First Ever Socks

I haven't done a lot of blogging lately, but I have done a lot of making!

My first ever pair of socks was a success, thanks to the great tutorial at Silver's Sock Class. They feel a little loose, so next time I'm going to try it with 60 stitches instead of 64.

I have been wearing them at ever opportunity since they came off the needles. :)

 

  

 This is Kaffe Fassett Regia 4-ply sock yarn, from my first Kemps order.

Another project finished!

I finished the Softly Ribbed Scarf for Mr. Jelliebeans in December. This is what it looked like:

There's a lot of advice on the internet about blocking, but everyone seems to have their own way of doing it. I knitted a swatch with the same yarn and had a go at the following method. It worked well, so I did this with the whole scarf.

I blocked the scarf by pinning it to my ironing board, length by length, and steamed the heck out of it with my steam generator iron without letting the iron touch the scarf. I let it cool then moved onto the next part. What a difference! It not only flattened out the scarf where it was rolling into itself but also softened the fabric considerably.

The next photo shows the unblocked scarf on the right and blocked on the left.

So here it is finished. Look at the gorgeous stitch pattern. I love it.

The only thing that I don't like about this scarf is where I carried the different coloured yarns up the side, a technique I'd read about. This probably works well if the colours are similar, or if the edge will be hidden in a seam, but I think it's a little too noticeable on the edge of this scarf. Overall though I'm pleased with it!