Hiatus

So I refound my knitting mojo, only to lose it again fairly swiftly. I'm having to do a lot of lying down now as my ankles swell up so much, and my back and ribs hurt. You are supposed to lie on your left side where possible, and that means I'm at the wrong end of the sofa for my knitting light. Plus its hard to knit lying down :-(

But I have a date for being induced now, so don't have long to go.

My knitting group were amazing, and I have a hand-made quilt, bibs, changing bag and a knitted purple and black outfit, complete with skull and crossbones on the jumper. All made of win.

So no knitting progress to report, but baby is coming along well :D

Something finished!

cowl_1
Originally uploaded by cob_web

I finished my Forest Canopy Cowl. I picked up this yarn in America, and had NO IDEA what to do with it, it just had to come home with me. But this pattern was written for it. WIN! I Did the smaller size, which was a very good idea as it is a little loose. Nice pattern.

Hello World

Well I haven't been blogging lately, neither here nor LJ. Indeed, I haven't been doing much of anything, other than incubating a bean. Yes, in case you didn't know from other places on the interwebs, tomorrow I will be 22 weeks pregnant. Its been a long journey to get here, and I am finally accepting that there might be a real live baby at the end of it all. Various problems + my diabetes have made this a rather stressful adventure, but the 20 week scan was all good, and little ninja-bean appears to be a boy. Which kind of sucks as I don't like boys names and had a sizeable list of lovely girls names! But quite frankly what sex it is has been the least of my worries!

Knitting has most definitely taken a back seat, and dying even more so (indeed, my best dying pan is on long term loan to a friend). I've been too brain dead and tired to do anything other than flump when I get home from work.

I have recently picked up something I started for a friend's bump (I won't link to it yet as I think this gets picked up by Buzz). The pattern is so shockingly written it really is evil, but I want to get it finished to a) find out if my bodging was successful and b) it will be so cute and perfect for the recipient that it just has to be finished. I've not knit anything for my own bean, all the knitting I touch seems to break. Even a simple cowl I started at 12 weeks, thinking it would take my mind off things I have messed up and can't face ripping back.

So yes, its been a knitting disaster area lately, but hopefully I'm getting back into it. Who knows, I may even be able to knit something for bean before he arrives and chaos descends!

Sock Yarn

Do you think I have enough?

Top row (left to right):

Lidl sock yarn (x2) dyed with logwood;
Nice sock yarn dyed with logwood;
Nice sock yarn dyed with some other natural dye I forgot;
3 skeins dyed with acid dye;
Koigu (x2) (from New York)
Malabrigo sock (x2) (from Boston)

Bottom row (left to right):
Noro Kureyon sock (x2) from Tokyo
Noro Silk Garden Sock
Noro Kureyon sock
My first ever dyeing attempt using easter egg dyes
Zauberball
Abstract Cat sock
Fyberspates (x2)

Natural dyeing

P1010905
Originally uploaded by cob_web

A few weeks ago I dyed up the really cheap sock yarn I got from Lidl ages ago. The logwood at the bottom turned out the best. The middle is madder powder, so not at impressive as the madder bark I used a while back. The top is also supposed to be a red but.... yeah. Thems the breaks with natural dyeing!

Not sure what to do with this as the yarn is a workhorse yarn, and very rough and ready. I'm knitting the logwood up into a shawl as I like the colour, but it is rough! The other colours aren't really my thing, but I can't sell it.

Paraphernalia

P1010886
Originally uploaded by cob_web

I finished these socks a little while ago and they are lovely. The pattern is Paraphernalia and is really nice. One word of warning, the pattern doesn't have any finished dimensions, and it was only by luck that I didn't follow the pattern to the letter - they'd have been knee length! But without calf shaping. Other than that small niggle I'm so pleased with them.

The yarn is Dream in Color Stardust, an "experimental" yarn. Subtley sparkly, and such a gorgeous colour. The yarn was nice to knit with, although was occasionally a bit thin, I got the feeling it was overspun at those spots. Can't tell in the finished object though. The yarn was a gift, which made them extra special to knit.

healing socks

healing socks3
Originally uploaded by cob_web

Apparently I didn't post my finished socks! These are the spiralling socks pattern from The Knitter. Lots of new things for me here, knitting toe-up, after thought heel, and the spiralling method (thought up by Grumperina I think).

Loved the toe-up method, although the turkish cast on was tricky without 2 circs! I bought some for sock number 2! They are a bit short, but not too short, and I like the afterthought heel.

Shame the 2nd sock found a knot in on of the balls of yarn, which gives a disjointed effect, but I still like them.

The Zauberball was interesting, a bit thick and thin in places, and doesn't strike me as particularly hard wearing. Love the effect though!

When they were washed they twisted a bit, probably due to the spiralling nature of them.