FO: Eleanor socks

It's all socks all the time around here. You know, except when it isn't.

These are the Eleanor socks. I knit them on size 2 knitpicks classic circs, 2 at a time top down. I substituted a short row heel for the heel that was written (because it's faster). The yarn is Icebox Fibers Superwash socks. I can find neither hide nor hair of this yarn on the internet, so I assume it is a very small local dyer. I found the base yarn to be a little thin. I would probably use size 1s if I were to do this again. But what is all this talk talk talk? Photos!




Had I said something earlier this year about not buying yarn? That must have just been crazy talk. I stopped by the LYS today to buy some yarn. Things have been crazy at work and I decided that yarn might be a nice soothing thing. So I got a ball of yarn in a color I don't usually knit: green.

Dream in Color Smooshy. I've never knit with it before, so I'm looking forward to it. I'm planning a pair of Thelonious socks for March. And I also got a hank of Chameleon Colororks footsie. The colorway is Indian Wedding, but I think of it as peach and raspberry sherbet. It was on sale. How could I resist?

I learned while I was in there that the folks at the Dancing Ewe read this blog. Hi Janelle, hi Cathy! Ain't the internet grand?

FO: Blackrose socks.

Blackrose socks from Winter 2008 Knitty. Knit up in Mountain Colors Bearfoot. I really enjoyed knitting with this yarn. Very solid and knits up nicely on 3mm needles. I substituted a short row heel because it's faster and I like to get finished.

The colorway is a bit busy for this pattern, but I can cope with it.


I've now started another pair of socks. But I think that, after I finish this pair, I'm going to focus on knitting down my lace stash for a while. I've done pretty well running down the sock yarn stash for the beginning of the year, but I seem to be accumulating the lace yarn (not all of it laceweight) a bit too quickly.

For example, I just recently swapped enough yarn for two pairs of socks in colors that weren't really doing it for me for this yarn:

That bit of lovely is a hank of Lorna's Laces Heaven. Destined to be a shawl of some sort or another. Time to get to getting on the lace front, I think.

EQ!

I moved 7000 rocks this morning. Well, lithics. Mostly chipped stone (arrowheads and that sort of thing). But it was still a lot of lifting! So I headed down to my LYS afterward. I had read in their newsletter that they had received a shipment of Kauni Effektgarn, and I was interested. You see, the EQ colorway knits into this beautiful rainbow and I wanted some. Like woah have I wanted the EQ colorway.

So I mosey on down and they have it! So I bought it. I'm thinking a triangular or half circle shawl for this pretty stuff.



Another yarn craving satisfied.

Spinning follies

I spin a little. And by a little, I mean a little. I have a drop spindle and all the training the internet has to offer. So I do... okay. I make yarn. Not great yarn. And not quickly. Like what I'm working on now. I bought 2.5 oz of black alpaca roving in JUNE 2007. And I've spun about half of it into 162 yards of a two-ply heavy-ish laceweight.


I think what's happening is that I'm underspinning the singles so that the plies aren't, um, plying enough. So it's a very loose two ply. And my operation is probably not the best. I wind the yarn off the spindle onto my ball winder and ply from both sides of the ball. Also, I haven't "set it" yet, which I believe involves soaking the yarn and then beating it vigorously on a counter top. But still, it is yarn, it is knittable and I did make it. I'm working on the other half, spinning a thicker yarn which will hopefully take less than 18 months. :P

My knitpicks order came!

40" classic circs in sizes 0-3, 40" cord for the options set, and a needle sizer with metric. My current sizer was a thrift store find with no metric readings... and old.

The current projects seem to be unphotographable. The light and the yarn isn't co-operating. Alas.

FROGGED: Cobweb lace stole

You know how I was obsessing over this silk yarn? Well I had finally decided to knit the cobweb lace stole. But after I got this far into it:

I decided I couldn't stand it anymore.

I wasn't happy with the way it was knitting up and the thought of using the blunt wooden needles I had for lace patterned on both sides made me want to gouge my eyes out. I ripped out the stole instead and re-cast on for Simurgh. I'm using needles two sizes down from the Cobweb stole and I'm liking the results much more. Although I'm not knitting on it very much - I'm a little obsessed with the socks I'm working on instead. :P