Knitting something other than a shawl!
That's right, I do sometimes knit other things! Really!
I've been meaning to knit up my Cecil sock pattern in a solid color for, like, a year. I was even pretty sure that I wanted to use this grayish-blue color of Koigu for them, but somehow they never rose to the top of the to-do list. Now that my knitting mojo seems to be back in full force (finally!) and I've knit more over the last few weeks than I have in the previous few months, I thought it would be good to start a portable project to knit on my commute or in stolen moments waiting in lines. As I look through my Ravelry notebook, I see I haven't finished a pair of socks since February . . . gotta change that, stat!
I cast on for this sock on Saturday morning and worked on it while catching up on my DVR. A few hours later I'd turned the heel! I sometimes forget how quickly sock knitting goes when you work on a sock for long stretches at a time! Usually my socks only get knit on the subway or in the line at the bank, so they seem to take forever to get done . . .
These probably won't get done that quickly, though, because I already started something else and brought that project to work on during my commute today. I'm using this cheerful yarn:
Isn't it so sunny and happy? I'm making a quick present for my sister with this gorgeous Artyarns Supermerino 6 in color 2278, and I need to have it done by next week when she'll be on the East Coast for a quick visit . . . I'm already more than half-way done after just one day, so I should be able to meet my deadline!
Knitting on the beach
In my last-minute scramble to pack up and leave for the weekend, I tossed DPNs and two skeins of Sock Hop yarn in my purse and ran out the door to catch the cab for the airport on Friday morning at 6am. Winding the yarn on a plastic chair in Jet Blue's new terminal in JFK (very nice, btw), I realized this yarn is just as gorgeous as I had dreamed and hoped as I kept stalking it online. I was not one of the lucky few who were able to score some when Crown Mountain Farms put up more stock, but I was finally able to score two skeins of the "Brown Eyed Girl" colorway from a fellow Raveler last year. When it arrived in the mail I remember thinking, "this is gorgeous!" but then I promptly stuck it in the sock yarn pile and haven't really thought about it much since . . .
What a mistake!
This stuff is truly gorgeous. It feels great in the hands, knits up very evenly (for a handspun yarn), and the COLORS! Oh, the colors are awe-inspiring. This particular color isn't something I would normally swoon over, and I don't typically enjoy this shade of cinnamon/peachy brown, but the gradations are so gorgeous and the striped effect so subtle, I can't seem to put it down! The picture you see above was taken on our second day in Aruba, when I hadn't yet turned the heel . . . that sock is now finished and its mate has a good few inches on the leg, and I can't wait to get it finished.
I was hoping to get to wear them once before the weather turns, but today's yucky rainy weather is making me question whether I'd rather get to wear the socks or get nice weather to start already . . . and at the moment, while nursing a massive head cold and wet from the knees down after to my trek outside to get a sandwich for lunch, I'm leaning towards the latter.
Heck, if I have to turn on the A/C to wear these socks, they're totally worth it!
Purple streak
This is the 2nd of 4 purple projects I'm "actively" working on right now! I do seem to go in spurts when it comes to color, don't I?
I posted when I started this sock (on November 10th!!) but haven't mentioned it since . . . notice I'm saying "sock" not "socks"? Yeah this is the only one I have right now, although the second one is already to the heel.
It would have been done by now had I not managed to break two DPNs during my commute last month and then been unable to replace the needles for almost a week. Now, if you're thinking "But Ivete, don't you have multiple sets of size 1 dpns by now?" you are, of course, correct. However, I couldn't find even ONE SINGLE size 1 double point when I went digging, and I even went so far as unearthing the DPN case I haven't seen since the move . . . and in it I found probably 15 sets of dpns, but no size 1's. If I weren't so compulsive I could have used on size 2 and probably been fine in the end, but I don't like to do that . . . although I can't give you a reasonable reason why it would be a problem. It just bothers me.
Hum. Seems like even 2 months later I'm still annoyed about breaking those needles!
In any case, I bought a replacement set of needles from Purl a few days later and went back to knitting, the second sock even went with me to several movies over the Christmas holiday (aside: If you're that last person who hasn't seen Slumdog Millionaire, GO SEE IT! Trust me!). If only I could learn to turn a heel in the dark, that second sock might be done right now . . .
By the way, I am still in total love with this color. Is it weird that part of me wishes I had "saved it" so that it wouldn't be getting "used up" by this project? Yeah, I know it's weird. It does kind of explain some things, though . . . namely the number of skeins of Koigu in my bedroom at the moment. But you all knew that about me already, right?
Another one bites the dust.
Yup, that's a humongous hole in my Neighborhood Fiber Co sock. The title is misleading, actually, because this is the firs time this has ever happened to me, EVER. And what's strange is that these are one of my newest pairs of socks! I don't know if maybe I wore them more than other pairs, or if I knit them a bit too loosely . . . I do know that finding a hole the very first day I wore handknit socks this season seems, well, almost like an omen of some sort. Will this be the winter when all my socks die an untimely death?
Man I hope not.
More knitting content coming up this week. I spent last week trying to convince the dog to "go" outside . . . lets just say it hasn't happened yet. Anyone successfully switched a puppy from paper to outside before? Got any hints?
Sample Knitting Revealed!
So I come back from my wedding and honeymoon (I promise pictures and stories later!!) to find that Twist Collective has launched, and therefore I can now show you the socks I knit for Cookie A! Here's the FO shot I took when I sent them off to her:
The sock pattern is called Maelstrom and the pattern is available for $6.00 through Twist Collective.
These socks were really fun to knit and flew off the needles (I knit them in about a week since I knew I was on deadline!), and they really weren't hard at all. The stitch pattern is a simple, short repeat that really looks complicated after it's done but is actually really easy to memorize and "read" as you go. I especially love the diagonal line across the foot, such a distinctive Cookie A design feature!
As always her pattern is impeccably written and fun to follow, I always recommend her designs to anyone who wants to knit a "special" sock . . . I may have to make myself a pair of these to keep!
Project specs:
Pattern: Maelstrom by Cookie A
Yarn: The Knittery Merino Chubby
Needles: US size 1
Started: March 31, 2008
Finished: April 9, 2008
