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Saturday 26 May 2012

done - just in time...

ok, I admit I didn't have all that much time left - but I finished the projects just in time, i.e. yesterday afternoon for today. I've been on night shifts before to finish something, so for me that was quite alright:)
and today at our May meeting we had lots of gorgeous projects to see, because it was agreed to hand in all our textile projects for the exhibition in september/october. the museum has to prepare the things and needs time to do so, and to be honest, I am rather glad to have this one out of my way! to make a long story short, here are my finished "Fuchsia cottage" socks:
the flat cardboard inlay isn't ideal for presentation, but my dummy feet aren't here yet, so they have to do. on the left there are two large yews (very common over here, no wonder, with the name Mayo = Maigh Eo in irish or plain of the yews). there are flowering shrubs in front, done with beads. the one on the right shows the fuchsia bush on the left, and a wall, path and gate to the right... both have a silk crochet fuchsia flower and a leaf dangling from the i-cord closure.

on the other side you see the round tower of Turlough and also a fuchsia bush - and on the right side the fuchsia cottage.... both feet are of course done in the famous 40 (or maybe not quite:) shades of green!

 a detail - the path to the right of the tower (purely fictional!) is covered in dandelion - the gardener must have been lazy:)
this is my favourite bit of the socks: the cottage garden. of course there are lots of flowers (done with beads) and even on the wall in front you can see a few weeds and flowers... I was briefly tempted to add some moss by needlefelting - but decided against it, there can be overkill in a design:)
I have to admit though that the front garden of our cottage doesn't look quite so charming:
but then it wasn't meant to show the real thing!


a contrast to the very fancy socks is the second pair, knitted from handspun jacobs wool, undyed. they stand for the countless simple socks the women of ireland (and I am sure in many other countries a century ago!) had to spin and knit for their large families. simple in design, but warm on the feet and much faster to make than the picture socks!

the museum also asked us to provide a few samples for the public to touch - to avoid ending up with grubby or even damaged projects we'll lay out some bits and pieces to feel.... I used three of the wool/silk blends of the fancy socks and one of the jacobs wool. after three squares I was bored and made a circle for the last one:)

this is the fuchsia flower hiding away in a bush - maybe it'll lure it's real cousins out soon? from afar it does look like the real deal - and I am looking forward to the first flowers, because I love the very exotic flower shape. they look like pagoda roofs to me, dainty and pretty and not at all as tough as the plant really is! I still have a bit of the silk left - and I think I'll crochet two more to make little earrings with....





this is what I have been doing during the last few weeks, i.e. apart from gardening etc. I also spun a skein of dark blue silk, finished three more skeins of cardinal red wool for a cardigan and made another pair of simple socks as a present... of course the next birthday is never far away - knitting needles, here I come (lace this time, I think it's a table runner in the making...)
but right now I am not keen - it's too warm for me to do any knitting. I spun some more silk in the museum today, but couldn't really find my rhythm and only managed a very small amount after all. first we have may temperatures lower than in winter - and now it's so warm that I'd like to spend my days in a bathtub full of water:) of course, those of you who have 30 deg. C most days - it's probably a nice fresh day - but for us here it's a veritable heat wave:)

18 comments:

Simone said...

;o)

ich habs auch gelesen. In meinem Buch steht überhaupt nichts davon!!!
Und eigentlich schmeckt der Tee ganz lecker.

liebe grüsse simone

Delighted Hands said...

Oh, the socks turned out to be extraordinary! Great job on them.
Nice to know what you have been up to-a very good if busy schedule!

Andrea D. said...

Great job! The picture socks are so creative and they really look fantastic!!!

Many greetings from Germany!
Andrea

Corina said...

Wow, those socks are almost like a painting!

Birgit said...

Ich bin begeistert von den Socken und dass Du in West-Irland wohnst.
Das wäre ein Traum von mir; so eine tolle Gegend.

Liebe Grüße
Birgit

farbenfaden said...

Tolle Socken!!!
lg
Claudia

Sprotte said...

Hi Bettina,

diese Socken sind unglaublich!

Schwer beeindruckte Grüße,
Britta

Bea said...

Deine Socken sind total klasse geworden. Die viele Mühe hat sich wirklich gelohnt!
Ich wünsche dir den ersten Preis bei der Competition.

Liebe Grüße, die Bea

Jana Muchalski said...

Oh Bettina,
diese Socken sind wahrlich Kunstwerke! Soooo schön!!! Diese feinen Details, die es da zu entdecken gibt...
Herzlich
Jana

Sabine said...

Was sind das für tolle Socken :-)
Wunderbares Landleben im Miniaturformat!
LG
Sabine

Nina said...

Those socks are absolutely amazing! They are works of art and incredibly beautiful. I do like the beaded flowers too!
Here, Fuchsia is a potted plant, usually in hanging baskets. I've always loved them but have found them difficult to keep from wilting rapidly.

Woolly Bits said...

thanks to everybody for your nice comments - the socks were fun, but I am glad that I don't have to do every pair like this:)
Bea - no competition, they're going into an exhibition our group organizes. no price so, but that's alright. I suppose I can always put them up on the wall for decoration:)

kristieinbc said...

Those are the most amazing hand knit socks I have ever seen! I am so glad Jean Miles linked to your blog or I would have missed them. Well done!

Woolly Bits said...

kristieinbc - thanks, I have an idea for another pair in my head.... and I thought I'd never do another pair of those again:)

Anonymous said...

Oh. My. Goodness ! Those socks are GORGEOUS!

jeanne in rochester

Sheryl at Providence North said...

Oh my goodness! I absolutely LOVE those decorative socks with the scene on them! They are truly stunningly beautiful!

Anonymous said...

so witzig und schön..nur tragen könnte ich solche socken nie...

daher ich würde sie an eine schöne alte leine mit holzklammern zur deko aufhängen!! gruß wiebke

Anonymous said...

I love your socks and cottage! So beautiful! :)