May Day, mayday!

A bit in limbo! The car passed its MoT on 27th April, then the sock machine got impossible to turn, so took it with me on my regular Wednesday in Ruddington to see if Helen and Milla could sort it for me. It was a bit embarrassing, as I was doing a local event on May Bank Hol and it just kept stopping when visitors were having a go. Sold the pair of bamboo socks, though, a hat pattern and some of my own spun and dyed yarn, and encouraged one woman to start spinning.

Anyway, it was sorted - the central nut and bolt, as I thought. I’m not sure whether there is a screw inside a screw, but it wasn’t a straightforward relationship between one end and the other. Packed up to come home and the clutch went on the car so had to have a suspended tow. As my local garage is at the bottom of the hill, no way could I drag the machine home, even in a wheely case, so it is stuck there for quite some time as we are off on our hols, flying on Sunday. I hate this bit before a holiday - everything is ready, no car so can’t even get to the wool shop in Beeston for more of the bamboo yarn with my profits, don’t want to start anything new and can’t even fill in time by playing on the sock machine.

However, did wind off some more of the stiff Jacobs yarn (see string bag on 2nd April - now finished but not got round to a photo) and am making crochet bowls by the technique of one round of dcs, one round dcs into the same places as the round below. Hard work on the wrists so can’t do many rounds at a time.

Sockwise or Anti-sockwise?

Having got into some difficulty with the rib on some Lana Grossa yarn, I decided to hand knit the ribs and place the work back on the CSM. Unfortunately because of the thread-up the yarn has to be cut (I wouldn’t have earned anything from the Imperia knitting company for this, they insisted on every sock only have one piece of yarn in it). Dropping the rib into the middle of the machine the same way as I knit means the machine in normal action takes the yarn in the opposite direction and would leave a big hole not easy to mend. So the rib has to be turned inside out. As I’ve done an invisible cast on with two rows of slip stitch it is identical both sides. Phew.

Afterthought - it wouldn’t really be the end of the world if I turned the handle the other way until the heel shaping. Just unconventional.

Up to Lee Mills and being fleeced

Up to Lee Mills to take six binbags full of yarn for the Yarn Mountain and to attempt to help sorting out for the new season. Oh dear, didn’t get very far, there is so much new stuff to be put away. But did some research on Marianne Kinzel, and find we have got most of the patterns. How ever the place is going to be clear for the first set of visitors in two weeks goodness only knows, let alone any displays going up. I do wish I lived nearer. And this year the SkipNorth group will be 44 strong!

Got home to find an email from a new friend about a CSM she has recently bought - she was fleeced £950 for a filthy, rusty, item which took her a lot of work to get going, and when she complained, the man called her a liar! Just goes to show you should never buy any machinery by post without seeing and testing it out first (bit arch of me to say this, I have just ordered a new lawnmower from Tesco Direct online! But that is a recognised brand. It’s all the more embarrassing as I know this man, and like him (but have never bought anything from him.) I feel so lucky I got my CSM via Ruddington.

Busy Weekend

No.1 son plus wife and all three grandchildren (youngest 3 years old) were coming up for the weekend for the first time, which took some organising. No. 2 son and wife decided to join in pretty much at the last minute to surprise me, booking themselves in at the local hotel as I don't have elastic walls. I seem to have spent most of the weekend on my feet cooking for nine, but there were a magic few minutes when my grand-daughter "knitted" my craft room with a ball of wool. I got proper needles out for her and we did the "Under the fence, catch the sheep, back we come, over we leap" bit, but she was far more interested in the Art Installation. She didn't tie me up, but I had to cut my way out of the room!

Today I have put the house straight and set the 1920's Cymbal Circular Sock Machine back up. I've started a sock in two colours i.e. rib, heel and toe are going to be in contrast. Another pair for the local museum shop. At present, I only have three colours to choose from, as we need to be using labelled yarn for sales purposes, so I need to ring the changes. Last week I finished a pair of roll top socks, two pinks sandwiched with grey. I cheated on this a little, by starting the top two rolls on the Knitmaster flatbed. Then I e-wrapped a cast-on row on the CSM, but this row came undone later, so I must have done backward "e's". Always something new to learn!