Tips for perfectly matched stripy socks

#SocktoberTips #2
Top tips for perfectly matching stripy socks - without the hassle of knitting 2 at a time

1. Wind yarn into 2 X 45g balls before you start - with 10g left for heels/toes. Or use 10g of contrast yarn.

2. I prefer to work toe-up as I find it easier to get a good match.

3. Work a short row heel to avoid longer rows (and thinner colour bands) over the heel. The Fish Lips Kiss heel works well.

4. If you like your socks to match perfectly look for indie dyers who sell matched 50g skeins - @muststashyarn is a favourite. And here in the UK Needle and Fred also offers this type of yarn as does Ripplescrafts, although they always teens to sell out very quickly

Socktober Tips

As October is breathing down our necks already I thought I would do a series of Socktober Tips during the coming month, with some tried and tested tips for levelling up your sock knitting game.

I can't quite promise daily tips but I'm aiming for a few short tips and tricks each week, interspersed with a couple of special offers on some of my sock patterns.

I'll be adding posts to my various social media channels - mainly Twitter and Instagram as well as adding them to the blog as well, but if you want to make sure you don't miss anything please click this link to sign up to a dedicated Socktober Tips newsletter - just for the month of October.

Comfort Blanket KAL 2020

Comfort Blanket KAL 2020

Last year I ran the Comfort Blanket KAL - an 8 week KAL which alternated a recipe and ideas for knitting a mitered square blanket, with tips on self care and mindfulness. It was such a lovely, relaxing KAL and coming together to share progress and inspiration was a really uplifting thing to be part of.

As we head into the final quarter of 2020, it’s been a wild ride and the year isn’t done with us yet. I find myself craving comfort even more than ever. And so I have decided to rerun the KAL again this year.

Instead of a dedicated Facebook group for the KAL I’ll be hosting the community aspect of it within the Everyday Knitter Mighty Network community as a private group.

Those who purchase and sign up to the KAL will receive an invitation to join at the bottom of their Introductory PDF. Joining isn’t essential - the weekly PDFs will still be delivered to your inbox - but the chat, support and general ‘cheering each other on’ will happen in the MN group.

For those who joined in the KAL last time I’d love you to join us again, if you’d like to. The beauty of mitered square blankets is that they are never really finished are they? So if you’d like to add a few more squares to last years - or you are in the mood for a brand new one you would be more than welcome.

The newly re-written KAL is available for purchase now. To start with there is a pre-KAL information sheet and the first installment will be released on 28th September - with updates every Monday after that.

The PDFs will go straight to your inbox and will also be available within the Mighty Network group for reference.

If you bought the pattern the first time around and would like to rejoin the KAL, I’ll be sending instructions on how to access the group through the Ravelry mail system. If using Ravelry is a problem for you please let me know and I can email the directions to you directly.

If Ravelry is safe for you to use and you’d like to see what the knit-along folk made last year using the recipe you can find details of their projects here.

Exciting times ahead

I’m genuinely thrilled that so many people have enthusiastically embraced the Facebook-free experience of the new Everyday Knitter home and are happily finding their way around as we embark on a second week there.

It is different to Facebook - not least because your home feed is chronological (whoop!) and you get to customise what you see - but partly because we are so used to the Facebook way of doing things it naturally takes time to adjust.

As I’ve been spending a lot less time on Facebook recently I have started to notice how I automatically tense when I pop back in to check on things. I find being there incredibly stressful and I’m sure it must be the same for others, we just don’t notice it when we are immersed in it. I guess it’s a bit like the analogy about the frog in slowly heating water - you only notice how hot it was when you get out.

Anyway - mixed metaphors aside - it is with relief and a sense of mounting excitement as I approach the 7th August. This is the date that the Facebook group will be permanently archived and all Everyday Knitter activity will happen on the Mighty Networks platform.

We will be kicking off with a settling in KAL starting on Monday 10th August and hopefully that will give people a chance to participate and try out some of the group’s features for themselves - especially if they always felt a bit reluctant to post or get involved in the larger Facebook group.

If you haven’t joined yet, why not come over and take a look? I’d love to get the chance to show you around.

Safe At Home KAL

As we near our second week of lockdown here in my part of the UK, things are starting to settle a little into our new-for-now routine and my mind is able to think about knitting again.

I thought now might be a good time for a friendly little KAL to give us something to focus on and give us a good excuse to rootle through our stash? (new purchases are of course permitted, where still available)

I have put together a #SafeAtHomeKAL bundle on Ravelry where a few of my patterns are available with a 25% discount (no code needed) and obviously I would love it if you were to pick a pattern from this to knit. Although as we aren't at home to the knitting police, if you wanted to knit something else that's totally fine too.

Also, if finances are not great right now I have set the Fuss Free Festival shawl to be free for the next month - so do please feel free to download that one too

To give us time to get our supplies together I thought a start date of Monday 6th April would probably work - that way we have the weekend to decide on a pattern and some yarn.

If you’d like to join in, please share your progress either in the Everyday Knitter FB group or on social media with the hashtag #SafeAtHome

Knit The Good Yarn

If there was ever the perfect time to knit up that special skein of yarn from your stash, I think this is it. We all have one of two skeins that we are ridiculously attached to. It might be a souvenir from a fabulous holiday, a gift from a loved friend or in this case an irreplaceable skein of yarn from a talented dyer who passed away much too soon.

Sparkleduck yarn was my first introduction to hand dyed yarn. Stocked at my local yarn shop (sadly also no more) it was like a magnet to my new knitters eyes. I rapidly built up a little collection and over the years I have steadily knitted the skeins - a few of my early sock designs such a Bleaberry Tarn used her yarn and it always drew admirous comments.

This is the skein that I have always held on to - a skein of her sparkle sock yarn in the colourway Here Be Dragons. It is stunningly beautiful - my speedy photo doesn’t do it justice - and so many times I have gone to use it, only to worry that whatever I chose won’t show it off to full effect - and tucked it back into the drawer.

But now seems to the perfect time to go for it. I carefully wound it by hand yesterday. Spent several hours deciding on a pattern - before deciding to go for my usual option of winging it - and cast on this morning over my cup of coffee. Remembering the all to few occasions where I met Heather - both at the Sheep Shop and also at Fibre East.

If you would like to join me in using up something special from your stash while we all cope with the uncertainty and stress of the current situation, please do. I am using the hashtag #KnitTheGoodYarn - please do use it as well and we can all follow each other and offer a little support.

Knit strong!