Of course once the needle roll was done she needed something to actually make a pair of socks out of, so out came the Kool Aid I'd bought after reading an article on dyeing with it in Simply Knitting. The process had the house smelling like hot sugar for hours, but the results were well worth it - some bright colours I was hoping she'd like, and great smelling yarn. Of course once I'd got the bug for it, I had to rush online and order some of the undyed yarn, and since it's now a bank holiday Monday I actually have the time to use up the rest of my Kool Aid stash on some more yarn.
Had to race to get another gift done for the middle of the month too and working on it while I'd been on the Isle of Wight hadn't exactly been a success. In the week I was there I managed less than half of the first sock - whoops! It was a bit of a rush getting them done when I got back, but after all Neil (the guy I used to type for) had asked for socks in the past and I was determined to get them done in time for his birthday. It was the first time I'd used any 'stretch' yarn (Regia Crazy Colour 'Stretch') in this case, and quite liked it, apart from the tiny flecks of white that showed up in the coloured sections thanks to the elastic in it.
After all that work for everyone else I had to do something for myself of course, so first of all it was working on a pair of plain socks in Opal Dreamcatcher. This was one of the first sock yarns I'd ever bought on Ebay and of course it'd been languishing in the stash ever since, calling out occasionally when I picked up some other yarn to work on. Being such a plain design they took less than two weeks and I learnt that you can get a pretty long leg just out of a single ball. These had a 20 row ribbing and then another 90 rows before I got to the heel and I still had a pretty good amount of yarn left over at the end.
By the time they were done I was ready for another pair of the Suzanne Brockmann Team 16 series socks I'm making for myself. I finished the 'Classy Slip Up Socks' in Opal Uni within a fortnight, and of course I had to start wearing them right away. I get desperate to put things on once I've finished them, and of course then show them off to everybody.
I think they fit the Kelly Paoletti character pretty well - bright but very classy looking and of course super warm and comfortable. Doctors know the comfort that comes from having nice warm feet when the weather starts getting a little miserable out - just like it is in London today, lots of grey skies and showers, ick. The planning for the next pair of Brockmann socks started immediately, this time for Izzy Zanella, my favourite SEAL these days, but first I wanted to get some instant gratification from dashing off a pair of plain stocking stitch socks again. The Lorna's Laces Pin Stripe yarn had finally made its way to the top of the pile and knitted up quickly of course. The socks ended up all yummy and soft and of course they had to be worn quickly. They went on their first trip on a boat ride up the Thames with Jann, who'd come to London from Portsmouth for the day. Turned out to be pretty cold by the river so I needed the warmth, but of course I forgot to take photos of them. I'll wow you with photos taken at the National Maritime Museum and on the river instead.
The statue of Old Father Thames and the Aft section of the Implaccable made easy targets for the camera and they were far easier to shoot than the scenery on the water which tended to blur a little in front of the lens as the boat moved. I did manage to a get a couple of nice shots of the Tower of London and Tower Bridge though.
I've been a little better at photographing the progress of the Izzy Zanella sock. This is the first one I've made to a design I've come up with myself. The first idea I had was to use gun-belt ribbing, but after 10 rows of the pattern that was doggedly not showing up like it should I ended up frogging and regrouping ideas instead. I'd been trying to capture Izzy's darker side, and of course his ability to disappear into the shadows when he's doing all sorts of dangerous SEAL things, the Natural Dye Studio's yarn worked pretty well with the idea, being in the Midnight Storm colourway, and The Encyclopedia of Knitting provided me with the stitch pattern eventually - shadow rib. I was doubtful about it working out, but by the time I got down to the heel it was looking pretty good. The ribbing gave a thick but really soft texture and of course it was plenty stretchy enough. I grafted the toe on the first one last night and cast on for the second straight away, but I have a feeling another birthday present rush is going to crop up before I get that one finished.
