Claire Simpson @RexMagenta@wandering.shop

I've been knocking around here for a while, but given the influx of new and returning folks it can't hurt to do an #intro

I am middle-aged and British and increasingly left-wing. I work as a programmer, primarily using COBOL, which I love with a passion it probably doesn't deserve.

I knit and I crochet and I sew (both embroidery and dressmaking). I write SFF stories, in theory, though that's been difficult in the past couple of years.

I don't often say a lot, but I do try to listen

@fiberarts The sock foot is finally long enough, so transferring to DPNs for the toe decreases

Contrast topstitching is not at all stressful for a deeply anal-retentive sewer...

So... Eurovision happened. Think the whole of the UK is pretty gobsmacked right now... #esc

Somebody popped up and left nice comments on my fanfic this evening. Maybe I'll finally get around to finishing part three at some point...

Challenge 2 of the toe-up sock complete: gusset increases and a short-row heel. Never made a short-row heel before but I quite like it #knitting @fiberarts

Not quite as much progress as I was hoping for this week, thanks to the needle breakage, but it's past the gusset decreases and into the main part of the foot. The instep continues the 2x2 rib, but rather than inverting it uses pairs of increases and decreases to make the ribs flow diagonally across the foot. The other sock will have them going in the opposite direction @fiberarts

The needles arrived, and the teeny crochet hook was aces for rescuing the dropped stitches, so the blue sock is now saved. Just need to knit it off the broken needle and onto the new one

In the meantime, the toe-up sock now also gets to be the work sock

Replacement needle is ordered. Considered going for a metal one to avoid snapping it in the future, but it turns out the short circular I use doesn't go thin enough in the metal version. Took the opportunity to also get a couple of other things I'd been considering for a while, including a teeny crochet hook which should now be helpful for rescuing the dropped stitches

Dropped several stitches in the process as well, but I hope I can still salvage that

Gah. Just snapped the end right off my circular needle :(

Looks like I may be saying goodbye to Cobol in a couple of weeks, after nearly nine years working with it. The company I work for is in the process of transitioning off the mainframe towards a more modern, cloud-based approach, and an opportunity has come up for me to start similarly transitioning to working in Java.

Despite having Monday off for the bank holiday, have been making good progress #knitting the work sock. Just finished the heel turn and ready to pick everything up for the gusset @fiberarts

My yarn stash is getting troublingly low. Good thing I have a trip to Yorkshire Yarnfest booked in for the end of this month

First challenge of #knitting a toe-up sock successfully cleared. Not a huge fan of how fiddly it is to get started, but now I'm done with the increases it should be plain sailing for a while

Next up I'll be attempting my first pair of toe-up socks. Bit scary, but the pattern I have is so perfect for the yarn that I have to give it a go

This is my eighth pair of hand-knitted socks, so I now have enough to never need to wear commercial socks in regular life

Finished #knitting these socks last night, so I could block them this morning while washing my other socks. The main yarn is the delightfully named Disco Goth by Needle & Fred