Lavender and Old Lace - Spring into Summer Socks

Lavender and Old Lace Socks

I finished these new ankle socks a few days ago and I absolutely love them. They have a lacy Feather and Fan or Old Shale Cuff - the name seems interchangeable but I've made a scarf and a cowl in that design in recent months so I'll stick to Feather and Fan, which describes the lovely lace design perfectly. 

The pattern comes from the aptly named Stitches of Violet Blog - and it was an adaptation in this wool as I had no plain colour sock wool.  I got the wool in Angela's Design Workshop in Lismore where our Knitting Circle meet every Tuesday evening. It's King Cole brand, Zig Zag 4-ply Sock Wool.

Cuff and Eye of Partridge Heel Flap

This is the first pair of socks I'd made in this lovely lavender and violet self-striping wool. Most of the socks I've made in the past year and a half have either been double knitting acrylic - not good as they fray at the  heel after a few week's wear - or pure wool which promptly felted as I didn't realise it wasn't machine-washable superwash wool. The most successful were made with Lidl Sock Wool, which has been terrific value and made comfy hard-wearing socks that have kept me going for over a year now. 

Showing cuff rib on left

Eye of Partridge Heel & Gusset - soft light

Cuff and Rib detail

Modelling the socks - soft lighting.

I think I'm officially a Sockaholic - I have to have a pair on the go at all times, along with any other WIP I'm  busy with. I used to use 4 DPNs (Double-Pointed Needles) but then about a year ago I learnt how to use the Magic Loop with circular needles and haven't looked back. 

Here are some links to YouTube Video Tutorials on the Magic Loop. It is the easiest method and make socks more portable than ever with no fear of losing a needle. I am to be found knitting away in the passenger seat of the car as we drive anywhere - Cork or Dublin mostly - and hubby Jan is used to it now, having a knitwit beside him getting odd looks at traffic lights! 

I would love to try these in the pattern colours, with a plain sock and a patterned cuff, heel flap and toe. It's just harder to get plain yarn than patterned or self-striping for socks, but I'll get there eventually. 

There's been great intercontinental collaboration in the world of sock-design and knitting lately as Stephanie over at Hookin', Knittin' and Livin' took my photo of the Lismore Cable designed by Cyril Cullen and adapted it to the most wonderful socks - which you can see on her blogpost here - aren't they gorgeous? I hope to make them one day, and you'll be the first to know! 

Meanwhile I hope you like my photos - they show the socks in daylight and under soft lighting taken at night - what a difference the light makes! Of course the daylight is the real deal - and they are a lovely colourway that is currently a favourite of  mine - going with my frilly scarf and my Rathcooney hat and mitts.  By the way, my Ravelry name is LismoreLady if you want to visit me there!

From Knitting Stash to Splash - Upcycling through the Recession

My new jumper

 I've just finished knitting this jumper from my yarn stash and am delighted with the result - it was practically a freebie as I bought the original jumper in Shaw's Dungarvan last year and found it didn't do anything for me - in other words I looked frumpy in it when I got home and tried it on. Of course in the shop on the hanger it looked grand and for €7 was a bargain too good to miss. So it was a bit of a disappointment to find it looked so awful on, adding decades to my already mature years! It languished on a hanger on my clothes rail (don't have a wardrobe, just a rail from Argos!) for about a year, till I was doing a charity cleanout and came across it. On mature reflection I decided to deprive the charity and upcycle the yarn. This entailed unpicking the seams and cutting ruthlessly into the jumper from the neckline down - and then painstakingly ripping and rolling the yarn into manageable balls. I probably should have washed and unkinked it but as it was a ribbon yarn it didn't really react like proper wool would have and had an impact on whatever I was going to make. So I just weighed the salvaged yarn and had 350gm. That's like 5x50gm balls so I felt very smug as that would make a jumper even though I couldn't save the top of the jumper from the V-neckline up.

Finished jumper detail

I had a plan to make a jumper like a cream one I had made earlier in the best celebrity-chef tradition - also a ribbon yarn and one I wear to lots of gigs here as it's so comfortable and quite smart to wear - you can see it in the photos in this post - and this lovely burgundy yarn was going to make another similar but slightly longer jumper.

I only started it about a month ago and kept it going between other projects to alleviate the tedium of knitting stocking stitch - or stockinette as the Americans call it. 

A ripping yarn!

 I was making Jaywalker Socks concurrently so that kept  me on my toes - no pun intended! These were a nice challenge and I was delighted with the results using the pre-patterned Lidl wool which is brilliant for socks - I  have about 6 pairs in the red and the blue colourways and I am making a pair now in the grey-black colourways. When I'm going on any long car trip as a passenger the socks are a great way to mitigate motorway monotony - bypassing every village and town on the road to Dublin is great to shorten the road but boy is it a dull trip! At least now there are services with decent food and diversions - a good way to part fools and their money but I'm as much a sucker for Supermac's as the next fast-food fan and they do the Carlsberg of Curry Chips - outside of the Perki Chick in Drumcondra and Lennox's of Cork, Supermac's are hard to beat.

After all those deviations from the topic - here's the end result - I am totally taken with my upcycled jumper and I love the cream stripe at the hem - it used a bit of the leftover yarn I had from my first jumper. It's a perfect summer jumper as it's cool and airy, and the three-quarter sleeves are a great compromise - and a great way to mask any hint of bingo-wings!

Stash quantity - 350gm

Weigh-in of salvaged stash!

I'll try to post some more snippets on recent knitting and crochet projects in the coming days, as I've been a disastrous blogger in the past few months. Life's just too busy with work, concert gigs in Dublin and Cork, house renovation in Dublin - a whole other post - and keeping in touch with the kids and grandkids in Dublin and Cork. And as it's summer holidays for the teenqueen in our lives there's a lot of taxi-ing to and fro between friends and sleepovers hither and yon. Never a dull moment, and we wouldn't have it any other way!

My First Sock Pattern - Variation on a few Themes

Et voilà - the finished sock!

I've been asked to share the knitting pattern for my latest sock project, and as it's an adapted one and not a straightforward copy, I am going to try to write it as a pattern should be written. This is a new challenge as I have to strive to be accurate, but I might  manage it. I met a lady yesterday who's an avid knitter and she has also bought the lovely pre-patterned wool from Lidl that is specifically (but not solely - hey, unintended pun but I like it so it stays!) for socks.

Having made a half-dozen pairs of socks over recent months, I decided to go for these with variations. I used the stitch numbers as per the pattern with the sock wool (Lidl are great for enclosing patterns and sometimes needles with their knit-kits.)

My Lidl Sock Stash - with first completed sock

I have tried plain stocking stitch (Stockinette in US) and it is just too baggy for socks, unless you've very elasticky yarn, which I'm not sure this wool-mix is (75% pure wool, 25% Polyamide).

So I made it a K2P2 rib throughout, except for the sole and gusset which is in plain stocking stitch, and the heel flap which is nicely textured in a fancy rib.

Ribbed Socks

 Gauge for these socks = 42 rows and 30 stitches over 10x10cm) 
 (Use 4 DPN (Double-Pointed Needles -Size 3mm/     )

Sock as in pattern

Some Abbreviations: 

RS = Right Side; WS = Wrong Side; Sl = Slip (take stitch off left-hand needle without knitting it)
N = Needle K or k = Knit; P or p = Purl; sl1,k1,psso = slip 1, knit 1, pass slip stitch over knit stitch (you can use ssk instead = slip1, slip1, knit 2 tog.)

Socks Pattern
Cast on 60 stitches and divide between 3 needles - 20 per needle (duh!)
K2 P2 rib for desired length - about 6-7 inches is fine for ankle boot socks

Heel Flap

Knit 30 stitches onto one needle and put remaining 30 stitches on Stitch Holder (or a big nappy/safety pin!)
Knit back and forth on heel flap as follows:

Heel & Gusset close-up

• Row 1 (RS) - Slip 1, K1, *P1, K2 Repeat from * to end
• Row 2 (WS) -Slip 1, P1, *K1, P2 Repeat from * to end
• Repeat these 2 rows total of 15 times - you'll have 15 slip stitches along edge of heel flap.

Turning Heel

 (I used stocking stitch, but you could continue the K2 P2 rib of main sock if you prefer - gives a springy sole!)

• R1(RS) – Sl 1, k16, ssk, k1, turn.
• R2(WS) – Sl 1, p5, p2tog, p1, turn.
• R3 – Sl 1, k6, ssk, k1, turn.
• R4 – Sl 1, p7, p2tog, p1, turn.
• R5 – Sl 1, k8, ssk, k1, turn.
• R6 – Sl 1, p9, p2tog, p1, turn.
• R7 – Sl 1, k10, ssk, k1, turn.
• R8 – Sl 1, p11, p2tog, p1, turn.
• R9 – Sl 1, k12, ssk, k1, turn.
• R10 – Sl 1, p13, p2tog, p1, turn.
• R11 – Sl 1, k14, ssk, k1, turn.



Modelling the sock!

• R12 – Sl 1, p15, p2tog, p1, turn. (18 sts. remain)

Slip 1, knit 8 sts (to middle of heel), this will now be the beginning of round.


(I copied and pasted this part from a Ravelry downloaded PDF pattern for SKYP Rib Socks by Adrienne Ku - here is the link)

Heel – gusset
Set-up Round

• Needle 1 - knit remaining 9 stitches from heel turn, pick up and knit 15 stitches along heel edge flap plus 1 extra between flap and instep. (Total = 25 stitches)
• Needle 2 - transfer instep stitches from needle holder to needle and K2 P2 Rib across instep.
• Needle 3 - pick up and knit 1 stitch between instep and heel flap, pick up and knit 15 stitches along heel edge, K 9 from sole. 

There are now 3 needles with 25, 30, and 25 stitches.
You will need to decrease 1 stitch at instep edge of alternate rows until you are back to 15, 30 and 15 stitches.
Do this as follows:

• Round 1 -N1 - K to last 3 stitches, k2 tog., k1. N 2 - Continue K2 P2 rib across instep. N 3 = k1, sl1,k1,psso, k to end 
• Round 2 - Knit N 1 & 3, K2 P2 rib on instep
• Repeat these 2 rounds  until you are left with 15, 30 and 15 stitches on each needle.

Foot

Continue sock foot in rounds until 2 ins/4cm shorter than length of foot (allow for some stretch)

Another angle

Toe shaping

Round 1: Knit
Round 2:
N1: K to last 3 stitches - k2 tog. k1.
N2: k1, sl1,k1,psso, k to last 3 stitches, k2 tog. k1.
N3: k1, sl1,k1,psso, k to end.
Continue these 2 rounds until 16 stitches remain. (4, 8, 4). Put 4+4 on one needle = 2 needles of 8 stitches. Graft toe with Kitchener Stitch. This is a neat seamless finish for a toe.

Here's a video clip of how it's done

Kitchener Stitch Video Clip

Finishing can also be done by casting off two stitches together (One stitch from each needle knitted as one, then knit next stitch from each needle as one and pass the 1st one over the last one. Repeat until all cast off, then weave in cut ends of yarn. I am sure there's a video for that method too but I  haven't found it yet. I'll be back like Arnie when I do!

There are endless variations possible with these socks. You can use the SKYP Rib Socks I referenced above, or a simpler ribby pattern, liek K4 P2 or K2 P1. I hope you see it as a basic pattern, and I might make it a PDF to upload to Ravelry in the future, when the General Election's over and I get my life back to normal - this time next week all will be revealed - let's hope Labour will have a new woman TD from Waterford!

Socks, Scarves and Snowflakes - coping with the Big Freeze at Christmas

Modelling the Curly-Wurly Ruffle Scarf

I've been trying to keep my mind off the state of the nation (not an easy task) by immersing myself in knitting and crochet mini-projects. It may be a sign of the times that I can't get down to a single big project like a jumper or jacket, as there's just too much going on with work, home and Christmas less than a week away to concentrate on something demanding a lot of time and attention. That's what the grim gloom of January and February is for! Jany (our d-i-l-to-be) has totally taken to crochet since I showed her how to do it a few months back, and has made some wonderful hats and scarves since then, some of which I posted about recently. She has got me hooked (sorry, couldn't resist that!) on it as well, and as it is much quicker than knitting there's a certain attraction when you want something in a hurry.

This weekend I made a lovely curly-wurly ruffle scarf, in chunky random-dyed wool from the local shop - Angela's Design Workshop - which has reawakened interest in a lot of dormant knitters and crocheters. This coral reef style pattern was so easy and fast to work I couldn't believe it - a scarf in a couple of hours. I can see myself making presents of these for friends - so watch out!

Curly-Wurly Ruffle Scarf

I also got some terrific wool in Lidl which awaits my attention but is such good value you couldn't leave it - especially as Lidl only very occasionally has wool for sale, and when it's there you grab it. There were whole kits - wool, pattern and a circular needle for a jumper for about €5 - ridiculous and yet unmissable. The small independent shops can't compete with that so I don't abandon our local shop which has terrific bargain basement wool - balls of 100g DK for €3, perfectly serviceable and the makings of a scarf or a pair of socks. How bad is that?

Curly-Wurly Ruffle Scarf detail

Cable and Basketweave Socks

Heel detail of  Cable and Basketweave socks

A couple of weeks ago I finished a pair of socks - pattern from Ravelry I think - Cable and Basketweave design. They are very chunky and warm, only suitable with my trainers which is fine, but too thick for my ankle boots. I love them, and they were trimmed with remnants from my stash, so very good for using up scraps. I had a disaster with another pair - my lovely peachy socks I posted about a while back - when second son washed his jeans in the same load. They emerged sludge grey and the little heel hole I'd planned on darning had expanded to beyond repair level - even if they'd retained their colour. So into the bin, before their time. The trials and tribulations of hand knit socks - they don't always wear as well as the shop socks but then that's not why I make them!

Seafoam Scarf

Snowflake for the tree!

I got some random-dyed wool blend a few weeks ago and made this lovely loopy seafoam scarf, and that was another pattern from one of the many online sites I wander around. You can see the original pattern and I made it in a different blend of colours. It was easy to make and ran up very quickly.

This weekend I made a lovely crochet snowflake - it was from a Lion Brand Yarn free download pattern - and Jany made two or three more - they are all delightful and adorn our tree, so that's something I'll do again. There are so many talented designers out there - all I do is knit and crochet, not design anything. 

So I hope you get some inspiration from this post - I hadn't knitted or crocheted anything for  years and only took it up a few years ago, and now I find it a great hobby with a nice end product - and I love that I've shown some others how to knit (Tandy who came in March and is now knitting in London!) and Jany. She has passed me out by leaps and bounds and last night we laughed when she showed me how to do a 3D flower in crochet, while she was a beginner only a few short months ago. There are hundreds of online tutorials for knitting and crochet projects, so check them out on YouTube - just search for them by name and you'll be busy for some time. Most of them are also available as printed patterns, if you prefer.

Toll Plaza on M8 Cork-Dublin motorway at Watergrasshill, Co. Cork

As we are in the middle of the coldest December in my memory with snow and sub-zero temperatures I wish you all a very Happy Christmas. Hope you enjoyed my last post with all our news from the year, and I am loving reading all the cards and letter coming by snail mail each day through our letter box. You can't beat the old ways - even though I only hand-write at Christmas since the advent of email and blogging!

Here's a photo of the road from Cork today after bringing Shayne, Jany and little Sofia home after a weekend with us in Lismore. They'll all be here for Christmas which will be terrific.

Comfort Zones - Chocolate Pecan Brownies and Peachy Socks

Brownies ready for the oven - Pecans and 70% Chocolate

Yesterday I was perusing blogs and came across this decadent-looking recipe over on Brownieville Girl's foodie blog and thought - I've got all the stuff in the kitchen - so I got stuck in straight away and made them. I have to confess I  hadn't made brownies since we lived in Africa over 15 years ago as I am not that mad about rich chocolate cakes - but then I have eaten some delicious brownies over the years and they are quite different from chocolate sponge cake.

Mixing the Brownie Batter with the pecans

Firstly they are so concentrated and dense that you only need a small one to feel satisfied and full (she tells herself!); secondly, they are totally different in texture and have a moist centre with a slightly crunchy outside; and finally what clinched it for  me was seeing a brownie in the coffee shop we went to for lunch yesterday that cost €1.50 - and that was not much more than a mouthful.

Cheapskate that I am it kills me to see such prices for what's basically a slice of a tray-bake, in the same way that my inner Scrooge baulks at paying €1.90 or €2 for a cup of hot water with a teabag. I do enjoy going for lunch with my colleagues and a couple of times a week we meet up - but mostly I bring lunch with me and have it in the tearoom at work with an endless supply of free tea from the Burco boiler!

Ready steady bake!

I decided to experiment with these lovely brownies to bring them into work to share with my colleagues in the tearoom. They could be my guinea pigs, as they have shown themselves adept at sampling my other experiments, be they Anzac cookies or plain old Apple Tarts. They were very happy to do so and the brownies vanished like the promises in a political manifesto after polling day.

Here's the recipe from the Brownieville Girl Blog with full credit to her for sharing it with us - you can also link to her recipe post here.
(I am not familiar with cups but I used a cone measure which has cups on it and that helped, along with our digital scales)

Brownies (Courtesy of Brownieville Girl) with Pecan Nuts

Brownies cooling down - cut into squares

(my variation)
Adapted from Cooks Illustrated

Ingredients

Ready with the cuppa tea - or hot chocolate to go all out!

1. 1/3  cup                cocoa
2. 1 tsp                     instant espresso powder
3. 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp   boiling water
4. 2 oz (55g)            dark chocolate (at least 70%) finely chopped
5. 2oz (55g)             butter - melted
6. 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp  vegetable oil
7. 2                          large eggs
8. 2                          egg yolks
9. 2 tsp                    vanilla extract
10. 2 cups                 sugar
11. 1/2 cup                brown sugar
12. 1 3/4 cups           flour
13. 1/2 tsp                 salt
14. 6oz (165g)          dark chocolate (again at least 70%!) chopped into pieces
15. 1 Cup                 roughly chopped Pecan or Walnuts (optional)

Method

• Preheat oven to 180 C/350 F
• Line a 9" brownie tin with parchment paper, or just butter it.  
• You can also use a roasting dish/tin with parchment paper lining as I did.

• Whisk cocoa, coffee and boiling water in a large bowl. 
• (I used a saucepan for everything instead as I melted the butter and chocolate on the stove top)
• Add 2 oz chocolate  and whisk until melted.
• Whisk in the melted butter and oil.
• Add eggs and egg yolks, vanilla extract and whisk until totally blended.
• Whisk in the sugars until well incorporated.
• Add the flour and salt and combine carefully with a large spoon.
• Mix Pecan nuts or Walnuts thoroughly in mixture

Scatter the chocolate pieces over the brownie mixture.

• Bake 30 - 35 minutes - you know how to check it's right!
• Allow to cool for 1 1/2 hours and then cut into nice big chunks. (I used a Pizza Cutter)

I hope you like the photos - the chocolate I used was Lidl's Ecuador 70%, while the Cocoa was Green & Black's Organic Cocoa - a perfect combo! The whole thing took no time to make - I used a hand whisk as the mix is like pancake batter till you fold in the flour when it thickens a bit. No need for much elbow grease at all!

Cosy Toes in Comfy Boots

Peachy Pastel Lacy Socks

As for the peachy pastel socks - these were just too pretty to pass by. I found the pattern via Ravelry like so many others - they are also from the Fantasy Cascade range and I used DK yarn - 100gm ball of a lovely pale peachy colour that I'd bought in Buncrana in September - I got it as a baby wool but as I got two balls I have plenty leftover. The socks use about 65gms. I found the pattern easy-peasy once I got used to the repeat, every 16 rows. The pattern can be downloaded as a free PDF from the Cascade Yarns Fixation site here  You can see the pattern on the link about half-way down - W124 Fancy Feet - it's the middle sock of the three shown. 
(If you want to follow me on Ravelry I'm there as LismoreLady!)

Hanging out in the garden

The beauty of these socks I've been making is that they are actually very wearable and I am as snug as a bug in a rug these days with my new ankle boots and home-made socks keeping me warm and cosy. I got my new Clarks ankle boots in Shaw's in Dungarvan a few weeks ago - and they are a tad big for popsox or normal tights, as I wanted to have enough room for woolly ribbed tights or my knitted socks - and they work a dream. So the moral is - go a half-size up if you want that bit of space in your boots - especially if you try them on wearing popsox.

I think I'll be making some of these as Christmas pressies - maybe even as a blog giveaway when I get around to it - watch this space!

Meanwhile, happy baking and knitting to all!

New Boots with my Coral Socks

Heel and pattern detail of Lacy Socks

Variations on a Theme - Socks of a different colour, Crochet Revisited, and a Nation on the Brink.

The socks in the morning sunshine

It's a sunny October Bank Holiday Monday and I am looking out the garden at the banana trees that have been burnt by the first sharp frost of the autumn. It's a sign that we're looking down the barrel of winter and while I hope it won't be as harsh as last winter the prophets of doom and gloom are predicting a worse one - in line with the economic forecast and a December budget which promises to leave last year's hairshirt budget in the cashmere stakes.

At times it seems like the revolution must be just around the corner as there's so much anger in the populace. The perception that the government is bailing out the banks at the expense of the ordinary folk was reinforced by the news today that the developers whose assets are in our toxic bank NAMA (The National Asset Management Agency) are planning to pay themselves salaries of around €200,000 p.a. - a drop from their accustomed €1million+ salaries. Not that we feel their pain - some of these wheelers and dealers have been shifting assets to their spouses as fast as their lawyers can draft the documents and moving themselves offshore and beyond extradition in some cases.

The finished coral socks

There are court appearances every week of developers or local Councillors implicated in corruption charges - even this week one developer who has even had the brass neck to revoke his Irish citizenship for expediency and tax purposes was charged along with some former government Councillors who took his bribes - allegedly - and he was granted bail if he had an Irish address - so he gave the Four Seasons Hotel in leafy Ballsbridge as the address! If this isn't giving the finger to the authorities and those of us who are still proud to be Irish I don't know what is.

Detail of the heel and foot.

But to calm me down and stay sane I have sought refuge in (amongst other therapeutic activities like baking!) knitting and have revived a long-dormant skill in crochet. Regular followers of the blog will know I've made legwarmers and socks lately, and now I have finished another pair of textured open-patterned socks this time in a peachy Coral. The photo taken on the clothes line is truer than in those taken indoors. The pattern is a free download from Ravelry - Fixation Cascade Yarn is the recommended yarn but I used ordinary DK yarn - cheap and cheerful. (on the Cascade link they are the ones labelled Fixation Lacy Multicolored Socks W135)

Simple Crochet flowers

Granny Squares and little flowers

Over the weekend Jany (D-i-L to be) and myself dabbled in crochet and made some Granny Squares and flowers, finding an online tutorial on YouTube. (There are lots of tutorials on knitting and crochet on YouTube so no excuse for not trying something new). This was a lot of fun and Jany has been amazingly quick at picking it up. So I hope you get some inspiration from this post and realise it's never too late to start afresh. I loved crochet as a teenager and made some clothes from Granny Squares - a waistcoat and a bag come to mind - but this was the '70s (the decade that taste forgot, some would say!) and I doubt I'll be going down that road again.

Banana plants in the sun

Banana plant after the frost

As for the banana trees - here are photos of them last week in their green glory juxtaposed with some taken today after the frost. They die off each winter and then phoenix-like arise from the ground in May to grow and thrive for the summer. We had so many suckers (little ones) this year we gave some away and brought some into the sunroom for overwintering - and they are already growing like proverbial Triffids! It's lovely to have a mini-tropical garden in the house and it keeps us in touch with our past life in the real tropics - a nostalgia trip for every day.

Banana plant post-frost

Banana plant last week - with Ben

Socks on the Rocks - and the Beach - Knitting to go

Here are some of my recent knitting projects - I already told you about the gloves I made during the summer, and the kick I got out of trying something totally new. Well that's probably what inspired me to try my hand at knitting socks. I had a bit of a hang-up about these as I had some residual PTSD (Post-Traumatic Sock Disorder) from school where I remember turning heels as a particularly cruel form of nun-administered torture where ripping and restarting resulted in a grubby straggly distinctly unwearable sort-of sock.

I never looked back until now - and boy am I glad I did! I have really enjoyed the challenge of making these two great pairs of socks, and they are quick for on-the-go knitting - on the bus, train, car (as a passenger, I hasten to add!) and during your lunch break on the beach, as I did yesterday.

The mint socks you see here are a lacy pattern from Cascade Yarns which is a free download from their site here and which are also on Ravelry which I recently joined - there are so many knitting sites and wonderful projects for sharing that you need never buy a pattern again. I just love the various books and have learnt a lot of tips from them on how to perfect different techniques I thought I knew - and did, just not quite as good as I do now.

The lavender socks are from my old reliable book How to Knit that my gloves came from. They are simply plain knitted socks which I embellished with a few daisy stitches embroidered on the side in hot pink - sadly not on these photos but they really look funky and a bit dippy-hippy. These were easy-peasy to knit, and once I mastered the heel flap turn I was delighted with myself. There are a variety of heel-turns and I've only done these two flaps so far, but there are a myriad out there for future socks - I could become a terminal bore about knitting and socks, so stop me in time - it could be catching!


There's a wonderful sandspit near my work area called the Cunnigar which is about two miles long - it stretches across most of Dungarvan Bay from Ring, where it's accessible by road, towards Abbeyside across the bay from Dungarvan, and there was talk of bridging it over a century ago as part of a relief scheme mooted by the board of Guardians of the local Workhouse, but that didn't happen. It would have destroyed what is now a virtual nature reserve, as it is a haven for birds and small wildlife, and the tides can still flow undisturbed in and out of the harbour at Dungarvan, while the shallows on the seaward side are home to numerous oyster beds of the local fishermen in Ring. At low tide there's a vast grid of oyster beds visible which vanish when the tide comes in.

Yesterday I walked about half way along the Cunnigar, and took some photos of the sea and sky, with the tractors on the sands away in the distance. I often wonder how much time they have before they have to return to safe ground and avoid being swamped. I had my lunch sitting on the wall overlooking the beach and thought how lovely to enjoy the outdoors in late September - the weather was warm and sunny and I knitted some more sock rounds.

The evening before I was at a Trade Union meeting in Waterford and as I arrived early I had something to eat in the Ramada Viking - they do lovely bar food there - and spent a quiet hour there knitting and reading after I'd enjoyed my cajun chicken wrap. So I can see myself as a latter-day Madame Defarge - albeit less ghoulish and knitting with a purpose I hope - and always have a little bag with some knitting to go with me.

My next project are legwarmers for my future D-i-L Jany - I've got this great cable pattern from Ravelry and will get started this weekend - watch this space for the end result whenever I get there.

The Photos show various stages of socks -
and the lovely views from my walk along the Cunnigar yesterday in Ring.