April Round-Up

April is here and boy has it made its mark with the weird weather we've been having, hail, rain and sunshine all within the space of a few hours. Thank God for knitting and crochet and baking otherwise I'd be miserable with nothing to do.

This post has an accompanying video, it's the second of my monthly podcasts and is available to view at the bottom of the post.

So let's begin

Done and Dusted

Socks 

For my April socks, I used the Time Traveller Socks by Liz Sedmak using Whimzy Twisted MN in Colours of the Underground, 80/20 Merino/Nylon. This is a toe-up pattern, which has a ribbed pattern going over the instep then around the leg. For the toe, I used Judy's Magic Cast On, which is so simple though a little fiddly at first.

I worked 50 rows for the foot, 30 for the leg and 15 for the cuff. to cast off I used Elizabeth Zimmerman's sewn bind off. I think I may had done the too loosely as the cuffs stretched quite a bit whilst blocking. I may have also worked too many rows on the foot as it's a little loose at the toe.

Though the socks are a bit loose they're still good enough to wear. I'll just have to take care when washing them.

Shawl

I finished the Pennant shawl, by Laura Aylor, a few days before the end of April. It's yet to be blocked, but I absolutely love it, even though I somehow worked one extra row repeat.

The yarn I used was Titus, by Baa Ram Ewe, a 4ply yarn made from 50% Wensleydale, 20% BFL, and 30% UK Alpaca. In the end I used one mini skein of the first two colours (Eccup and Rhubarb), almost one 100g skein of the third (Lotherton) and just under two minis in the last colour (Endeavour).

On The Needles/All Hooked Up

Kid makes

It's little miss u's birthday towards the end of May so I'm making her the Ribbed Baby Jacket by Debbie Bliss. For this, I'm using Scheepjes  Wool Merino Soft. It's knitting up very quickly so I'll definitely have it done in time.

Shawl

I started my May/June shawl a little early because I want to enter it into the Expat Yarn KAL taking place at the Knitting Expat Podcast Ravelry group. I'm using the yarn sent by my swap partner, Greenwood Fiberworks Silky Sheep in River Stone and Dream in Color Everlasting DK in Holly (details here). I'm really enjoying knitting this and it's looking to be a quick knit.

Goodies Galore

This yarn is absolutely gorgeous, it's Norah George 50 Shades of Blue 4ply. It's a merino/nylon blend. 400m/100g. These will be socks but I haven't decided on a pattern yet.

My most recent arrival, was this bundle that I ordered from Deramores.

Right at the top of the picture is Rico Design Superba Poems 4ply in Granite. 75/25 Wool/Polyamide 420/100g.

To the right of that, there's Scheepjes Wool Merino Soft, 50/25/25 Extra fine merino/microfiber/acrylic in DK. The grey is Hogarth and the pink is Copley 105m/50g. I'm using this to make the cardigan for little miss.

At the bottom, is the yarn I've been very eager to try, it's Lopi Lettlopi. This is an Icelandic Aran weight wool that many podcasters have been raving about. It's 100% wool. 100m/50g. I bought it in order to see how it knits up, so I may just make a square or a hat for little miss.

I got the pattern book for £0.99, it had about 24 patterns for men woman and children. The tripolatas have already chosen their favourites and I have mine too.

The big black yarn is Lion Brand Wool-Ease in Black, it's 80/20 acrylic/wool 180m/85g. I'll be making a jumper for Mr U, this is his chosen colour. He also wants it in plain stocking stitch, YIKES. Sometime in May, I'll make a gauge swatch.

This is one of my favourite arrivals, it's The Naked Skein Rainbow #57 by Frankenskein Yarn Company. Each mini is 51m and made from 100% Merino. I had planned to use these for a shawl, but I'll now be using them to make the Atlas jumper (by Jared Flood) for the tripolatas.

Waiting In The Wings

I don't have any planned immediate projects.

Word For The Month

The word for May is Romans 8:38-39

38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[a] neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

There is nothing you or anyone or anything can do that will take away God's love for you, it will always be there. All you have to do is accept it and it's your forever.