Socks

My first attempt at making a pair of socks using the naalbinding technique.  No idea what type of stitch I have used here.

 

The stitches were worked in the round and once I reached roughly where my ankle is I stopped.  I then worked the stitches in a straight line to make a band which stretched around my ankle and rejoined the sock.

 

Then worked in the round again to make the heel of the sock.

 

Once the hole in the heel had been closed up the sock was more or less finished.  The next step could be to add some rows of stitches on top to bring the sock up over my ankle. 

 

Quite pleased with how this has turned out.  The socks are a pretty evenly matched pair.  The main mistake I have made is that I started off the initial cone of material slightly too large.  This means that there is a sort of mushroomy-bulge over my toes which then narrows as it comes down my foot.  The socks are pretty soft to wear and make a nice pair of slippers.

I have been wearing these around the flat and have found that the wool on the bottom of my foot is starting to felt slightly as I walk on it. 

Honey & Rye Bread

Some baking from me.
A nice loaf made of rye flour, plain flour and honey.

The flour mixed up in a klip-lock box as I don't have a mixing bowl.

A couple of tablespoons of honey mixed with warm water, then yeast added.  Then left for about 10 minutes until it went all frothy.  This mixture was poured into the "mixing bowl" and everything mixed up until it formed a stiff dough.

Tipped the dough out onto a floured surface and kneaded until it became stretchy and manageable.  Then left to rise until it tried to jump out of the container.

The dough was then knocked back and then pressed into the loaf tin. This was then left to rise again before being put in the oven.

The cooked loaf.  Could probably have done with being left to rise for a lot longer as I think its a bit flat.

Finished produce spread with butter.  Not sure if it has cooked as well as I would like.  Next time I might experiment with a slightly lower temperature for the oven and cooking it a bit longer.

Knife Sheath

This is a sheath for my knife made out of 4mm veg tanned leather. 
I made a paper template of the knife first, then used it to cut out the leather.  Then made the holes for the sewing using an awl. 

Unfortunately I didn't leave enough extra material for the stitching space, so the sheath is slightly too narrow for the knife to fit in properly.  As the shape of the knife is a bit unusual the hilt catches on the inside of the sheath as well. 

A very fun little project which I've learnt a lot from.  I like the idea of a metal D ring which would allow the sheath to be hung from a clip on the belt and removed quickly if needed.  In future I would add a loop to the back of the sheath so that I could wear the blade high up on a belt. 
The point at the end of the sheath could do with a little bit more material there so that it flares out.  The next time I make a knife sheath I just have to remember which side I am going to wear it on so I don't sew the belt loops on the wrong side.