No cold sheep here

Image by Martin Tajmr from Pixabay 

It seems that there are definite seasonal patterns to my blog posts and I often feel the urge to write about the same topics at the same time of the year. January, without exception is my cue for a little rant about yarn diets or cold sheeping or whatever you want to call it.

Call it what you like because we all know it doesn’t matter a hoot, and most knitters will cave like a soggy digestive at the first yarn show or newsletter offer. If you do manage to resist, obviously hats off to you for your impressive show of restraint.

This year more than ever though it seems appropriate to support our hard-pressed yarn shops and indie dyers. Financial insecurity, the looming shadow of the ongoing Brexit disaster and many other factors mean that where we spend our hard earned money is important now as never before.

For those that don't know, the practice of Cold Sheeping refers to going on a yarn diet or a restricted yarn buying policy - akin to going 'cold turkey'. It is certainly a common feeling at this time of year to feel slightly overwhelmed by your stash, or to feel as though your house in general has way too much clutter in it to even contemplate buying anything more stuff.

However, whatever the answer is I'm almost certain that it doesn't involve going on a yarn diet. For the simple reason that diets never work. If they did the diet industry would go out of business. Anything that advocates extreme restriction or denial will inevitably involve a backlash at some point and freed from constraint you will be gleefully hoarding pretty sock yarn again before you can say 'Blue faced Leicester'.

So, I am proud to say that there will be no Cold Sheep or yarn dieting here. This is a Cold Sheep Free Zone.

My stash is a thing of joy - it brings warm and woolly solace to dark days - and it means that at the drop of a hat (or the news of an imminent baby arrival) I can rummage in the stash, grab some needles and whip out something cute and giftable in less time than it takes to traipse into town to buy a congratulations card.

So, this January I am encouraging you to give the Cold Sheep the Cold Shoulder. Embrace your stash in all its woolly glory and show some love to our fab independent business.

And if you’d like to make better use of your stash and get some inspiration and support, please do check out my new venture - The Stash Appreciation Society. We can promise you a warm woolly welcome.

PIN FOR LATER

How to do your own DIY yarn club

Please don't get me wrong, I absolutely love a good yarn club. But as I evaluate my stash at the start of 2020 I find that I have plenty of yarn already in need of the perfect project.

This is most definitely not an invitation to a yarn diet or cold sheeping. And I will absolutely be continuing to buy yarn from my favourite sellers. But I am going to make plans for a year long DIY yarn club. 12 small projects I can knit from my stash during 2020 - 1 per month.

I'm going to try and use patterns I already own - ticking the “in library” box during Ravelry searches makes this super easy. But I'm not ruling out the odd spur of the moment purchase either.

I have 12 bags - not all as pretty as this one sadly. Each one will house yarn, pattern if already printed (or I'll keep a track of digital ones in my notebook) and any other bits and bobs I need.

After that it's just a matter of picking one at random on the first of each month, knowing I have a quick, portable, travel friendly project ready to go. With the added benefit that I'll be knitting from stash too.

If the idea of appreciating your stash appeals to you, please do check out this link to my new 2020 yarny venture - The Stash Appreciation Society.

January is all about stash inventory and our DIY yarn club. February will be a yarn swap and themed around making new yarny friends, and so on throughout the year. There's lots of chat in the Facebook group already and it promises to be a fun place to hang out.

If you have any questions about the group please just ask and I'm happy to help.

Introverts Party Socks KAL Part 3

Ensure you have 32 (36) sts on each needle again. Break contrast yarn and resume working with working yarn.

Rnd 1 N1: k7(9), p1, k2, m1, k4, sl, k2tog, psso, k4, m1, k2, p1, k8(10)         N2: as N1

Rnd 2 N1: k7, p1, k15, p1, k8                        N2: as N1

  Work as set until leg measures 18 (20)cm/7 (8)” from top of heel, or desired length,

CUFF

Work ribbed cuff (k1, p1 to end) and then bind off using the Russian bind-off as follows: *k2tog, sl 1 st from right-hand needle back to left-hand needle; repeat from * to end.

I do hope you've enjoyed this KAL, if you are looking for a more sedate knit the pattern will be up on Ravelry early in the new year.

Introverts Party Socks Part 2

Ready for Part 2 of the #introvertspartysock KAL?

These are directions for a standard short row heel using the wrap and turn (W&T) method. Quite honestly though, in this scenario I often use the fish lips kiss heel - which is just 1 dollar on Ravelry - and well worth the money.

The heel uses the wrap-and-turn method, and is worked back and forth on N2.

Set-up row (RS): N1: Drop working yarn (do not break) Using contrast yarn work in pattern as set across all sts. Do not turn.

Next row (RS): K31 (35), W&T (always slip wrapped st back to right-hand needle), and turn.

Next row (WS): P30 (34), W&T. Next row (RS): K29 (33), W&T Next row (WS): P28 (32), W&T.

Keep going in this fashion, working 1 less st each time (ie working to 1 st before the last wrapped st), until you work a final WS row:

Next row (WS): P10 (12), W&T.

You will have 10 (12) central sts and 11 (12) wrapped sts on either side.

For the second half of the short-row heel, you will work back across each of these wrapped sts, wrapping them again.

Next row (RS): K10 (12), k first wrapped st (pick up wrap and knit it together with that st), wrap next st

(this will now be double-wrapped) and turn.

Next row (WS): P11 (13), p first wrapped st (together with its wrap), wrap next st, and turn.

Next row (RS): K12 (14) (this will take you to the first double-wrapped st), pick up both wraps (from the front, bottom to top) and knit them together with the st, wrap next st, and turn.

Next row (WS): P13 (15), pick up both wraps (from the front, bottom to top) and purl them together with that st, wrap next st and turn.

Keep going in this fashion, working to the first double-wrapped st, picking up both wraps from front of work (bottom to top) and working them together with that st, wrapping the next st, and turning. Continue until all sts have been worked and you are ready to commence working in the round again.

Introverts Party Socks KAL Part 1

Introverts Party Sock KAL Part 1

This is a free KAL for a toe-up sock with a plain foot, pattern leg and a short row heel. Contrast yarn is used for the heel to keep the stripes uninterrupted. Alternative heels: fish lips kiss and afterthought would also work. If doing contrast heel/toe/cuff allow 15g contrast yarn.

Yarn: 100g (400)m self stripe sock yarn.

Gauge: 32 stitches x 44 rows = 10cm/4” in stocking stitch, blocked

Size: M (L): 20 (22.5)cm/8 (8.75”) circumference,
The pattern is written for the magic loop technique but feel free to substitute your preferred method.

CAST ON
Using Judy’s Magic Cast-On, and the magic loop technique, cast on 24 (32) sts; you will have 12 (16) sts on N1, and the same on N2.
Set-up rnd: K to end, and pm for start of round if desired.

INCREASES
Rnd 1: N1: K1, yo, k to last st, yo, k1. 14(16) sts
N2: As N1.

Rnd 2: N1: K1, k1 tbl, k to last yo, k1 tbl, k1.
N2: As N1.
Work rnds 1 & 2 until you have 64 (72) sts - 32(36) sts on each needle

FOOT
Knit foot plain until slightly stretched foot measures 5cm/2” from back of heel.

Have fun and I'll be back soon with Part 2. Don’t forget to use the hashtag #IntrovertsPartySocks and do feel free to share this or my instagram post with friends who might be interested.

Plain feet and party legs

The phrase ‘plain feet and party legs’ has been going around in my head for weeks now, for some reason. And as I cast on for a nice soothing pair of self stripe socks I found myself thinking about jazzing them up a little. Not too much mind - we don’t want to go wild- but just a little something to make them a little more party-like.

And so I came up with the Introverts Party Socks - a nice plain foot to cruise along and then a slightly jazzier cuff with a single chevron front and back to help show off those colourful stripes. Slightly bolder introverts could always run the chevron along the length of the foot as well if feeling sufficiently brave.

Like all the best ideas this was spontaneous and totally unplanned. So many folk have asked about a pattern though that I thought I could run this as an informal (and free KAL) over on my Instagram and of course, here. Please bear in mind though that this has not yet been through my usual testing/editing process so a few errors may linger here and there.

I will be making this available as a paid for pattern on Ravelry in due course, but for now if you’d like to join in our quietly festive, Introverts Party Socks KAL then please watch this space for updates or follow me over on Instagram.