TV on to one of the US news channels but I’m going to have to turn it off! Even though everybody’s known the result of SCOTUS abortion decision since it was leaked a month ago, it’s angering. What’s so terrible about that decision is where it takes women – not only in the US, but we will feel that decision ripple through Canadian politics – particularly since several of the Conservative leadership candidates are promoting the same arguments as far-right Americans are.
Today I read an article in The New Yorker that shows just how far-reaching this decision is. “We’re Not Going Back to the Time Before Rove v. Wade. We’re Going Somewhere Far Worse“. We are entering an era not just of unsafe abortions but of the widespread criminalization of pregnancy. That’s the subtitle. It’s a lengthy read but here’s the gist:
“We won’t go back”—it’s an inadequate rallying cry, only prompted by events that belie its message. But it is true in at least one sense. The future that we now inhabit will not resemble the past before Roe, when women sought out illegal abortions and not infrequently found death. The principal danger now lies elsewhere, and arguably reaches further. We have entered an era not of unsafe abortion but of widespread state surveillance and criminalization—of pregnant women, certainly, but also of doctors and pharmacists and clinic staffers and volunteers and friends and family members, of anyone who comes into meaningful contact with a pregnancy that does not end in a healthy birth. Those who argue that this decision won’t actually change things much—an instinct you’ll find on both sides of the political divide—are blind to the ways in which state-level anti-abortion crusades have already turned pregnancy into punishment, and the ways in which the situation is poised to become much worse.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/07/04/we-are-not-going-back-to-the-time-before-roe-we-are-going-somewhere-worse?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=onsite-share&utm_brand=the-new-yorker&utm_social-type=earned
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Everybody’s tired. I’m tired. But we’re all going to have to summon the energy to become involved in various political activities if we’re to retain a modicum of civil society and push back against the dystopian reality of “The Handmaid’s Tale”!
June 25/22 – the next day:
Here’s what Margaret Atwood has to say abut it all: Enforced childbirth is Slavery! Read it.
This image sums it up: “Let Us Pray!“
The SCOTUS decision is so amazingly ignorant: “Why is right-wing Christianity the only religion afforded legal and political accommodation in America?“
I finished this pair of socks on June 1. I just didn’t get around to posting the photo. You get a hint of the sparkle in the photo but if you click on the image, the sparkle becomes more obvious.
I no longer have the label so I can’t tell you what yarn I used for them. I think it might have been Opal, although I can’t find any sparkle yarns in their collection. I’ve had the ball in my stash for a while so it may be they no longer make one like this.
Yesterday, I cut 7 1/2″ squares from the fabrics I’d collected from my stash to do a second wall art piece. What I see in my mind’s eye is something to suggest sky/sea/sand in two unequal panels: a wider light one, and a darker narrower one, joined by a dark strip graduated from lighter at the top to darker at the bottom. At the moment, the blocks are the same width – that’s because I don’t yet know where I want to place them – some of the dark pieces on the left will get cut into narrow strips and integrated into the fabrics on the right. When I’ve worked out colour placement, I’ll sew my two strips (I want a finished length of around 42″) then trim the one that will be on the right to 5 1/2″ – 6″. I still need some kind of lighter sand colour fabric for the top of the narrow insertion strip dividing the two panels – have to look for that today.
Finished these socks two days ago – definitely bright! Into the “give-away” stash. I have a number of pairs of yellow socks in my sock drawer; no need (no room) to add another!
I haven’t done a lot of sewing in the last weeks but I’m still knitting in the evening. Finished these socks two nights ago. I chose the yarn because I thought the contrasts were interesting. The pattern change kept me knitting – with some yarns it’s boring – but in this case it was “I’ll just knit another few rows…”.
These socks will go into the stash – I do have plenty of blue and green socks in my drawer that I don’t need to add these to my collection.
The new pair I started is going to be predominantly yellow – I haven’t knit any yellow socks in a while.
I finished these socks last week.
I’m always on the lookout for interesting sock yarn. From time to time the KnitPicks catalogue has shown up at my door. I bought four skeins of the “Static” sock yarn. This one – “Allsorts” has produced an interesting sock. the pattern repeat is very long – it’s deceptive with the second colour block being navy/pink whereas the first one was navy/white.
I have a couple of wound skeins of this yarn still to be made up. I like the feel of it, smooth, slightly finer than some sock weight yarns. Nice colours.
(Oh, and I knit the foot 46 rows instead of 50!)
jmn 