Lots of stash, not much knitting!

All of the above sock yarns have been bought or swapped for my sock blanket. It's so nice to get your hands on so much stash and know exactly what project it's for! The best thing is that when I've bought a ball, I know that I will get more yarn from it. What I mean is that from each 50g ball I get 5 10g mini balls. 1 goes into my blanket, 4 are for swaps. So I get 5 different sock yarn mini balls from one 50 g ball. It's a great way of satisfying my addiction to sock yarn!

The blanket is growing slowly, will post a pic when I've got to 50 squares!

Of course, now that I've cast on for the Apres Surf Hoodie, the blankie is going even more slowly! I'm really enjoying this knit so far:

It's going to be a lovely hoodie, so feminine and pretty. Really not my usual style but it will be nice to wear something light & airy on summer evenings. The RYC Cashcotton is yummy, very soft, especially surprising considering the cotton content. And I love the colour, such a pretty blue.

You would think that I would be knitting like fury with such lovely projects on the go, wouldn't you? Well I would but things keep distracting me! I ordered a copy of Elizabeth Zimmerman's 'Knitters Alamanac' which is keeping me amused. I've never read any of her books before but I think I need to buy more as I really would like to be able to have the courage to make pattern mods which EZ really encourages.

And, of course, then there's the distraction that is the mighty Ravelry!

When I'm not swapping yarns or posting on the forums, I'm looking at so many beautiful projects that I lose track of time and the knitting lies beside me looking forlorn. Last night was worse than usual! I'd read that the Ravelry shop was about to open and I wasn't going to miss out!!

Fast forward 3 hours and many thousands of F5 presses later....I was lucky enough to get in quickly as one of 5 test shoppers to try out the checkout process before the shop went live!! I was SO excited as I managed to order one of the very few Tote bags in stock, a Ravelry pin and a T-shirt! I then spent the next two hours worrying that I'd missed out due to a hiccough in the checkout but it appears that all is well and my goodies are on their way!! Woo Hoo!!

So no, not a lot of knitting has been done....but there has been lots of stash enhancement going on! It's hard to say which of these two activities I enjoy most - what about you?

Socks!

Hello my friends. Sorry I've been MIA for a while. I've no excuses really. Just been feeling a bit down, low, blue. Call it what you will. I think I need some sun.....it's brighter here this afternoon and already I feel a bit better. Roll on the summer!

I have been knitting in my absence. It takes a lot to keep my needles and I apart these days!

So I have one FO and two WIP's to show you!

Pattern: Monkey by Cookie A.

Yarn: Posh Yarn Helena. Colourway: Maidenly

Needles: 2.5mm 12" Addi Turbo circular

Size: 4UK

Knit for: me

Comments: I must be the last person in the entire knitting world to knit Monkeys. Why did I wait? I love these socks, I love the yarn and I love the pattern!

BUT! My beautiful socks are too flaming big!!! I've yet to wash and block them so I'm hoping they shrink a bit! If I were to knit them again I think I'd leave out one pattern repeat. If they don't shrink I may have to gift them but I'm not sure I know anyone with little wide feet!!

I've also decided never to knit myself heel flap socks again. They just don't seem to fit like short row heels do. And, while we're on the subject of socks fitting...what is a high instep?? Lots of people mention it but I just don't understand what part of the foot they're talking about!

Once the monkeys were cast off I fully intended to get going on my CPH once more but alas...I was bereft without a pair of socks on the go so I cast on some socks for Tom, Jon's 14 year old:

This yarn is Opal Silk that Cheryl, my SP11 spoiler, sent me for Christmas. The yarn is so soft and Tom choose this for his socks even though the blues are pretty bright in the ball. However, it knits up into lovely denimey (is that a word?) colours so I think he'll be pleased with them.

So that's the first WIP. Onto more exciting things now!

I have been stalking all the projects on Ravelry for Shelley Kang's fabulous Sock Yarn Blanket. And I could resist it calling to me no longer! I figured that I need to get rid of all these little balls of leftover sock yarn around the house and it gives me an excuse to knit more socks thereby using up more stash! See.... it's a win-win project!

That said...I don't have that many little balls of sock yarn around. Certainly not enough for a blankie! So if any of you want to get rid of yours please drop me a line! I'm happy to pay and will accept anything so long as it contains some wool and is 4 ply! Please?? Pretty please??