Hello everyone, what a glorious Saturday morning it is. I've got a trip to the garden centre planned and then a bit of pottering in the garden, sock knitting will be postponed until this evening/late afternoon today.
How are you all? I've not been too well this past week, ended up with a rotten cough and cold, but now it is almost gone. Mum had a hospital appointment on Friday and I took my trusty socks with me and ended up getting quite a bit done whilst I was there as we were there most of the afternoon.
I have an announcement to make.....
Are you ready?
The much anticipated first pair of socks have finally been finished using West Yorkshire Spinners Pennyroyal 4ply yarn. The first time I'd ever knitted wool that was 75% wool and I did enjoy the experience, I have 9 more balls of varying shades to do some more socks. It feels a little hard to start with but apparently once washed it softens up. I've been told that it washes and wears very well, so I'm really pleased about that. I'm addicted to yarn, I have quite a stash of double knitting already, but I fear its going to be staying in the cupboard a little longer as I'm determined to get some more socks made. These beauties were finished yesterday evening. Despite an initial set back, getting confused, struggling with small circulars I managed to complete these on DPNs. I've ended up buying some slightly longer ones than I had and they make things much easier.
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| Ta, da. drumroll please, my first socks and my trusty Bifocals. |
I've decided to try as many different British yarns as I possibly can and write about them all here. My next socks have already been cast on and the cuff knitted. The pattern I follow is by Christine Perry (Winwick Mum). A link to her fabulous and very supportive facebook group can be found here
Winwick Mum Sockalong it is a really supportive group and they are all very helpful. Christine's pattern is very easy to follow even for a beginner unable to read knitting patterns.
Now about West Yorkshire Spinners (WYS). They are one of the few remaining worsted spinning companies left in the United Kingdom and are extremely proud of their British Heritage. They source their own raw material which is then produced at their factory in West Yorkshire, truly home grown products. I for one am extremely proud to be knitting their yarn. Here is a link to their website if you wish to find out more
West Yorkshire Spinners. I think its great that a small minority of yarn companies still produce everything in the UK. They have been very supportive in my venture and I do appreciate it and want to thank you West Yorkshire Spinners for being there. Hopefully one day I will get to visit your mill and see the process.
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| My 2nd sock |
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| What fabulous socks!! |
My next socks are already on the needles. This time I'm using Stylecraft Head Over Heels in Etna. I've found this a lot softer than WYS yarn, And so lovely to work with such bright colours. Stylecraft is a quite a new yarn to me, I only started using Stylecraft Special DK after being introduced to crocheting again by Lucy at Attic24. Its a lovely yarn to work with when you are crocheting with such lovely bright colours. I love bright colours, so pretty excited to be using Head Over Heels. It looks such fun. I'm going to end up with a pretty snazzy collection of socks I think. I am in touch with the lovely people at Stylecraft and reporting back what I think of their sock yarn.
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| Look at the colours |
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| Some details on the ball band |
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| Just amazing. |
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| The start of another sock |
For more information about Stylecraft yarn please visit their website
Stylecraft. Stylecraft Head Over Heels is available in 8 colourways. It has been specially developed to be durable enough for socks, but also fine and light enough for knitters and crocheters who like to make shawls. The colour palette has been carefully crafted so each colourway has 3 short colour changes and 3 longer ones to give spectacular striping effects as your project grows. It is made up from 75% superwash wool and 25% nylon. I shall keep you updated as my work progresses.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend! Enjoyed reading this? Why not leave me a comment or follow my blog.
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| Oh Mummy I like your socks xxx |
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| Look Isla, Mummy's new socks are fab. |
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| Mum's cross stitch |
They're fabulous socks, well done! WYS yarns really do get better with washing and wearing; it's the Blue-faced Leicester content in the yarn that makes the difference. I'm really pleased to read that you're interested in British yarns - there are so many of them to discover and plenty of them are suitable for knitting socks too! I'll look forward to reading what you think! xx
ReplyDeleteThanks Christine. I couldn't have done it without you and the support of group members.
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