Pair of Monkeys

Finally, something to show you! Last night I put the finishing touches to my first pair of Monkeys. I’m really pleased with them, and wore them to bed in celebration 🙂 This is definitely a pattern I could see myself repeating… if there weren’t a lifetime’s worth of other socks already lining up to be knitted! I didn’t really run into too many problems with these ones. There was just a little unravelly yarn at one point, which I’m hoping doesn’t result in a weak spot that requires darning. My main triumph with this project was finally mastering the toe grafting. I know, this is simple, but for some reason I must have been getting my knits and purls all mixed up, resulting in a little ridge along the toes. This time, I referred to a trusty old YouTube Tutorial, and hey presto! Perfect toes at last 🙂 Oh, and I really must try and be more patient and wait until I have good enough light for crafty photography. Tonight’s photoshoot involved hanging upside down on the sofa in order to get the tootsies close enough to the lamp. So, I enjoyed the unexpected bonus of an abdominal workout. Who’d have thought knitting could be quite so energetic! 

 

 

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WIP

This work-in-progress is the first in a pair of Monkeys– one of the most popular patterns on Ravelry, designed by the very talented Cookie A. The pattern is pretty straightforward to follow, and I’m really enjoying it. I adapted it from the instructions to knit on 2 circular needles, as the double pointed set are otherwise engaged in a secret knitting project! Is good to have the Addi Turbo’s back in action. I forget just how lovely they are to work with! the yarn I’m using for these is a standard Opal, which I have on good word is a hard-wearing sock yarn. I do hope so, as the heel on these is knit in plain. All the previous patterns I’ve worked to have involved slipped stitches on the knit rows to create a bouncier, tougher heel pad.

This is my 2nd attempt at the Monkeys. The first was frogged in favour of a plain yarn, as I just wasn’t getting a pleasing result in the self-striping yarn I started out with. Should have taken inspiration from the many beautiful projects on Ravelry- but have only just started using the site to its full potential. Oh well, we live and learn.

Speaking of learning… This is the first project for which I have used a long-tail cast on (aka double cast on or continental cast on). I’m ashamed to say that I have previously used a lazy (but very easy) single cast on method- which in retrospect was sooooo much more difficult to knit into. Am so pleased to have a new method which produces a much neater finish, and is really not that tricky to master. I may eat my words when I try casting on a large project and find my ‘long-tail’ doesn’t measure up though!

Well, I am off to London for the weekend so there will be no postings until next week. Hopefully will make lots of Monkey progress on my journey by bus and train tomorrow 🙂

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