goodness knows I love a slouchy hat

Well there's no denying I love a slouchy hat. I'm not a big beret fan so I'm loving the slouchy beanie trend. This one is super easy, but it's just a perfect simple pattern that works really well. 

The hat's called the rikke hat. It's garter stitch in the round which is a little painful. And the only tricky thing is the twisted german cast-on but there are you tube clips of course and if you can handle a long tail cast-on this isn't too much of a stretch. Although it is super stretchy :-P

I made this hat to go with some fingerless mitts that I'm keen to make. Since knitting mitts are quite similar to socks and coming off a complex sock pattern I thought I'd do the hat first. I also had some yarn that coordinated with my prospective mitt yarn in my stash so I could get started immediately. Perfect.

I also have a little guy who loves getting in the middle of our knitting photography. The following photo is a bit of a favourite.

Now to get started on those mitts...

socking it to London

So my lovely brother and his wife have birthdays on consecutive days and are currently living in London so these socks were completed some time ago. They did however arrive safely and were unwrapped over the weekend.

For my SIL I revisited one of my favourite patterns which I've also made for my mum, see here. This however is the alternative version with the lace pattern continuing all the way down the foot (straight laced). The cables are mirror images of each other which adds a little interest.

The pattern: Haleakala by Cookie A

Yarn: Caper Sock by String Theory

Colour way: Charcoal

And can I say this yarn is really fabulous. As well as a sensible nylon component for durability it also has 10% cashmere for sheer delightfulness.

For my brother, I knitted my new favourite sock pattern for blokes. I think I might be knitting this one again. It's a kind of faux argyle sock pattern using travelling cable stitches which really 'pop'.

I also think the eye of partridge heel looks really good with a variegated yarn.

The pattern: Business Casual by Tanis Lavallee

Yarn: Caper Sock by String Theory

Colourway: Peacock

And can I just say that I was a little disappointed that the colours weren't a bit more lurid - I think my brother can really pull off a cheeky business sock :-)

payment in kind

I made another norie which I was very tempted to keep but was in thanks for a friend who baby sat for us. I so love this pattern.

bootee business

Well the past week has been a whirl with knitting - maybe that's why there are still boxes, to be unpacked or stored, piled along the hallway - anyway, I managed to complete 5 knitting projects, 2 of which were already under way and 3 from scratch!!! Some of these are still to be gifted and so are under wraps but there's plenty that are for public consumption...

These are Saartje's Bootees which must be about the single most knitted pattern in the world. There are 12071 individual projects entered on ravelry alone. They are a quick knit and super cute. They use sock wool so I'm loving using some of my beautiful sock yarn remnants for other worthy projects. These bootees are for some lovely new Melbourne friends who have also been journeying down the curacy path.

Those were actually the 3rd pair of Saartje's bootees I'd attempted. The 2nd had lain incomplete for some time but are now done. In fact I cast-on the first bootee 4 years and 2 days before the second. I'd played around up-sizing them for Giggi when he was 9mo but they turned out way too big and I couldn't be bothered to complete the pair. Now, however at 19mo they fit badger perfectly! I didn't have enough of the main colour for the 2nd one so I swapped around the main and contrasting colours. And of course I can't find the matching buttons... but it all lends to a haphazard, rustic vibe.

The only draw back to these cute bootees is that there's so much finishing to do after you've finished all the knitting which is a little frustrating. You have quite a number of ends to weave in because of the way that the straps are done and a bit of seaming which needs to be done quite carefully so that you don't get an irritating ridge down the centre of the sole. Anyway, I decided to try knitting the 2nd one in the round to at least save on the seaming and a few less ends to weave in. It worked! My modifications are outlined on my ravelry project page, here.

Here's one happy customer.

sock knitting success: my tips and tricks

Here is my real first ever sock which never got completed in to a pair but which I've kept just to remind myself. Sorry it's not even a good photo. And I haven't located our camera in the move yet.

Anyway the major issues with this sock were that it was too loose and the place where I changed between needles was very loose - you can see the ladder on the very left of the sock. Also, I think a heel flap is a bit neater for me than this short row heel.

The things that I think help the most are:

1) using a long-tail cast-on cast on the number of stitches directed in your pattern onto one needle.

Check out the video here. 

It's a very neat cast-on. It's stretchy which is good for socks. Also you end up with a cast-on plus your first row done which helps you to figure out which is the right and wrong side and keep it untwisted when you come to join your work in the round.

2) using a bigger needle to cast-on then you'll be using to knit with. I use a 3.5mm need.

3) distribute your stitches evenly onto 3 or 4 double pointed needles. It usually depends for me how many needles I have available in the correct size and also if there's a pattern whether it works better over 3 or 4 needles.

4) join your knitting in the round making sure you don't twist the stitches. So, if you've used the long-tail cast-on make sure all the purl ridges are oriented to the middle. And then use this neat trick to make sure you have a tight join between the beginning and end of the row.

Slip the first stitch of the row onto the needle holding the last stitch of the row. Then slip the last stitch of the row over the first stitch and onto the needle that had been holding the first stitch. Knit that last stitch which has the yarn attached first and go clockwise.  

Clear as mud? Check here for another explanation.

5) make sure you keep the knitting pretty tight when you're moving between needles.

6) if you start getting holes at the top of the gusset (the area where you join between the heel flap and the top of the foot try this nifty trick.

7) you usually need to graft the stitches at the tip of the toe using the kitchener stitch. See this tutorial for instructions.

8) if you like a more rounded toe see this pattern for instructions.


9) you can follow this tutorial and make a small sock with thick yarn, a quick way to try out all the techniques...


I hope this helps. I'm happy to answer specific questions or another good option is to find your local stitch n bitch group (you can locate these through ravelry.com) there's bound to be some avid sock knitters among the group.


Here's a sneak peak of my latest project.

Happy sock knitting!

my 'so you're thinking about knitting socks' advice...

I haven't quite reached my one year sock anniversary but am currently working on my 19th pair so I think I've well and truly smitten with the whole process.

my first successful sock September 2011

The whole idea of sock knitting was quite intimidating to me so it took a while to get up the nerve to give it a go. So for those who have some experience knitting but have been reluctant to give socks a go here are the things I've learnt that really made it an enjoyable experience.


1) choose your yarn. You probably want to do this in conjunction with all the other steps below (and the pattern will give you the guidelines you need) but if you're ordering your yarn from overseas you want to do this first :-)

If possible get some yarn with some nylon in it. This means the wool will wear better and hopefully last longer after all your hard work. You'll need around 100-120g of 4ply also called fingering weight yarn to make one pair. It really depends on what size you're making but even making a pair of large men's socks if you have 360m you should be fine.

A cost effective choice is cascade heritage yarn which you can get shipped in and purchase on line. I haven't used it myself I only recently found out about it but it gets good reviews.
The colours can be seen here. One on line retailer who seems to have quite a wide variety is  http://www.jimmybeanswool.com.

Some of my favourite more luxury yarns are:
* hazel knits artisan sock
* string theory yarn caper sock
these ones have more colour differentiation even within the solids and are visually interesting without being too busy.

You can also go in to your local yarn store and see what they have. Unfortunately in Australian stores there usually isn't that much variety to choose from.


2) check your foot size. If you have a standard medium ladies foot there are heaps of free patterns to choose from. It depends on the designer but roughly: measure the circumference of the ball of your foot and the circumference of your ankle and if it's around 9 inches then you're a medium. The length of your foot can be more variable the pattern will usually specify that you knit to a certain length usually 2 inches less than the length of your foot before shaping the toe.

Also be careful because usually the designers specify the size of the sock rather than the size of your foot. So a good sock size is about an inch smaller in circumference than your foot. So for a medium this would be an 8 inch sock. If you have a different circumference foot you might want to buy a pattern, the designer usually provides multiple sizes. Otherwise you can play around with yarn thickness and needle sizes but this gets a little complicated.


3) choose your pattern. There is of course a huge variety. If you have a 9 inch foot you have heaps to choose from. You just need to decide on
- the method: cuff down or toe up
- the texture: vanilla (plain stockinette), ribbed, lace, cables and combinations thereof
- there are also heaps of different options regarding types of heel and toe, and whether you use double pointed needles, 2 circular needles, or 1 circular needle (magic loop). I suggest starting with the double pointed needles... you may need a couple of different sizes. I've used 2, 2.25, 2.5, 2.75 and 3mm needles at various times. I knit tightly so I mainly use 2.75mm. The suggested size is usually 2.25mm.

Some of my favourite free patterns are:
* monkey socks by Cookie A: my all time favourite sock designer and an easy lace pattern
* hedgerow socks by Jane Cochran: love the texture and the toe
* on-your-toes socks by Ann Budd: try the toe-up method and also has a knee-hi option
* business casual by Tanis Lavallee: my favourite male sock pattern at the moment (also comes in 2 sizes: sock circumference size 8 or 10 inches)
* blackrose socks by Suzi Anvin: cute lace pattern, different left and right foot socks, and 4 sizes!

These aren't free or particularly easy but see what you could work towards :-) Check out Cookie A.


4) check the gauge... boring I know. But unless you're knitting socks with dk or some other thicker wool, when you're working with smaller size needles whether you knit loosely or tightly is going to have a significant impact. Most sock patterns have a recommended gauge of 8 stitches per inch, but check your pattern.

This post was longer than I expected so part 2 will include the tips and tricks which can really help you get good results once you're getting started.

a do-over for another reason

I was recently knitting for another dear friend whose birthday it was recently. She however had indicated that she'd be more interested in a shawl/scarf type ensemble rather than socks. No problem.

I have really been wanting to knit some of Martina Behm's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy one skein shawls. I love both Magrathea and Lintilla. You can view both here. 

I used this supposedly 4ply 200g yarn that I'd bought at a certain guild day yarn type thing. I personally do not think it's 4 ply, it certainly wasn't 200g and the yardage wasn't great. Anyway I got 75% through Magrathea and had used too much of my yarn. Most 4 ply skeins are between 100 and 150g so I thought with my 200g I would have plenty. Because the yarn wasn't properly labelled I had no idea what the yardage was so was just going by weight. Bad idea. Anyway for the weight of the yarn I would have had to keep going beyond the minimum repeats and I wasn't even going to get that far. So 6 days before her birthday I completely frogged the project.

Fortunately one of my richmond knitter compatriots inadvertently came to the rescue. I had admired this scarf IRL recently and saw from her project page that she'd made it using a dk yarn (much as I suspect this yarn is).

So early that Friday morning after frogging my previous attempt I downloaded the pattern Scroll Lace Scarf by Ysolda Teague. You can check out her amazing stuff at ysolda.com. After looking at the issues regarding the stockinette sections rolling too much I brazenly adopted all my compatriot's modifications and did the crescent in garter stitch - and thus echoing the magrathea as well...

It was fascinating coming up with something that visually had quite a few similarities but with such different construction. With the scroll lace scarf you knit all the lace to begin with, pick up stitches along the edge and then using short rows you create the crescent shape. As you can see above with the magrathea you knit the lace concurrently with the garter stitch section and then recreate the other lace side along the final edge when the scarf is deep enough.

Anyway I was thrilled with the final result and loved how the lace came out.

It did need a bit of blocking. And this was my first real inexpert attempt. (I have since acquired some blocking wires so expect it might get easier). Anyway, I used a cheap yoga mat overlaid with gingham which was had one inch squares - made measurements easier. And then used whatever pins I could get hold of. It worked out all right.

And amazingly I managed to get it in the post and it arrived on the day. Win.

delightful do-over

Here's a trap for young players. When reading a sock pattern for sizes you need to distinguish whether the measurements are for your foot or the finished sock. Because of the delightful stretchiness of wool on most socks the finished product is about an inch smaller than your foot - unless you like your socks slouchy.

Anyway, earlier this year it was one of my very good friend's birthdays and I thought I'd make her some socks too - even though she's not a relation. I loved the look of clandestine by Cookie A. It's available here. They came out great. See here for more info.

But they were too big. Aaaarrrggghhh. The socks were 8 inches not for a foot of circumference 8 inches, so for my friend's petite foot they were no good. On a side note they fit me perfectly and I'm not that disappointed to have them back.

Because the lace repeat is so large I didn't think I could size them down. So I went looking for another pattern. I settled on Blackrose Socks by Suzi Anvin available here. Part of the appeal of these socks was that the pattern came with multiple sizes including a sufficiently small small.

So here are the do-over socks which thankfully do fit this time :-)

I love that once again there's a left and a right sock. I love the lace pattern - it wasn't too hard to memorise. I wouldn't mind making these again with a darker yarn to really show off the lace pattern.

I also love the clever construction on the gusset - how the decreases are worked into the edge of the pattern.

And a big shout out to String Theory and their Caper sock yarn: so delightful to knit with. It has nylon for durability and cashmere for squishyness. Fantastic. You can try for yourself - go here.

Love it.

ready for winter

So in the midst of all the birthday knitting I've been knitting this cowl for me on the side. And I'm really pleased with how it's turned out.

The yarn is from Quince & Co. The colours are great. And now that it's been washed it is so soft. It's this great American wool made in a New England mill and is quite reasonable if you buy it directly from them with the current exchange rate.

Anyway, an american wool with an english pattern, thanks to The Shetland Trader. After loving her 'norie' hat, see here, I thought I'd give her cowl pattern called 'sylkie' a go. I love the looking glass pattern, and it's a fun knit with slipped and crossed stitches to keep things interesting, but it's pretty easy to read your knitting, so you can figure out where you're up to. 

 

I also like that you can either wear it doubled or single for when you walk in to a warm place - you don't have to take it off (and then potentially lose it as I would). The versatility of a scarf but less knitting required and less fiddly to wear. 

The other super clever thing about the pattern is that you knit the i-cord edging as you go. It's such a nice finish but you don't need to fuss with it at the end. Genius.

Now I just have to get my brown coat out of storage :-)

a little ray of sunshine

The first thing Giggi asked me was 'is it my birthday soon?'. The reason: I was knitting him a pair of socks :-) It isn't. I was just knitting for the love of him, and because he asked me for a pair of rainbow socks. A request too cute to deny.

It was pretty tough to find some true rainbow yarn. I would have loved to knit with trifolium but it never was available while I was looking. I should have emailed them directly.

Anyway we decided on this:

It's a great yarn from Colinette Jitterbug, colourway popsicle. Slightly garish perhaps (understatement of the year???) But just like he always goes for bubblegum flavour ice cream if given half a chance, this was his choice.

Because the yarn doesn't have any nylon I knit it down a needle size - hoping for some durability. The unfortunate consequence of that was that my hands hurt so much I had to stop knitting for 2 days but it's all better now.

I used Ann Budd's vanilla sock pattern for 8 stitches an inch gauge socks. It's available as a free download from Interweave in their ebook '8 free knitting patterns for children'. It has a great formula for whatever gauge yarn your using and in 2 kid's sizes. It was great to knit from - I just don't love the super pointy toes. Although to be fair it is more noticeable because I knit them a tad on the big size for extra longevity. Anyway I ravelled them here.

The verdict: 'I should wear these every day'

and the sock gifts continue

Well it was a week or two ago now but we had the birthday of the newest addition to the family, a brother-in-law. I decided that I'd try a sock club pattern the wonderful Nanaimos. Named after a coastal town in Canada (very specific I know) - there is also a chocolate slice native to the region, but it seemed just a little too complex to do fructose free. I'm hoping that my brother-in-law who is excellent at making sweet things will give them a go.

Anyway it's a basic but effective pattern. And the yarn from misti alpaca is sooooo soft. It's a little fuzzy, what with all the guard hairs etc but I think they will make excellent house socks for this winter. I've ravelled these here. And it was an interesting exercise in making a basic modification to the sizing. I would consider these an XL size and the pattern made only up to a large. So I used a thicker yarn at a gauge of 8 stitches an inch (instead of the pattern's 9 stitches per inch) and it worked out perfectly. Too easy.

Now for the June birthdays :-)

our new normal

I thought I'd better post a 6 months on update in our low fructose experiment. It really is our new normal.

Our shopping habits are established.

We know what we prefer when we eat out - I must admit we haven't attempted Thai food - it seems the one thing which might just be too hard.

Giggi asks for a ham and cheese sandwich or a green apple if he's hungry (not a biscuit, cake, chocolate etc.)

I've become an expert at home ice cream making.

My cake of choice if we're having visitors or if I need to bring something elsewhere is David Gillespie's butter cake with a handful or two of frozen blueberries.

I might eat too many croissants...

I'm not sure what else I have to report. I'll get back to you in another 6 months or so... But I can't see us ever going back.

ok so I might be in love...

so they arrived:

now what can I possible make that is going to be worthy of them???

the joy...

In the world of knitting there's not much more satisfaction than a great pattern, some fantastic yarn, a quick knit and just the right item for the right person.

This pattern is 'turn-a-square' by Jared Flood. It's a free download available here. It's not very difficult but the results are really effective. I love how the stripes are squared on the crown of the hat.

I learnt how to do jogless stripes. For some good advice see here or with moving pictures see here. For a couple of different options see here. Just make sure to move your marker around, so each time you knit 2 together, take the marker off before and replace it after so you're moving the beginning of the round one stitch to the left each time you change colour. Although I must admit you can see how the stripes travel... Note how the fabric pulls a bit to the left, as you can see below.

I also experienced the joy of great yarn. I love alternating a solid colour with a self-striping yarn. I managed to use some left over yarn as the main yarn and delved in to the world of noro for the stripes. All I can say is trust the noro. I kept wanting to hurry the colour changes but I resisted :-) Although I must admit that I rewound the yarn so that I was sure to get some of the green.

It's slightly too big for good old RP, who knows it was such a quick knit I might try it again with half an inch less. We'll see...

But it's just the thing for his cold, early starts. And it was a complete surprise: in the words of Giggi 'mum are you doing your sneaky knitting?'

mother-in-law makotos

This pattern is the 2nd pattern from the 1st instalment of the Cookie A sock club. I wasn't sure about the pattern at first, I really do think the slightly variegated yarn suits the pattern better than the sock club yarn.

However the pattern has really grown on me. They were fun and easy to knit. It was fascinating to see how the pattern emerged with the double yarn overs and the resulting ladders. The pattern is supposed to resemble fortune cookies and you can really see it. So clever. I've ravelled all the details here.

The recipient was thrilled. What more could you ask for? Here she is modelling her new socks. :-)

This strange shot gives you the best idea of the colour. Another beautiful yarn from hazelknits. Colourway arroyo.

sharing the plowshares

Here's the latest in the Great Sock Gift Project of 2011-2012. April is a busy month in the Pfitzner family. First off the rank is my father-in-law. I've been searching for some more good blokey sock patterns. Something that's not too boring to knit and not to fancy to be off putting. 

And this was the result:

 
They're called plowshare socks which is perfect for my father-in-law because I think his favourite place to be is on his farm just north of Adelaide. The pattern was a little risky because not that many other people had used it but I love it.

It has a slipped stitch in the middle of the rib which really makes it pop. And there's a chevron kind of pattern to make the plowshare shapes. Kept the interest going without being technically difficult. A really clever pattern.

I also love the yarn which is hazelknits artisan sock (my go-to yarn of choice at the moment). In the words of my father-in-law it's comfortable and surprisingly light. I also love the colourway which is called low tide and is a beautiful mix of blues, greens, grays and browns. Quite similar to the new Cookie A sock club yarn from Socktopus.

And the good news is that the socks fit! Although in the pictures they were kindly modelled by mum. Anyway better get back to the April birthday knitting :-)

it's not a sock!

I went stash diving in search of something that would make a good slouchy hat and brighten up a Melbourne winter. And here it is...

The pattern I chose was norie by the shetland trader. I didn't go for quite as much slouch as the pattern, but next time I think I'd go for it. I haven't washed and blocked it yet, but the lace is still quite cute.

Here's our attempt at a cheesy knitting book pose :-)

Anyway, with a bit of road-trip knitting and another half hour when we got home. Holiday knitting goal #3 is finito!

Now to get back to the Great Sock Gift Project...

another pair finally finished

I've blogged about these ad nauseum but they are done. The rib was pretty straight forward, the intriguing techniques revolved around knitting a sock from the toe up.

I thought the eastern cast-on was fiddly but effective (particularly being a tight knitter made it a bit more difficult). 

The short row heel worked out better than I anticipated. I like the sewn bind-off.

My mother bought me this beautiful yarn right when I first got into sock knitting. I love the colours and love the way the raspberry stripes came out. I needn't have worried about the yardage of the colinette jitterbug, they've added another 10g since many people were remarking on the low yardage. I could have added another inch or too, which is frustrating since they are toe-ups. Next time I'll have an electronic scale on hand and make an informed decision about when to bind off :-)

Holiday knitting goal #2 done and dusted.

louisa is no longer wayward

Yay... so pleased that I've finally finished these beautiful socks. They are the wayward socks from the Cookie A Sock Club. I've ravelled them here.

They certainly are the most complex socks I've ever knitted. Largely due to the twisted stitches, complex charts and the way the socks mirror each other.

The 2nd sock essentially took 5 days of hard knitting... but a lovely way to spend a long weekend. The yarn is a beautiful blend of merino, cashmere and silk. As I may have mentioned before.... Perhaps the stitch definition wasn't all it could have been but I haven't taken them off since I finished them. Smooshy...

Holiday knitting goal #1 completed.

As to whether I myself am wayward or not you may need to speak to me about that directly  ;-)

easter eggsperiment #2

well, I'm pleased to say we had success today with our easter egg making

1) mum and giggi made these beautiful rabbits out of boiled eggs (the kits were from when we lived in Germany 30 years ago - still  good). No fructose here :-)

2) the chocolate and the moulds worked! see here for my previous attempt...
my tips:
- we picked up moulds and foil wrappers from Spotlight for around $10

- make sure you lightly grease the moulds with olive oil on paper towel

- let the chocolate cool a little before filling half a mould half full of chocolate (about 30g of chocolate for this size egg)

- clamp the moulds together with pegs or elastic bands before swirling the chocolate around to make sure that there are no holes

- put in the fridge and turn every 2 mins to ensure even coverage (for about 10mins)

- leave the chocolate in for another hour or so to make sure the chocolate has fully set.
et voila!

I really like that the eggs are hollow: less chocolate for one thing but more importantly it reminds us that on Easter Sunday the tomb was empty because Jesus had come back to life. I love opportunities like this to talk to my kids about what really matters :-)

holiday knitting goodness

Well we've done a road trip of around 900km to go hang out with my mum over Easter. I finished my most pressing pair of birthday socks. And I didn't receive my delivery of yarn for the next few birthday pairs before we left.

Oh dear! I'll have to do some knitting for myself.

Here are my ambitious holiday knitting goals:
- finish my waywards  by the 11th to be in the running for a cookie a prize: so far only just passed the cuff on the second sock
- finish my raspberry toe-ups: I only have one leg to go
- knit myself a 'slouchy' hat for winter with some stash wool: I'm thinking of 'norie' by Godrun Johnston.

Any slouchy hat recommendations???

easter eggsperiment #1

so... trying to be low fructose at easter time isn't easy. Here's what we've done to mitigate sugar consumption at this special time of year.

1) lower fructose hot cross buns
I used this recipe from taste.com as the basis.
My modifications were:
- substitute dextrose for the caster sugar
- substitute a diced green apple for half the sultanas
- lower the oven temperature to 170 C
It didn't quite taste as good but it was better for us and we didn't feel like we were missing out.

2) lower fructose easter eggs
So this 'eggsperiment' didn't quite work but here goes.
I used the low fructose chocolate recipe from here.
My modifications were:
- substitute dextrose for the regular sugar and add twice as much
(nb the dessicated coconut is 6g sugar/100g which isn't fructose free but not too bad considering)
This chocolate is great if you like it really coconutty and perfect if you don't really like dark chocolate. It doesn't however set very hard so isn't really appropriate for making into hollow eggs.
It did work fine in chocolate moulds so we channelled a northern hemisphere easter and made spring flower chocolates - I particularly liked the daffodils.

Tomorrow we try the egg moulds with dark chocolate. I'll keep you posted.

hawaiian socks for mum

I love these socks. A beautiful cookie a pattern as per usual with the most fascinating gusset, the decreases were made on the top of the foot rather than around the heel flap resulting in the travelling ribs.

The pattern is called 'haleakala' and is named after the volcano on the island of Maui. I think the lacy cables are reminiscent of lava flow. The pattern is available here. And I've ravelled them here.

These socks were particularly poignant because 3 years ago my mum and dad took all of us kids and families on a trip to Hawaii. It was 6 months or so before my dad was diagnosed with cancer. It was such a special time. We did so many great things together: the best snorkelling ever, walks, a great aquarium in Waikiki (which dad and giggi particularly liked). And regarding haleakala: a couple of the more adventurous ones cycled down it, and my parents and the AJs walked across the crater.
My favourite holiday snap:

My dad died last May, so we're still going through a lot of firsts. These socks were knitted for my mum's birthdays with lots of love and prayers for her and reminiscing over those halcyon days.

These socks are a little big on me, so can't wait to get a picture with my mum's feet in them :-) Happy birthday mum! We love you so much.