Knitting

I am still working on slippers a different pair this week, the green pair are now off the needles and awaiting their soles.  It's weird how each Wednesday when I write a knitting post I am at the exact same stage of the next slipper, just starting the instep, all my picture look the same.  Despite having plenty of Christmas knitting to be getting on with I needed a diversion this weekend, and my husband had an day off work so I couldn't knit the slippers anyway.

We recently changed our seasonal table to mark the change to winter and I thought it looked a little bare.  I have some ideas for bits and pieces I would like to make, but am saving them until after Christmas when I have more time.  I thought making some holly leaves and berries would be an easy and easy addition.......but after a scan thorough my flower pattern book and online I could only find crochet patterns, I cannot crochet and now is not the time to be learning!  So I had a go a making a pattern up, after all I have nothing else to do, right?  After several attempts I finally came up with a pattern I am happy with and I thought I would share it with you all, in case anyone else has a burning desire to knit some holly leaves too.  You could use any yarn to knit these, the heavier the weight of yarn the bigger the leaf will turn out, just use the appropriate needle for the yarn you are using.

Holly Leaf Pattern

Cast On 3 stitches

1. P
2. K1 m1 K1 m1 K1 (5 stitches)
3. P
4. K2 m1 K1 m1 K2 (7 stitches)
5. P
6. K3 m1 K1 m1 K3 (9 stitches)
7. P
8. K4 m1 K1 m1 K4 (11 stitches)
9. P
10. Cast Off 3 K1 m1 K1 m1 K5 (10 stitches)
11. Cast Off 3 P to end (7 stitches)
12. K3 m1 K1 m1 K3 (9 stitches)
13. P
14. K4 m1 K1 m1 K4 (11 stitches)
15. P
16. Cast off 3 K to end (8 stitches)
17. Cast off 3 P to end (5 stitches)
18. ssk K k2tog (3 stitches)
19. P1 p2tog (2 stitches)
20. K2tog

Berry Pattern

Cast on 3 stitches

1. P
2. K1 m1 K1 m1 K1 (5 stitches)
3. P
4. K2 m1 K1 m1 K2 (7 stitches)
5. P
6. K
7. P1 (p2tog) 3 times (4 stitches)
8. (k2tog) 2 times 
9. Cast off

Cut thread and sew through stitches and pull to make a small berry.

I have left a small loop on each leaf and berry so that I can hang them on our little tree…..

I finished The Winter Ghosts and really enjoyed it.  I am now stepping further back into history with 1215: The Year of the Magna Carta a description of what it like to be alive in that momentous year.  Thus far I have read about the houses people lived in, the shape of the landscape, the towns, education, families, tournaments and the forests.  The forest were strictly managed you could pay with your life if you broke the rules, they were managed by forest officials who sound like they were the modern day equivalent of traffic wardens in my country!

For those of you interested in such things the date today is a special one if you write your dates, day, month, year it is the 11/12/13 you won't be able to do that again for just over 86 years I will be long dead by then.  If you write your date month, date, year you have missed your last one but I have just realised that it was my eldest's ninth birthday!

Joining in with Ginny for sharing of knitting and reading and Tami for this weeks work in progress, head over to see what others are up to...

Knitting

I thought I was going to be sharing exactly the same picture as last week but I have made progress especially on the knitting.  I am on the second of this green pair which I am hoping will be off the needles by the end of the week, then I will have three left to make one pair and a half.  These are all the biggest sizes so no surprise they have been left till last, at a week a slipper I will just get them finished in time......I hope.  I shared pictures of the finished baby knits.

I did eventually find a solution to my sole quandary.  I had hoped to be able to buy a second hand wool jumper, felt it and use that for the sole.  The jumper I bought felted a little but not enough to be able to cut it up, my eldest is now enjoying wearing it so it has not gone to waste!  My other thought was some sock stop which I had seen in my local craft store a few weeks ago.  As is always the case when you go back to buy something, because you needed to think about it, it had sold out.  In the end I visited a haberdashers near to my mums whilst I was done visiting and bought some felt, enough to make soles for all eight pairs I will make, I hope it is durable enough.  I needed something quickly otherwise I would have had to drive back home with two pairs of slippers, sort out the sole and then post them back.

I finished the wonderful book by Ben Law it had chapters on how he started off living in his wood and the observations he made over time, the surrounding lands and how they have been used and managed, his learning about the different types of trees, their uses, how to manage them and the skills needed and building his first house in the woods which was featured in the programme Grand Designs.  His connection with nature and his descriptions of the interesting skills we have lost make this a wonderful book to read.

I am now reading something completely different.  A book I was given as a present a few years ago, The Winter Ghosts by Kate Mosse.  I have read a couple of books by this author and really enjoyed them, they sparked an interest in reading more about that period in history.  I am already about half way through the book and am really enjoying it, it is a compelling story hard to put down....

Joining in with Tami and Ginny head on over to see what other bloggers have been making and reading.