One week to go!

Oh my goodness, it’s been a busy week as I’ve been working on my plans for the Winwick Mum Sockalong 10th birthday next week.  Next week?!  Has it really been nearly 10 years since that first cast on tutorial?  Yes it has … but by some time shifting miracle, of course none of us are 10 years older … 🤣

So, what have I got planned for this year’s birthday?  Well, I don’t want to give all my secrets away too soon, but I can tell you that there will be the Annual Sock Count where I ask you to count up the number of Basic 4ply Socks that you’ve knitted since 3 May last year, there’ll be a giveaway (just one?  you’ll have to wait and see! 😉 ), and a couple of other things … including encouraging EVERYONE (and yes, this means you too!), to cast on a new pair of Basic 4ply Socks on the Sockalong birthday.

Oh, I can hear you … “I’ve never knitted socks before” (I say that this is the perfect time); “I’ve been thinking about it for a while but I haven’t got round to it yet” (I say that you’ve been procrastinating for far too long and it’s time to cast on); “I’ve got other projects I need to finish” (I say that everyone needs a pair of Emergency Socks on the needles At All Times) … see, I’ve heard all the excuses before and I have an answer for all of them! 🙂  Also, isn’t this an ideal opportunity to use up a bit of your stash?  That’s what I’m doing – I’m going back through my carefully curated collection of yarn to do a bit of private shopping and I’ve got a few balls and skeins lined up for Basic 4ply Socks this year.

If you are in the “I’ve never knitted socks before” category, get yourself over to the Sockalong tutorials page and download a copy of the Basic 4ply Socks pattern so that you’re ready to join in.  There are tutorials on choosing yarn and needles too, you’ll be joining in with thousands of knitters all over the world who have socks on their needles (and not just Winwick Mum ones, there are sooo many sock knitters in the world now) so you’ll be part of the collective yarny web, and the worst thing that happens if you make a mistake is that you unravel and start again.  What’s not to love about that?!

I’ve been getting a few rounds of my Ginger Pink yarn Emergency Sock knitted in between party prep … 🙂

and it’s coming along nicely.  It’s such an easy knit, I’ve been very glad of it just to get a few rounds in here and there.  Emergency Socks don’t always have to be going out and about, you know!

Also coming up this month (but I’ll wait until after the Sockalong birthday to tell you more about it), I have a new pattern release as the Ryegrass Socks pattern has been thoroughly tested by my lovely band of test knitters and is almost ready to go.  It’s a mosaic pattern which means that it looks like colourwork but isn’t – the pattern is created by slip stitches so you only work with one colour at a time – perfect for anyone who wants to look like a colourwork sock star but doesn’t quite fancy doing the colourwork!  You can have a look at what a mosaic pattern looks like here in my Easy Mosaic Socks pattern and tutorial, and Ryegrass will work in exactly the same way.

This is an alternative colourway for the pattern (this is West Yorkshire Spinners Signature 4ply in Winter Icicle and Cherry Drop) … and my test knitters have come up with some wonderful combinations too!  I’ll show you more of those after the Sockalong birthday so you can see if you think you’d like to try this pattern for yourself 🙂

Other than that, this week has been rather uneventful.  My car has been for a service at a new garage and needed to stay overnight whilst a part was delivered … I’m not used to not having my car on the drive, even if I’m not driving it anywhere, and it took me a moment or two to get over the “But what if there’s an emergency and I have no car?” feeling.  It’s a bit like leaving the house without your phone these days – I’ve obviously forgotten all about the time in my life when I had no phone and used to catch the bus everywhere!

We’ve had a mix of sunshine and showers this week which has been wonderful for the garden, especially as they have not been heavy showers so the rain has had a chance to soak into the ground.  I’ve been back to the field with the oilseed rape growing in it – you can see how dry it’s been by the way the ground has cracked …

That yellow though … oh, and the smell of the flowers … it smells like honey to me and I love being in the middle of them all.

I told you the other day it was nearly taller than me and it’s definitely taller than the dog, which is great because he can only follow the footpath and not disappear off across the fields – although to be honest, his days of disappearing off at great speed are behind him now and he’s glad to take it slower and do alllll the sniffing.

We’ve had some very dramatic skies this week and the light has been amazing on the yellow flowers.  I don’t know how long I’ve got before it gets harvested so I am making the most of being able to walk in them!

This bottom photo looks like some kind of apocalyptic storm is approaching and I was slightly concerned that we might spot a vengeful god wielding a lightning bolt lean out of it at one point (ha!  I’ve studied Greek tragedy, can you tell?), but it didn’t do more than drop a few spots of rain.  We’ve tended to have the rain overnight which has been very civilised!

I’ve also been out in the garden but I’ll save those photos for another post.  I’m not sure if I’ll get that out before the Sockalong birthday post next Saturday, but I’ll see what I can do.

It’ll be lovely to have you join in with the Sockalong birthday if you can – even if you are able to just read the birthday blog post then that’s joining in as far as I’m concerned, and I will be thrilled to have you celebrate with me.

See you next Saturday!