The Marathon Sock KAL 2019: coming soon...

You may remember that last year, I hosted the Marathon Sock KAL - a KAL that involved a collective effort to knit a marathon's worth of yarn.* Well, it will be back this year!

Rather than start the KAL alongside the London Marathon, which was the original inspiration for the KAL, the KAL will start on July 1st 2019, and run through the summer (prime sock-knitting season) or until we have knitted the full 26 miles of yarn.

Do I have to knit the full 26 miles by myself? No, of course not! All you have to do is knit a pair of adult-sized socks, and add a photo of them to the finished object thread when they're done, noting the amount of yarn used. I'll add up all the yarn lengths from each entry, and we should quite quickly have knitted a marathon's worth of yarn.

I've opened a chatter thread in my Ravelry group, where you can start chatting about your plans for the KAL.

Until then, happy knitting.

********

Aim

Knit a Marathon's worth of socks: 26.219 miles of sock yarn converted into socks.

Rules

• Socks be cast-on on or after July 1st 2019
• Socks can be knitted or crocheted in any yarn weight
• All socks must have a proper heel (no yoga or tube socks)
• The KAL will close once the full 26 miles of yarn have been knitted
• You must post a photo of your pair of socks to the KAL FO thread, including the exact number of metres of yarn you used (to the nearest metre)
• I'll keep a running total for the group
• To be eligible for a prize, you must be a member of the Ravelry group
• If you're on Instagram, use the hashtag #marathonsockkal2019

Prizes

• One prize drawn from #marathonsockkal2019 on Instagram
• One prize drawn from the chatter thread
• One prize drawn from the FO thread

*26.219 miles = 42 195 m; each of my pairs of socks uses approximately 300 m of yarn (assuming sock weight yarn at 400 m per 100 g)

New design: Palm-tastic Pillow

I have a new pattern to share with you today, and this one is full-on summer!

Fancy adding a taste of the tropics to your living room? Then this is the project for you! The Palm-tastic Pillow features a large, bold palm leaf design, and will have you dreaming of exotic locations from the comfort of your own sofa.

The pillow is knitted flat as a single strip with ribbed sections at either end; the strip is folded back on itself and seamed to create a simple pillow cover that is fastened with buttons. The palm motif is incorporated using the intarsia technique. I knitted the sample in Paintbox Yarns Wool Mix Aran* (50% Wool, 50% Acrylic; 196 yards [180 meters]/100 grams) in shades 849 Candyfloss Pink (MC, 3 balls) and 830 Evergreen (CC, 1 ball).** The pillow outer fits an 18 inch square pillow form.

The Palm-tastic Pillow is available in the June issue of I Like Knitting magazine,which is available now. I Like Knitting is an e-magazine, which is available via a subscription model. Full details can be found here.*

Want add the pattern to your Ravelry favourites or queue? You can find the pattern page here.

*Affiliate link.
**Yarn kindly supplied by Love Knitting.

All about the socks (Yarn Along: May 2019)

Hello May! Where did a third of a year go? I have no idea, but somehow we're here.

I am in the midst of the magnificent sock-kick. I cast off a DK-weight pair earlier in the week, and have made significant progress on two 4-ply pairs since then: The Battle of Winterfell (Game of Thrones) and Avengers: Endgame both contributed significantly, even though I had to knit in the dark for both. I've also had a poorly baby this week - she's wanted nothing but cuddles on my knee for days - so have been knitting round her. I'm back to work in a couple of weeks, so the sock knitting will slow down significantly, but, until then, you'll probably find me with socks at various stages of completion on the needles.

Alongside the sock knitting, I am reading The Colour of Bee Larkham's Murder by Sarah J. Harris. The story is told from the perspective of Jasper, a 13 year old boy with synaethesia, who paints what he hears. Bee Larkham is new to area, and Jasper wants her to be his friend, so he can see the parakeets that live in the trees in her garden; Bee Larkham is missing, and Jasper thinks he killed her... This book is beautifully written, and I can't wait to see how the story is concluded. 

Next on my to-read pile is The Clockmaker's Daughter by Kate Morton. I've loved everything previously written by Kate Morton, so I'm really looking forward to reading this one (even though it's massive!).

What are you currently crafting on? Read anything good lately?

Linking up with Ginny for Yarn Along, a monthly celebration of crafting and reading.

Project details can be found on my Ravelry project pages:

• Blue striped Regia socks
• Yellow, blue and orange Marie Curie socks
• Grey Opal socks

Stepping in to Spring (Yarn Along April 2019)

This month I have been embracing a slower pace of life, partly because it's the school Easter holidays, so I have all three children with me every day for two weeks (which makes it a little harder to get things done), and partly because I am about to enter the final month of maternity leave, so want to make the most of the time I have at home with my still-small baby. I have been enjoying watching Spring emerge, starting with delightful purple crocuses on verges, swiftly followed by bright and bold daffodils everywhere, and now we're moving on to blossom; Spring really is my favourite time of year.*

With so much life stuff happening this month, my knitting has very much taken a back seat. A couple of weeks ago, I spent an afternoon rummaging through the deeper recesses of my stash and found a fair number of unfinished sock projects. Rather than hiding them all back where they came from, I am determined to finish at least a few pairs before casting on any more socks. The current pair that's getting my attention are DK weight, in some stripy Regia yarn; I'm knitting these for my brother as a slightly belated birthday present. Is a work in progress (WIP) still a WIP if you unravel the whole thing and start again? I don't know, but I'm counting this pair as a WIP even though I unravelled them before doing any more knitting as I decided I wanted to knit them from the top down rather than the toe up,** and that they needed a few more stitches.

I have allowed myself a new cast on this month: the Pond Street shawlette, which I bought the kit for at Yarndale in 2017. The shawl uses short rows (one of my favourite techniques) to create a chevron border, then more short rows to make the body of the shawl. The colours in this project are perfect for me: navy, turquoise and deep pink. The yarn (Baa Ram Ewe Titus) does have alpaca in it though, so ultimately I may have to give the shawl away at the end if it turns out to be too itchy against my neck (silly sensitive skin), but I'm enjoying the process so much that I'm fine with that.

One thing I have been enjoying in the past couple of weeks is dedicating some time to reading. I have just finished Notes from a Nervous Planet by Matt Haig, which I bought on a whim from a bestseller-shelf in a supermarket. The book is a collection of Haig's thoughts on mental health in the modern age, interspersed with short narratives about things that have happened to him; it's engagingly written, and made me think a lot about how I, and wider society, use social media in a way that is not necessarily good for us. Throughout the book there are lists about all sorts of topics, and one point on a list about being kinder to yourself was 'Do something in the day that isn't work or duty or internet'; the quote really resonated with me, and reminded me that in spending all our time doing the things we think we have to do, we sometimes lose ourselves along the way.

I've just started reading The Colour of Bee Larkham's Murder by Sarah J. Harris. The book is about Jasper, a boy with synaesthesia (Jasper senses the world around him as colours), who has somehow become involved in a police investigation to do with the disappearance of Bee Larkham. I'm two chapters in and definitely hooked!

What have you been reading and crafting on in April? Linking up with Ginny for Yarn Along.

*It's also my birthday this month, which obviously makes Spring even more significant to me.

**I used to knit all my socks from the toe up, but have recently had a change of heart and currently prefer to knit them from the top down.

How not to finish a jumper (Yarn Along March 2019)

Last month I wrote excitedly about my Edinburgh Yarn Festival jumper - Bright Above Me. After I posted, I sat down and knitted a few more rounds, and with each stitch I fell more and more out of love with the project. I found the combination of increases and long floats really tiring, so I wasn’t picking the project up enough to make any significant progress. There was also the small issue that while I can knit colourwork with a baby on my knee, this colourwork was just too complicated. So I unravelled it, with precisely no regrets.

Once I had unravelled the star jumper, I looked through my Ravelry queue to choose something new to cast on. I knew I wanted to knit a colourwork sweater, ideally from the top-down (I have issues getting the length right when knitting from the bottom up). I had quite a lot of jumpers by Jennifer Steingass in my queue, but my favourite was Starfall, which has a beautiful colourwork yoke that makes me think of jewels. The pattern is written from the bottom-up, and I did briefly consider knitting the jumper as written, before having a revelation: I could cast on the yoke provisionally, then knit the whole yoke before picking up the held stitches and knitting the rest of the jumper from the top down.

A bit of knitting later, I have a completed yoke. It is glorious! I enjoyed the colourwork so much more than the stars, even with the three-colour rounds (those rounds had to wait for uninterrupted knitting time - I couldn’t do them while feeding the baby). I’ve also realised that I much prefer working decreases when knitting colourwork than increases - if I’m working increases I find my floats end up a little tight.

While I won’t be wearing my jumper at Edinburgh this weekend,* I hope to have the yoke back on the needles by then, ready to work the body and sleeves. If I’m really organised I might be on the body, ready for some mindless stocking stitch rounds on the train journey.

I’ve dedicated more time than usual to reading this month. Partly for a rest, and partly because I’ve really enjoyed the book I’ve just finished: Everything I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton. This is a beautifully written autobiography, written by a self-confessed party girl, covering her years of partying, then her years recovering (she’s only 30 now), all within the framework of ‘love’. I don’t have a lot in common with Dolly (we’re both tall, and some aspects of her struggle with being seen as different as a child and teenager resonated), but I loved her writing style, and her depictions of non-romantic love were very emotive at times. Definitely worth a read.

Linking up with Ginny for Yarn Along, a monthly crafting and reading link-up.

*I’ll be there on Saturday. Say hello if you see me.

Lots of Socks KAL update!

Thank you to everyone who bought patterns last month on my Lots of Socks sale day. All proceeds from sales of my sock patterns on that day were donated to Down Syndrome International, and we raised a phenomenal £710! Between all the designers, we were able to donate $18,175.67 directly to Down Syndrome International, which is just staggering.

The Lots of Socks KAL runs in the Paper Daisy Creations Ravelry group until March 21st, which is this Thursday, so don't forget to finish off your socks and post a photo of them to the finished objects thread.* I've finshed one pair of socks and three lone ones, so shall be posting them to the thread once I've published this post!

Don't forget to wear your mismatched socks on March 21st (World Down Syndrome Day) to help raise awareness about Down Syndrome. Follow this link for more information.

*Ravelry link. You'll need to be logged in to follow this link. Membership is free.

Another chance to get your hands on my Sooty children's jumper pattern!

I'm sure many of you recognise Sooty, the distinctive yellow hand puppet who has starred in various incarnations of his own show over many years (apparently he first appeared on TV in 1952!). Several years ago, I was asked by Knit Now magazine to create a children's jumper pattern featuring the character, and the pattern appeared in the Baby Knits supplement included with issue 57. Obviously, that was quite a long time ago (February 2016), but if you missed the pattern then, you have another chance to get your hands on a copy as the pattern has been republished in Issue 99 of Knit Now, which is on sale now.

The jumper is knitted flat and seamed, with the Sooty motif knitted in to the front using the intarsia technique. There are quite a lot of fine details in the picture, and I added a lot of these at the end using duplicate stitch, so feel free to combine intarsia and embroidery if that makes it easier for you to work. The collar is knitted in the round at the end after the jumper has been seamed.

The pattern is written for 4 sizes: 2, 4, 6 and 8 years, with finished chest sizes of 60, 68, 72 and 74 cm. I recommend choosing a size approximately 7.5 cm larger than the recipient's chest measurement.

The original sample is knitted in Sublime Extra Fine Merino Wool DK,* which is lovely and soft and real treat to work with. If you fancy using something a little more budget-friendly, why not try Stylecraft Special DK,* or Paintbox Yarns Simply DK,* both of which are 100% acrylic and come in a fabulous array of colours. You'll only need very small amounts of the contrast colours, so this could be an excellent opportunity to use up some of those oddments of yarn you might have lying around.

Want to get your hands on a copy of the pattern? You'll need to pick up a copy of Knit Now issue 99, which is available now in the UK, or can be ordered online via the More Mags website. The pattern is also avaiable in digital copies of the magazine.

*Affiliate link.

Images copyright Practical Publishing.