Well. You’d think I was the world’s greatest knitter – and the world’s most frequent sock wearer. I’m actually neither. In fact, I’m typing this barefoot which is a bit silly, but anyway. I finished my second pair of socks yesterday! And I’m very pleased with them, even if I do say so myself.

I have to be honest, the kitchener stitch I’ve done to graft the toes of the 3 other socks I’ve knitted so far was a disaster. No matter how many times I read or watched the various tutorials I found, I just couldn’t get it. But I knew I’d used it at some point before and found a tutorial that clicked for me. So I dug around and found it eventually.

• This is the kitchener stitch tutorial that works for me.

Knit-slip purl. Purl-slip knit. Just remember that and keep on going. That’s it. It’s not more complicated than that. Knit-slip purl. Purl-slip knit. Knit and purl relate to the direction you put the needle in the stitch. So, I’m not going to shame myself by showing you the mess I made of the others, but rest assured the 4th sock is better. The others are really bad. Sometimes you have to do the best you can and keep on trying.

I made the small bunny last year as I was trying to use up some stash yarn. She’s quite green… I made the dress and wasn’t keen on it at first. Then looked again and thought it was fine after all. Just an odd colour combination maybe. But the little cardigan calms it down I think. I did have more stash yarn to use up, but someone from work is learning to knit, so before xmas I donated some needles and some yarn I knew I was unlikely to use to her. Not many people live near me, but she’s only a 15 minute drive, so we did a very chilly socially distanced yarn handover and cup of tea in the garden. She’s since made a baby blanket for her friends, which she, and they, are super pleased with, which is really nice. (That was in the time when it was ok to meet up outside if you were socially distanced. Felt a bit weird signalling directions through the kitchen window so she could get to the back of the house without coming inside, but probably less weird than it would’ve been if either one of us had made the other sick. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ )

I’ve also been getting the full benefit out of my Almina shawl this year. Damn, I love this thing:

I’ve realised it took a year to knit, but I trail it around the house with me like a kid with a comforter. If I’m not wearing it as a shawl / scarf, I often have it as a blanket on my lap when I’m working. It’s really thick and warm. I’m still considering making another one in a light colour to be honest, as I still can’t find another shawl pattern I like as much. And believe me I’ve tried. (Instead of ‘doom-scrolling‘ I’m a pattern-scroller. It’s an awful habit that I’m going to try and kick. Imagine what I could be doing if I wasn’t staring at the screen so much.)

So that’s where we’re at. Hope you’re safe and well. Look after yourselves. I should probably go and put a pair of socks on. Y’know. Because I can.*

(*There’s a certain irony here. It’s actually very hard for me to put socks on at the moment because I’ve done my back in again. Win some, lose some!)