Double Point Needle Socks Challenge

So my fiancee is making a massive point that his beloved slipper socks have two massive holes in. I'm sure he either wants me to darn the holes on them or knit him new ones. Especially since I have finally learnt how to knit socks on the machine (shouldn't have told him!) As it's valentines this friday I'm setting myself a challenge to learn double pointed needles and knit him a nice pair of slipper socks! I realise how mad that sounds but I'm learning on quite big needles and with a 4 ply yarn rather than a sock weight. So If it doesn't work I can still jump on the machine and knit some quickly haha! So here are the needles and yarns I'm using and this is the printable basic DPN sock pattern from cometosilver.

Today I'm Ill… Hand knitting

So I keep meaning to get more familiar with hand knitting, since I spend a lot of my time on public transport/stuck in places with nothing to do and always wish I could crochet and hand knit better so I can actually be productive in the hour it takes me to get to work which is silly. Also I have loads of hand knitting weight yarns and need to put them to good use before I move out. So today I have been using a chocolate brown super chunky weight yarn I bought from John Lewis about 2 years ago, I initially bought it because it had a broken label and was reduced from like £5 to £2.50 so I thought why not! Unfortunately I don't know what brand it is but it's been lovely to use and really makes plain knit stitches look defined and interesting. I'm making a chunky snood since the weather is going to be cold for a while and I'm going to Scarborough next week for my birthday so I'm going to want some nice warm accessories to warm up my leather jacket. So here it is, I've been sat in bed ill today so I thought I would seize the chance to knit. (No judging allowed from you hand knitters)

Knit Inspiration

A recent trip to Birmingham has opened my eyes to this spring's new knitwear, I took a trip to forever 21 and topshop just for a quick look and was quite surprised by the range of techniques and all the colours were beautiful.

 This knitted skirt by Topshop reminded me of how simple a knitting project can be but how effective and rewarding. A knitted skirt is a weirder choice but I think they are versatile and unique. And extremely easy to make! This skirt was around £38 and you could make a simple acrylic version for half the price!

 This is the cutest jumper I've seen this year! My boyfriend actually spotted this and called me over! The mint green looks lovely in this photo, in real life it was a bit on the tacky side but it reminded me that hidden in my stash of yarn was some mint baby 4ply that my grandma gave me when i first started knitting. I have never had a use for it because it just isn't really for me, but I can imagine this pattern idea as a crop jumper or bag, maybe even some cute socks!

 This ombre cardigan from forever 21 really caught my eye, the colours are lovely. I would love to knit this in a more waterfall front version.

 This lovely fairisle knit jumper by forever 21 reminded me of my punch card heart pattern I used to create an infinity scarf for my etsy shop. This is a really nice idea of graduating colours.

Acne Studios

I'm absolutely loving these wide leg trousers by Acne Studio the photographic print is by Katerina Jebb in collaboration they have made a small collection of clothing and scarves. This pair of trousers retails at £1050!I'm so tempted to try and make my own but they would never be as beautiful.

This is an awesome jersey cardigan I saw that can be worn an infinite amount of ways. This is the sort of thing I would love to do a knit version of but i'm finding it quite hard to figure out the pattern. I may have to take a look at it when I'm in London in October.

Another gorgeous printed tunic by Acne x Katerina Jebb.

This is definitely a possible DIY, this cute knitted bomber jacket is exactly the sort of thing I would like for autumn. Just maybe not the orange?