Saturday, 25 June 2011

2011, the year of the socks

Earlier this year, I made my first ever pair of socks, following an easy pattern from The Purl Bee. It turns out knitting with 5 double pointed needles is a little like wrestling a spiky yarn monster but isn't actually that difficult. The socks were a present for my Swiss friend. I think they turned out pretty well.


The blue bits are made of alpaca yarn (can't remember the exact brand) so they were super fluffy :3


A couple of months ago, I was rummaging around my favourite book store, The Book Warehouse and found a spiral bound book from a brand called Company's Coming entitled Learn to Knit Socks. At £2.99, it was cheaper than a knitting magazine or single downloaded pattern and looked like it had a good range of socks (although the photography left a bit to be desired, some of the photos were decidedly... off).


Around the same time, I found out my granddad had bowel cancer. I don't get to see my grandparents a lot, and I never saw them much growing up. The cancer highlighted the fact that my granddad might not be around much longer (touch wood, he's got a while yet). My grandparents live up North in Manchester where it rains 90% of the time and gets pretty cold, so I figured socks in something cosy would be appreciated.


Debbie Bliss cashmerino dk in colour 18032 (much more of a berry purple than these photos let on). It wasn't cheap, but to me it was worth it for warmth and a luxury feeling for your toes. Plus, cheap yarns tend to be synthetics, and who wants that on their feet? Ew.




Apologies for the dodgy photos, I had to use a camera phone


The pattern was broken rib, and the instructions in the book were clear and easy to follow. I'm very pleased with them despite a few mistakes (including a mysterious length disparity).


My granddad couldn't stop petting them and saying how soft they were. :)

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