Me-Made-May 2019 - Necker Socks

My Necker Socks were made a little while ago and have a love/hate story behind them. I made the pair of socks when I got a book called the Op Art Sock Book. It's a great book full of sock patterns that use either colour or texture to create an optical illusion on your socks. The idea is great, and the patterns are great too!

So I set out with great intent to create a pair of Necker socks, one of the first patterns in the book. Unfortunately my choice of yarn let me down substantially. I loved the pattern, I loved the yarn. Together they made something icky and somewhat soul destroying to knit.

The yarn I chose was West Yorkshire Spinner Signature 4 ply in their Bluetit colourway. A Beautiful yarn that really does encompass the colours of the bluetit, of which we have many in our garden. I loved the yarn, and I believe at the time I wanted to knit these socks the only sock yarn in my stash was variegated and patterned. I knew that you shouldn't really mix patterned socks with patterned yarn. I threw caution to the wind because I was inpatient to get knitting, and I learned my lesson the hard way.

To not do things by half I also decided to try making socks two at a time for the first time while attempting to knit these socks as well. My word I know how to make life difficult for myself...

I very quickly fell out of love when I was knitting these socks, and gave up fairly quickly before all the pattern repeats had been done. I cut them short after picking the socks up and filling with dread for knitting them. My stubbornness did help in that I refused just to put them in a corner and forget about them.

I did finally finish the pair of socks, knit on a 2mm circular needle, at a knit night, and in the same night cast on the shortie sock you saw the other day. The leg is a lot shorter than it should be, and the pattern does not show off the yarn at its best, and neither the yarn show off the pattern.

My boyfriend did ask if he could have a pair of Necker socks a little while later, and I did start them. Unfortunately I didn't like the yarn I was making them with and I thought it wouldn't do for a pair of socks, so it got frogged. I haven't quite got around to having a second go. I should sometime though, if only for the satisfaction of having beaten the pattern! :P

So here is the photo from my instagram stories. I was at work the day I wore these socks and they were quite comfy in my work boots, which is all that matters really.

Happy Making!

Me-Made-May 2019 - Leftovers Socks, Blue Tit and Kingfisher

Day 4 of Me-Made-May was a sock day. I feel like wearing my socks for Me-Made-May is not putting in much effort, especially when it wasn't a work day, I need to remind myself that homemade socks are just as important.

This pair in particular are what I like to call my Leftovers Socks. Most of the time I get 100g of sock yarn to make a pair of socks, and every time there is a fair amount of leftover yarn. In fact there is more than enough to make myself one shortie sock. So I do, and seeing as I give away a lot of the socks I knit, it is a lovely reminder of what I have made. There is a bit of an odd sock nature to making my leftovers socks, so I will often make one straight after I've finished the pair it is from and I'll end up having one sock without a partner for a little while. I also occasionally mix and match the shorties, but usually they stay in a little mismatched pair.

The first sock from this little pair that was made was one made from the leftovers from my Necker Socks, and they were knit on a 2mm circular needle with 64 stitches. They were knit in West Yorkshire Spinners signature 4 ply in the Bluetit colourway. It was finished quite fast but then stayed on the side for a very long time waiting for a partner.

It was also the first time I had used a cardboard cut out of my foot for measuring the sock against to work out when to start the toe. Fortunately it worked quite well, and I have repeated the technique several times, getting cut outs of feet for the people I knit socks for regularly.

The second leftovers sock is from a pair of socks that I made my Mam. She picked out a ball of West Yorkshire Spinners in the Kingfisher colourway. So it was the same base as the first shortie sock. The socks that I knitted for my Mam were knit on 2.5mm DPNs, and so I used them for this sock as well, using a 60 stitch count for my thin foot.

I did knit this second shortie in a little bit of a panic as I thought that I hadn't got enough pairs of socks to last me a shift at work over Me-Made-May. Having this second sock would create another pair and enough for the shift. I soon realised that I actually already had five pairs of hand knitted socks and another would make six. So I had one day extra - thankfully!

So having pooped out that second sock it got paired up and put away with the Necker shortie sock ready for the day it was to be worn. Which was day 4. The pair did quite well, and they got put through their paces being walked around Richmond and then playing a badminton match. The fact that they were both knit at different gauges was noticeable however. Which isn't surprising really.

They were still a joy to wear and will be put through the wash for another day, so here's the instagram the story shot, happy making!

Me-Made-May 2019 - Brigitte Scarf

I went away for the weekend, so I'm catching up with blog posts now I am back with my laptop again.

Day 3 of Me-Made-May I wore my Brigitte Scarf. A little head scarf that I made very shortly after I got my Tilly and the Buttons book (it's a Tilly and the Buttons pattern suprise suprise! ;) ) and it is the first pattern in there and brilliant for new beginners. It is also on her website as a tutorial, so follow the link above if you want to find out more.

I did this pattern just as a little something to keep my fingers busy before deciding what the next big sew was going to be. The fabric was from a scrap bin in a fabric shop near to my LYS, and I thought that the blue with little birds in flight was lovely. It seemed the perfect thing to make with it. The Brigitte scarf itself is very versatile as well. I have worn it in so many ways since I made it and I really do love it.

The fabric scrap wasn't long enough to make a scarf the exact same length as the pattern says, but I made one as long as I could out of the fabric I had. Fortunately I have a small head so there wasn't going to be many problems.

I wore this on the train journey up to London for the weekend and it helpfully kept my hair out of my eyes - and I have a lot of it!

Unfortunately I don't have a close up photo of the scarf, so you cannot see the stitching, but I did make some changes the following time that I made this pattern. This particular scarf when I turned the scarf the right side out, I ran a length of top stitching along the edge with the hole in it. It looks fine and when wearing the scarf it isn't noticeable, but for some reason it bugged me. I have a basic sewing machine, so I don't have any of the snazzy top stitch settings that some do, which would have finished the edge of this scarf off beautifully.

I did make a second Brigitte scarf, which you will probably see later on in the month, but for that one I hand stitched the hole closed in a way that hides the stitching from the outside, which I feel makes it so much better. But I am happy with this one! I will leave you with the picture from my Instagram stories for day 3, I also was wearing my Margot Pyjamas, well, because they are my pyjamas! ;)

Me-Made-May 2019 - Margot Pyjamas

Now I don't know if my second day of Me-Made-May is a cop-out or not. But I still wore it! For my second day, I have a lovely pair of pyjama bottoms that I made from the Tilly and the Buttons Margot pattern.

I think the pattern is only available in the Tilly and the Buttons book Love at First Stitch, which really got me into home sewing. It really was love at first stitch. If you do want to get started it is a really helpful book, and will go through everything. I mean EVERYTHING, you could never have seen a sewing machine before and by the time you'd finished that book you would be able to sew a dress. It is fun to read and there is explanations for all the sewing jargon. You can probably tell I love it.

One of the first patterns I tried from that book was the Margot pyjamas. They looked fun and were one of the easier makes - plus if it looked horrible then no one was going to see as I would be wearing them to bed. Result.

As with most projects, knitted or sewn, there is always something that doesn't quite go to plan. Just like the Fern and Feather one of my problems was to do with measuring. But that wasn't my first problem oh no. It started well before the pattern was actually started.

I had it in the back of my mind to make these and it was a trip to a fabric shop with my best friend that set the idea of making them into motion when I found the fabric. A cream coloured fabric with green planes and blue cars. I loved it, decided that was what I was going to make my pyjamas out of and bought a metre. That was my first mistake. I hadn't looked at the fabric specifications at all, and what a newbie sewer like myself didn't know what that a metre is hardly enough to do anything - even if you are a smallish size.

The disaster was saved somewhat by that same delightful friend who make a quick trip back to the same fabric shop to pick me up another metre and post it to me. Once that was sorted I got on with making the pattern. But even two meters wasn't quite enough to make the full length of the bottoms, but I made do with a cropped length. Which I think looks fine.

The second mistake, was my measuring mistake. I learned the hard way where exactly you should measure when it says "hip measurement". That is the widest part around your bum. Not the top of your hips - just sayin'. Lets put it this way, I made the size too small (I have a tiny waist but larger hips) the size would fit my waist quite well but not my hips so much. Which I found out when I first went to try the pyjamas on.

I will give you an amusing mental image. I managed to wriggle my way into the bottoms, they JUST got over my hips and settled nicely around my waist, "sorted I thought, not so bad after all", but there I was wrong. They were kinda hard to move around in and it was then I realised that I couldn't actually take them off... Luckily I had put them on inside out and the seams were easily accessible. So there I was sitting down, unpicking the side seams of my pyjama bottoms whilst still wearing them, in order to take them off.

It was rather disheartening really, but having the engineers way of thinking, I quickly came up with a solution to my problem. Re-making them in a larger size wasn't really an option. I didn't have enough fabric anyway, and to do that would have been a waste and felt wrong somehow. So I remeasured my hips and worked out how much more space I needed to create at the top to allow me to get in and out. I then created two triangle pieces to put in at the top. I put them in with the point at the place on the side seam where I was the widest, and that allowed me to be able to wear them properly. Thank goodness.

So I managed in the end to make a functional piece of clothing. It isn't the most polished or the prettiest, but I still love them. I am quite proud of them, and they are in my usual pyjama rotation now. I do intend to make another pair the right size and the right length soon too, now I know exactly what fabric I need! ;)

So here is the photo for Me-Made-May day 2, sleepy having just got up early to go and vote in the local elections with my Mam.

Happy Making!

P.S - I forgot to say they had pockets! Yes, pockets.

Me-Made-May 2019 - Fern and Feather Jumper

It is the 1st of May, and it is my very first time taking part in the Me-Made-May Challenge hosted by Zoe of the So Zo What Do You Know Blog, and it is the 10th Year of the challenge. I had heard of the challenge before hand, but only really in passing. But it was this year, with my more recent sewing experience with Tilly and the Buttons new book, Love At First Stitch I decided that I was going to join in.

The idea is to make a challenge for yourself and make a pledge to complete your challenge. My pledge I made on the SoZo Blog, to try and wear at least one item of clothing that I had made every day throughout May. Hopefully in the process I will be able to find out what sort of things I need in my own Me-Made wardrobe. Now the challenge is not a photo challenge, but people are more than welcome to share their photos and progress. I personally want to share photos in my instagram stories to keep me accountable every day to make sure that I do manage to carry out this challenge.

What I plan to do is every day that I wear a new Me-Make, I will post a little blog post here with information about what it is, the pattern I have made it from, and the materials I have used. So I will start off my first blog post of Me-Made-May 2019 with my Fern and Feather Jumper.

This is the Fern and Feather knitting pattern by Jennifer Steingas, that you can find on Ravelry. The yarn I used was by Countess Ablaze, the base for both colours was the Grande Merino base. The main colour was Footloose (Funk Remix), and the contrasting colour was in a natural undyed, white colour.

The pooling of the colours of green throughout the jumper I loved, and it was my first proper garment! I had knitted a jumper before, but it was without a pattern, having never made an adult sized jumper before and I went ahead and winged it, and it isn't quite right. I think for Me-Made-May I will get it out and do some jumper surgery. But back to the Fern and Feather.

It really was a joy to knit, and the colour work yoke was surprisingly easy. I loved it so much, that I knit another one for my Mam.

My knitting however wasn't without it's mistakes. The biggest mistake however, wasn't really anything to do with my knitting, But my ability to read the pattern instructions properly.

Those of you who have made a Fern and Feather before will know that the pattern is designed with about 3 inches of positive ease. As you can see from mine, there isn't any. Now I am dyslexic and I struggle to process information properly the first time a read it and that is exactly what happened and by the time I had realised I had already done the yoke, split the sleeves and started on the body. So I assumed that seeing as the pattern had 3 inches of positive ease, that making the size that was my bust measurement would mean that it would be 3 inches bigger than that. But I was wrong - oh well!

I had got quite far when I realised and I decided to just carry on and finish the jumper. I am glad I did, but I will admit that it was the reason that this jumper has only really been worn once or twice since it was made, which is a shame really.

Putting this jumper on this morning was a joy though, and I can't really believe that I was holding off from wearing this jumper just because it wasn't like the pattern suggested. I'll leave you with today's photo from when I put it on. Check out my instagram stories for the daily updates on what I am wearing each day (previous days will be saved on a highlight that you can find on my instagram profile) and you will see how often this jumper gets worn. Hopefully a lot more than it ever has been!

Happy Making, I hope your Me-Made-May is enjoyable, however you plan to spend it.

Lemmon Juicer Podcast Ep 14: The One with All the Sniffing

Welcome to the Lemmon Juicer Podcast, pick up a knit and get settled down!

Instagram: @lemmonjuicer
Ravelry: sockbug97
Ravelry Group: Lemmon Juicer Podcast
Blog: www.lemmonjuicer.blogspot.co.uk

Extended Shownotes you will find on the Blog or in the Ravelry Group.

So Zo What Do You Know: http://sozowhatdoyouknow.blogspot.com/

Finished Objects:
Cancun Boxy Erin Kate Archer: https://www.ravelry.com/projects/Sockbug97/cancun-boxy-lace-top
- Alacey top that I knitted with a DK weight Sirdar Seafarer in a navy blue colour, on 6mm straight needles. I am quite pleased with the outcome, and hopefully it will get some wear over the summer months.

Socks for Mam: https://www.ravelry.com/projects/Sockbug97/mams-afterthought-socks
- A pair of socks knitted without a pattern. The needles are 2.5mm DPNs and a 64 sts count. They make just the right size for my Mam (as well as me!) The main colour yarn is West Yorkshire Spinners signature 4 ply in the Kingfisher colourway, and the contrast heel and toe is also in WYS, but in their Bo Peep 4 ply base in the colour Tin Man. This is also the first time I have done an afterthought heel - neat huh!

Leftovers Sock: https://www.ravelry.com/projects/Sockbug97/leftovers-sock--mams-afterthought
- A shortie sock made for myself out of the leftover yarn from my Mam's socks above. Quick and simple, again on 2,5mm DPNs, a 64 sts count and a german short row heel! (Maybe one day I'll write up the pattern)

Spinning: Dark Jacobs fleece.
- A fleece given to me when I bought my wheel, spun up into a simple two ply, mainly a dark brown colour with a lovely few specks of the lighter coloured fleece.

WIPs:
Baby Cross Stitch: https://www.sewandso.co.uk/product/train-birth-record-cross-stitch-kit/1001851
- Another little something for my soon-to-be nephew. I'm getting more and more excited as the project moves on!

Galewood Gauntlets:https://www.ravelry.com/projects/Sockbug97/galewood
- Made out of Devonia in the Bleeding Heart colourway from the John Arbon mill, which is here in Devon. I am feeling slightly underwhelmed by the project so far, but I'm hoping that if I just carry on and give it a good blocking all will work out fine.

Lyne Socks: https://www.ravelry.com/projects/Sockbug97/lyne-socks
- Lyne by Dawn Henderson, and yak sock yarn from the lovely Gamercrafting in the Lagoon Mist colourway seems a match made in Heaven! Super soft and super enjoyable.

Delphine Skirt: From Tilly and the Buttons book Love at First Stitch
- Not sure if this is available as a pattern on its own (not sure it is sorry!) but I am making my own version of this simple a-line skirt out of a orange and cream houndstooth type fabric found at a fabric shop near to my LYS. Hopefully this will be a nice make and get me into wearing skirts more often.

Spinning: Green Batts
- I picked up two lovely green batts from a shop called Wool-On-The-Exe in Exeter on my last visit there. I have no idea what they are, they came out of a basket labelled "Wool Batts" so there we go. :P I've spun each batt up separately and am going to ply them together again into a simple two ply.

In The Shed:
Heddle: Trying to make a heddle for my loom.
- We are on the closing stages, and the heddle will get glued together this episode and hopefully if all goes well, it will be finished and tested next time.

Real Talk:
These are some links to the people leading the conversations around racism and inclusion in the
knitting community, take a look at their stories and discover some new people:
@su.krita - https://www.instagram.com/su.krita/?hl=en
@thecolormustard - https://www.instagram.com/thecolormustard/?hl=en
@ocean_bythesea - https://www.instagram.com/ocean_bythesea/?hl=en
@booksandcables - https://www.instagram.com/booksandcables/?hl=en
@ggmadeit - https://www.instagram.com/ggmadeit/?hl=en

Layla F Saad's workbook: https://www.meandwhitesupremacybook.com/
Unfinished Object: https://www.unfinishedobject.com/
Vox Article: https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2019/2/25/18234950/knitting-racism-instagram-stories

Music:
"Inspired" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Lemmon Juicer Podcast Ep 13: The One with All the Interuptions

Welcome to the Lemmon Juicer Podcast, put the kettle on and get stuck in!

Instagram: @lemmonjuicer
Ravelry: sockbug97
Ravelry Group: Lemmon Juicer Podcast
Blog: www.lemmonjuicer.blogspot.co.uk

Extended Shownotes you will find on the Blog or in the Ravelry Group.

Real Talk:
These are some links to the people leading the conversations around racism and inclusion in the
knitting community, take a look at their stories and discover some new people:
@su.krita - https://www.instagram.com/su.krita/?hl=en
@thecolormustard - https://www.instagram.com/thecolormustard/?hl=en
@ocean_bythesea - https://www.instagram.com/ocean_bythesea/?hl=en
@booksandcables - https://www.instagram.com/booksandcables/?hl=en
@ggmadeit - https://www.instagram.com/ggmadeit/?hl=en

Layla F Saad's workbook: https://www.meandwhitesupremacybook.com/
Unfinished Object: https://www.unfinishedobject.com/
Vox Article: https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2019/2/25/18234950/knitting-racism-instagram-stories

Finished Objects:
Hermione's Everyday Socks: https://www.ravelry.com/projects/Sockbug97/hermiones-everyday-socks - Knitted on 2mm DPNs and in Malibrigo Sock yarn in the Ivy colourway. I love these socks and will now become Lottie's everyday socks! ;)

Baby Barley: https://www.ravelry.com/projects/Sockbug97/barley-2 This is knit in Gamer Crafting 100% Merino DK in the Kind colourway. I definitely did make my new nephew a matching hat with myself... Who wouldn't.

Baby Flax: https://www.ravelry.com/projects/Sockbug97/flax This is another baby knit for my new nephew. This is done in King Cole Riot DK, in two colours, caribbean and neon, to create an awesome rainbow stripe thing going on!

Margot Pyjamas Tilly and the Buttons: https://shop.tillyandthebuttons.com/products/love-at-first-stitch - These pyjamas are comfy but bodged, I'll recommend measuring yourself properly before cutting into your precious fabric! The pattern is included in the book Love at First Stitch, after a quick search I'm not sure if you can get it separately, but the book is well worth it! I thought I new a little bit about sewing, but this book has taught me so much.

WIPs:
Cancun Boxy Erin Kate Archer: https://www.ravelry.com/projects/Sockbug97/cancun-boxy-lace-top - yes it is STILL a WIP, but we are getting there. And yes I haven't done anything on it since you last saw it... But I am still enjoying it, I'll knit a little on it today!

Socks for Mam: https://www.ravelry.com/projects/Sockbug97/mams-afterthought-socks - I am making another pair of socks for my mother, this time out of West Yorkshire Spinners signature 4 ply in the Kingfisher colourway, on 2.5mm DPNs. These will have contrast heels and toes and an afterthought heel. The first time I've done either.

Baby Cross Stitch: https://www.sewandso.co.uk/product/train-birth-record-cross-stitch-kit/1001851 - another little thing for my nephew, he already seems to be a little bit spoiled.


In The Shed:
Heddle: Trying to make a heddle for my loom.

Music:
"Inspired" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/