My productivity is back!

I've been busy since I last blogged. After feeling a bit negative about crafting in general (in fact, pretty much life in general) the other week, I picked myself up, dusted myself off and started all over again.

Blueberry Pie

First off, I ripped back those socks I wasn't happy with, after deciding that they should be reborn as Mince Pie Mayhem from Alice Yu's Socktopus. Love the way they're turning out, though there are a lot of cables and I've not perfected the cabling with no cable needle technique.

If Some is Good, More is Better

And then, since that combination was going so well, I decided that more of the same could only be better. I consulted with my mum about making some socks for my Grandma - the genetic source for both my love of craft and propensity to have cold feet. She was a prodigious knitter of many decades, whose productivity has been curtailed by arthritis and general hand pain. Clearly a woman in need of socks, I've cast on the Om Shanti bed socks from Socktopus for her.

With one eye on my holiday next week, I decided to put the socks on hold for that and try something different....

OK, so those were all WIPs and I spent an afternoon finishing all four of them, but they are now done and ready to become something. Now I am trying to think what the should all be! This next one has already been decided upon, given that is was a kit, so I backstitched it and made it up:

And finally, I did this yesterday and the backstitch this morning. Another finished thing to turn into something :)

I've also been baking for Comic Relief and have some granola in the oven at the moment - I'll let you know how it turns out another day.

FO: Serpentine Mitts

I've got a quick FO to show you this week:

Pattern: Serpentine Mitts by Miriam Felton [rav  link]
Size: Small
Yarn: Cygnet Truely Wool Rich 4ply in Yellow

They're a bit small for me and not really my colour, but I am *finally* happy with the combination of yarn and project. It was a really well-written pattern with the right amount of cabling to be interesting, but not so much I ended up tying myself in knots; I would recommend this as a good first cabling project (assuming you've mastered knitting small diameters in the round) or for a more advanced knitter as good out-and-about knitting. Now I just need to identify a recipient...

Know Thyself

Sometimes, I feel like I know myself too well. I did say I would have doubts about the sock knitting last week, and I know I've been very uncertain of the gloves project for my OH (those ones that last week needed fingers). I did think about taking another project, but then it got to packing and I just said no; two project will suffice and one of them is socks and the other is fingers; and I can stop hesitating, right? WRONG! I find myself riddled with doubts over the sock pattern, and the glove 'needs' trying on, only partway on my journey.

I reckon I can get over the glove qualms and crack on with them this week, but the socks seem to be a bigger dilemma. Maybe today is just not the day for the pattern: Molly Weasley's Gift Socks from p/hop. Maybe it isn't the best yarn for the project: Collinette Jitterbug. Either way, for me they have come out too big, and so I have to rip them back anyway and, since I'm not feeling good about the whole thing, I'm probably best starting with a fresh pattern too. I've been here before, I know how I react, and it just means greater upset further down the line when an entire sock gets ripped back. I did photograph them before taking the plunge and frogging them.

However, the pattern that I started is promising, and I can appreciate that it is well-written and has a lovely lace pattern. It also has a Vikkel Braid (no I'd not heard of it either) - it is in the photo, as the one column of stitches that are sideways, when the rows are from bottom to top. I thought it was pretty neat - perpendicular knitting! Sadly no more though.

PS. don't worry that I had nothing to do for most of my train ride - I did catch up on blogs and finish my book (Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, enjoyable and compelling, but a bit more of a psychological thing than I'd normally read).