Thats it!

I think I have it, the slip-stitch pattern for Poppy's new sock, the one that jumped the queue so I can have an afterthought heel demo sock. After trialing several different slip stitch patterns I finally found one I don't feel like frogging, yey!. Today there is the sock progress, two new books .. and a report of two more on the way .. that makes 30 for the year and still a month to go (aw .. now I remember there was one ordered today at work so 31, oh plus another 2 so 33), I'm still dithering over the next knit, but I do have the yarn on standby, lastly I find I something very much in common with Dr Glam (yes really - conservative me).

Slip stitches, a kind of distortion or disruptive patterning in knitting, ideal for breaking up variegated yarns, but also nice when knit in two or more different colourways. I had one ball of Regia sock yarn in this colour way, and it is decidedly girly, and Poppy is the smallest in the house, so it was to be for her. I like to knit a sock that has at least some interest .. I've got to that stage in knitting where inches and inches of round and round knitting is boring and I want to think about what I'm doing a little. So I tried some slip stitches, I tried alternative stitches on alternate rows, I tried columns, I tried a various simple variations but they all looked blah. Then I dug out a trusty Harmony Guide, volume I, an old one and found a pattern that looked promising on page 36 - Garter Stitch Diamonds.

I love it, but it is not Garter Stitch Diamonds, in translating it as I knit from flat to round I missed the garter stitch bit and ended up with reverse stocking stitch diamonds. After that I thought it best to make a chart so that I didn't keep modifying it as I knit (interesting idea that - that the pattern could flow and change with every repeat. I wonder where that would take me. No! Focus .. I told myself) I made a chart - boy-cub had the computer so I hand drew it. Despite the lack of high tech knitter fonts and knitter graph paper and laser printing - it works surprisingly well. and yet I am not surprised that I found myself modifying the 2nd repeat, I omitted the extra plain round as the diamonds come together, and the 3rd repeat had a slight adjustment to the knit and purls in the reverse stocking stitch fill so its neater when the stitches twist. Mental note to update the chart to match what I knitted last. If I do knit it again I'd work the central diamond into the toe section - just because I think it would look better.


I'm still dithering over which cardigan, but leaning towards Whisper. I do know it will be knit in Malabrigo Lace in Tortuga 118. Its soft and pretty and will go well with a summer dress I plan to make this weekend or next time depending.

This week I officially added two more books to my library, and old hard cover edition of Alice Starmore's book of Fair Isle Knitting courtesy of P - who brought it to knit night and said she didn't need it anymore and was interested in a sale! I know its been reprinted but this was a fair price for an old classic, and hardback. The other book is new, Pat Old is a spinning guru in New Zealand, one of the instigators of the Advanced Spinning group and a long time tutor of things spinning. Her book, In a Spin, has just been published and its great, with a lot of techniques that are not covered in other spinning texts, like colour blending options thru a diz, and dying roving with no mess and no felting in a plastic bag .. nice. Pat also explains why we spin differently here than in some parts of the world, especially in terms of fibre prep (or lack of prep) compared with the UK, its to do with different sheep breeds and farming conditions and the tools that were available to spinners to process fleece. Today I sucumed to the 1-click amazon purchase .. and bought We have never been modern by Bruno Latour. I need a copy to co-write an article with an art school person - and for various fair but awkward reasons the copy in our shared Polytechnic/uni library is only availble to me for 2 week loans at a time, so I have my own one now on its way to me. I've also got Seven and Ten on their way as well.

Which leaves me with my Dr Glam link, remember him from the show images? Well today the free local newspaper has an article on Dr Glam and his restored Fiat 850, restored by Kevin (would that be Ngairie's Kevin I wonder). I've owned 2 cars in my life, and co-owned 2 boring cars with Bear (a white Toyota Corolla and our current black Honda Civic). My own choice in cars was I think a little more interesting or perhaps I've grown up since then. The first car I ever owned was a 1963 Fiat 500 Nouva D(mine was deep red) with backwards doors (Bambina to the world but the year before they officially named it a Bambina - yes I'm tall, yes it was a laugh to unfold out of such a small car) - and the second was a 1971 Fiat 850 sport in dark blue just like the one above. Both had Abarth engines - which if you have any petrol-head tendencies at all will mean something. I loved the 850-sport but with a cub on the way and no real back seat it seemed sensible to sell it and share Bears car, which had somewhere for a baby seat to go. Today reading the full page article on Dr Glam and his restored fiat 850 sport (I restored mine to - had to it was a Fiat they don't last forever), I had a wee remembering moment of glory days when the car I chose could be more fun and not family transportation. Now its all spinning wheels - and I'm happy with the Honda -it fits a spinning wheel and neither fiat would have, and maybe that is how it should be. And here is a back view (not of my fiat sorry - my photos of my fiats are all pre digital) racy aye?


Take care
na Stella -