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Thursday, March 23, 2006

Well I Never! Socks!


There is no doubt that SOCKS-R-IT. Everyone else's blog has their socks on it. So here IS mine.
This is my first ever foray into 4dpns and I've had a few reviews and froggings to get to this stage. I'm hoping that I will get more comfortable with the 4dpns and be able to complete a pair. The pattern is from www.knittingonthenet.com/patterns/socksbasic.htm and I am using good old reliable Patonyle in denim blue. As a confident straight knitter, I went for the 2.75 needles rather than the 3.5s which were the only ones available at my LYS. Mind you there are some anodised ones in 4.oos which I love the feel of and if this sock venture is successful, I will invest in them and try them out with some Bluebell or similar. Typical of me...planning ahead when I haven't even achieved today's targets.
The main reason I have slowed right down with the sock and taken to the keyboard, is that they are obviously going to be too small for me with a 56st cast on and the needle size. BUT I need to get through the pattern once to feel that I know what I'm doing and so these will probably be sent to Jenny, one of my English nieces. She has my height but is willowy slim.
I took another photo to show off my lovely kitchen. I have spent the last thirty years making the most of a small place in an inner-urban renovation. This house has a whole room of it's own as a kitchen. I installed a wood-burning oven, as you can see on the left, in the space where the old one had been removed. Out of the window you can see Karen's rusty rainwater tank and the camelia tree. I spend a lot of time sitting at this table and enjoying the whole room. I have a little TV perched on top of the fridge (which I have not shown, like they never show them in magazine articles on kitchen design, cos they look dreadful). The wood oven has two glass doors. One at the top half is the fire and the bottom bit is the cooking oven. It's called a Nectre Bakers Oven and they are made in South Australia.
Last but not least today is my "nearly finished" bag.

It has a knitted coating along the lines of the pattern in the English magazine "Simply Knitting" issue 7. and I made a lining and straps with wonderful advice from Dragonfly Designs at http://thebagladysplace/blogspot/com/ . I got a lot of help from the local fabric shop on this.
I have also got a couple of giant plastic curtain rings on which I plan to create some Dorset Buttons as described by http://yarNZ4knitters.blogspot.com/ Thanks Beverley!

I haven't said thanks to Lori for showing me the routine on how to get more than one picture on one post. I eventually did it and soon I hope to follow Beverley's guide to a clock and a counter. As you can all tell I'm still having trouble with the fine tuning.

Dyeing very soon!

cheers to all, Gillian

3 Comments:

  • Gillian, I absolutely love your kitchen. It looks like a perfect place for a cup of tea and a visit with a friend. Socks are fun to knit. I have trouble with knocking the ends that I'm not working off of the other end of the dp needles. There is a method of sock knitting that uses two double points instead and learning how to use those instead of the dps is on my to-to list. My husband has been looking at jobs down in Australia too. We've already been denied citizenship application there because of my M.S., but Brian could work there on a temporary visa and we could tag along. Australians are smart in keeping immigration to a controlled minimum. Because of our borders it's a disaster here in the USA with lots of people crossing illegally and coming in through ports illegally and then just "mixing in". I'm not against them coming, I just wish our government would get their act together and be organized about bringing people in in a controlled manner. (Sorry about the political rant). Anyway, the sock color is lovely and I'll keep checking back to see your progress. Enjoy your weekend.
    Heide

    By Blogger Heide, At 9:51 AM  

  • Hi Gillian

    Like the socks, I must admit that after trying it I prefer the 2x circular method rather than double points.

    Now as for linking. What I do is this: I open two internet windows one to the create a post on blogger page. I start my post and type the word I want to link to. I then go to the other internet page and go to the site I want to link to. I then highlight and "copy" the http://www address.

    Going back to my create a post page I highlight the word and click on the "link" button on the tool bar of the create a link page a big "T" I think. a small window pops up. I click on the space for http: delate the http: there and use "ctrl + V" to paste in the one that I copied. This seems to work.

    I am still trying to figure out how to create a banner at the top!! Have followed the instructions in the book I have but it doesn't seem to work.

    Wish I could "pop" in for a cuppa, your kitchen looks nice. I can imagine sitting there in the winter with the oven on, some knitting, a cuppa and a scone or two.

    Knit on >^..^<

    By Blogger Beverley, At 6:41 PM  

  • Gillian, I just had to come see your bag -- it is positively darling. I'm, um...not a knitter (gasp - right!), so I hadn't tried anything with knit. Feel free to offer any suggestions on how to improve the directions, though from the looks for your cute bag, you did just fine! ps. the kitchen looks great, and the critters are sweet!

    By Blogger Shan, At 2:58 PM  

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