Wishing you all a Happy Halloween with this wee witch I knitted as a gift for a friend.

The pattern is called Witchy Friends by Esther Braithwaite and I used sock yarn to knit it up.  I might have to make another one for myself...

I think I haven't told you in the past months, but ta-dah! I'm still on track with the ornaments from the club I was gifted. I admit, I found it a bit hard to continue once again. To a certain extendt is it probably that I have trouble to get the idea of 'woodland friends' being mushrooms or rainbows, but I think what bothers me most is that the size of the ornaments changed considerably.

In August the hedgehog was a wee thing, but then from September (mushroom) onwards the ornaments got a lot bigger, I'd say they doubled in size.

The size is still fine for ornaments for my tree and they are really cute, so it's all good though. And I am not giving up this close to making it through the whole year. I was even lucky and the November rainbow pattern was released very early, so number 11 has also been done.  :)

I have no idea how, because I only made the beds and woosh! just like that I had torn the extensor tendon on my finger. Not a happy camper today with at least six weeks of having to wear a splint ahead... although I can't help but find it funny, because of course I chose the 'best' finger for this injury...

I'm kind of forced to show everyone the finger... lol.

Anyway,  after the first shock I realized quickly that I can still knit when wearing that stupid splint, so I'm fairly certain I'll be patient enough to wear it no matter how long it takes. My first knitting project with the splint was a finger cover... There might be more to come in the next weeks.

So I've been knitting up a storm lately and still there is nothing to share with you. As it is from time to time, I had lots of new commissions for magazines, so everything I worked on in the past couple of weeks has to stay a secret for now. But be prepared to see lots of new patterns soonish. :)

Although there is a small non-knitting something I can show you today. Whenever I needed a break from my speed knitting, I worked a bit on the cards I bought during our trip to the Netherlands, and ta-dah, the first set is done. It took me longer than I  had thought it would, so it might be a good idea to start the set of Christmas cards right away...

Time flies and just like that it's that time of the year again: If you want to give handknit gifts, now it's the time to ponder on ideas and start knitting. So the latest issue of Interweave Knits Gifts comes at the right time - and I'm happy I contributed a pattern to it: Boreal Hat and Mittens.

Named for coniferous forests often found in cold climates (boreal = related to or located in northern regions), the two-coloured Boreal Hat and Mittens are knitted using a simple yet beautiful colourwork motif to transition from one colour to the other and back again. The colours are reversed on the second item for a more playful look and to make the best of two skeins of worsted weight yarn.

Both items are worked in the round  from brim respectively cuff to the top. The pattern includes three sizes. It is available as individual download or as part of the digital Interweave Knits Gifts collection from the Interweave website, here.

... or the pattern during the Supersock World Championship that nearly drove me crazy, lol.

I alread showed you a picture of all my SWC socks last week, but I haven't told you about the one pattern that really was an effort to knit. Not because the pattern is so difficult, but because I found it hard to find the perfect yarn.

Knitloops, a free pattern by Amelia Archer available from the Knitty website, uses vertical stranding to creat the vertical stripes. To avoid having to weave in lots of ends, the loops for the vertical strands are taken from the working yarn, which of course means that the length of the loops sets the length of the stripes. And that is where my trouble started.

I don't have many self-striping yarns in my stash, and with the ones I tried - I actually cast on three times - the pattern didn't turn out nice at all. Because the loops ended in  stripe in the same colour, because they were on a stripe with hardly any contrast, whatever... I frogged three times. Until I had my d'oh!-moment and realized that the socks are my second pair and won't gain any points in the competiton anyhow. So why stick to the requirements? After that I cast on again, with the yarn that was my first choice, and just went ahead and adjusted the pattern, i.e. the length of the loops. And here we are: I might have new favourite pair to wear these days. :)

Just like that - imagine my finger clicking here - it's September and the Supersock World Championship that lasted for two and a half months is over. What a fun event! I worked hard on my goal to knit up at least 12.000 meters of yarn from my stash this year and I managed to finish all the patterns - 4240 meters have turned into 14 pairs of socks. :)

I should probably say 'thank you' to the awful weather we had this summer - without all the cold and rain I would have probably knitted a bit less... The hardest task today was to take a picture of all the socks and it took me several tries to get what I wanted. In the meantime - when the wind spoilt my pictures and my socks were all over the place - I even had the idea to take a video, so if you want to see the all my socks a bit closer and are not afraid to listen to my babbling in English, here you go: Mone's Supersock World Championship 2021

Despite the fact that I've been knitting like a machine lately (lots of new samples and also socks for the Supersock World Championship just for fun), I found some time to work on a pattern that was previously published in Knit Now magazine: Sonic Interference.

The striking effect in these socks is achieved by working an easy to memorize mosaic pattern. The pattern is worked with a single colour at a time – making these socks perfect for a first project using more than one colour!

The socks are knitted top down with heel flap and gusset. Cuff, heel and toe are worked in main colour only; leg and foot are worked alternating between one round in main colour and one round in contrast colour.

The pattern includes three sizes: women’s S, M and L to fit leg circumference 17.5 (20, 22.5) cm 7 (7.75, 9)”. Leg length and foot length are adjustable. The socks can be completed with only 50g  each of two contrasting colours in fingering weight yarn.

Would you like to knit yourself a pair? Get your copy of the pattern from my Ravelry store, here.