Tadaa: My first yarn!

Hello Everyone!

In November I got a Louet S10 spinning wheel for my birthday. It needed some “quick” repairs to get it functioning but I had wanted a wheel for ages (I thought it would suit me better than a spindle) and was very glad to get my hands on this one.

The quick repairs ended up being a bit more involved than we had anticipated so I had to wait a little longer before i could start spinning with it. My dad laid the last hand on the wheel during the Christmas holidays so it’s now in perfect working order.

This led to me giving spinning on a wheel a first shot on the 4th of January and spinning my first yarn!

This is the roving I used. It’ a 100 grams of 100% merino and consists of several strands of different colours of purple. I split the braid in half lengthwise. I spun the first half randomly and the second half I split according to the colors and spun from dark to light. I then plied the 2 singles together.

I ended up with this:

I was pretty excited to finish my first wheel spun yarn so wanted to knit with it immediately. I wanted to knit a relatively simple pattern to give the yarn  chance to shine and because more complicated patterns would likely be completely swallowed by the slightly thick and thin nature of the yarn. I ended up going with the Handbrake Cowl by Kay and Dan Jones (you know, those 2 from the Bakery bears podcast? Which I love by the way!) because I had the right  yardage (maybe a tiny bit more).

And this is the result!

The patterning is a little harder to see in real life than in the picture, but it is visible. If you’re close to the cowl you just need to squint a little to see it.

You can see the slight gradient much better in reality than in this picture. Camera’s always seem to have some trouble with purple and this cowl is PURPLE. It is really really bright. The bottom garter border is completely in the light section and the top border is almost completely in the darkest color.  The middle section colors are more similar so the transition is a little harder to see there.

I’m really pleased with the finished result! It’s cool to see the cowl and really that I spun and knit it! It’s very soft and very cozy and warm. especially now that it’s cold I do see myself wearing this a lot.

Next project: Trying to spin a sock yarn!

Love, Renée

Pattern: Shifting Rib iPad Sleeve

Hello Everyone!

A few days ago I released my latest pattern: The shifting rib iPad sleeve.

Shifting Rib Ipad sleeve with buttoned flap

I already have 2 other iPad sleeve pattern s out there, but those are both colorwork and I wanted a different option out there for those of you who don’t like stranded colorwork. I wanted to keep it simple with a rib, but didn’t want the knitting to get dull (because knitting inches upon inches op ribbing does unfortunately get a little boring!) so opted for this shifting rib. The rib makes the sleeve very stretchy.

Here’s the information from the pattern page (click here):

The Shifting Rib iPad sleeve is very stretchy due to the ribbed texture. The iPad sleeve would work well in both variegated and solids yarns. The shifting of the rib creates a texture that is interesting to look at, yet simple to knit.

The pattern includes instructions for 2 different styles of flap: an envelope style flap that closes by tucking the flap in or a buttoned flap. Sample has an envelope style flap.

This pattern was written for a iPad 1,2,3, and 4 and iPad Air. Instructions are given to change the height and width of the ipad sleeve.
Measurements of iPad 2:
Height: 241 mm (9.50 inch)
Width: 186 mm (7.31 inch)
Depth: 8.6 mm (0.34 inch)

Gauge: 5 stitches per inch and 7 rows per inch in stockinette (worked flat).

Pattern is written. Pattern is 2 pages long.

The pattern is 3 euros (excluding VAT for those of us in the EU).

I actually ended up liking this one more than the colorwork ones. I think it’s the cute buttons I used. The reddish pink is such a nice contrast to the light green. And because they’re mismatched it’s a bit more playful.

What do you think of the shifting rib iPad sleeve?

Love, Renée

2016 Crafting goals

Hello Everyone,

Like most people do at the beginning of January I have come up with some goals to start the year with. I already blogged about my biggest goal for the year: improving my health. Unfortunately I haven’t started off too grand and have been feeling rather blah this first week. I had several migraine attacks, accidentally ate spoiled yoghurt (stupid!) and have been really really tired. I feel like all I’ve done is sleep! This also means that i’ve been too tired to really take my goal of eating better seriously and have quickly stumbled back into my old rhythm. Even though I bought plenty of healthy food, i’ve been too tired to cook so have jumped to easy quick meals (a microwave meal that I needed to finish, soup, a ready made salad, etc). It also shows in other aspects of my life, my apartment could use a vacuum and the bathroom needs a bit of cleaning. But i think i’ll start by washing the dishes as i’m out of forks and plates and it’s stacking up. Stupidly I always hate doing the dishes and put it off, when it’s 15 minutes of work and when my kitchen is clean I feel much better. So i’m giving myself a kick in the pants as I’m sitting here typing: tomorrow I do the dishes (and something fun! read on to learn what), Saturday i’m signing up at the gym and going for a run (I found an app that sounds perfect and very motivating, if i like it i’ll post about it!) and Sunday is cleaning day.

But my life is not going to be all about my health this year. I want to do more fun things (an some necessary things that will be fun once i’m done with them, like finishing up the last few courses of my Business Economics study and getting my bachelors!). If you’ve been following this blog you’ll know that I knit and crochet. I also got my first spinning wheel and have started spinning! I also design my own patterns and sell them on Ravelry. I have some goals I would like to achieve this year and those are what I’m going to be sharing with you this year.

Crafty goals:

  • Try brioche
  • Knit at least 20 pairs of socks (in 2015 I managed 18 and I can definitely manage more!
  • Knit/Crochet from stash. I have too much stash for my storage and need to downsize a little.
  • Yarn no-buy: This is related to the previous goal. Until I size my stash down a bit I can’t buy more yarn. Depending on how much I use up in 6 months I might lengthen this to a year. I did add a few caveats to this: If it’s special and limited edition (meaning I can’t get it after. But this can’t be more than 5 skeins for the whole year of 2 for 6 months. This doesn’t include fiber, I hardly have fiber and seeing how much i’ve spun in the first 3 days since I first sat down at my wheel I’m going to work through what I have fast!
  • Do more crochet! Last year I was mainly focussed on knitting and I feel like i’m forgetting how to crochet. I want to do some more crochet and rediscover my love for it.
  • Finish a wip: my floral fantasy blanket.
  • Spin and knit a pair of handspun socks.

Floral Fantasy

Floral Fantasy

Designing goals:

  • I want to publish at least 1 design a month, so 12 throughout the year. More is even better!
  • Finish updating all my patterns to the new and improved format.
  • Get a logo made.
  • Design a sock collection of 7 patterns.
  • Design a cowl.
  • Submit at least 1 design to a 3rd party.
  • Upload patterns properly to Loveknitting and look into other platforms.

I also have some goals related to the ones I have mentioned so far or that don’t really fall into these 2 categories.

  • Blog regularly! I like blogging, so I should just do it. I’m not going to stress about writing perfectly. This is a personal blog, expect personal writings, knitting and all things that interest me. I’m aiming for a minimum of 1 post per week, but would prefer to do more. But let’s just see if I can manage that before I set the bar to high and ignore the blog for another year.
  • Start a podcast!!! I love watching podcasts and for a few months now I’ve been thinking about starting my own. It just looks so fun! I’m actually recording my first episode tomorrow!
  • Update blog and work on a nice lay out.

This is all I can think of right now! Still quite the list haha!

Love, Renée

2015 Crafty Round up

Hello Everyone,

Because i’ve been absent for the blog for most of 2015 you have no idea what I’ve been making. (Unless you follow me on Instagram, i’m pretty active there! In the top right you can see my latest instagram photo!). Today I’ll show you what my favourites were!

My Arne and Carlos Socks

My Arne and Carlos socks are a firm favourite. I don’t have many vanilla socks, but in 2015 I discovered I really enjoy a nice plain sock every now and then. I love this colorway (Regia Design line by Arne & Carlos in colour 03654). I think these may be my fastest socks ever, they only took me 5 days!

Project page: here.

Promovendus socks

2015 was quite special design wise. I released 10 new patterns and released my very first (but not last!) sock pattern: Promovendus socks. The idea for these socks had been lying around for almost a year before I got around to it and they turned out so much better than I could have imagined. It’s really fun to see others knitting a pattern you wrote. I actually knit 2 pairs of Promovendus socks. My sister liked the pair above a  lot and suggested I make her a black pair with good beads. I pretended to blow her off, “no time, black yarn on black needles is hard…” (I prefer knitting on my Karbonz double point and those are black). And then proceeded to surprise her with them for christmas!

Pattern: Promovendus – Renée Kies.

Project page: here and here.

Malabrigo ski bonnet

My Malabrigo Ski Bonnet was another favourite this year. I had never knit a bonnet before because I thought the shape wouldn’t look good on me. After knitting this one I want to knit many more, this style of hat is so comfortable! The yarn I used is special to me as I bought it in New York when I was there with my dad for my 21st birthday.

Pattern: Neon Ski Bonnet – Lacey Volk.

Project page: here.

Snuggles jacket

2015 saw me finally finishing my Snuggles jacket. I had bought the yarn about 1,5 years ago, cast on immediately and then never touched it again. This year I ripped it out (which is quite a challenge with bouclé yarn!) and started over. I finally managed to finish it and am very please with the end result! I have yet to wear it though….

Pattern: 142-21 Snuggles jacket and neck warmer – DROPS design.

Project page: here.

 

I have a lot of other fun projects that i’m proud of, but these are my absolute favourites. What’s your favourite project from 2015?

Love, Renée

New year, new chances!

Hello everyone!

Happy new year! I want to wish you all the best for 2016!

2015 for me turned out to be very different than I had hoped or expected. After getting diagnosed with Celiac disease in juli of 2014 and starting my gluten free life I had sort of expected my health to improve with leaps and bounds in 2015. I’d been eating gluten free for over 6 months, I should start to feel a bit better. But it turned out my expectations were a little off and 2015 didn’t really see me improving much.

I transferred my care to a celiac specialist and it turns out I am what he called a “slow responder”. I have the diet down (he was actually worried I might be a bit to strict!) and it hardly costs any extra effort any more. It really feels natural. But even though I was doing everything right, I wasn’t improving. My body has been through the wringer after years without a diagnosis and me still eating gluten. It just needed more time than most need to adapt to the fact that it wasn’t being hurt anymore. So throughout the year I still had all my issues (nausea, belly aches, really bad bloating, and some less savoury issues haha). In hindsight some of it turned out to be my fault too. I stopped my b12 injections in the beginning of the year. Right when I thought I might be improving, but was hesitant to say it out loud and end up jinxing it. I got tablets to take instead, but in the next 2-3 months I started feeling a lot worse. it was the end of the school year and I just checked it up to end of year stress. But it didn’t get better over the holidays even though those where heavenly and completely stress free. In the beginning of september I had had enough. I still had some b12 and decided to just see if an injection would help. Almost immediately after my first shot I started improving again. I started injecting twice weekly after consulting my doctors and soon those worsened symptoms were all gone again. But due to the temporary stop in injections i’m still working on getting to where I was at the beginning of the year (when I stopped the injections). Thankfully I have an amazing doctor who says that as long as i notice a different and i’m still having issues I should keep injecting. We can try stopping again when my overall health is better.

Which brings me to my main goals for 2016. Where 2015 was all about my bad health, I want 2016 to be about improvement. For years I’ve been to sick to work out, but this year I’m going to start. I’ll be starting slowly and very carefully, because due to the long neglect my body is extremely sensitive to injuries. Right now I have an injured leg muscle (i think) because I put on socks. I put them on just like I always do but… If you just look at a muscle wrong it injures itself. I don’t want to over do it and have to stop.

I also want to start eating a little healthier. I have a sweet tooth. I love candy and chips. I often skip breakfast for an extra 15 minutes in bed before school. No more. I want to eat healthier and see if that helps improve my health. I also want to cut down the amount of sugar I eat as it just can’t be good to snack as much as I do.

I really have a good feeling about 2016 and these are my main two goals. I have a bunch of crafty goals and have some serious plans for this blog too. For now I’ll leave it at this and wish you all the best for the new year. I hope you’ve had a lovely 2015!

Love, Renée

Recipe: (GF) Spaghetti aglio olio

Hello everyone,

Today I have a recipe to share with you. During my holiday to Italy we stayed in Hotel Drumlerhof. The hotel’s owner has celiac disease and this means that someone who needs to eat gluten free can stay and eat in the hotel without any cares. In every room there is a brochure which explains what celiac disease is and what eating gluten free entails. It also warns those who don’t need to eat gluten free about the dangers of cross contamination and asks them to keep this in mind when using the buffet. Every day you could choose whether to eat the daily menu (6 courses) or a la carte. Buffets are usually very scary for celiacs. People can ladle their own food and cross contamination is the norm rather than an exception. As a personal rule I generally don’t eat from buffets, I consider the risk too high. At hotel Drumlerhof this was not the case. The buffet was very safe. All precautions were taken to make it as safe as possible for celiacs. The gluten free food was carefully sectioned off from the food containing gluten. The salad bar was completely gluten free. One night we also had a desert bar. There were almost 20 desserts, 17 of which were gluten free!! The 3 desserts with gluten were on a separate section of the table (separated off with red ribbon) with a clear warning.

On the menu cards for the daily menu a recipe was included for one of the dishes in the menu. Today i’m sharing one of those recipes with you.

Recipe for Spaghetti aglio olio (Garlic spaghetti)

  • 500 grams of uncooked Glutenfree spaghetti
  • 6 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
  • 110 ml olive oil
  • 1/4th teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
  • 4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
  • 100 grams finely grated Parmesan cheese

Bring a large pot of slightly salted water to a boil. Cook the spaghetti in the boiling water, stirring occasionally until cooked through but firm to the bite. Drain and transfer to a pasta bowl. Combine garlic and olive oil in a cold frying pan. Cook over medium heat to slowly toast the garlic (about 10 minutes). Reduce heat to medium-low when olive oil begins to bubble. Cook and stir until garlic is golden brown (about another 5 minutes). Remove pan from heat. Stir red pepper flakes, black pepper, and salt into the pasta. Pout in olive oil and garlic and sprinkle on the parsley and half the Parmesan cheese. Stir until combined. Serve pasta topped with the remaining Parmesan cheese.

The spaghetti aglio olio. All glutenfree plates were clearly marked by a stripe of the brown sauce. Unfortunately I didn’t think to take a picture before cutting up the spaghetti.

I hope you enjoy this dish as much as I did!

Love, Renée

I’m back (again)!

Hello everyone,

Once again it’s been a while since I posted here. Sorry! Things sort of unravelled towards the end of the school year and I needed some time to recover. My health is still being troublesome and i’m not yet back where I’m supposed to be. But… I think (knock on wood) I might be getting back on track.

I just got back from a lovely vacation with my family in Germany, Italy, and Austria. I’ll post more about our trip later as I have quite some good GF recommendations (I have recipes!). And I brought my camera with me and finally got around to practicing some more with it!

Here’s me knitting in front of Castle Neuschwannstein in Germany. King Ludwig the 3rd lived here and it’s the castle that inspired the Disney castle!

I also have a lot to talk about when it comes to crafting! I’m still considering starting a podcast and I think i’ll do a trial recording in the next 2 weeks. I have a plethora of projects on the needles so there’ll be a lot to talk about. A few weeks back I hit a bit of slump with my crafting, I wasn’t interested in knitting. I experienced the same thing last year after sock madness. The madness is fun, but apparently it burns me out a bit. I needed a little time off. For my trip I packed plenty of projects and finally seemed to get my mojo back. I let myself cast on all the things I wanted to. I also started designing again. I have tonnes of ideas and am planning on getting them ready for publication. I won’t hold myself to a deadline but there are a few I would like to get out as soon as possible. One of these designs has been planned out in my head since december last year! I’m enjoying the process and seeing how things come together.

I’m also going to be paying more attention to this blog. I know I say this every time. I mean it too, it just never seems to quite work out. I always end up missing it though. I like sharing my thoughts and my projects. I like sharing GF recipes I discovered and tried. So expect all that and more. I’m not promising the number of posts a week, i’ll play it by ear and see what i’m capable of and feel comfortable doing.

I hope you stick with me whilst I get back into things!

Love, Renée

Kingsday Tompoes

This post is translated into Dutch.

Hello Everyone,

I have a very delicious recipe to share with you today. On Monday we celebrate Kingsday (formerly known as Queensday) in The Netherlands. On this day everyone dresses up in Orange and we celebrate the kings birthday. It’s a national holiday and everyone has a lot of fun. There are thousands of markets where people can sell their old junk (because one man’s junk is another’s treasure!) and there’s a lot of music and parties. A traditional treat on Kingsday is the tompoes. It’s 2 layers of pastry with a cream filling. The top layer of pastry is covered in icing. Tompoes is traditionally pink, but on kingsday they’re orange. Since getting diagnosed with Celiac disease almost a year ago I haven’t been able to eat a tompoes and I was a little bummed that I wouldn’t be able to have one now. Of course I would have other snacks and yummy things, but a tompoes is one of my favourites. There are some gluten free readymade options available, but because I’m also lactose intolerant that further complicates matters. My awesome mom decided to see if she could make them herself! It worked and they were so good that I simply have to share the recipe with the world. I will be translating this post in Dutch as well, because I am part of several Dutch groups that share recipes and want them to be able to enjoy this recipe too!

Hallo Allemaal,

Ik heb vandaag een heerlijk recept om met jullie te delen. Maandag is het koningsdag en hier in huis eten we dan traditioneel een oranje tompoes (ook al heette het eerst natuurlijk Koninginnedag). Bijna een jaar geleden kreeg ik de diagnose Coeliakie en sindsdien heb ik geen tompoes meer gegeten. Jammer, want ik vind ze heerlijk! Er zijn wel wat glutenvrije kant en klare tompoezen te koop, maar als je ook lactose vrij moet eten dan wordt het wel erg lastig. Mijn liever moeder bedacht daarom dat zij ging proberen of ze die niet zelf kon maken. Dat is meer dan gelukt, ze zijn heerlijk! Het recept kan ik jullie dan ook niet onthouden! 

What you will need:

  • 3 egg yolks
  • 250 ml lactose free milk
  • 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
  • 50 grams sugar
  • 25 grams glutenfree flour
  • Schär readymade puff pastry (Frozen, but let thaw before use)
  • 200 ml Minus L whipped cream
  • Strawberries
  • Icing sugar
  • Orange food colouring (or red and yellow)
  • Water

Wat heb je nodig?

  • 3 eierdooiers
  • 250 ml lactose vrije melk 
  • 1 theelepel vanille extract
  • 50 gram suiker
  • 25 gram glutenvrije bloem
  • Schär kant en klaar bladerdeeg
  • 200 ml Minus L slagroom
  • Aardbeien
  • Poedersuiker
  • Oranje voedselkleurstof (of rood en geel)
  • Water

You’re going to start by making the yellow cream.  Whisk your egg yolks with the flour and a splash of milk to a smooth mixture. Put the rest of the milk with the sugar and the vanilla extract in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Pour the hot milk mixture whilst stirring, bit by bit, into the egg mixture. Keep stirring! (Or the yolks could curdle). Pour the mixture back into the pan and bring to a boil whilst stirring. Let boil for about 5 minutes until it reaches the wanted consistency. Let cool whilst stirring. Store in the fridge.

Je gaat beginnen met het maken van de gele room. Klop de 3 eierdooiers met de bloem en een beetje melk tot een glad beslag. Breng de rest van de melk met de suiker en het vanille extract aan de kook. Giet het hete melk mengsel terwijl je roert beetje bij beetje toe aan het ei mengsel. Blijf roeren, want anders kan het ei gaan stollen! Giet het mengsel terug in de pan en breng aan de kook. Laat het ongeveer 5 minuten koken tot het de gewenste dikt heeft bereikt. Laat al roerende afkoelen. Bewaar in de ijskast. 

Preheat your oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Take the roll of puff pastry. Spread out and cut into strips about 2 inches wide and 4,5 inches long. You’ll need an even number! With a fork prick holes into the pastry. Nothing big, just some small holes to keep it from puffing up to much. Bake for about 10 minutes until light brown. Let cool.

Verhit je over voor tot 200 graden Celsius. Pak het bladerdeeg en snij tot repen van ongeveer 5 centimeter breed en 11 centimeter lang. Je hebt een even aantal repen nodig. Prik met een vork wat kleine gaatjes in het bladerdeeg om te voorkomen dat ze te erg rijzen tijdens het bakken. Bak de repen bladerdeeg ongeveer 10 minuten totdat ze licht bruin zijn. Laat ze afkoelen.

Whip your 200 ml of whipped cream. Weigh how much your original yellow cream mixture weighs. You’ll be mixing the whipped cream through the yellow cream. You need one part whipped cream for 2 parts yellow cream. If you add too much whipped cream the mixture will become too thin. Store in the fridge.

Klop de slagroom op. Weeg af hoeveel gele room je hebt. Je gaat de slagroom mengen met de gele room in een verhouding 1 op 2. Als je teveel slagroom toevoegt wordt de room te dun! Bewaar in de ijskast.

Clean your strawberries. Slice some into thin strips and halve some for on top of the tompoes. Put the cream mixture into a piping bag with a large hole.

Maak de aardbeien schoon. Snij sommige in plakjes en anderen doormidden. Stop de room in een spuitzak met een groot mondje. 

Sprinkle some icing sugar on one of the pastry strips and pipe a nice thick layer of cream on top. Lay some of the strawberry slices on top. Grab another strip of pastry and again dust with icing sugar. Pipe a line of cream down the centre and decorate with some of the halved strawberries. Put this second pasty strip on top of the first!

Bestrooi een reep bladerdeeg met wat poedersuiker en spuit er een goede dikke laag room op. Leg hier wat van de plakjes aardbei op. Pak vervolgens nog een reep bladerdeeg en bestrooi ook deze met poedersuiker, Spuit een lijn met room over het midden van de reep en leg hier de gehalveerde aardbeien op. Leg deze tweede reep bladerdeeg bovenop de eerste.

If you want to make a kingsday tompoes (this is the more traditional tompoes, they aren’t generally served with fruit) mix up some icing. Add a tablespoon of water to about a 100 grams of icing sugar. Mix and add more water if necessary. You want to achieve a thick syrupy consistency. Now add either a few drops of orange food colouring or one drop of yellow food colouring and one drop of red food colouring and mix. Put the icing on half of the pastry strips. Pipe another pastry strip with the cream and then pop the iced pastry strip on top.

Als je een traditionele tompoes zonder fruit wil maken, dan heb je wat glazuur nodig. Meng 100 gram poedersuiker met een eetlepel water en meng dit tot een stroperig geheel. Het kan zijn dat je wat meer water moet toevoegen, maar maak het niet te dun! Meng er wat druppels voedingskleurstof doorheen, zoals oranje (of als je dat niet hebt een druppel rood en een druppel geel). Bedek een van de repen bladerdeeg met glazuur. Op een andere reep bladerdeeg spuit je een dikke laag room. Hierop leg je vervolgens de bladerdeeg reep met glazuur. 

I hope you enjoy!

Eet smakelijk!

Love,

Renée

 

Pattern: Aztec Phone Sweater

Hello Everone!

I recently released a few new patterns and just realised that I never shared them here. Something I am intent on fixing, so for i’ll be sharing my latest patterns here shortly.

Today i’ll be sharing the Aztec Phone Sweater!

The aztec phone sweater is a nice way to protect your phone from scratches and falls. It provides a nice cushion as well as making your phone look good!
The fairisle pattern is interesting to look at and depending on the colours you use can be either wild and colourful or more muted.
A quick, easy and fun project!

This would make a perfect project for people new to colorwork.

The pattern can be made to fit pretty much any phone, but is written to fit an iPhone 4s. Instructions are given to increase height and width of the phone sweater. Gauge isn’t very important for this project.

Measurements of iPhone 4S:

Height: 4.5 inches (115.2 mm)
Width: 2.31 inches (58.6 mm)
Depth: 0.37 inch (9.3 mm)

You’ll need 2 colours of fingering weight yarn, a tapestry needle and a set of double point needles or circular needles in size 2.5 mm (US 1,5) and 2.75 (US 2).

The pattern is available on Ravelry and LoveKnitting.

Love, Renée

Tadaa: The birds!

Hello Everyone,

I’m here to share a recently finished FO (aka Finished Object) with you today and I have some exciting news!

A friend shared the pattern for today’s FO with me and as soon as I saw it I knew I had to knit it. I cast it on pretty soon afterwards when I had some empty needles. They were just too fun to resist!

Quick note: These socks might be seen as offensive by some, if so, I’m very sorry. I made these because they make me laugh. 

Pattern: The bird by Karin Aida

Yarn: I used Opal 4-fach pullover & sockenwolle in the colour 3081 Natur (MC) and 6191 Anthrazit (CC). This yarn has 425 meters per 100 grams. I had about half a ball of each leftover form another stranded sock a while ago.

Needles: I used 2.5 mm double pointed needles for the cuff, heel and toe and 2.75 mm double point needles for the stranded sections.

Experience: I really really loved knitting this pattern. The slightly risky image paired with knitting completely baffled my family, They didn’t get why I would want to knit socks with “birds” (I still don’t get why this is a euphemism for showing your middle finger, it doesn’t look like a bird…). I wanted these because lately i’ve been having days where I’m terribly grumpy. If something upsets me all I need to do is look at these socks and i’ll be smiling again. And if someone upsets me I won’t need to be rude, my socks (even though invisible in my shoes) say it all for me.

These socks were fun and because of the fairisle very quick to knit. I did make some modifications. I couldn’t get the heel in the pattern to work for me so I knit a regular heel flap over 36 stitches and did a v-heel. I decreased back to the necessary amount of stitches on the heel. To stay as close to the original design as possible I knit the fairisle pattern on the sides of the foot/gusset and only knit stripes on the superfluous stitches. In the picture above you can see where I wove in my CC ends on the heel, but I decided to just not be bothered about that and just left it.

Now for my good news! I’m hoping to have a spinning wheel soon! I found the perfect wheel at the perfect price and in the perfect location. I’ve contacted the seller and although I haven’t heard back yet, I’m very hopeful! And if this deal fall through I will be getting another wheel. I’m so set on it now that I’ll get a wheel one way or another!

 

Love, Renée