Twilley's

This is a top down raglan sweater knitted with some handspun yarn from some crazy batts that I put together and some commercial yarn- Twilley's of Stamford of Freedom Purity and the colourway is 781 Clay.  I purchased this yarn from This is Knit, Dublin.  It is a chunky yarn and I used 6.5mm needles.  The actual sweater has been finished for a while and it was great to get such a lovely day to photograph it.

It's not easy to have little legs in tall grass but she does manage.

Donegal Black Hat

This was knitted a couple of years back but it is one of my favourite hats with one of my most favourite yarns.  It is knitted with Kilcarra Donegal Yarn/Studio Donegal yarn.  It is a yarn that gets softer as you wear and wash it.  It doesn't pill as much as other yarns and it wears well.  I like my sock yarn to be superwash but not much else.

I would like to make a few more of these hats.  I like a smurfy slouchy hat from time to time.

You can buy Studio Donegal yarns in most good Irish yarn shops, especially This is Knit.

Warm Spices Falkland Handspun Sweater

This is a top down seamless raglan sweater.  I dyed and spun the yarn then knitted it.  I 

love knitting handspun yarn.  The wool is Falkland and the colourway I named Warm Spices.  I have it finished a while now and was happy to get it photographed.  Been knitting the sleeves bigger at the cuff lately.  I don't know if I will continue doing so but it is a result of me decreasing at the 8th row instead of at the 6th row.

I spun some yarn last week that I would like to use as part of a cardigan but I am aiming to finish a few projects before I cast on/start any more projects.  This is a lot harder than it sounds.  It's always exciting to start a project, finishing one sometimes demands great discipline.  The infamous and irksome question "Are we there yet?" is often asked.  Also the thought of using many of the the new stitch markers that I made, makes starting new sweaters very tempting.

The hat, I knitted as well.  I used some scraps from a This is Knit Yarn Tasting event and also some leftovers of projects that I had.  I dyed the purple-y blue yarn which is a Merino, Cashmere and Nylon yarn (MCN).  I like putting colours together.  It's probably my favourite thing to do especially in my print work that you can see here and here.

And as mentioned before, wooly hats are essential here.  I've never been a big fan of umbrellas.  May hasn't been warm.  It's been chilly and raining.  It's not as cold as winter but it's the furthest cry from bikini weather.  Grateful for my wooly jumpers and hats to keep me cozy. Wool is an indispensable ally against an Irish Summer.

Sulley Socks

Mondays are my days off.  I spent most of today knitting.  I started a pair of socks yesterday.  I am using Wendy Roam 4 ply (2002 Derwent- colour)  I got it at This is Knit.  It is such a lovely colour.

I tend to knit socks using the magic loop method on 100 cm circular needles.  These directions are best suited for this method but easily converted to using dpns.

I cast on 60 stitches with 4 ply/sock yarn on 2.5 mm needles.  Arrange 30 stitches on each half on a magic loop.  

I knitted 2 x 2 rib (k2, p2) for one inch. 

Knit 2 rounds.  

Next round,  k1, p1 for one round, then knit 2 rounds.  Repeat the last three rounds to form the pattern.  

Knit in this pattern for 7 inches.  

For the heel flap, work on half of the stitches only. (work on one side of stitches - that's 30 stitches) back and forth in a slip stitch pattern.

Row 1 (RS): *Slip 1, Knit 1

Row 2 (WS): Slip 1, Purl to end of the row

You will be working back and forth on these 30 stitches and repeating row 1 and 2 a further 14 times.

(You will have worked 30 rows in all).

To Shape the Heel:

Row 1: Slip the first stitch, p16 sts, p2tog p1, turn

Row 2: Slip first st, k5, ssk, k1, turn

Row 3: Slip first st, p6, p2tog, p1, turn

Row 4: Slip first st, k7, ssk, k1, turn

Continue in the same way by taking in one more stitch every row until all the stitches from the heel flap are included, you will have 18 stitches on this needle.

Gusset Shaping:

Knit across the heel, pick up 16 stitches from the side of the heel flap.  Pick up the slipped chain like stitches and pick up an extra stitch if you have to for the gap between the heel flap and the top of foot.

Knit across the top of the foot in pattern (30 stitches)

Pick up the same amount of stitches on the other side of the heel flap (make sure there is no gap again)

Round 1: Knit across gusset until there is 3 stitches left, k2tog, k1 and before the top (the pattern part) section, knit across front in pattern, k1, ssk, knit across rest of gusset/round

Round 2: Knit across gusset, knit across top section in pattern, knit till the end of the round.

Repeat these two rounds until you have 30 stitches left on the bottom section and the 30 stitches left for the top patterned section.

Foot:

Knit sole (bottom) stitches and knit in pattern the top section (pattern section) until the foot measures 2 inches less than your desired length of the heel.

Toe Shaping:

Round 1: K1, ssk, k to last 3 sts on back, k2tog, k1. Repeat on back of foot.

Round 2: Knit around.

Repeat rows 1 and 2 until you have 12 stitches on each half/24 stitches in total

Then graft the two sides together using the the kitchener stitch.

Repeat for other sock.