still socking

I haven't posted on this blog for ages but I'm still knitting socks.
Last winter I even knitted for money! A lady at bridge admired  my socks and asked wistfully if I could knit her some. Not really wanting to I named a high price of $35. "Yes!" she said "I'd like five pairs!" "Could I have a pair too?" asked her friend. So there I was committed to knitting six pairs of socks. I had fun getting the yarn, as they both wanted cream, blue and brown to match what they usually wear and Regia yarn produced the perfect thing - Ozon in 75% wool and 25% nylon. Sadly it is discontinued and I had to scour England and the US to get enough.
I finished the six pairs in a month and then made a bonus pair with the left-overs.

Ozon by Regia

Then in October 2011 on our trip to Nova Scotia two more ladies on the bus requested socks which I was happy to do as I had extra cash to buy more yarn - so everywhere we went I sought out the yarn shops to see what goodies were on offer. October is a good time as they all had new shipments of very desirable yarn.

David now has 24 pairs but the green Maizy socks are wearing thin at the heels - and I don't do mending. Maizy too is discontinued which is a shame as David loves them for summer - not so hot and don't attract grass seeds. I bought tencel to see if they will be an acceptable substitute.

tencel socks

knitting for the Library

This is Libeary, the Mount Gambier Library's teddy.
He has 500 brothers who need a scarf each, knitted in the Library's theme colour of bright red.
It's easy: 6 stitches in 8 ply yarn on size 4.5mm needles, knit stocking stitch for 60 cm and cast off.
So the committee of Friends of the Library and anyone else who can knit or do Knitting Nancy (aka tomboy stitch) are all knitting madly to be ready for the Teddy Bears' Picnic on November 16th when Libeary will meet his toddler fan base.

knitting on Kangaroo Island

Watching pelican-feeding at Kingscote jetty.
Sockology went to Kangaroo Island with American friends.
It was cold and sunny and the long trip there and back meant plenty of time for guilt-free knitting.

Tofutsies!

Excellent fun to knit and what an interesting yarn - it's a blend of wool, soy, cotton and chitin. Chitin is made from crab shells and is claimed to be antibacterial. Hmmm. Anyway, Hannah likes them.

David might have enough socks

He has enough hand-knitted socks so that I can wash them once a week and there are still some left in the drawer for him to wear.

maizy socks

Maizy socks, knitted in a Crystal Palace yarn made from corn fibre 82% and elastic nylon 18% have, to everyone's surprise, worked out well. David had reservations about how they would wear, but no problems so far. He wears them on hot days and when he's working in the paddocks as they don't pick up grass seeds as much as the others.

socks in the Loire Valley

Joigny, River Yonne France.
I've knitted these Kaffe Fassett socks all through bus trips in the Loire Valley and finished them off while on a canal boat.
They have created great interest with one lady pleading with me to knit her a pair - but I've given them to the tour leader.

Noro Silk Garden socks

I didn't enjoy knitting these at all. The yarn is curiously springy and keeps folding back on itself; lumpy with bits of straw in it and it knits up hard and stiff. There were 2 breaks in the yarn and the colours are harsh - nothing like the sample shown on Simply Socks website.
A waste of money and my time!