Category Archives: knitting

Pair of socks on sock holders, placed on the grass. The socks are grey-brown and have a short 2x2 ribbed cuff, the leg and foot has a cable running down the side, and the heel has a slip-stitch pattern.

“Little Brown Job”

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LBJs are in the (UK) birders' world those little brown birds that all look unremarkable, brown, and yet can be the most amazing species you'll see only once in a lifetime. Or if it's a passer domesticus, you may yet be enchanted by its exotic patterning, as Inspector Morse was.

https://youtu.be/UvoVme4rfRs?feature=shared&t=897
You only need a minute to watch his powers of observation

LBJs are not flashy with WILD!! COLOURFUL!!! MARKINGS! but I still like them.

Turns out you have those LBJs (or LGJs, Little Grey Jobs) in socks too... And with a little bit of effort, you can turn them into something worth observing, IMHO.

Pair of socks on sock holders, placed on the grass. The socks are grey-brown and have a short 2x2 ribbed cuff, the leg and foot has a cable running down the side, and the heel has a slip-stitch pattern.

I ended up knitting these socks for mum in something of the following way:

Mum: Hm, I have this beige sock yarn I don't know what to do with. It's too meh for me.
Me: Oh. Can I knit with it? I don’t have any yarn with me.
Mum: Sure, you can use it.
*I start knitting a cable into the leg*
Mum: Ooooh that's nice! I like that. That looks a lot more fun now.
Me: Do you want me to knit them for you? It's your yarn after all.
Mum: Erm... 😬

(Fortunately they fit her!)

This is the world's easiest cabled sock to knit: take your basic 72 stitch top down sock pattern. For the leg, once you're past the cuff, knit 4, purl 3, cable over 8 stitches (cable every 8 rows), purl 3, and knit all the rest. Keep the rest of your basic pattern as is. I kept the cable going for the foot.

For the *other* leg I counted out the pattern so it was knit 18, purl 3, cable over 8 stitches (cable every 8 rows again, and if you're really fancy: turn them the other way), purl 3, knit all the other stitches.

If you want a pattern, check out Socks on a Plane (Ravelry), it's a toe-up version.

Out with the old, in with the new!

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Squirrel jumps away from the camera with an elegant leap, on a green patch of grass.
Woohoo! Leaping into a new year!

I know there are a ton of new year's resolutions being made, and about to be broken. I have a few aspirations and goals myself, but above all, I am just happy to be done with 2021. It wasn't a great year in many ways, although I did manage to achieve some things. But rather than a retrospective of all that, I thought I'd share what I did today to help celebrate the arrival of a new, fresh start tomorrow. (To be honest, I'm pretty good at treating any day of the year as a fresh start.)

There was baking from me, and a small ton of cooking lovely food (incl. for tomorrow) from mom, with me as sous-chef providing dish-washing support. Nomnomnom!

Woman with a tie-die T-shirt placing biscuits on a baking sheet
Shortbread biscuits! (Cookies if you're in the US)

I have a long way to go before I will take part in the Great Whatever Bakeoff:

Sheet of biscuits with white sugar piping glaze
My first attempt ever at decorating with sugar glaze/piping

Dinner was our traditional new year's eve dinner: homemade pizza. When I am home, it's mom's pizza on this night or it's not 31 December 😆

Pizza with courgette slices, capers, anchovies, and sliced red pepper and cheese on a baking sheet with a pizza wheel in the background
Homemade pizza is the best

There was knitting on the gansey, under supervision of Hippomiena, the grandmother of all toy hippos:

A grey toy hippo perched on the top of the sofa appears to look pleased at the light purple knitting in progress, with a complex textured pattern, on the seat of the sofa.
Gansey in progress in foreground, hippo looking contentedly at the progress

And there was a little beer to lubricate final proceedings (writing this blog post and some more knitting, before diving into my jimjams)

Grey toy hippo next to a glass of amber-coloured beer, in a glass with a label named "Palm"
Hippomiena checks out one of the local(-ish) brews

Mystery project:

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But soft! What yarn by yonder window lies?

sock yarn, four balls and one skein, in the colours white, pink, light grey, dark grey, and wine red
Sock yarn wound up to go, one still in the skein, all waiting to be turned into something knitted.

This Cascade Heritage Sock (75%merino, 25% nylon) is incredibly soft and sproingy (that's a technical term for spinners and knitters, I believe), and it's very, very fine in diameter - but that's before washing, maybe it will bloom a bit? I'd love to see how this knits up for socks.

But these won't be socks...

More coming soon! At least if I can knit fast... What's on your needles these days?

Knit happens! Unbelievable, but here is an FO!

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Yes, I am now known as “she who knits during meetings” and I have to say it is one way of keeping my ears focused on meeting materials. My meetings are always productive, and in cold meeting rooms I can keep myself a bit warmer than my other female colleagues, with a sweater or afghan in progress on my lap. Wool for the win!

Ja, ik ben intussen gekend als “die die breit tijdens vergaderingen” en ik moet zeggen dat is een van de manieren waarop ik mijn oren kan toespitsen op de vergadermaterie. Mijn vergaderingen brengen dan ook altijd resultaat, en in koude vergaderlokalen kan ik mezelf wat warmer houden dan de meeste van mijn vrouwelijke collega’s, met een trui of deken op mijn schoot. Gered door de wol!

These socks were not exactly large enough to do so, but they are a tangible result of a few faculty and department meetings. I think I also had them with me during AAS.

Deze sokken waren niet echt groot genoeg om dat te doen, maar dit is wel het tastbare resultaat van een paar faculteits- en departementsvergaderingen. Ik denk dat ik ze ook tijdens AAS mee had.

Yarn is Into the Whirled, Pakokku sock, “Snow angels with an ood”, knit on 0/2mm circular needle. 72 stitches cast on, 2x2 ribbing for a while, then plain stockinette and my go-to sock pattern that’s mainly hiding in my head. Made for me.

Garen is Into the Whirled, Pakokku Sock, “Snow angels with an ood”, op 2mm (US 0) rondbreinaald. 72 steken opgezet, 2x2 ribbelsteek voor een eindje en dan gewoon jersey en het gebruikelijke patroon dat ergens in mijn hoofd rondzwerft. Gemaakt voor mij.

Socks in almost self-striping pattern of dark and light blue

Knitting, darning and a productive conference | Breien, stoppen en een conferentie met tastbaar resultaat

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It was time again for the annual conference of the Association of Asian Studies, and this time Washington DC was the place to be. I am fortunate enough to live within driving distance, so I went down to catch up with friends and colleagues. I had a very productive conference!  Continue reading →

Knitted stuff | Breisels

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It's been a while! But I'm back!

Tijdje geleden, he? Ik ben terug!

Let's get started up again with the real fun stuff: knitted things! Could the fellow Fellows please slow down on their orders with the stork?
Laat ons herstarten met de leuke dingen: breisels! Kunnen mijn collega's a.u.b. even ophouden met bestellingen bij de ooievaar?

(For all pictures: click to get to my Flickr site with higher resolution |Voor alle foto's: klik erop om naar mijn Flickr stekje te gaan, voor een beter kwaliteit.
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Details: Yarn: Neighborhood Fiber Co. Studio Worsted in Rock Creek Park
Pattern: Round or Pinwheel Baby Blanket
Modifications: I chose a no-nonsense garter stitch edge, about 8 ridges.
A very quick and very satisfying knit, and a hit with baby Nico, I have been assured.

Details: Garen: Neighborhood Fiber Co. Studio Worsted in Rock Creek Park
Patroon: Round or Pinwheel Baby Blanket
Aanpassingen: Ik koos voor een eenvoudige boord met ribbelsteek, ongeveer 8 ribbels.
Dit ging snel en was leuk, en baby Nico vind het blijkbaar een geweldig dekentje!

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The above knit has been finished, but I still have to hand over the blankie to the soon-to-be-parents, and I don't want to spoil the surprise. They wanted blue, who am I to argue with such an excellent choice!
Dit garen is ook opgebreid in een babydekentje, maar ik moet het nog overhandigen, en ik hou het graag nog even een verrassing. De bijna-ouders hadden graag blauw. U vraagt, wij draaien!

And what do you give to friends who get married, are about to move to the other side of the continent, and (understandably) explicitly tell you they don't want gifts? Why, you provide them with some reading company!
En wat doe je als vrienden trouwen, op het punt staan om naar de westkust te verhuizen, en (begrijpelijk) uitdrukkelijk verbieden om cadeautjes mee te brengen naar het feestje? Wel, dan zorg je toch dat ze gezelschap hebben bij het lezen?
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Details: yarn: various leftover bits of sock yarn
Pattern: Squashed Rat Bookmark
Modifications: I left off the blood patch on the side- seemed a bit too morbid for the occasion!

Details: garen: allerlei restjes sokkenwol
Patroon: Squashed Rat Bookmark ("Geplette Rat Bladwijzer")
Aanpassingen: Ik liet de bloedplek aan de zij weg, dat leek me niet helemaal geschikt voor de gelegenheid!

Some progress in my personal #operationsockdrawer efforts (check out The Knitmore Girls Podcast for details of the real contest) | Enige vooruitgang in een poging om mijn sokkenla weer aan te vullen:
Gansey socks, with left-over Frangipani 5-ply Gansey yarn in Falmouth Navy, simple 3-1 rib, slip-stitch heel, but with a Channel Island cast on.
Een paar gansey sokken, met een overschotje Frangipani garen in Falmouth Navy kleur. Gewoon 3-1 boordsteek, gewone hiel, maar met "Channel Island" opzet.
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First of the Viper Pilots is done.
De eerste van de Viper Pilots is af!
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Putting a sparkle into things | Een beetje glitter kan geen kwaad
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The knitting on mum's gansey has resumed, now the baby blankets are out of the way, but I could not resist casting on a lace shawl.
Nu de babydekentjes gedaan zijn, kan ik weer aan mama's gansey werken. Toch kon ik niet weerstaan aan de verleiding om een ajour sjaal op te zetten.
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This should grow up to become a Bee Fields shawl.
Dit is de start van een Bee Fields sjaal.