Thursday, January 25, 2018

Toasty Toes and Other Creature Comforts



I hereby proudly announce my membership in the very first ever Handmade Sock Society! I. Can't. Wait.  It's a botanically inspired subscription that will include 6 secret sock patterns released every other month beginning in February.  As a wee bonus for joining early I also received a free Vintage Fairy Lights pattern that I immediately whipped up into these decadently delicious pink socks.  If you are interested there is an early bird price available until the first pattern is released sometime early February.  Sign up and you too can have toasty toes this winter, and all year long!

Of all the things that I've knit over the years my hand knit socks are worn and enjoyed the most.  There is no comparison.  They are fun to knit and indulgent to wear.  Combined with leggings you have the equivalent of an adult onesie.  Don't judge.  I pad around the house with them on, take naps wearing them, and prop my feet up so they can be admired while I'm watching TV.  In other words they bring me a great deal of creature comfort.

Another creature comfort I've been enjoying  this winter is having a wonderfully cozy shawl hanging about the house to wrap myself up in.  It's my Osmosis shawl (pictured below) and I have a wild coincidence to share with you about this shawl.  The Osmosis shawl designer, iKnit2Purl2, also dyed the yarn that I used to knit my Vintage Fairy Socks.  But I didn't realize that connection when I chose to buy her yarn.  It happened this way.  I had recently finished knitting my Osmosis shawl when I went onto Etsy and by random surfing found this beautiful pink sock yarn.  It wasn't until I looked at my receipt that I realized the same person who had designed the Osmosis shawl had dyed the yarn that I had just bought.  Serendipity.  How could I do anything else but put these two projects together in a post!


PARTICULARS:  Pattern: Vintage Fairy Lights design by Helen Stewart (Curious Handmade); US 1 DPNs; 1 skein Corda Bella Yarns (aka: iKnit2Purl2 ) Ultra Sock (400 yrds (100 gms) SW Merino & Nylon) colorway: Azalea.  I did modify this design slightly.  I kept the raised twisted knit stitch throughout the stock instead of switching to a 3K P1 repeat after the top design was finished.  I think the contiguous raised knit stitch makes it look like balloon streamers are running the length of the stock holding up floating fairy lights!  I loved knitting these socks, both the pattern and the yarn were a delight to work with.  Previous Curious Handmade patterns I've knit are the Botan (shawl) and Shallows (scarf).


PARTICULARS:  Osmosis shawl, designed by iknit2purl2, US 4 needles; 3 skeins Tusken Knits, Fir, (400 yrds merino singles).  My only modification, if you will, is that I only used 3 colors to knit this design.  I simply knit a color until I was close to running out and then switched to the next skein until I ran out.  More or less my color transitions began about 14 rows before the lace segments and then continued through and even after the lace segment.  I ended up using virtually every scrap of yarn I had.  This was a very enjoyable and easy shawl to knit and I love the finished product.  It's similar in design to the very popular Find your Fade shawl but it's uses less yardage (1,200 yrd vs. 1,540 yrds) and hence is a more manageable size which is why I chose to knit it. 


PAIN AU LAIT


As this is a post about creature comforts it has to include a bread recipe.  Because there is no greater creature comfort than enjoying freshly bake bread still warm from the oven!   The recipe I am sharing is fun and easy to make and has a bit of french panache to boot!

The recipe comes from The Great British Baking Show.  Of which I am a huge fan.  As I'm sure is anyone who has ever baked.  Because bakers know that it's a risk to bake for others.  Baking is fraught with perils and pitfalls and you will see both successes and failures in this show. Some of the recipes have been shared online (not all recipes though as it's up to each contestant).  Luckily  Richard from season one shared his recipe for Pain au Lait.  I love his recipe.  It's easy to follow and relatively fast (for bread) and it doesn't require any special skills or tools (although you will need a kitchen scale as all ingredients are by weight).  I hope you will enjoy Richard's Pain au Lait rolls as much as I do!

Until next time be well, love well and I hope this winter you give sock knitting a try so you too can enjoy toasty toes and other creature comforts!

4 comments:

Mereknits said...

Claudia, once again your knitting astounds me it is so beautiful. I am so in love with the colors you chose. I seem to be getting more simple with my projects that last few years. I can't seem to handle anything technical. Wishing you a wonderful can cozy weekend.

Claudia Bugh said...

Thank you Mereknits for your sweet comment! There are times in our lives when work or personal issues drain us of our creative energies. During periods like this in my life I often revert to a simple garter stitch pattern, which are soothing to knit and requires little attention. I hope your knitting brings you soothing and comfort during this period of your life.

Julie said...

I love the socks and the shawl! I, too, fell down the Handmade Sock Society rabbit hole, and I'm really looking forward to the first pattern release, which I think is next week.

Claudia Bugh said...

Yay! Julie I'm so happy you have also joined - and not surprised - as we have very similar taste! Looking forward to a great year of sock knitting ahead ~