Getting On With My First Sock!

I made it! I casted on for my first sock, that is not actually mine, but for Jan. I’m knitting these lovely cabled kilt hose for his Scottish attire – he plays in a pipe band. We chose a no-brand white aran bluefaced leicester 3/5 Nm (what does 3/5 Nm mean? Lookie here for an explanation on yarn count) and I’m knitting it on 2.5 mm circular needles to obtain a dense and stiff fabric that washes up to a soft but still sturdy fabric. It has a very nice stitch definition that I hope will show the cables pretty well.

On for the pics. First, two of the three 100 grams skeins I’m using for the first pair of kilt hose:

two skeins of white aran yarn

And second, a shot of my first ever short row toes on my first socks ever! (yes, I am proud of myself I’m taming the sock beast):

short row toes

The circular needle you might be able to see there is a Pony, 80 cm long 2.5 mm. Got two of them at a shop here for around 5.50e. They seem sturdy and are very pointy!

Sade

F is for Fate

Fate \Fate\ (f[=a]t), n. [L. fatum a prophetic declaration, oracle, what is ordained by the gods, destiny, fate, fr. fari to speak: cf. OF. fat. See {Fame}, {Fable}, {Ban}, and cf. 1st {Fay}, {Fairy}.]

  1. A fixed decree by which the order of things is prescribed; the immutable law of the universe; inevitable necessity; the force by which all existence is determined and conditioned.
  2. Appointed lot; allotted life; arranged or predetermined event; destiny; especially, the final lot; doom; ruin; death.
  3. The element of chance in the affairs of life; the unforeseen and unestimated conitions considered as a force shaping events; fortune; esp., opposing circumstances against which it is useless to struggle.
  4. pl. [L. Fata, pl. of fatum.] (Myth.) The three goddesses, Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos, sometimes called the {Destinies}, or {Parc[ae]}who were supposed to determine the course of human life. They are represented, one as holding the distaff, a second as spinning, and the third as cutting off the thread.
F is for Fate

Is Fate really written on the stars? And the Parcae in charge of it? Or can we make our own destiny and way in life? Should a tarot deck trace our decisions?

E is for Emotions

Emotion \E*mo”tion\, n. [L. emovere, emotum, to remove, shake, stir up; e out + movere to move: cf. F. [‘e]motion. See {Move}, and cf. {Emmove}.] A moving of the mind or soul; excitement of the feelings, whether pleasing or painful; disturbance or agitation of mind caused by a specific exciting cause and manifested by some sensible effect on the body.

two little cute teddies

How many things can trigger emotions? This, for instance, is a pressent, that brings memories to me, and that touches me and moves me deeply. And there are a hundred other things that have that effect on me. Big or small, cheap or expensive, bought, handmade… It doesn’t matter, they leave me speechless.

What Makes Me Happy!

When I first took up knitting, it was in my pre-internet era, so there were only magazines and help from my mother, who actually taught me to knit. I only made very easy things, since I didn’t have the resources to knit elaborated patterns.

Then the internet came into my life – that is, I got my own laptop, and I found that I could find more help and patterns and resources online. Happiness and bliss, there was a knitting life out there!

I started stalking personal blogs and specialized sites about knitting, and followed links around and about. I discovered new patterns, new techniques, and very helpful sites this way. I also found fiber related sites about fulling, diy tools, dyeing and spinning, and whatnot.

And so, I got the itches! I wanted to dye and I wanted to spin and I wanted to full… I wanted to try anything and everything fiber related. And thus we get to the present time: hereby I introduce you to my futute spinning wheel:

spinning wheel

This beauty is a Louët S15, made back in September 1982. It will come home (or more accurate, it will get to Jan’s place) in about ten days, together with Louët hand carders, an upright skein winder, and a spinning hook. We won this wheel off ebay this morning, around 4:45 am. But no, I didn’t stay up that late to bid on it, there is this little nice trick that … well you know ;) The fun thing is I had a dream where my non-existant wristwatch’s alarm went off and I was so excited about this exactly auction being finished then that I had to check. And then it’s when I woke up and went check that we actually won the auction.

I will have to wait until Easter break (for me, the week between the 8th and the 15th of April) when I will be going to visit over to Belgium and then I’ll be able to check this wheel out and get the groove spinning my first yarn! That will be fun :)

*Very Happy Sade*

Flash Your Stash! Or What Fabric I Bought.

I went to buy fabric for certain sewing project I need for August. This will become re-enactment clothing for Jan and me, after some dyeing, cutting, sewing, embroidering and some more things. There is enough for a dress, a skirt, a tunic, a pair of trousers, and some handkerchiefs!

One little pile of linen fabric

another shot of such linen fabric

That pile of fabric has 7.5 m of light tan linen, 4.5 m of white and 3 m of chocolate brown 100% linen fabric, all 1.40 m wide. At only 4 euros per meter! And of the white, I only paid 4 of the 4.5 meters cause it was the end of the bolt!

*Happy Sade*