Blogtober 2022 : Day 23
Can you hear that rain on the windows? Oh, it’s bouncing! Nobody wants to be out there today!
I’m going to light the fire and get on with my Split Mittens. I haven’t mentioned them for a couple of days with all the excitement of the Branch Line socks pattern and the Basic 4ply Socks now in an Italian translation but we’re heading towards the end of October now and I want to get them finished as one of my Blogtober projects.
Here’s where I was up to the last time I showed them to you …
I’d just swapped over from a short circular needle to magic loop and it was working much better for me. Short circulars are fabulous for small circumference projects but I was finding the 25cm needle just a bit too small to work comfortably with chunky yarn. That ribbed section in the middle is the split of the Split Mittens – that’s where you can get your hand out to use it without having to take your mitten off – and I was just about to start the top decreases. (If you’re new to the blog, you can read more about my Split Mittens pattern here.)
Here’s where I was up to last night. Can you see anything different?
Well-spotted! New needle tips! (I’m also on my second mitten.)
I am just not that fond of knitting on wooden needle tips – I like the weight of metal ones – so I decided that instead of battling on with the wooden ones, I would change them. No, I couldn’t find the ones that are still AWOL but I thought I could hurry that process up by buying some new ones, because isn’t it always the way that as soon as you replace something, you find the originals?
Anyway, they still haven’t turned up but I’ve got nice new pink needle tips and I bought a new 80cm cable whilst I was at it because I can always use another one of those too.
It’s handy that my local yarn shop, Black Sheep Wools, is close where I was walking the dog …
Sometimes it’s a bit too handy and as much as I love the place, I try not to come here too often as it gets expensive and I can’t keep up with the amount of yarn that I want to leave the shop with!
They’ve got all the West Yorkshire Spinners Christmas yarns in stock …
although they’re not all in this particular basket. I can recommend the pattern book that’s in there – I know the designer very well and she loves designing socks with this yarn!
No visit to Black Sheep Wools is complete without a look at the socks yarns, whether I need any or not. These days, it’s even more exciting as my Winwick Mum yarns sit on the shelves with the West Yorkshire Spinners Signature 4ply and I never get tired of seeing my colours in there.
It’s all very good for the ego! 🙂
Right, that’s all from me today as I’m going to go and work on my mittens and wait for the rain to stop. Thank you for all your lovely comments on the Branch Line socks, I do hope that you enjoy knitting the pattern if you try it out, and I’m really glad to hear that the UK Hand Knitting site has been a useful find too!
I hope you have a lovely Sunday, whatever you’re doing, and I’ll catch up with you tomorrow! xx
Happy Sunday!
Rain and thuderstorms here too – we had to venture to the village earlier and the water was pouring down the hills towards our river! No signs of any of the drought we had this summer any longer!
I use wooden needles for things like bamboo yarn or cotton and bamboo as I find the stitches aren’t quite as likely to slip off the needle then!
I must dig through my wool to make some more split mittens!
Off to make Sunday lunch!
We eat later on a Sunday so that everyone has time to do what they need to do in the day (we find we fall asleep if we have a big dinner at lunchtime) but we rarely miss a Sunday roast! I think the worrying thing about the rain is that it’s not nearly enough to fill up the reservoirs after the Summer drought so I don’t like to think about how much we’ll need over the Winter to do that! xx
Last year, we were still on a drought in October so I guess we’re slightly better off. I do like listening to rain.
Seeing your needles has made me realise what a good idea they are – just swapping over tips instead of buying the whole thing. I’ll have to try them.
Think I’ll pop my fire on too. Happy Sunday.
Interchangeables are such a good idea – it’s quite expensive to buy the kits but if you buy a cable and then a few tips at a time you can build your collection up over time and it’s not too expensive at all 🙂 xx
I’ll bet you’ll get your mittens finished soon with the present weather. Very envious of your local wool shop. I wish. B x
We’re really lucky having Black Sheep Wools so close by as they’re a big store with a cafe and so much choice … it’s not often you come away empty-handed! 🙂 xx
It’s been raining cats and dogs here in Australia too – we’ve spent the weekend on flood watch with our road to town being cut quite a few times since Friday morning! I like the sound of rain but wouldn’t mind the sunshine for a bit either.
Good metal tips are on my list to try. I’ve only ever used cheap metal circulars and they hurt my hands so I switched to KnitPicks wooden, and love them. I’m finding the tips of my 3mm are starting to get a bit rough from use though, so am thinking of picking up some metal to try. You’ve just inspired me to go shopping this dreary Monday morning!
You’ll be coming into Summer now so you should be getting the sunshine soon, hopefully! Cheap needles are never a good buy but you always have to go for what your budget allows. I think that KnitPicks and KnitPro are the same company with different names so you’ll use tips similar to mine 🙂 xx
I’m glad you’ve got your tips situation sorted, you’ll enjoy the making process all the more for using tools you’re comfortable with. I tend to avoid my nearest yarn shop because of budget restrictions, but I may have to in soon as a last-ditch attempt at colour matching! I shall have to wait and see.
It’s often an expensive do walking through a yarn shop’s doors, isn’t it? 🙂 xx
How nice it is to have a knit shop in walking distance. My granddaughter is moving to a very cold climate in January. I must make her the split mittens.
Not walking distance, unfortunately, but only a short drive in the car. Oh goodness, if it was within walking distance I’d probably be bankrupt! 🙂 xx
I’ve had two trips to Black Sheep Wools within a month and you’re so right, it’s very hard to resist buying much more than you intended. I think I’ve enough now to keep me going at least six months. I went in yesterday with my granddaughter because I’d promised she could choose some wool for a jumper. After picking a really bright multicoloured wool, she said I’d promised to knit her some socks (she’s nearly 5) so I let her pick a ball of WYS but that led her to pick one for me too. Then I saw some lovely hand-dyed cotton that I knew would make a gorgeous shawl. Before I knew it, I had a bag full of wool, a couple of patterns and a new retractable tape measure! But I do love going in there, squishing all the different balls of wool and imagining all the things I could knit …..
I think actually being in there and being able to squish makes it far easier to buy yarn “in advance” but it sounds like you’ve got some great projects lined up. Your granddaughter is clearly a girl of good taste 🙂 xx