I Am Seriously on Fire!

It is summer, and it is hot. I am not supposed to knit warm things like socks. I should crochet bikini or something.

Unfortunately, I don’t have that kind of confidence. The idea of showing my tum and thighs to the world to see is quite daunting. Hey, maybe next year when I finally get on with the bikini body thing… not.

I’d rather stay inside the house knitting than roasting myself out there half naked. The hotter it is outside, the more unwilling I would be to expose myself to the sun. I mean, hasn’t anybody heard about skin cancer and melanoma?

Anyway, socks is the new summer fashion.

No… not really. I am just making that up. However, I do embrace the spirit of summer in this pair of socks. Light blue and cream, it looks bright and happy. Like summer. Even my husband who is naturally grumpy couldn’t look too grumpy in these socks.

He is still a willing socks model. How awesome is it to have someone who is constantly enthusiastic in supporting your hobby like my husband?

I like making these socks, it is quick to make, and not too difficult that I have to concentrate too much. I am glad I chose to make it in stripes although the pattern wasn’t on stripey pattern. The yarns are Robin Bonny Babe, one of my favourite budget yarns that I have work with.

Anyway, I have to say it to make it official: I have an FO!

x ❤ x

New WIP: More Socks!!

What can I say? Socks are probably one of the most addictive things to knit. They are small, but challenging. They give you enough difficulties to conquer, new things to learn, intricacy to master… yet it doesn’t take weeks like jumpers or dresses. The only problem socks knitters might have to deal is the second sock syndrome.

Oh. Right. So, my new project is another pair of socks for my husband. I am choosing the colours right now, so I think I will make this blue and white stripey socks for him.

I quite like working with stripes. Not only it raises the difficulty level a little bit, at the same time it makes it so much easier to count rows. You don’t need to either counting rows every now and then (especially if you have a annoyingly cheeky husband who deliberately screw up your counting), or keep measuring the length (with the risk of making a slightly asymmetrical pair).

Basically stripes rock!

The pattern is quite easy, got it free from ravelry. The pattern doesn’t call for stripes, but like I said.. I would love some challenge 🙂

x ❤ x

Hubby’s Happy Feet

Another finished project!

Actually, it was finished a while ago. Doesn’t matter. I post it today.

This is the FO. A pair of incredibly colourful pair of socks for my husband. Like I have said earlier, my husband chose the colour himself. They’re a bit bright, aren’t they?

However, since it was warm lately, it might have to wait to be worn one or two months from now. Well… better be prepared because you never know how British summer will behave.

My husband was ecstatic. He was more than willing to model for the socks. Of course he overdid it a little bit, but I think it’s cute 🙂 I mean, he doesn’t like his face to be exposed too much — privacy and things, but he’s more than willing to have his feet to be the guest celebrity on my blog every now and then.

Although… I am not sure how he did this one. I mean… it looks somewhat freaky doesn’t it?

There you go. Socks!

 

WIP New Project

I feel bad for my husband now, as I feel that I have neglected him a bit. The knitting, the gardening, and Euro Cup has take a lot of my attention. So, I have decided to make him something in return.

He has mentioned the socks I have made for him so many times. He actually showed it off to his friends and colleagues — I don’t know if I should feel proud or embarrassed. But anyway, I know he likes the socks I have made for him, so I am going to make him another socks.

My husband said that he likes a thick warm socks because he got cold feed a lot. So I tried to find one with DK weight yarn. It is surprisingly difficult to find socks made with DK weight yarn. Even sport yarn is not easy to find. I found one from here, and it was a godsend.

It is quite easy to follow, and have clear instruction. I am using two colours instead of one. Don’t laugh at the colour… my husband chose it himself.

x ❤ x

Hot Off The Needles!

With the Euro is now only broadcasted once a day, I have got more time to concentrate to the knitting. Less ripping, more knitting…

I quite like the design, although I have altered it a little. It was much longer in the pattern, but I thought it would look silly for a short girl like me to wear such long socks. The lacey cable design though, needed a lot of attention and focus, but it was definitely worth it.

Although it is quite thick, it is not too warm for summer sock, as it has holes which let some air circulation. And they’re pink. So yeah…

These are my feet modelling for the socks. I am fully aware that I am not the best model for socks, but my feet are much better than my husband hairy ones. And these one is too small for him.

The pattern is called Ice Cable Socks from Rowan, and I had it for free from their website, however I couldn’t get the link now. And, the yarn is the Robin Bonny Babe. Somehow the gauge fits.

There you go. Socks.

x ❤ x

New Skill Learned: Grafting

This is not my first time knitting socks, but this is the first time I do the grafting properly. Usually, i just sew them together, and… now that I know how to graft, I felt embarrassed that I didn’t do it properly. It is not that difficult really, I don’t know why I haven’t learned this much earlier.

Grafting, or Kitchener stitch is… in my noob-eye opinion– how you join pieces seamlessly. Almost like Mattress Stitch, but the main difference is that Kitchener stitch is done in an open, working stitch.

So, when I have done the toe decreasing, the tip of the toe will be open like that, and this is where we do the grafting. I found the tutorial from Knitty as the one that is easiest to follow. One from DROP design is not at all helpful.

So basically there are 4 main steps:

1. pick the first stitch from the front needle knitwise
2. sew the second stitch from the front needle purlwise
3. pick the first stitch from the back needle purlwise
4. sew the second stitch from the back needle knit wise

now that you have picked the first stitches from both needles, your second stitches has become the first stitches. You do the four steps until all of them are picked and sewn. The yarn would be loose to start with, but I tug them gently to make sure I didn’t screw the tension.

And… Tadaa!

I mean no trick here, only concentration — which I didn’t have as I was doing this while watching football match. I think I missed one or two stitches.

Ah never mind no. One down sock down — much faster that I thought it would be– I will have the chance to do better grafting on the other one.

x ❤ x

Who’s Watching Euro 2016?

I am.

I have to say that I am not following club leagues. I used to. When I was in Indonesia, I would sit and watch football with my father. But here in the UK, I would have to subscribe to a special channel, and pay some good money to watch football.

I don’t think it’s worth it. Especially because my husband doesn’t like watching football — I can even say as far as he hates football. And, it won’t be the same watching it with such enthusiasm while having someone looking grumpy in the background.

Anyway. The international football match is different.

World Cup and Euro Cup. I would insist on watching it. It is free on telly. And it is much… much better.

So yeah. I am watching this Euro Cup, and for some reasons my husband started watching it with me. I think my sister in law’s husband would appreciate this development — him being an avid football fan.

However sometimes the tension gets me, so unlike watching Agatha Christie’s Poirot… I can’t watch football game while knitting. You know… Tension. Knitting. You get me?

So… yeah. It’s a kind of disclaimer that the pink sock will probably take a while to finish. I would have to put it down so often because I kept losing concentration while knitting, as the football game gets really exciting.

Are you watching the game? What do you think about the teams so far?

x ❤ x

About Time….

To start a new project.

Having done stuff for my sisters, it is time to start making things for myself again. Yes, true I have a brother too, and I will make something for him soon. Graduation gift or something like that? Hm…

Anyway. I am making a pair of socks for me again.

And this time I am doing a Rowan’s pattern, and do it in pink — one of my favourite colours. Just to be clear, I like pink not because I am a girl. Pink has grown in me after I went to university.

I used to hate pink because I was made to wear it all the time when I was much younger. I used to associate pink with… you know discrimination, misogyny, etc. But to be honest with you, one day I just realised that pink is just a shade of colour. And it is pretty too. I can’t discriminate pink just because the way it was used to oppress me when I was young.

Anyway… New project! Yay!

x ❤ x

Ooh.. Doesn’t It Look Nice?

As much as I like the way this sock looks, I wasn’t sure that I have done it correctly. I made few mistakes and had to rip it off several time before getting it right. Mainly because the direction in the pattern are not clear for a beginner like me. Maybe the pattern wasn’t meant for a beginner anyway.

Seriously though. I think this pattern looks really pretty. You can get the pattern from DROPS or garnstudio, and the name of the pattern is Chrystal. It has a little frills and lace design for the ankle, which make the socks look really sweet and girly.

Unfortunately, I don’t have feet of a model, mine is a bit chunky for my liking. Please pardon my feet.

There… It fits alright 🙂

x ❤ x

When You Tried To Do The Right Thing…

Like pulling the yarn from the centre of the ball instead of from the outside, and the ball of yarn said: NOPE…

It hurts.

A lot.

And the struggle… The struggle, Ladies and Gentlemen… is real. But you know what? I have to go on… Because my socks need to be done. But don’t you just hate it when it happens?

Apparently, the lacey part of the ankle was not the hardest part of this particular pattern. My problem is that this pattern wasn’t as clear or straightforward as the previous patterns I have tried. For example when it said continue in st st 2 cm, I wasn’t sure whether it means “continue until it reaches 2 cm” or “continue for another 2 cm”. That is annoying isn’t it? Especially for me, because I am a noob in knitting socks.

It just socks! Lol sorry. I had to do that..

x ❤ x