Once Upon a Sock goes analogue.

Yes, today is sock day.  I've had this post brewing for a while; I'm going to post it separately to the regular sock post, as I think it deserves an entry of its own. 

Last month, I was lucky enough to meet up with Kat, Paula and Meg - all from once upon a sock.  I'd had a couple of days previously feeling bad, so nearly flaked out on this, but I'm so pleased that I didn't.

Saturdays in my part of London are usually troubled with rail replacement services, and this Saturday was no different.  Combined with me over sleeping, I ended up running slightly late.  We were all meeting at Loop in Islington; Meg reassured me that they were going to be there for some time because "the yarn isn't going to squish itself"

I on the plus side, the bus turned up quite quickly, and I didn't have to wait too long for a train.  On the downside, the girl in front of me was sick all over the floor of the bus and I had to move so that I wasn't paddling in it.

I've heard lots about Loop, but I've never been there before.  I've lost count of the number of times I've walked down the street, but I've never, ever gone down Camden passage.  It's a beautiful little road, and in some ways doesn't even feel like London.  I have no idea why I didn't take a photo of the front, but hey ho - it gives me an excuse to go back at some point. 

The yarn that won't squish itself - upstairs

The yarn that won't squish itself - downstairs

The yarn that won't squish itself - in the window 

We met upstairs, chatted and then went to lunch at Wagamama.  We explained to Paula the concept of a 'cheeky Nando's' and then went to find Nando's on Upper Street, so that she could take a picture.  I found out that Meg is also a leader with Guiding, we discussed the differences in attitudes to tipping and we may have tried to persuade Paula to watch the Eurovision Song Contest. 

I don't normally Instagram my lunch - but this was delicious! 

After lunch, we went back to Loop for purchases.  I managed to be fairly restrained.  I started off with 'I'm not buying anything' and compromised with 'I'm not buying everything'.  

More yarn that just won't squish itself! 

In the end, I bought a skein of Tosh Merino Light  in the colourway Rainbow.  It's 100% merino wool, so won't be used for socks.  Initially, I thought it was red and green sock yarn, but once Kat had got it out of its cubby, it turned out to be far better!  In light of the recent discussions about diversity and inclusion in the knitting community, I know concerns have been raised about Madelinetosh.  In the beauty of the yarn, I will admit that these didn't cross my mind.  I'll try to remember next time. 

I also got a copy of the Mini Yarn Guide London mostly for the Skeindeer mittens.  The bag was complementary. 

As the till was busy, I took my yarn upstairs and nearly lost it!  I'd put it on a stool whilst we waited for the till to become free - and another lady picked it up without realising.  I felt a little bad, as that was the last skein in the shop, but not bad enough to let her take it home with her! 

Once we left Loop for the second time, we went for a coffee.  Whilst we were there, Paula's husband texted her to say he was having a beer.  We explained that, actually, he was having a cheeky pint! 

Meg and I went to London Bridge train station together, and ended up on platforms next to each other.  I started browsing through my book ..... 

... and when I looked up ...

... she'd gone! 

I Do Love Me a Good Rainbow

On Friday night, I met friends for dinner - after being reminded by a colleague to actually go home at some point.  Everything you read about unrealistic expectations in the NHS are true.  I can't do all the stuff I'm expected to do and leave work on time every day; it's as simple as that.  

Jane, K, L and I will meet up every so often for a catch up, and putting the world to rights.  We had to grab K before she disappeared down the Proms rabbit hole.  She sings in several choirs and is a season ticket holder; it's how she met her husband.  I've been to three last nights (one in the seated area, two in the arena - of which one was on the grid.  Trust me, it's a big thing to be on the grid).  Annoyingly, the proms I really want to see are in Iceland, so no idea if I'll get to the last night this year. 

So, we chatted about all sorts: work expectations, Proms, holiday plans, IVF, running, knitting, cherry coloured velvet.  As usual, there was the usual swapping of stuff; I got Guide badges, turkish delight and the loan of a book.  Whilst we were eating, we had the amusement of watching the staff blowing up balloons and trying to work out where to hang them - all in rainbow colours for Pride.  It was only as we were planning on leaving that we realised, as four Brownie leaders, we would be brilliantly placed to help, but it was far too amusing to watch.  Although, it did bother me that the red balloons were in the wrong place:

Within Guiding, I am known to my Brownies as Rainbow Owl.  I love the colours of the rainbow - so totally loved walking down Oxford Street (one of Europe's busiest shopping streets) and seeing all the rainbows.

Please forgive the photo quality; the camera on my phone isn't great - and the light levels were dropping. 

Liberty's of London displaying their rainbow flag

Tea!  (I've walked past this shop so many times - still haven't been in).

 

With a pun my dad would have been proud of:

I loved this shop, whose rainbow coloured display was allowed to spill out on to the pavement: 

Rainbow coloured pavement! 

Even the bus stops wanted to get in on the act:

As I've nearly finished my current pair of socks, it's time to cast on another one.  (I'm attempting the Yarngasm Box O Socks challenge - so far at two pairs of socks, out of twelve.  I need to get the needles going.

The next pair is going to be my version of Hermione's Everyday Socks (blog entry with pattern here and Ravelry link with downloadable PDF here) but toe up.  I've not got the courage to knit a cuff down after my first attempts; I'm happy with what I know.  It would seem that at least one person has already had the same idea - so I won't have to re-invent the wheel.  After her attempts to improve the rights of elves I think she would be an ally of the LGBTQ cause, so of course rainbow coloured yarn would be entirely appropriate.  But which yarn to use?

• Top row: Austermann Step: Ennis,  Esslinger Wolle: Regenbogen-bunt; Opal - Mein Sockdesign: Feuervogel

• Middle row: West Yorkshire Spinners signature 4 ply: Rum Paradise -   Regia 4 Ply - Clown (discontinued); Opal - Funny Sparkle: Witty

• Bottom row: Opal - Mein Sockdesign: Over the Rainbow; Opal Schafpate VIII: Blickfang; Zauberball: Frische Fische

• Far right: Owl About Yarn: Rainbow

What's your next project to cast on? 

The Devil on your shoulder

Do you have a friend who is an occasional bad influence?  The one who persuades you that 'just one more glass' won't make a difference in the morning, or that you don't really need all those hours sleep tonight ?  Well, in the case of yarn, my bad influence is my friend Goo.

It started when Karen from Didyoumakethat.com wrote a post which included some socks knit in self striping yarn.  Of course, I followed the link to the Etsy shop and found not one, but two yarns that I liked the look of.

Now, I'm trying not to buy more yarn (please can we ignore the souvenir yarn from Sweden), until I've destashed a little bit - so there's no reason to be buying more.  However, Goo pointed out that anything I buy from Etsy would raise money for my Brownie unit (via Easfundraising) and that I should buy it as an 'end of horrible job' present.

Sold.

So, when I got a note through the door from Royal Mail, saying that there was a package for me to pick up, I wasn't surprised to see this on the side:

Having paid for the yarn in Canadian dollars, I was surprised to hear that the yarn had come from New Zealand - as in, Southern hemisphere. 

I love the internet for letting me buy from people the other side of the world.  I also loved the cute cats, which decorated the packaging....

And, oh my, do I love the yarn which was inside!  Each yarn was in its own box, which was as pretty and clever as anything:

See the yarn peeping through the kitten paw?

I ordered two colourways.  Jaffa and Jumping Jenny.

Jaffa colourway - orange and purple

Jumping Jenny colourway - green and purple

The yarn is 75% washable merino and 25% nylon (natch) and feels and looks as gorgeous in real life as it does on the screen.  In fact, it only seems kind to leave you with one more picture to gaze at.....

Thank you Goo for being my bad influence! 

How to score stash....

...whilst still on a yarn diet.

Well, there's this thing with Guiding and with knitting, that it brings communities of people together.  On Friday last week, I went for coffee with G and K, as K had stash to pass on to G so that her Brownies could make pom-poms.  One of those yarns was two and a half balls of Rowan Big Wool.  Yes, seriously.  Now, I can understand that K didn't want it if it had been sitting in the stash doing nothing, but Rowan Big Wool is, we decided, far too nice for Brownies.  

I also inherited some sock yarn scraps, so that I can do a sock yarn scrap blanket.  The fact that I've not yet learned how to knit socks feels like the knitting equivalent of running before I can walk.

Then, last Saturday I gave G a bag of my spare stash (some pink, some sparkly) for the Brownies to play with, plus some 100% wool 3 ply in case she wants to start playing with fulling - two good turns for the price of one and it's given me more space for the yarn I do want. She also got an old Brownie handbook for good measure, so there's room on the bookshelf too.

The Guiding community can be so giving and supportive, as can the knitting community - so when the two combine everything is just that little bit stronger.  I love that this is the way my world goes round.

Scenes from an Exhibition

So, as expected yesterday, the exhibit didn't allow cameras, as it was lent by a private collector who didn't want photos taken.  The only place cameras were allowed was the ante-room showing displays of recent fashion graduates.  Personally, I just loved the colours:

The focus of the exhibition was the emotional relationship we have with clothing, which is something most knitters will understand.  There was a loose correlation between all the items in each case; one of 70s folk knits, one of 1920s cocktail jumpers etc.  We got a little confused with some of the labelling; having three jumpers in a case, all marked 'jumper' was a little unhelpful.  The 1920s cocktail jumper with a matching hat, had the hat displayed at knee level rather than head or eye level and there was some consternation about the labelling of the articles.  The postcard below shows a 1940s jumper, which was marked as being knitted, but with think it had to have crochet involved too:

I came prepared; guessing there may have been a 'no cameras' request I took a pad of blank paper.  The Pinterest board for the exhibition is here.  In lieu of me having photos, have some notes I made.

On the way out, I found a button and, being lost in the wonder of how large and impressive it was, nearly got myself run over.

Friends and I went for coffee and cake at John Lewis, where I came away with a list of knitting blogs and absolutely no yarn whatsoever from the yarn department.  Must have been a day for finding buttons, as I saw another one as I was going through the barriers at Oxford Circus.  As anybody who has gone through the barriers at Oxford Circus will know, you don't stop or you get the tourists confused and the natives quite impatient.  Hope that button found somebody to love it eventually.

Overall, we liked the exhibition and there were some quite gorgeous pieces to look at.  It's given me ideas of things I may want to do in my own knitting, and more of an idea all the crafty things which go on round the London Bridge area of London.  Certainly worth a visit for the price they're charging - just don't be surprised if the labels need some sleuthing to work out.

The aim for today was to knit.  Problem is, I really want something that I can start and finish today - which means casting on yet another project.....

A Guide Makes Good Use of her Time

Once upon a time there were ten Guide laws, one of which was 'A Guide makes good use of her time (now ‘A Guide is helpful and uses her time and abilities wisely). Since my Guiding (and knitting friend) Smudgepuss and I have to get up at stupid o’clock this weekend for a Scout camp (preparation for the World Scout Jamboree in Japan - I’ve already been checked out yarn shops in Tokyo), she’s agreed to use the journey to teach me how to knit socks. 

 Of the stash of sock yarn, I’m taking this one, mostly because I like it least.

 (The mosaic yarn from the same company may well end up being used on wristwarmers instead). The Heart and Sole yarn has a pattern included on the yarn band, which I’ll tackle once I’m more au fait with reading sock patterns. The two basic patterns I’ve been sent by another Guiding/knitting friend are this one (cuff down) and this one (toe up). I’m somewhat scared off by tales of turning heels and cuff down patterns, but there’s only one way to find out if they’re true. 

More excitingly, My Sister's Knitter has a sock yarn knit along on Ravelry. Whilst you don’t have to knit socks, I’ve never done a knit along and this fits quite nicely. 

Will update on how we get on.