Archie The Wonder Dog

Furtle (v): to have a rummage or delve into the contents of something Hello and welcome to our final furtle of the year! This is going to be quick as I’ve got my end of year report to write for my Fettling List and the 2024 Fettling post to write as well as sorting my own list *gulps* This month, I have finished two pairs of socks: Read about these socks here Read about these socks here And I’ve started another pair: Yarn is West Yorkshire Spinners ‘Wood Pigeon’ (864) Mini Archie has enjoyed the festive season: Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Linking up to the December Furtle  If you're linking up, please add a link (one per person, please) to your blog post, which could contain: a mosaic of all you've made in the month, something you've made/started/worked on, a goal which you'd like to achieve in the next month (and then in next month's post you can reflect on that goal and set yourself another one - I find this particularly handy if I'm in the midst of a ...

I love this sock yarn (Opal ‘Weather Peak’ (11155)) but it was a bit of a sod to find the right starting point for the second sock so that it would match the first one - I ended up winding off quite a bit to find it and even then I wasn’t sure I was right until I was at the heel. I probably could have got away with not even attempting to match them, but I’m glad I did. It was well worth the effort, though, and I think the leftovers will work well in a future pair of scrappy socks.  I think I’m going to have a sort out of the leftovers box soon and check I’m happy with all the ‘kits’ I assembled in 2022 and place any new leftovers into new kits/incorporate them into existing ones. This will help me write my 2024 Fettling List once I’ve sorted my end of year report. The link for the end of year Fettle Those Finishes reports will open on 31st December, as will the (separate) December Furtle. Then the link for the 2024 Fettle Those Finishes will open on 1st January. I’ll try to give yo...

Surprise, I’ve knitted another pair of socks! They’re incredibly difficult to photograph: I took these photos (in the same room) within seconds of each other but on different backgrounds and I’m not convinced the colours are quite right in any of them! The dark sections are a mix of blue and green which is, I think, why they tend to look green or blue but not a mix of both. They’re really pretty when you see them in person. The yarn is West Yorkshire Spinners ‘Woodland Awakening’ (1025) which is part of the collaboration they did with Zandra Rhodes and watching where each colour was going to land made them quick to knit as there was always another colour coming up in a few stitches. It won’t surprise you that I’ve already made a start on the next pair: Yarn is Opal 11155 ‘Weather Peak’ I has been telled in no uncertain terms to vacate mine spiffing hooded sleeping bag. It must be so it can be finished *confident face*

  Furtle (v): to have a rummage or delve into the contents of something This month has been another sock month. I’ve knitted this pair using the leftovers from two balls (a friend bought both of us a ball of this WYS Brightside and she gave me her leftovers so I could make another pair): Yarn is WYS Brightside (874) And this pair, which are the one hundredth pair I’ve knitted: Yarns are all from  Made By Penguins , five minis (she has lots for sale and they’re perfect for socks) and a leftover from a previous pair I’ve also knitted the first sock in pair one hundred and one: Yarn is WYS Woodland Awakening (1025), one of the collection by Zandra Rhodes Mini Archie has been watching all of this and wondering why none of it seems to be for him.  No, I isn’t practicing mine knitting pattern poses, I is watching for Pirates *dignified face* Linking up to the November Furtle  If you're linking up, please add a link (one per person, please) to your blog post, which could ...

I recently realised that I was approaching my one hundredth pair of socks and Mr Random Number Generator thrilled me by choosing a ‘kit’ from my Sock Lucky Dip album which consisted entirely of yarn from  Made By Penguins . I started with these: And after not very much knitting at all (we all know that stripes go faster), I had these: Usually, I make socks which match but for these I fancied stripy and co-ordinated but not matching, just for something different. I started by choosing two cuff colours and decided that they would swap over for the toes. I also decided that I’d use one of the six yarns for both heels and that I’d do regular (ten round) stripes. I also decided that I wouldn’t weave in the ends as I knitted as I’m not keen on the uneven stitches I get as a result so I thought I’d see how tedious darning in all the ends afterwards was. I was pleasantly surprised and found it very satisfying, which bodes well for future scrappy socks. I did my usual diagonal path, darning...

Continuing with my unintentional year of the sock, I’ve finished another pair. These are made with the leftovers from two balls of WYS Brightside, one from a pair I knitted and the other from a pair my friend knitted. They’re both the same dye lot so I assumed that it would be as easy as knitting two socks from the same ball and getting the colour changes to match but that was very much not the case. The first sock, which was knitted all from one ball, went smoothly but when I came to knitting the leg of the second sock, from the other ball, I had constant trouble trying to get the changes to match. Fortunately, once I got to the point where I could swap back to the first ball, things went a lot better. A (different) friend said that although they’re the same dye lot, that will be comprised of many hanks and if one has a tighter twist than the other, they won’t knit up exactly the same. Which makes sense when you think about it and made me feel a lot better about my knitting consistenc...

Furtle (v): to have a rummage or delve into the contents of something This month, I’ve sewn up the Luna Lapin jumpers knitted eleven dishcloths and knitted a pair of socks Yarn is ‘Rimjhim’ by Dusty Dimples The yarn has lovely speckles of colours, it really is beautiful. Needless to say, Mini Archie is still a bit miffed that the dishcloths aren’t blankets for him and his chums and, well… These is ours, I is merely reclaiming them *firm yet dignified face* Linking up to the October Furtle  If you're linking up, please add a link (one per person, please) to your blog post, which could contain: a mosaic of all you've made in the month, something you've made/started/worked on, a goal which you'd like to achieve in the next month (and then in next month's post you can reflect on that goal and set yourself another one - I find this particularly handy if I'm in the midst of a big project and finding the making of hundreds of blocks to be interminable), anything crafty...

  Furtle (v): to have a rummage or delve into the contents of something Hello! This month has been a satisfying sock month. I finished the enormous socks: Yarn is  Summer Lake by Mothy And The Squid To show how enormous they are, I took a photo with the size six socks they were travelling with to their new home: I’ve blocked the tiny jumper pieces: And now they’re ready for the (dreaded*) sewing up: (*I’m hoping that doing three of them back to back will cure me of this dread. The sewing up of the test jumper wasn’t anywhere near as bad as I was expecting so I’m hoping to continue that and cure myself.) I got a fantastic new bag from a friend in California which is the perfect sock knitting bag: Here’s what it holds with room to spare: Aren’t the fabrics wonderful? Thank you, Ramona, I adore it! And I turned this sock lucky dip item: Into these socks: I had under two grams of the multi-coloured yarn left at the end, which is very nearly almost as good as just having enough lef...

Furtle (v): to have a rummage or delve into the contents of something Hello! This month has not been a productive month in terms of things for blogging as, among other things, I’ve been sorting my iTunes library on a new-to-me laptop and it wasn’t as straightforward or as quick as I expected. (Is anything ever quick or straightforward with iTunes?) However, I’ve finished one (enormous) sock: And its pair is going well: Mini Archie has enjoyed matching the sunflowers we’ve grown this year: I doesn’t know why you is out here enjoying the sunflowers,  you has a Fettling List to be getting on wif *hard stare* And that’s me done for the month, short and sweet this time! Linking up to the August Furtle  If you're linking up, please add a link (one per person, please) to your blog post, which could contain: a mosaic of all you've made in the month, something you've made/started/worked on, a goal which you'd like to achieve in the next month (and then in next month's post y...