Pink Socks

It's ages since I last blogged.  I've been having problems with my laptop and think it might need to go back to the manufacturer (Acer) to be fixed.  Hubby thinks it's the graphics card - the laptop's not always coming out of standby mode, but just gives a black screen that flashes up the desktop for a nanosecond before going  black again.  I've been able to solve it by plugging the HDMI cable into the slot on the laptop and using the TV as the monitor, which seems to kick-start the laptop screen/graphics card, but once the girls are back at school I'll probably contact Acer and see what they suggest.

In the meantime, I've been knitting away on socks.  I've finished these:

I've had the yarn for ages and I've been playing with patterns a little bit.  I'm not very keen on lacy patterns when it comes to socks, but sometimes want a bit more than plain, stocking stitch socks and garter rib seems to fit the bill to give a bit of interest whilst knitting.

I find the best fit and fabric for my feet is a sock 64 stitches round, on 2.25mm needles.  I usually use an Addi lace circular and magic-loop, but I bought a Chiagoo 2.25mm steel circular recently and am using that on my current pair of socks.  The pattern on these is a simple 4x4 garter rib.  64 is a good stitch count because it divides into 4 and 8 which means I can balance a pattern across the foot.  The pattern for these is:

Round 1: K2, (P4, K4) x 3, P4, K2
Round 2: Knit all stitches

The sole stitches are knit on every round.

For the leg, the round 1 pattern is repeated on the back of the leg as well.

I've also been knitting two other pairs of socks.  The second pair came about because I forgot to take my notes on how many stitches I cast on for the first sock when I went to knitting group a couple of weeks ago and didn't trust my memory, so had my Addi circular and an extra ball of Regia sock yarn in my bag, so cast on another pair of socks.  So now, I've got two single socks finished and should finish the second sock of the greeny-blue pair today or tomorrow.

More about those socks next time :)

There's also been some spinning going on and I've finished 300g of the 500g of North Ronaldsay I started just before Christmas.  It's taking ages - but would get finished much more quickly if I actually sat down at my wheel every day and did some spinning (but something always seems to get in the way of that).

We've got this week to go on the school Easter holidays and I'm hoping the weather will continue to get a bit warmer with the sun making regular appearances.  This winter seems to have dragged on and on and we're all feeling a bit gloomy and fed up of the cold weather.