Anastasia v2.0

Here they are. I love this pattern. I really do. I think it'll be my go-to pattern for socks. They're more interesting to look at and to knit than plain stocking stitch, they cope well with variegated yarn, they're simple enough to knit without looking, it's impossible to lose your place in the pattern. This pair is for mah mama for Christmas.

For reference, these were 64 stitches, on 2.25mm needles, short row toe and heel, and they fit wonderfully.

In the background you can see the natural coloured sock yarn, my beaverslide yarn, and Badly Coloured Boy's 'natural black' handspun. We've tentatively settled on making a stripeless Stripy. He wanted a v-neck, I did not (don't like the way they look, and while he has to wear the jumper, I have to look at it). I wanted cables, he did not. He wants the thing to be as plain as plain can be. I suggested Brooklyn Tweed's Cobbblestone. That was deemed okay 'except for the weird seams' - that'd be the garter stitch yoke. Stripy might work out okay because it's plain enough for him, but the mere presence of buttons is interesting enough for me; and the knit-to-fit style pattern will, as Ysolda herself suggests, work nicely with a mystery-gauge handspun. I'm thinking some pale tan mock-leather buttons would work with the dark warm brown. It genuinely is the colour of dark chocolate (bittersweet, to Americans, I think?) Oh, and contrast facings, just because I can (I think... I'll have to take a closer look at the pattern). I'll also have to check out how to make the neckline smaller - the apparently 'gaping' boatneck on the prototype concerned him a little.

Anastasia x 3

Because I am a lazy blogger I finished the first pair of Anastasias and the first sock on the second pair before I photographed. So sue me. The third sock was finished in eight days, some kind of record for me.

First pair is handdyed Patonyle, the odd is Claudia's handpainted yarns in Purple Earth. The Claudia's was supposed to be a pair of Charades, but the yarn was too busy for the stitch pattern. The herringbone rib mixes up pooling yarn nicely, but looks messy on a very variegated yarn. Whereas Anastasia is perfect for making something a little more interesting that stocking stitch with a variegated yarn.

The blue pair were done on 2.5mm needles, 60 stitches. While they technically fit they feel the tiniest bit loose. The Claudia pair, at 64 stitches on 2.25mm needles are definitely a better fit. I think you can even see it in the pictures, a little.

On the gardening front, I have planted two tomatoes (heirloom dwarf red fig, and grosse lisse), but I think I want another one (a roma, maybe? I have this baseless theory that if I plant all different kinds they won't catch pests off each other). I planted purple bean seeds, but no seedlings yet. Some of my sunflower seeds have just burst through, but the ones actually planted in the vege patch haven't. No sign of a pumpkin vine yet. The broad beans have got So Many Flowers on them its not funny. Does every flower turn into a bean? Because if so I'd best start getting the freezer ready.

Broad Beans

Look at that. Broad bean flowers. Aren't they funny? I don't know what I expected, but little pure white pea-flowers with dead-black inkspots wasn't it. The black is really jet black. No purple hints, or blue hints or anything. Where it fades out on the edges it fades out to a true grey. At least the flowers indicate the whole bean-making process is so far in order and disease free.

I also have parsnip sprouts in one of the bean gardens ('bean gardens in plural?' 'shut up, I realy like broad beans!'). Parsnips take four to five months to grow, did you know that? That's a really, really long time. They also do not look like carrots when they sprout. The leaves actually look a little like coriander (cilantro for the Americans).

I ripped out the broccolis that had gone to seed on the weekend, then threw them back in the vege patch (it's green manure, okay?), then covered the whole damn thing with sheep manure. Then remembered there were some little beet seedlings still in there, and dug around until I found and uncovered them.

I have a week off next week, so I'm leaving the sheep poos to like, ferment, or whatever it is they do, for a week. Then it's off to the gardening centre for some tomato plants. And some sunflower seeds. I've read that you can plant sunflowers, then, when they're about 60cm tall, plant scarlet runner beans at the base of the flower, and the sunflower acts the support for the bean. This sounds very cool to me. Also I really like sunflowers.

Oh, and I've been cultivating a spot behind the hibiscus (it's a rental - our garden is a palimpsest of previous tenants taste in plants) and under the clothesline for a butternut pumpkin. Is a square metre enough for a pumpkin? Apparently they're quite large vines.

On the knitting front, my TapestryCraft needles arrived the other week. Tulip brand. Heavenly to use. I really, really like them. They're only 5", not 7" (which all dpns seem to be in Perth). The 5" is much easier to manage. The needles fit in my hands better. Result being I've turned the heel already. I'm hoping to have them finished by the middle of next week. I've been stupidly, ridiculously busy. But things should settle down after Wednesday.

A sock! I gots a sock!

I finished my first Anastasia sock today. It fits and all! I'm quite pleased. Unlike my first ever sock, of which no photographic evidence exists. It made my foot look like an overstuffed chorizo sausage. It was really unpretty. Y'know, unlike these carefully styled, magazine-quality shots. Oh hell, it'd probably be good enough for American Apparel, so shut up.


There'll be a weeny hiatus on my knitting the second sock though, because I haven't got a replacement needle yet. I finished the top of the leg with only four, but I don't want to start a sock that way.

Crossways in Subiaco didn't have any 2.25mm or 2.5mm dpns, and the last pair of 2.5mms at Calico & Ivy were the ones that I bought and that went ker-snap (and they don't have 2.25mm there either). So I've internet ordered. From TapestryCraft. Both sizes. It's really hard to find places that stock .25mm increments! Not a single ebay store selling those desirably cheap needles from China did, though some stores had 2.25mm and some had 2.5mm (here's another pic for luck).


I've enjoyed this sock caper. Having seen the way mah mama fondled my new Claudia's Handpainted and heard the way she wistfully said '[My friend's] socks are all handknitted... do these skeins do one or two socks each?' I think some socks for her are next up after the second Anastasia. And unlike some big investment like a jumper, socks are relatively small and sweet. Concentrated love, as it were. Yep, I think I'm a sock convert. Because after the Mumsocks (Charade, I think?) I'm planning to Kool-Aid dye some lovely pure merino I have and turn them into lacy socks for me.

Anastasia Socks

Remember I got that handpainted yarn a couple of weeks back? Well my babette blankie has gone on hold while I make socks (that's okay - I always intended it as an interruptable project). I wanted to make jaywalkers, but wanted them toe-up. Using the universal sock pattern on knitty, and the gauge of the chevron pattern I would up with stocking stitch toes that would be an appropriate fit on Badly Coloured Boy (and his men's size eleven puppy-feet)... I'm not sure how to fix that problem.

So I swapped for Anastasia, simply because I was hitting gauge, they were toe up, I had the right size needles, and it looked nice with variegated yarn.


I personally have never had a problem with turning heels (well, you can see a weird hole in the corner there, but I don't find the process scary/ difficult), it's the getting-socks-to-fit bit that trouble me. Which is why I'm very pleased with how these look. Now I just have to get used to wearing woollen socks. Did I mention they're really not the norm in these deserty climes?

(and about my evening dress - I'll take photos tomorrow night when I'm all dolled up. And wearing my new shoes. I really, really like these new shoes).

No need for super-urgency-last-minute sewing. Sorry to disappoint.

Okay, it seems I panicked too soon. Apparently noone really wears black-tie, it's more cocktail. And, unbeknowst to all you, I have a sad passion for cocktail frocks that I have only recently curbed. So while I could wear a candy-pink fifties-inspired Wayne Cooper number, or a pink and silver vintage wiggle-dress, or this astonishing slinky silver skin-baring dress that I bought at a sample sale I think I will go with my version of this.

I made it a few years ago, when I still lived at home and had no idea about sewing. I figured I could cope with a Vogue 'average' pattern (ha!), and it would give me something to do for the day. My mum came home from work and freaked when she saw all the masses of lace and satin and whatnot laying about, and I looked up at her and said sweetly 'How do you make darts in lace? I can't make the pins stay in?' Anyway, courtesy (apparently) of my mother's skills, said dress was saved. Though I'd like to point out that it was I who hand-stitched 5.6m of lace scallop to every hem! (yes, that's how the scallops get there. You cut them off the selvedges, and hand-stitch them in place at the very end). Also the slip straps regularly fall down unless I pin them to the dress, because I didn't make a muslin, and didn't know at the time that all commercial patterns are too broad in the back for me.

Mine is a grey/mauve and silver lace over pea-green slip. I normally wear a rhinestone brooch in the appropriate spot, but I think I might tack a velvet ribbon rosette in place instead. Lighter, less worry over losing it.

In knitting news, I am making Anastasia socks and they are working out well. No photos because I am housesitting and have no camera.