Scavenger Hunt

Sunday 17 September 2017

A Few Finished Things.

Hello there.

With our extension nearly finished I'm hoping that normal blogging is to return, I've felt quite out of sorts not doing a weekly post.

Going back to school wasn't so easy after six weeks off but I have moved from a Key Stage 2 class aged 7-9 to Reception, mostly 4 year olds.  This is a big move for me as all of  my 12 years in the job have  been with the older children.  Wow! a bunch of 4 year olds are a very different kettle of fish.  My 'teacher voice' has turned very Joyce Grenfell.   So far it's proving quite good fun.

I've not got as much knitting done as I would have liked, also not had many days sitting in my steamer chair knitting, due to painting but I do have a few bits to show you.

Firstly the pair of socks which was my plane knitting.  This was my own hand dyed yarn made several years ago.  I was trying to make the yarn come out striped rather than a meld of colours and I'm pleased to say they came out as I had hoped.
Nice and stripy and not pooled or a multi-coloured blur.
With those finished I had two balls of Drops Fabel in my bag, one plain, one 'normal' sock yarn ~ you know what I mean ~ to make a fair isle pattern.  It's a Drops pattern called Rock Socks.  Every fourth row the yarn is stranded, every other stitch.   Clearly I was going to have to conquer my nemesis ~ continental knitting.  I have tried this before with the 'help' of my knitting pal Romain but we really didn't get very far.  We'll leave it at that.  I sat in the hotel room while Mr Clicky was at work and tried lots of different ways until I got it right.  It felt very strange using my left hand for knitting at first, but I think I've got it sussed now.
These are my current on-the-go socks.
I hooked on? a crochet shawl with some random sock yarn out my stash for a friend of mine who is poorly at the moment.  The yarn had some fair isle type bits in it but I didn't really liked them in crochet, as the repeat was quite small I took them out and joined the ends with a Russian Join.
This has made the shawl slightly smaller than I would like. 
Maisie was happy to model.
 I first saw this shawl on the Midwinter Yarns stall at Wonderwool in 2016 and managed to find the pattern last year.
I packaged it up along with some other goodies that my friend might need whilst she recuperates and posted it off.
The last project I have to show you is another wedding blanket, this time for my reception class teacher.  She's getting married next year and has dropped some pretty large hints that she would like an heirloom blanket, so I'm making this.  Not small granny squares this time, they have 11 rounds and I will be edging and joining with cream.  I'm really enjoying this, those granny squares are quite addictive.
Well that's me for now, the builder should be finishing up next week so we might get our house back at long last.
Have a great week.........................Clicky Needles.


7 comments:

  1. I bet you're ready to be done with construction and to get settled into your new habitat. Gorgeous socks and shawl, you're a very nice friend. Have fun with all those little ones, you're a brave woman! ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Good luck with the finish on the extension and of course with all of those delightful 4 year olds. Have a great week.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I am very impressed with your hand-dyed yarn, the colours are glorious.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Your home dyed socks are fabulous and the fairisle ones are beautiful.
    If you like to crochet shawls have a look at a pattern called 'Lost in Time ' I am halfway through and love it and it is easier than it looks.

    ReplyDelete
  5. How exciting that the extension's nearly finished. I remember having ours done all those years ago, it feels like you'll be living in chaos forever and it's such a relief when it's all done with. Your hand dyed yarn has knitted up beautifully. I haven't used the skein you sent me yet, it's one of the treasured skeins that I like to stroke and squish every once in a while, but it will get used eventually, when I can enjoy every stitch, I'm Christmas knitting at the moment. Well done with the continental knitting, something I've never tried, the socks look great.

    ReplyDelete
  6. love the granny squares..love the colors..love the socks also.

    ReplyDelete
  7. That's good you are almost done with renovations on your house. That must be pretty disruptive! you are probably missing your normal routine about now. I love the finished socks, and the shawl is so pretty. The extra goodies and shawl as gifts for your friend is so nice and I am sure she will really love it. The squares for the heirloom blanket look great, I am sure it will look wonderful all put together! :)

    ReplyDelete

Thanks so much for popping in to read my ramblings!
Please leave a comment ~ I do appreciate them.

Clicky Needles.