No shit, Sherlock

Just read this article in the NYTimes - the suggestion is that we should eat FOOD not nutrients, and that the reason eg French diet seems healthier is as much about how it is eaten (smaller portions, socially etc) as exactly what.

Lets eat food our grandparents would have recognised (not necessarily mine - might be yours, I like Thai food, Indian, French, Italian as much as Austrian and English!), lets eat it freshly made and lets enjoy it!

Fiesta Feet

So, these are the other socks I'm in the throws of - but now trying to get Mum's lilac socks done first. These may go skiing with me - good to have something small but complicated. Not sure I'll be able to knit on the plane - Gatwick say 'pens, biros, refills ok' but in not allowed is anything with a sharp point. So I probably won't risk it.

This is a Lucy Neatby pattern, which has an unusual design. you start with striped garter stitch strip, to fit comfortably but snuggly around your ankle, graft it together and pick up and knit form one side. The length of your garter strip decides the stitch count, so you could use any yarn. This is the other side, shows my wholly inadequate grafting (all came apart - so I had to more or less sew it together!)


I am using a Cherry Tree Hill multi (from I Knit London) and Opal Uni brown (from Getknitted). Seems to be working well. I usually really dislike lacy, knobbly socks - but I like these!

Cablenet Lilac

I decided I wanted to knit my Mum socks for her birthday (which was on Friday) a while ago - and started off with Eunny's Bayersche socks. I did like this, but struggled with the combination of lots of small needles and several charts next to each other of different lengths and cabling - also, decided it looked a bit overdone (when I did it - complicated for its own sake almost, perhaps because my gauge got tighter as I found it harder).

So I decided to frog and go for the cablenet socks from Knitty by Ariel Barton - happily knit in the same yarn I am using (Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock semi solid from Getknitted) which made life easier. I'm using new Clover bamboo DPNs, 2mm (whatever that is in US sizes) 16cm - a good length, not too long.

I'm very pleased with how it is going! I started with a yarnover type tubular cast-on - perhaps I should have done a twisted rib, but I didn't!

The silvery tube is the Woolworks socks-in-progress holder, a fantastic idea reproduced form 19th century versions. Works really well, enhances the portability of socks on dpns no end!

Talking of Getknitted (as I did a few paragraphs ago) I went to the opening day on Saturday 20th January. This is an on-line shop that has always had monthly open days in the warehouse - now it also has a VAST realworld shop, in Bristol (where, happily, my parents live). I went with my Mum and C's mum, and bought 2 skeins of koigu (in colour P118c lot 644 - shown here rather blurred in a soon-to-be-unravelled sock, I think. Also, one skein of Colinette Jitterbug in Bright Charcoal, which I'd had my eye on on-line. This is an 'easy-care' 100% merino sock yarn, 267m in 100g. Interestingly, it doesn't feel any thicker than Poshyarns wonderful Lucia sock yarn, which is 30% cashmere and 70% merino and is 360m to 100g. It'll be interesting to see how the jitterbug swatches - I might try it on 2.5mm first, though I usually use 2- 2.25mm for socks to make them wear better.

Anemoi mitts - in poshyarn Lucia

Here are the mitts I've made from Eunny's Anemoi mitten pattern, and Dee's delightful Lucia sock yarn (30% cashmere, 70% merino) at Poshyarn. I made them for C for Christmas, and she was delighted! I added a row of purl, then a row of knit cast-off, and it doesn't seem to be curling too much. The cuff is corrugated rib.

As you can see from my detail, my stranded colour work is not by any means perfect, but I enjoy it and hope to improve!

...Back - not sure what I've been doing! Heart stole.

hello there - well, I'm back, not sure why I've been gone so long, but I've finished the dratted pink cashmere stole for my cousin's wedding on Saturday. It took some blocking, but looks ok now, I think. Not my cup of tea on various levels (pale pink! Hearts!) but I hope it will be hers (the wedding invite was pale pink - as I gather is the dress - and included little metallic hearts, loose, in the envelope, so I'm optimistic re that!)

It is (just!) wide enough to be called a stole, and my cos is tiny-weeny, so should be ok.

Can you tell I'm insecure re this?