WIPs & KALs… acronyms, ahoy!

My current muddle of WIPs. The ever present socks in progress and my current love, the Stripe Study Shawl.

I could have sworn I bought a red with a hint of orange for the contrast stripes, but the more I look at it the more it seems to be just straight up orange. No matter, it all works with my beloved grey.

Although I cast on for Stripe Study a couple of weeks ago I shied away from working on it much as I knew it would consume me and shunt my twisted socks to the background if I let it. However, since we’re all agreed that the foot is the fly-by home stretch, I felt that since I’d turned the heel it was “safe” to finally plough on with some lovely garter stitch. Oh, how I love garter stitch. It has such a rustic, squishy cosiness to it. Delicious. The pattern is a whole lot easier than I thought it was going to be, although it’s been a while since I worked on anything other than socks so the 4mm needles felt awkward and clumsy in my hands at first.

I had a brief dalliance with some other short row methods (shadow wraps and Priscilla Wild) since I’m not usually a fan of a standard wrap & turn, but ended up ripping them out and going back to basics. The wrap & turn method included in the pattern really is the best match for this project. I should have listened to Veera!

Still on the topic of the Stripe Study, Nat over on Misadventures in Craft recently blogged about a Stripe Study KAL that she and Crafts from the Cwtch have organised so I’m going to be joining in with that. There’s an FAQ about the KAL here (far too many acronyms going on in this sentence!), so if you fancy joining in then head on over to find out more! There’s even a discount code for Nimu Yarns for all you bargain hunters out there.

And on a completely non knitting related note, but you all know how I love to flash my nails, here’s what I’m currently sporting. I’m ashamed to say that my last mani only came off the nails at the Easter weekend (yikes, a whole month with the same mani! Gross. I am most definitely ashamed of my slobbish approach to nail grooming). I don’t think it’s a colour I would have normally picked up but it was given to me by my bestie when she was having a clear out during a house move. She said she never wore it because it was too bright for her, and although it doesn’t look too day-glo in the bottle, my goodness was she right. This pink looks a little muted in the photo but in reality it’s almost bordering on neon. I do love it though. It’s a perfect warm weather colour, although there’s very little of that happening in the UK at the moment. Incidentally, my bestie’s 2-year old daughter calls nail polish “nail badges” (although I at first I though she was saying “nail badgers”. Yeah, I can be kind of slow like that.). How adorable?!

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lazy days

I’m having a super lazy Saturday. I spent some time catching up on some Playful Day podcasts whilst I painted my nails, and I LOVE how my nails turned out! They’re gold scribbles on a baby blue base.

I have a heel for my mystery sock.

And I’m thinking of casting on for another mystery sock, despite being so woefully behind in the other one, in some of my hand dyed yarn. This skein is a complete experiment. I was dyeing a semi solid grey when I accidently tipped a whole pot of grey dye stock all over the yarn. Luckily the darker section doesn’t look too bad, I dunked it in water immediately so it’s blended out somewhat.

I did then decide to dot some orange dye around to see what it would look like, but I’m not entirely convinced that it’s going to knit up too well! I’ve a feeling this would have looked better with yellow instead of orange, but I won’t know until I try. The pattern I have in mind for this has quite a few cables and travelling stitches, but now I’m in two minds about whether to knit this up as plain vanilla sock instead. I probably shouldn’t because I’ve already got a vanilla sock on the go, but I’m just so indecisive!

And just because I love my nails so much right now, and I really like the way the gold looks in the sunlight!

Hope you’re all having a great weekend!

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another mystery

It’s been a while since I joined in with a mystery KAL with the SolidSocks group on Ravelry, but I couldn’t resist joining in for this mystery. I acquired some 9 inch circular needles last month and am giving them their first run with these socks. I’ve been wanted to try these needles for a while, and I have to admit that they do take a little getting used to. I’ve found the last two fingers on my hand cramping a little as the tips of these needles are only 5cm long so there’s nothing for my fingers to grasp onto. It is getting easier though, either because I’m starting to get used to the short needles, or (more likely) because my fingers have started to grasp onto the sock as the cuff has grown. I can’t say I prefer knitting with these over my usual magic loop (yet!), but it does feel nice and freeing to be able to just knit round and round instead of magic looping.

It’s also been a long while since I did a nail of the day post. I’ve been very lazy with my nails lately, but I had an evening all to myself at the weekend so I felt like pampering myself a little. Since I really love what I ended up with I thought I’d share!

Two coats of Revlon Smokey Canvas, which is a gorgeous cool grey nude, topped with a holographic glitter top coat. I immediately regretted applying the glitter because I loved the simple chic look of the Smokey Canvas, but I’ve grown to love it. I’ve been wearing glitter on my nails quite a lot lately though, so I think I’ll give it a miss for my next mani.

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eat, drink and be merry

I’m currently loving bright nails in winter. Greige is by far my favourite nail colour, but I was starting to feel a little stuck in a rut. This coral is the perfect antidote!

Saturday was spent deliciously snuggled up and reading, but on Sunday the Boy and I ventured out to the Christmas market. (this is going to be pic heavy – sorry! Got carried away with the camera :))

I absolutely love the Christmas market, and even though it’s pretty much the same thing every year I get ridiculously excited every time market time rolls around. We’ve got a little routine going on now: every year we go and get German sausages and Dutch pancakes. Winter would be wrong without that combo.

Yum. I definitely recommend the krakauer.

Stacks of stroopwafels in the background! (Can you tell I’m obsessed yet?)

Dutch pancakes. Dutch syrup. Green fork for the Boy, pink fork for me. Heaven.

We went for a wander around the other stalls after eating. I never seem to buy anything, I just like to ogle!

The smell of this sausage was amazing. We’re heading back to the market tomorrow and it is definitely on the cards for lunch.

Urban Outfitters coming to Newcastle. I’m excited!

We finished off the market by sharing some churros and chocolate. I’ve been wanting to try this for a while; it’s delicious, but quite sickly. I’m glad I tried it, but I don’t think I’ll get it again. Once is quite enough!

Speaking of sickly, the Boy was freezing (I was wearing my handknits so I was happy and snug!) so we ducked into Starbucks so that he could defrost and I could enjoy my beloved Eggnog Latte.

Bunnies spotted on the way back to the car! There were loads of them, but the light was too low for me to get a decent picture. This was the best of the lot!

And just to keep this blog knitting related, a quick snap of the latest project on the needles; Eskimimi’s Flutter Butterfly Mittens. I’ve loved this pattern since it was released, and it’s actually working up faster than I expected, if a little on the small side.

They’re far too small for my oafish, large hands, but the intended recipient is much tinier than I so I’m hoping that they’ll be a perfect fit for her.

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