my creative space . . . keeping me amused in January :)

Pheeeew, it's been a bit of a week this week - in between getting the house back to 'normal', sorting out two 'messy' boys' bedrooms (I couldn't safely walk through one of them!) and having to do my tax return (euuuugh, my pet hate), I really wanted something creative to do in the evenings just to keep me calm and amused at the same time!  'Tweedie' work has to wait until next week although I have got back on track, even in  a small way - more on that later . . .  

Santa was very  kind to me and brought two wonderful sock-knitting books to me this  year - I have PORED over both of them - they are both wonderful :) . . .

Sock Knitting Masterclass by Ann Budd and Folk Socks by Nancy Bush - these two ladies are the 'giants' of the sock-knitting world, hehe!  (I'm such a fan LOL)  Anyhow, cut a long story short, I chose a pattern in the latter book by Nancy Bush which I really fancied having a go at to while away the long winter evenings - they are Egyptian socks, "typical  of Islamic footwear of the fifteenth to sixteenth centuries" - I love the historical element of this book, really absorbing!  Here they are, sorry for the dark pic . . .

I started them (very tentatively!) last weekend using some new sock-knitting needles which are metal and I'm really not quite at home with them yet (VERY slippery!) and used the yarn recommended, 5 ply Guernsey, which is totally dreamy and very traditional . . . 

They are made using a colour stranded technique which I briefly experimented with last year - I'm really enjoying it and it's quite easy once you get the hang of following the colour chart - I'm amazed that I'm actually managing to do it - sometimes things that look very tricky to do are really quite simple once you get some practice.  I love how the reverse of the work looks as the  pattern builds up, it's almost like creating a woven piece of work, and creates a very dense fabric - awesome!

I'm giving myself a little deadline of a month to finish these socks so that I don't get distracted and go off doing something else (as I do!!) - so this is my January project :)  It's really nice to have something to pick up in a quiet moment and also very relaxing (once I got going with it!).  As usual Ravelry has been a fountain of knowledge and I had a good  look at other folk's versions of this pattern to glean  some tips before I got started.  Not sure who they will fit yet - they are a One Size pattern - we'll see ;-)

Well. that's my evenings sorted, now for the daytime work!  I've now finished that nasty tax return so I'll be getting back to 'tweedie' business next week.  My shop is now back up and running after the Xmas break with a little January sale to make way for new stock (which I have to make!!!).  My 'tweedie' beach ball finally made it into the shop . . . 

. . . it was supposed to go in before Christmas!  Ah, well, better late than  never - 'Hebridean time' syndrome, oooops!  It's there now anyway, hehe :)

I hope I'll be showing more 'tweedie' makes very soon as I get back into more 'commercial' work.    Sock-knitting is enormous fun and totally absorbing but alas it won't pay the bills, so onwards and upwards!  I have some 'tweedie' ideas in mind, so these will soon be revealed I hope :)

More 'creative' starts to 2013 over here - Bye for now!
Alison x