Sweet Valentine

Pattern: Sweet Valentine Socks from The Sock Journal

Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport

Colour: Bold Red

DPNs: 2.7mm Brittany Birch DPNs

I knitted these socks for the Sock A Month Challenge on the Crafty Threads n Yarns forum. They were really quick to knit and I love how the yarn feels...all soft and squidgy :-) Sorry about the slightly blurred leg photo but I asked my friend to take the photo one evening and I don't think the lighting was very good, plus she was getting very bored taking photos of my socks !!

Birthday Stash

Here's a photo of the knitting yarn I bought with my birthday money at the Get Knitted shop. There are 2 skeins of Lambs Pride Worsted in a lovely bright shade of pink, 2 balls of Tofutsies Socks yarn, 2 skeins of Koigu, a ball of Opal Feelings sock yarn, a ball of Trekking sock yarn and a ball of Lana Grossa sock yarn (I think). I also bought the Twilleys Freedom Spirit pattern book and yarn to make a bolero. I've only ever knitted one cardigan which turned out to be a disaster, so I hope when I eventually start knitting the bolero it won't be too difficult and will actually fit when it's completed.

I'd also like to thank everyone that left messages wishing me a happy birthday - THANK YOU!

Get Knitted Day Out

For my birthday treat, my best friend drove me to the Get Knitted shop in Bristol. It took us about 2 1/2 hours to get there and thank gawd she's got a sat nav system which made it very easy to get to Brislington and find the shop. I had lots of birthday money from friends and family and so I gave her a basket and had a basket myself. In her basket I put in the items I would pay for with my birthday money and in my basket I put the items I would buy with my credit card !!! Here is a photo of the sock yarn that I bought. Lots of different Lorna's Laces Sock yarn. The colours are Black Purl, Tahoe, River, Flamingo, Mt Creek and Somerset. I'm going by memory as the yarn is all at home. Hopefully I haven't guessed the wrong names. There's also 2 skeins of Koigu and a skein of Fleece Artist in Aqua. I also bought a couple of FiberTrends sock patterns and The Magic Loop booklet. My birthday treats are being stored at my friends house until the weekend when I'll be able to see them again. After spending over an hour fondling the lovely yarn in the shop we then drove to Bath and visited the Roman Baths, Abbey and Pump Rooms. I had a lovely day out and I'm really pleased with my new stash aquisitions.

Jaywalkers & Hedgerow Socks

Jaywalkers

Here's a photo of my finished Jaywalker Socks. The yarn is Opal Flamingo. I really like how these have turned out. I knitted a longer leg on these socks to keep me warm in the winter.

Hedgerow

These socks have been on the needles since November!! I had finished the first sock pretty quickly but the second sock just ended up in my sock bag where I worked on it occassionally. I finally decided to finish it this month. The yarn is Posh Yarn's Lucia sock yarn and the colour is Hedgerow. I received it as part of my sock club membership. I don't particularly like the colours (too much brown) which is probably why it took so long to complete and the second sock seems to have pooled on the foot.

Fyberspates Sock Club

After seeing this lovely yarn on Piglottie's Blog I just had to join the Fyberspates Sock Club!! As well as this gorgeous yarn you also get a little Sock Blocker Keyring which is very cute.

Kingston Lacy's Snowdrops

We went to Kingston Lacy (a 17th century country mansion) on Satuday to have a look at the Snowdrops. I've been to Kingston Lacy a few times but never in snowdrop season. The house wasn't open to visitors this early in the year but they do open the grounds which are beautiful. We arrived half an hour after the 10.30am opening time and there were hundreds and hundreds of people there already!

I haven't quite worked out how to take a decent photo with my camera yet. I struggled with the close up shots. I would try to focus on the snowdrops but the background seemed to be in focus most of the time! Oh well!

The day was sunny and beautiful and we wrapped up warm and just enjoyed walking around the grounds. We could see lots of daffodils sprouting up from the ground so no doubt we'll go back and see them in a few weeks.