I love bank holidays

This 3 day weekend has seen me quite busy. Not with any of the things that I really should have been doing, cleaning, tidying, washing clothes, finishing DIY.... but I have found time for knitting, sewing and dying.

I finished a pair of Monkey socks.




Pattern: Monkey socks from Knitty
Yarn: Trekking XXL, colour 188
Needles: 2.5mm dpns

I love the pattern, and these were a quick knit. I wish i'd chosen some more colourful yarn though, so i might well knit another pair at some point.

Koolaid dying!

I used some undyed trekking sock yarn from .... and some koolaid from ....
The dyed skeins look very bright at the moment, but maybe will be less so when wound into balls, and eventually knitted. The colour combinations tried are:

Kool-Aid Mad Scientwists - Wild Watermelon Kiwi
Kool-Aid - Lemonade
FlavourAid Lemon and Lime

Kool-Aid - Orange
Kool-Aid - Cherry

Kool-Aid - Ice Blue Raspberry Lemonade
Kool-Aid - Magic Twists Changin' Cherry

Kool-Aid - Black Cherry
Kool-Aid - Strawberry
Kool-Aid - Magic Twists Grape Illusion

I already have plans for most of these skeins, Potomus socks, Elfine Socks, Cairi's Sweetheart Socks

http://www.kool-aid.co.uk/ http://www.knitty.com/issuefall02/FEATdyedwool.html http://www.koolaiduk.com/

Sewing- I made a pair of trousers, no photo as yet

Pattern: Built by Wendy, Simplicity no.

Fabric: Cottom Twill bought for about £4 a metre, 2.2 metres, but I have loads left over.

Finished objects

I had a busy weekend with both sewing and knitting featuring. I thought i'd finished Wicked, but some small mistakes i made and thought wouldn't be noticable, are noticable, and annoying. I am also not convinced about the sizing, and am wishing i hadn't added the extra increases before dividing the sleeves off. I also wish I had knitted the sleeves a little longer, say nearer elbow length. I also managed to miss the fact that the pocket edgeing is moss stitch, and mine is single ribbing! All in all I think I would be happier if I frogged this a lot, and sorted it out. The thought of undoing all that knitting is a bit daunting, so this has gone nowhere fast for the last few days.

Some happier finished, or nearly finished objects follow.
Pattern: Arisaig from Knitty

Modifications: I knitted the rib with the same size needles as the rest, I added rib at the bottom of the arms, I added an extra inch of ribbing to the body (and it is still very short, especially considering i have a short body to start with)

Yarn: Sirdar Countrystyle 4-ply.

I only used 262g of the 450g of wool specified and have almost 2.5 of the 5 balls i bought left over. I wish i'd bought less of a nicer yarn with a higher wool content and a nicer drape, but I love this colour. I knitted the 36 inch chest size, and the arm and sleeve geometry worked fine as written, despite me worrying a fair amount that it wouldn't, and mesuring half the jumpers I own to check dimensions!

I've finished (almost, just the grafting of the toe to do) a Monkey sock. I really like this pattern, and I'm looking forward to being able to wear the finished pair.

And I finally made myself a little bag for carrying round a small knitting project. Made mostly from a pair of cords I loved but had got too faded at the edges to wear any more. Lined and with a small internal pocket, this is just big enough for a ball of wool, needles and a pattern. This has been planned for a while and I'm so glad I finally made it! It was also a good reason for a play with my new sewing machine, which was great.