Tiptoe

Do you know what it's like to have something exciting to share but you know that it has to be kept a secret? I have been bursting for weeks to tell you all about my new sock pattern and now I can! Tiptoe has been designed to go with the new Stylecraft Head over Heels yarn range called All Stars. There are 6 colourways in the range, each one designed by one of my fellow Blogstars and chosen by you in a poll earlier this year. Here they all are ...

Want a closer look at the self striping yarns? From left to right we have Pool created by Hand Knitted Things, Splash created by Zooty Owl and Red Pots created by Attic24. 

And of course you'd like a look at the melange colours  too! From left to right we have Woldgate created by yours truly (so, so proud to be one of the winners), Saltaire created by The Twisted Yarn and Ossie created by Cherry Heart. 

The colourways were all inspired by the artwork of David Hockney and I blogged more about it here and here. I love the soft, almost chalky look of the colours and want a pair of socks in each colourway! I know, I'm greedy, but they are really lovely. I'm sure you'll see them popping up on my fellow Blogstars' blogs over the coming days. My challenge was to come up with a design that would work with both the self striping and melange colourways and I hope that you'll agree that I have managed to do that. Let me introduce you to Tiptoe.

The pattern features rows of dainty tulips, reminiscent of the bulb fields of The Netherlands. Mr JK and I were lucky enough to visit the gardens at Keukenhof some years ago and were blown away by the beauty and colour of these flowers. I blogged about it here. The pattern is available from Stylecraft yarn stockists and will be downloadable at a later date. I am completely in love with those tiny tulips all standing to attention in their rows...

I couldn't resist showing you these - Flo photobombing the photoshoot!

Stylecraft have very generously given me 5 balls of my colourway, Woldgate, and copies of the Tiptoe pattern leaflet to give away to five lucky people. I'll be running the giveaway on my blog, Facebook and Instagram and you can enter in all three places to give yourself more entries if you want! Leave me a comment and tell me what colours you would like to see put together to create a sock yarn. Please make sure that you make it easy for me to contact you if you're a winner. If I haven't heard from you a week after picking the winners, I will draw again using a random number generator or names in a hat! The giveaway will stay open until midnight on September 30th  and it's open to everyone, as I am happy to post worldwide. so there's lots of time to enter. Good luck and please tell all your sock knitting friends! xxx

Happy Hooking

I cannot begin to tell you just how much I am loving working on my Attic24 Harmony blanket. The colours are just delightful and make me feel happy and relaxed. I am following Lucy's instructions on the pattern and making a strip of squares at a time and joining them. After making my first square to check that I understood the pattern, I made them as a production line, crocheting all of round 1, then 2 and so on, so it was easy to remember the pattern. I ended up having all the ends to sew in before I joined them. So with the second strip, I am trying a different approach to the ends. After completing round 2 on a square, I'm sewing in the ends of round 1. So by the time I get to the end of each square, I will only have 2 rounds of ends to deal with. I will see which I prefer. My days have been very colourful indeed this week as you can see...

Round 1

 Round 2

 Round 3

Round 4

The ends!

Round 5 square stack

Round 5 square love

Strip 1 joined

Flo complained that it wasn't going to keep her very warm!

As well as this blanket, I also have Jane Crowfoot's Eastern Jewels blanket, recoloured by my lovely Stylecraft Blogstar friend Lucia to work on. My great pal Snoopydog and I have been working on the first octagon together. It wasn't very sociable crochet as we both had to concentrate hard on the pattern. Definitely a blanket that will be much better done as a production line so it's easier to remember the pattern. I do love it so it will be worth all the effort.

It's been a hectic week of hospital appointments too - three in one week. I am much closer to finding out what's going on with just a couple more tests and scans needed before treatment can start. In the meantime, all my yarny pleasures are a wonderful distraction. I'll be back tomorrow with something I've been itching to share with you for ages! xxx

In Harmony

I've decided to start another crochet blanket as a companion on my journey to recovery. I was given the yarn pack to make Lucy from Attic24's Harmony blanket for my birthday last year and I absolutely love all the colours. There are 126 squares which is a little daunting. I think  it was the thought of all those ends that has put me off starting it before now, but I am going to be very disciplined and sew in the ends as I go along. You have permission to tell me off if you see any naughty ends appearing in my photos! The yarn is Stylecraft Special DK which is perfect for blankets and I know just how soothing the rhythmical movement of hook and yarn is. I've made my first square to check out the pattern and have decided to try the production line method, crocheting all of round 1 for the first strip of 14 squares before moving on the round 2. I reckon this might be the quickest way. I promise to report back soon on my progress. I have three hospital appointments this week so will be taking my rainbow sock with me for some calming stitches. xxx

A bit of a catch up

I'm sorry that I haven't been posting very much over the summer. My holiday has been dominated by hospital appointments and endless tests. I still don't have a diagnosis, but am hoping that a few of the real nasties have been eliminated. I'm not returning to school this week as I'm not well enough, and that feels very strange; I feel guilty that I'm not going to be there but know that I need to be sensible and follow medical advice until I'm better. I don't feel like I've done a great deal other than sleep in between times but here's a snapshot of summer chez josiekitten. xxx

My first ever proper manicure! The name of the polish is 'Princesses Rule'!

Lots of Flo time 😊

A walk by UEA Broad

The start of a new secret project ...

Sewing a cute kitty project bag

Buying some West Yorkshire Spinners sock yarn in the special Marie Curie colourway to knit socks for an Instagram friend to give all the patients in a Marie Curie hospice.

Chips by the sea before a hospital appointment

Helping a friend sew a new bandana for her dog!

A brief stroll around the walled garden at Felbrigg Hall

Helping a friend to make her first patchwork quilt and cushion.

Comfort knitting at the hospital