A Bit of a Yarn

Yesterday the postman delivered my order of yarn from Scandinavian Knitting Design - they have a wonderful website where, as well as good value for money knitting wool and cotton yarn, there is a link to hundreds of free on-line patterns.  SKD are based in Reading and the service is excellent.

I needed another ball of deep pink wool for my scarf which I finished last evening.  The wool is so beautifully soft and makes for speedy knitting – I’ve never knitted anything with such big wool and needles!

In the consignment of yarn were some balls of green Eskimo wool as well as some off-white and mint green cotton for dishcloths and face cloths.  All I need now is another pair of hands!

A Load of New Flannel

Yesterday morning I was feeling definitely below par with a sinus-type headache which I’d had all day Sunday too.  So, instead of going to my Monday morning Latin class, which I was looking forward to, I stayed in bed until midday.  It was pretty boring so I caught up on Saturday’s newspapers and then finished knitting a flannel!    I bought some 100% cotton yarn in a lemony colour at a charity shop last week for only 50p and have now knitted 2 flannels.  The gorgeous Lavender and Rose Gel was a birthday present and smells wonderful – I’m using it sparingly to make it last.

So … Mrs Recycling Lady … it’s about time you used your hand-knitted dishcloth because I’ve used my brand new flannel already!

Sock it to me!

After my recent spate of dishcloth knitting, yesterday I bought more cotton and am knitting again.  BUT, I guess there are only SO many that can be absorbed by one household.  I am impressed by the cloth I made (if I say so myself).  Size and feel-wise, it’s just right …. good gracious how worrying to get so enthusiastic over a DISHCLOTH.

Now, I would like to knit some socks, as I’ve never done that before.  I have seen locally-spun double knitting wool BUT am in search of a simple sock pattern – one that doesn’t involve buying a whole book of other unwanted designs.  I thought I’d cracked it earlier in the week, when I found a 20 cent sock pattern in the charity shop.  The pattern originated from New Zealand (thought you’d like to know that).   I hadn’t noticed that it was for shoe size 10-11 – lovely pattern, but wrong size.

So, if anyone knows where I can download a FREE basic double knit sock pattern for UK size 5 – 8 feet then I would be grateful.  I’ve Googled but so far have only found free patterns with wool orders, children’s socks and socks knitted in wool thicknesses that I don’t understand.  I’m sure there’s a special word for that – but denier doesn’t quite sound right.

I’ve read somewhere that knitting is the new yoga – I guess it’s just a different way to get tied up in knots.

Spanish Knitting

I can’t believe it!  I’ve now got into the swing of this post-a-day lark although I’m wondering whether it will last.

A lovely friend of DD’s wanted to learn to knit and guess who got recommended?  I haven’t knitted anything for ages, apart from 3 dishcloths, but I suppose it’s rather like riding a bike, you just don’t forget.

DD’s friend, E, is Spanish, so we’ve arranged a lesson swap – she came over on Tuesday evening and I had a great time demonstrating casting on and showing her the basic knit stitch and, after a bit of knitting practice, we did some Spanish conversation.  She had a Spanish text book for me and I had printed out some excellent “how-to-knit” illustrations from learn2knit  and put them into her “course book”.

I’ve got a feeling that her knitting is going to turn out much better than my Spanish.  Adios.