gumboot socks

These socks are meant to survive being worn with gumboots - the most destructive item of footwear ever invented. Most socks take one look and then disintegrate. These may do the same but we live in hope. The colours are from brazilwood and Eucalyptus nicholi. The wool is mostly romney and the heels can be detached for reknitting.

papa's got a brand new ...

today, JB got his brand new...

cardie

New Zealand has a few breeds of feral sheep, mostly believed to be descendents of Merinos left on islands here and there. This cardigan is one I made from some Arapawa wool that one of my neighbours gave me. It's a very fine, soft wool and a lovely rich, dark brown. The cardigan is a 1950s Vogue pattern though it's much more streamlined looking in the original. The same neighbour has given me a Pitt Island sheep so I'll find out at shearing time how the wool compares.

go go gown

A 1940s dressing gown pattern knitted in some really sheepy colours. I expect the original was in primrose yellow or pale blue. The waist band has a bit of colour - Coreopsis and Mulberry. The two browns come from the same sheep, Elsie. The lighter brown is her hogget fleece. I just happened to have a lot of wool that needed using up.

skirt

This is from an old Mon Tricot magazine where they give a pattern for an Alsatian petticoat. It's fantastic for a cold day - just like wearing a blanket, but I can't help wondering how cold it must have been in Alsace if this was just a petticoat. All the shades of pink and mauve come from the one batch of Sticta coronata lichen.

my socks.

These are supposed to be really hard wearing - at least I hope so. I've made them from Romney wool. There are quite a few dyes in them - cochineal, onion skins, brazilwood, Sticta coronata, Eucalyptus nicholi. I've made the heels detachable (see below) so they can be reknitted should they wear out in the distant future.





When I first tried knitting socks all I could find in a 3-ply was baby wool. This is most unsuitable for socks and goes into holes in no time. Fortunately I found a pattern for socks with Aladdin heels in an old Patons Woolcraft book. So that's the design I used and I've been reknitting them ever since. In case you're not familiar with the idea, the heel is kept detachable by grafting with a contrasting thread when returning to knit the main sock. When the heel wears through, you remove the thread - here a white thread - detach the heel, unpick it or cut it off, knit it again (I am doubling the thickness as I do this) and graft it back to the sock. It looks like new and there are no bulky darns. You can do this with most sock patterns.


The problem


Unpicked and ready to reknit


A different sock reknitted and grafted. It just needs the sides to be sewed up.


The first sock finished.

c'mon spinner

Shetland shawl from Jamieson and Smith's 1-ply lace yarn. Cheap to buy and keeps you busy for a long time. This is the last wool I bought before taking up spinning. Actually I ended up making quite a few of these shawls, mostly white, but one black. Knitting the black wool is very hard on the eyes.


Spinning in the sun