Notepaper sketches

I had a go at putting sketches at the bottom of notepaper. The top one is based on a sketch in Claudia Nice´s Sketching Your Favourite Subjects in Pen and Ink.

A gratuitous photo of Robert Ridge, St Arnaud, South Iland, New Zealand

Sketches in Golden Bay

Here are a few sketches I did in Golden Bay in my tiny hand-sized sketchbook, with a 0.05 technical pen (no pencil).

Pencarrow Head, Wellington Harbour

Sketches in St Arnaud

A sketch of Lake Rotoiti from the beach. I did most of the sketch there but finished off some of the shading back at the lodge. One of my first on-site pen sketches (no pencil), made possible by my son building sandcastles for long enough!

Castlepoint, North Island, New Zealand

Another set of Desert Boots

Another entry in the Nerdwars competition for Team Stargate Command. These are Desert Boots, knitted from the bottom up on circular needles again.

Easter Egg Cosy

An Easter Egg Cosy knitted from this pattern on Ravelry. The pattern calls for 8 ply wool, but I did it in 4 ply to use up some old wool, as this is an entry on the Scrap Challenge in Nerdwars on Ravelry.

Fingerless gloves

Another entry in the Nerdwars Competition for Team Stargate Command.

They are gloves that are easy to use if you have to dial a stargate in a hurry...

House boots

I´ve finished a pair of house shoes, based on the great Desert Boots pattern on Ravelry.

I prefer to knit on circular needles, from the base up, and avoid sewing things up afterward, so I altered the pattern to do this. Here it is:

Needles: 6.5mm circular needles (with at least 80 cm cord)
Yarn: 12ply chunky
Size: Adult foot (see end of pattern for altering the size).

P = Purl
Pf&b = Purl into the front of the stitch and then purl into the back of the same stitch
M1 = Make 1 stitch
S1 = Slip 1 stitch
P2togBL = Purl 2 together through the back of the loop by doing the following: S1 knitway, slip1 knitways, slip those 2 stitches back onto the left needle. Then purl those 2 stitches together through the back of the loops.


Cast on
Cast on 42 stitches, using Judy´s Magic Cast (JMC) on method - you will have 21 stitches on each needle.
When you cast on with JMC method, one side is smooth and looks like knit stitch, and one side looks like purl stitch. Hold your knitting so that the purl side is on top, and will become the outside of the boot.



Make the sole of the boot.
Round 1: Purl the entire round.
Round 2: P1, M1, P to last stitch on Needle 1, M1 P1. Repeat for Needle 2.
Round 3: P all the way around.
Round 4: P1, M1, P1, M1, P to the last 2 stitches on Needle 1, M1, P1, M1, P1. Repeat for Needle 2.
Round 5: P all the way around.
Round 6: P1, M1, P1, M1, P1, M1, P to the last 3 stitches on Needle 1, M1, P1, M1, P1, M1, P1. Repeat for Needle 2.
Round 7: P all the way around.

At this point the sole should be about half an inch smaller all the way around than the sole of the wearer´s foot.



Rounds 8 - 13: Purl all stitches. It will now look like a little boat.


Short rows for the toe:
Round 14: Purl to the end of Needle 1. Needle 2: Knit all stitches to the last 3 stitches, K2tog, K1
Short Row 15: K1, SSK, K4, W&T,
Short Row 16: S1, P2, P2togBL, P2, P2tog, P3, W&T
Short Row 17: S1, K1, K2tog, K1 (You are now in the position to commence rounds as per usual below).

Form the boot shape:
Round 19 (this round shapes both the heel and toe): K1 SSK, Knit to last 3 stitches on Needle 1 (which is at the heel end of the boot), K2tog, K1. Needle 2: K1, SSK, Knit to last 3 stitches, K2tog, K1
Round 20 (toe shaping only): K1, SSK, Knit all the way around to last 3 stitches of Needle 2, SSK, K1.
Round 21: Do as for Round 19.
Rounds 22 - onwards: Do as for Round 20 until you have 28 stitches left on the needles (14 on each needle).
Next Round: K1, P1 ribbing all the way around.
Next Rounds: Continue ribbing until the cuff is the desired length. I recommend 2 inches of you don´t plan on turning the cuff over, or 5 inches if you do.
When cuff is the desired Length, cast off using the Sewn Bind Off, or the Russian Bind Off.
Sew in loose threads.


(In the pic, I have done 2 by 2 ribbing - which I don´t really like)
(The pic below is with some temporary Stargate patterns on the boots so they qualify for the Nerdwars competition).