Your other hobbies.

I finished up the very sweary cross-stitch, and as predicted, my friend absolutely loved it!

I’m now partway through knitting a teddy bear for my friend’s kid. I knit on the train when I commute, so it’s actually coming along pretty quickly. So far I have the head, both legs, and one ear done.
 
I can now post a picture of the socks I knitted for my sister. She has a Shar Pei, so when a test knit came up that had a pug type dog on it, I knitted them for her.

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The colour is truer in the first picture.

She loves them which is all that matters.

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A short story I wrote is going to be broadcasted by a well known ghost story podcast. It's for their patreon subscribers only but it does feel like validation that my writing is pretty good. My friends and family all say that, and I have won poetry contests before (even been published once) but I am still not confident. Perhaps I should be. I am going to write a bundle of Ghost stories now though, I feel inspired.
Either way it is the coming Dark Bites episode of next sunday on the patreon of :
The Dark Paranormal
 
Another pair of socks for my sister. These are scrappy socks designed to use up old bits of yarn. 10 rounds of each colour used once per sock. I use the cuff, toe and heel to identify pairs with and the yarn used for sock 1 is used in a totally random order for sock 2, but it will always "match"...

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I do this method because whilst I like scrappy socks, I also like matching pairs and this allows for both.
 
SatNavSaysStraightOn said:
Another pair of socks for my sister. These are scrappy socks designed to use up old bits of yarn. 10 rounds of each colour used once per sock. I use the cuff, toe and heel to identify pairs with and the yarn used for sock 1 is used in a totally random order for sock 2, but it will always "match"...

View attachment 106959

I do this method because whilst I like scrappy socks, I also like matching pairs and this allows for both.
Click to expand...
I love those, you really have a talent!
 
And another couple of pairs finished. There is a WIP (work in progress) KAL (knit along) on at the moment, so I've been trying to finish off unfinished pairs.

These are a test knit for a friend online.
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These were a very quick test knit for a new designer, just a vanilla pair of socks.
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These were also a test knit for a designer, a gift to the lady who looked after our chooks whilst we were away.
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And these were just for me. Part of a set of 6 pairs of socks.
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SatNavSaysStraightOn said:
And another couple of pairs finished. There is a WIP (work in progress) KAL (knit along) on at the moment, so I've been trying to finish off unfinished pairs.

These are a great knit for a friend online.
View attachment 107370View attachment 107371

These were a very quick test knit for a new designer, just a vanilla pair of socks.
View attachment 107372

These were also a test knit for a designer, a gift to the lady who looked after our chooks whilst we were away.
View attachment 107373

And these were just for me. Part of a set of 6 pairs of socks. View attachment 107374
View attachment 107375
Click to expand...
It’s a shame you can’t turn these out fast enough to do it for a living - they look superb.
 
TastyReuben said:
It’s a shame you can’t turn these out fast enough to do it for a living - they look superb.
Click to expand...
The vanilla pair (in autumnal colours), took about 3 days knitting, so 15-20hrs maybe. That might seen like a lot of time, but I'm actually quite fast a straight vanilla sock knitting. Sadly there is no money to be made making hand knit garments. Most people won't even pay enough to cover the cost of the yarn. All of those socks have around AU$35 of yarn in them (about $25 US or £17.50). For larger feet you'll use the entire 100g ball. For my size feet I use about 75g, so can keep the extra for the scrappy socks or those with contrast toes and cuffs.

This year, I've done 1 cardigan and 30 pairs of socks, iirc. And a hat, apparently. Though only 26 projects currently show as completed. I know I frogged 2 test knit socks that I didn't like enough to complete and I've got a half completed cardigan on hold at the moment.

Ravelry
 
The next one is in progress
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Luckily the designer has been receptive to suggestions with this test knit because there are one or two small issues.

To me, the cuff doesn't work with the pattern, so I suggested a change. Also the cables on the leg, pull the leg in much more than on the foot which means that they are tight on the leg. I've mentioned this to the designer, and suggested either extra stitches on the leg, or reducing the number of stitches on the foot to bring the size in line with the ankle.

The designer has liked both ideas.
 
SatNavSaysStraightOn said:
The next one is in progress
View attachment 107494

Luckily the designer has been receptive to suggestions with this test knit because there are one or two small issues.

To me, the cuff doesn't work with the pattern, so I suggested a change. Also the cables on the leg, pull the leg in much more than on the foot which means that they are tight on the leg. I've mentioned this to the designer, and suggested either extra stitches on the leg, or reducing the number of stitches on the foot to bring the size in line with the ankle.

The designer has liked both ideas.
Click to expand...
Good stuff, it‘s annoying when you get something pretty and it’s function isn’t great, lucky you have the practical knowledge to pre-empt that.
 
This is a completed pair now gifted.

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Same pattern in a better colour, with revisions to the sizing which means it works better. It is a test knit.

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And another test knit. I'm not so certain in the colourway with this one. I'm anticipating knitting it again in a semi-solid aubergine colourway which I think will work better. I've just got the end of the toe to finish now.

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You can't see it in my pictures, but Craig and I generally eat on couch and chair in front of the TV. More often than not, Strider is usually just out of camera range, or gets cropped out, hoping that my plate is for him.
 
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