OSS - Nowt to do with WWII...

I admit it, I am a bit of a pattern tart.  There, I have said it so it must be true.


So how does it manifest itself... well OSS is probably the easiest for you to understand.   But really you have to understand something about me, I am a show off, I am useless with colour and texture, unlike my sister who has both an eye and taste but  I am a great technician, show me a pattern or an object and I can make it. Yep, I am that sicko that looks at your sweater or dress and can tell you exactly how it is made, which bits need easing, where you should insert a dart and where to take it in to make it fit properly... yeah, I hate myself too!


But there is a dreadful affliction which hits knitters, OSS - One Sock Syndrome.  We find amazing socks, knit em up and then... tumbleweed... and more tumbleweed... and the other sock... what the heck, I have made one, so really I need to make another... you are kidding me, haven't you heard of hopping?



Well you might remember at the beginning of the Summer I started fabulous Flutter-by socks from Library girl, I made them because I had never done butterfly stitch before and it looked good, first sock done within a few days.... other sock = six months, give or take. 

Finally they are done, I make no mention of the ripping back when I had knitted too many rounds as I did not need to look at the pattern because I had already made one, I mean what sort of muppet would do that?  Well today, the final Kitchener stitches were sewn in place and the pairing was complete.

It was a beautiful stitch to knit, dinky little heels in eye of partridge and frankly anyone with a bit of focus would have made them up in June... but honestly who needs bed sock for July?   So I am introducing in timely fashion to the world, my warm and wonderful Winter flutter-by bed socks... 

And for others who suffer from this nightmare syndrome, maybe we can all join up and send on the other sock to some show off that you know to complete the pair.  I wonder if I should open up a sock registry... I can record tension, speed and accuracy so the the owner knows the genetic history of their pairing... but what if the owner needs counselling as the OK (other knitter) uses magic loop rather than 5 DPNs, could they co-exist happily?


PS - In the meantime I made four other complete pairs...


PPS - It was cold enough to wear them last night, I was as snug as a bug in a rug!

And So to Bed... with an Hour to Spare

The Alpaca bed socks for my friend are now finished... she has tiny size 3 feet which will be very snug this Winter, added to which this multi-coloured wool is in her colours, turquoise, mauve and purple.  It is actually a combination of two sock patterns and what I really love about it is the name of one of the stitches used on the heel - eye of partridge - isn't that a lovely romantic name for a stitch? *  It creates a thicker piece of knitting around the heel so that it does not rub through.

And by this time next week I will have finished this dress from October's copy of Making Magazine, which I am making for my friend Alissa.  We went to choose the material  from Belle Fabrics and I think she will look great in it, she is size 8, pretty and nice... don't you just hate young people  :)

Hmmm... can you imagine the background being a tad more
purple... cos my auto-correct can't!

Now did you know that currently doing something that 8.3 million people still can't do - yep, 8.3 million people have never accessed the internet.  Think about it, never sent an email, tweeted, read or posted a blog, skyped, IM'd, bought a book online, paid a bill online or downloaded music for an i-pod... not sure about you but currently I don't go a day without doing at least one of the above.  

On Friday, I met someone from Race Online 2012 which is an organisation set up to try and encourage even more people to go online by the end of 2012.  Later this year they have a campaign to make us use the extra hour when the clocks go forward called Go on Give an Hour which asks you to introduce someone new to the internet.  Now working on the principle, that you are all busy people so you will do it, why not consider signing up to do this as a Digital Champion?  

So I am making up a list of half a dozen websites that I would show someone who is new to the internet:

1stuniquegifts and Handmade Monday because Wendy's site is a great read and a brilliant portal to other crafters

Ravelry - A knitters paradise with patterns, advice and yarn sources

BBC - I love news, I love the BBC and I love being able catch up with viewing and listening

Google - A website which became a verb and is like having an Encyclopedia Britannica by your side without lugging round all 26 volumes

Hotmail - My form of email communication

UK Governors - I have been a school governor for over 20 years and this group always have the answer no matter what the question and unlike other services there is someone around to give an opinion even at weekends.

Now I have told you mine, share yours with me in your comments... naturally all your blogs and websites are a given!

*Eye of Partridge worked over four rows

Row 1 - Knit

Row 2 -  Purl

Row 3 - K1, Slip 1, repeat to the end of the row K1

Row 4 - Purl 1

Forty years on...

Well this is just half a HandMade Monday, the other sock will be finished during the week.  I don't know if you have ever made socks before but there is a great feeling of satisfaction when you turn a heel or finish off toes with a spot of kitchener stitching.  These were made with Austerman wool with extra Aloe Vera which means my hands are feeling rather good right now and if you need a copy of the pattern you can find it on Ravelry

And now for some really exciting news, I heard from Sasha Kagan following my last blog and the great news is that she is bringing out a new book.  

" My new book “The Classic Collection” has just been published by GMC, this is my 7^th pattern book and it takes an overview of my design career from 1969 to 2009 with 5 patterns from each decade. This book has been written to coincide with my retrospective exhibition “My Life in Textiles- 4 Decades of Hand knit Design” details of venues are on my websitewww.sashakagan.co.uk "


Not only is there a travelling exhibition this year but also a number of workshops and masterclasses, so do take a look at her website and more news of Sasha at the end of this blog.


So I wondered if I had a piece of knitting from each decade of  the last 40 years... and here they are... be warned they are not all pretty!

The first from the 1970s is an Aran Cardigan which I made when I was 11, I don't think it bears close inspection but I did make it all myself, which means every time my mum corrected it, I ripped it back to the point where I had gone wrong - I was a horrid child!

Next from the 1980s, we have a mohair and cable combo, I loved this jumper because of its construction, the bottom cream part is not cast off but sewn onto the cable panel.

Now we hit the 1990s, jumpers were cropped, even when you cabled them and this had such a snuggly neck line... but I somehow don't think my kidneys ever felt the benefit!

And finally into the 2000s, I loved this cardigan but I have never found the right buttons, butIi do still have a ball of wool left over to sew them on when they do appear!  Sometimes I think that this cardie should have been in blue rather than pink for the number of times I go the lace pattern wrong and swore at it.

Now, I have no ideas what the 2010s hold in store, but I do think that Sasha's Scotties may finally make it onto my needles (they are in the new book) but perhaps I will ask her for a suggestion.  That's right, Sasha Kagan has agreed to do an interview on my blog, so I thought I would ask if any of you have a question for her that I could include in the interview?  Pop the question into the comments and I will try to use as many as possible.


PS.  Look out for the cushion tutorial coming later this week :)