Hello friends,

Back in May of 2024, my friend Karyn and I traveled down to Gore for the 45˚Fibre Festival. And while we were there, she bought me a 100 gram skein of 4 ply
Bluefaced Leicester sock yarn in the colourway Meadow Mornings (Almost) from the company Purple Sprouting, as a gift for hosting her for a week.

I really loved the shades of pink, teal, and lime green, so of course I turned the skein into a ball of wool straight away, with the intention to knit them into a pair of socks using my plain sock pattern I've developed over the years.

But when I started knitting the socks up, I wasn't happy with the progress I'd made. I really didn't like how they looked knitted up in this pattern...so I frogged the sock I was working on, and put it away for many months. In the meantime I knitted and finished my On the Porch blanket by Fifty Four Ten Studios, and also my Gro Hat by Fiber Tales.

After I finished those projects I pulled out my sock knitting bag and looked at the Purple Sprouting sock yarn once again. Over the coming weeks I did a whole lot of searching on the internet looking at various sock patterns to see what would fit the yarn. I eventually settled on Tin Can Knit's Rye Light sock knitting pattern, which I had already bought previously. It's a simple sock pattern that I've always wanted to try.

Once I got started the socks knitted up very quickly, and within 3 weeks I had a new pair of socks. The socks ended up being a little big for me, but they're perfect as slouchy socks for around the house. I think next time I use this knitting pattern, I'll go down a smaller size.

The socks are super warm, and very soft, and I really liked knitting up the Blue Faced Leicester yarn.

I haven't had a chance to wear these socks yet, but I'm sure they'll keep my feet toasty while wearing them in gumboots while gardening.

Have a wonderful day

Julie-Ann

Want to discuss my post? Feel free to chat with me on Instagram or Mastodon or Bluesky.

Tags: 2025, 4 Ply, Fingering Weight, Knitting, Knitting Project, Purple Sprouting Broccoli Yarn, Socks, Tin Can Knits, Winter

Hello friends,

Back in May while on Instagram, I noticed that Yeah Yeah Yeah Yarn in Dunedin had up for pre-order a winter solstice yarn advent called 'The Dark Woods'. The advent theme up on Instagram was totally in the vibe that I love, with forests, woodland creatures like foxes and owls, and deep dark night colours. Twelve days of the advent had 20 gram mini skeins of 4 ply sock yarn, and the thirteenth day was one 100 gram skein of 4 ply sock yarn.

So I excitedly handed over my money, and patiently waited until the yarn advent arrived at the end of June. With the yarn advent all packaged up in a box, I then waited impatiently for the 1st of July start date, and opened one advent yarn package each day for the next 13 days.

And I was so pleased with the yarn advent colourways as I opened them day by day. The first day started with a beautiful orange and brown fox colourway, and as the days went on, the colours got moodier and darker. By the time the advent got to the last couple of days daylight began to appear in The Dark Woods mini skeins, and the final 100 gram skein was a beautiful soft dawn.

I thought I'd share with you all the colours in 'The Dark Woods' day by day, with the top left being day 1, and the bottom right being day 13.

The first 6 days mini skeins included a really lovely gradient of brown toned colours.

And the next 6 day skeins really worked lovely together as well with deep greens merging into dark blue nights, and then the approaching dawn.

And finally, the day 13 100 gram skein of Day Break sock weight yarn was just stunning in soft shades of blues, apricots, and pinks.

I'm really pleased with the yarn advent, and thought it was well worth the money I spent. I've always wanted to do a yarn advent, but the price of the 25 day advents were too expensive for me to justify. But this 13 day yarn advent was enough to be pleased to do it just once. The colourways were just what I hoped for, and I'm especially happy with the day 13 100 gram skein of yarn.

I now need to knit up the yarn advent into a wonderful project. I would like to use all the colours in one project, but it's taking me a while to find a project that is truly worth all the beautiful yarn. I have many project tabs open on Ravelry, but for now I'm undecided...

Have a wonderful day

Julie-Ann

Want to discuss my post? Feel free to chat with me on Instagram or Mastodon or Bluesky.

Tags: 2025, 4 Ply, Advent, Fingering Weight, Knitting, Sock Yarn, Winter, Winter Solstice, Yarn, Yarn Advent