Can you guess the pattern?

Hints:
-it's a sock
-it allows me to fully indulge my love of twisted stitches
-it is, embarrassingly, knit not only in the same yarn as the original pattern, but also in the same colour*


*My defense is that I bought the yarn without thinking of the pattern, and when I wanted to knit this pattern, this yarn was the best choice for it out of my stash. I figured *not* using it simply because it's the same yarn as the original is just as bad as using a yarn solely because it was used in the original. If you get what I mean.

Horseshoes Cardigan redux

As some of you may know, MagKnits has imploded recently. It has stopped publishing and no longer hosts any of the patterns it published over the last four years. As a result, my Horseshoes Cardigan pattern, originally published in the October 2007 issue, can now be found, for free, here, or as a download at Ravelry.

If there are other MagKnits patterns you may want, you can still get most of them by Googling the name and then clicking on "cached" in the results. You can also try the WayBack Machine. As well, a lot of designers on Ravelry have made them available there, or you can always contact the designer directly.

Socks for me!

Pomatomus socks
Yarn: Regia Stretch Colour, two skeins with plenty left over
Needles: 2.0mm dpns
Pattern: the ever-popular Pomatomus, by Cookie A. for Knitty

Notes: Well, what can I say? About a gazillion people have knit these, and I understand why- they are gorgeous socks.

I knit the leg shorter, with only two pattern repeats instead of three.

There are a few little issues I have with these socks:

-This pattern called for starting a needle with a YO. For me, that means a loose stitch there, so the YO holes are bigger there than when made mid-needle. You can see this on the left sock in the picture, I think.

-I didn't swatch or nuthin', just started knitting with my 2.0mm dpns, which is what I use for all socks. This made for a sock that is a teensy bit tight. However, the lace rib pattern is very stretchy, and the yarn is very stretchy, so it fits fine.

-I should have knit the foot just a wee bit longer, but I got impatient. As you can see, the heel flap on these sort of get tugged down under my ankle. But that's okay, I can live with it.


With all that said, I'm very happy with these socks, and will wear them lots, for sure. However, I got two things out of this project that make me even happier. 1)This is great sock yarn. Stretchy, thin, easy to work with, makes lovely even stitches. I would totally use this yarn again. 2) I am totally, but totally, head over heels in love with this twisted rib lace pattern. The over-lapping shell motif is what pleases me most, I think. Plus, I just love twisted stitches. I think it looks better un-stretched out. I want to use it for everything, and in fact, already have an idea for a project with this stitch pattern. I don't know if it's from a stitch dictionary somewhere, or if Cookie A. made it up (genius, if she did), or what.

Aieeee!

For Christmas, a very talented friend of mine gave me and The Limey a pair of beautifully hand-made mugs. We love them.


They're just the right size for juice and for the small, strong coffees The Limey makes on the weekends.



I especially love the crackly glaze and that hint of a bluey-greeny-celadon colour.

While one of them is in robust good health, I'm very very sad to report that the other one...well, the other one...


We were devastated. After some crying and rending of hair, we decided we'll try to fix it. The Limey will steal some cyano-acrylate from work (they make their own Superglue; who knew?).

Meanwhile, we still use them both, and we cherish them just a little more.

WTF?

From my living room window this morning:


WTF?! We're well into April here, people! Who is the eejit who makes the weather decisions, huh?

Geekery

The Limey and I went to Oxford for the Easter weekend. It's only, maybe, an hour's drive away, but we got a hotel room and stayed for a couple of nights anyway, to make it seem like an actual vacation. (My passport is with the Home Office for immigration things, so I can't leave this frigging country, for months and months.)

Oxford is a great town to walk around in. Lots of little lanes and backstreets, and amazing buildings wherever you look. I'll spare you the tourist pictures, though.

Oh, except one:

(Click to biggerize.)

Squeeeeee! I only wish they would let us into the actual labs. How awesome would that have been?