I’m completely enamoured of my new lens. To celebrate, some random photos! Mostly flowers, because, well, they make awesome subjects. I really need to practice with some yarn though!
Some new plain ribbed socks out of Regia Cotton on the go:
And my favourite of the day, a dandelion – the prettiest annoying weed there is.
P.S. In case you missed it in the last post, the lens I got is a Sigma 17-70mm f2.8-4.5!
I’m so behind on here! I’m sort of spinning my wheels here (not literally, sadly) with all the various knitting and designing projects in various stages of completion. I think it’s high time I clear out some WIPs, because I’m feeling buried.
As promised (finally), here’s my finished giant granny square!
More photos?
And just because I got myself a new lens (A Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4.5 Macro):
Oooooh, love that macro action. This lens rocks.
Giant Granny Square
Hook: 6.5 mm
Pattern: Granny Square from the Purl Bee
Yarn: 7 balls of Noro Taiyo in colourway 1 (otherwise known as “neapolitan ice cream”!) plus 1 skein of Coldharbour Mill organic merino DK for the border, held double.
As an aside, this is the smoothest, sexiest merino ever. And I don’t think you can even buy it anywhere – I got it at IKnit Day in London last year. Does someone want to pick me up some more this year?!
For the border I just did 2 rounds of single crochet around the whole thing. Really finishes it off, I think! The final measurement is about 48″ square – plenty big for a couch blanket. I think I’ve given up my idea of sewing on a cotton backing, because, well, I don’t think it’ll ever happen! The blanket’s plenty warm enough as is.
I even have a new crochet project on the go – a ripple blanket!
(Have I mentioned how much I love my new macro?)
I’m using a 5mm hook and many, many random leftovers and single skeins. Unfortunately it turns out that crochet isn’t particularly nice to my left wrist – so I’m going to have to take it easy on this for awhile. I’m thinking it’ll just be one of those random projects around the house that I can pick up and put down whenever!
So, way back in January I was working on a new version of my Lucy cardigan before I set out on my trip. Despite the minor snag in the underarm gusset, I did get it done, blocked, and buttons sewn on right before I left!
Of course I didn’t get around to taking any photos of it in Japan and China, despite wearing it all the time and taking photos all the time! I think it was mostly because anywhere I was wearing it, I was also wearing a heck of a lot of other layers on top to keep warm.
I think I must’ve used just 4 skeins of Dream in Color Classy to knit it up, because I bought five and have one still kicking around! The colourway is Black Parade, which is a superdark blue-black. Love. The yarn is great for this pattern – sturdy but soft, smooth, and the texture shows up really nicely.
I made the body and sleeves longer than my other brown one (which I also still wear a lot) and made a larger bust size (35″ for 36″ me). I also knit the collar onto the buttonband rather than sewing it on afterwards. One of the two sweaters I brought on the trip, it got a LOT of wear and still looks great! It’s even been washed and dried in the Indian sun, which is pretty special.
Ysolda took a few photos while we were at the Botanics, predicting that I’d be blogging about it in two weeks. I think that was *exactly* two weeks ago! I had fun knitting my own pattern again, and I think I’ll be wearing it a lot.
(Kind of a crazy photo – I’m working my way around Photoshop for the first time ever, and I think the levels in this photo were just a little weird to start with!)
Next time:
P.S. I almost forgot! Thalia asked in the comments what shoes I took on my trip – an excellent question, I think! I took exactly one (1) pair of shoes – my Doc Marten mary janes that Ysolda and I both bought when I went to Europe in September. Since I wore them all around then, I knew they could stand up to a lot of walking, and I was right! They’re really supportive, and versatile enough for cold or hot weather – in cold weather I wore thick, thigh-high socks with leggings underneath; in hot weather I just wore some little cotton ankle socks. They’re perfect shoes. I should probably buy another pair!