Vintage Socks Again and Again

It was a nice quiet time after New Year. Sun and snow. I took a walk on the beach. People were strolling with prams, and a couple were out having a bath. Now I am recovering from a appendix operation I had the other day.You can´t always knit!!

I finished a pair of socks for my grandchild from Knitting Vintage Socks. When I saw the photo of the pair in the book I thought they were baby boots. However, they turned out to be a perfect boot sock for a toddler in a pair of wellies.

I guess children a hundred years ago wore them in a pair of bootee. Like these little Ellen is wearing. In that case the cuffs probably were placed over the bootlegs and kept the socks in place. A very clever construction, practical and lovely.

The yarn is Arwetta Classic, which I choose for it´s softness and colours.

A Peasant Meal

I aim at living a simple life. It means, that I try not to rush here at Christmas time. However, I love the music and chocolates, but I try to avoid knitted gifts. A week ago I asked my husband if he had a present list. Of course he hadn´t, because he only wanted a pair of socks. I told him in a low voice about my resolution but realized I had to make an exception in his case. His birthday is ultimo May. Not exactly the woolen sock season.
I have a weakness for Hedgehog Fibres and ordered her last colour in stock a sock yarn called Damned Nation. I could not tell from the photo which colour but it was a man´s colour, very dark.

I chose the pattern from Knitting Vintage socks called Gentleman´s Half Hose in Ringwood Pattern from 1899. Nancy Bush tells that the pattern was used for gloves knitted and exported from Ringwood in Hampshire. 
Husband has big feet. 30 cm long. And I was afraid to run out of yarn. Hedgehog fibres sock yarn runs 350 m, so I decided to work the cuff in a black Arwetta from Filcolana.

The leg pattern extends in a very elegant way into the heel flap, and I worked the last 10 rows and the turns with the black Arwetta, too.

While I was knitting I began to wonder which nation this colour was named after. No, I will properly not get an answer, and suddenly my mind moved into the painting by Van Gogh called The Potato Eaters from 1885. Painted in Holland. His palette of this period was black, olive green, raw umber, pale ochre and raw sienna.
The peasants are eating their potatoes, I see the warm light from the oil lamp. The steam from the hot meal, the woman pouring up a hot drink for them all. The painting radiates a respect for manual labour, people working and eating together.

Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes. Oscar Wilde

My grandchildren visited me yesterday. The younger is 14 months old and I tried to take a snapshot of her -  but was not fast enough. Here is a photo of her shadow.

This photo shows what it looked like when her elder sister tried to catch her so I could get my shot.

I wanted a photo for Ravelry. She was wearing a vest I knit 7 months ago. . A wonderful pattern written in Danish by Else Schellerup. Here is a photo of it without the model.

Any member of  Ravelry know that there are so many patterns put into circulation, so why is it that I sometimes really need to invent one, myself.

I borrowed a t-shirt size 1 year and cast on for a toddler blouse using a combo from these books and fifty years of knitting experimenting and billions of stitches.

Here is the first attempt. I am already aware that the armhole is too tight, I will have to reconsider the construction. Of course I have an indescribable desire to see how it fits, but here is my car-so I must restrain myself.