koigu is king (and a shipping sale)

In honor of all those lucky souls cavorting at Sock Summit this weekend, proof I do still knit socks :)


Pomatomus by Cookie A
Koigu Painter's Palette Merino, p338
US 1, 2.25mm dpns
Started: January 2009 (!?)
Finished: July 2009

Even after all this time, my all time favorite pattern (excluding PGR's basic toe up recipe) remains Pomatomus. I think this is my fifth or sixth time knitting it and I still can't get enough. Looks good in color blocks, in variegated, in handspun... and now in koigu.

Seriously, I've been hoarding Koigu for years and I don't know why I don't knit with it more often. Maie Landra (eta:) and Rhichard/Koigu Boy are magicians with color harmonies and non-pooling colors that set any design off. I don't think any design would look bad in this incredible orange, but Pomatomus just sings in it.



I do have a few favorite patterns in Sock Innovation bookmarked with yarn all picked out... but overcoming Pomatomus' tower is going to be tough :)

Koigu does make everything easier though, new to me things...



Looks like a simple stockinette sock, eh?


Basic Shaped Arch Socks by Marlowe Crawford
Koigu Painter's Palette Merino, p7140D
US 2, 9" KA circular
Started and finished July 2009

Marlowe's written a fun, fitted pattern from the top down in her Shaped Arch socks. They also work as advertised; the shaping is not just a design detail but truly hugs the arch of the foot for a nice snug fit when wearing that doesn't bag or shift after a few hours of wear. I do love the lines of it though, and how the instep shift echoes the simple wedge toe decreases.

I also love how yarn movement looks in these, and moreso in the perfect purple koigu...



I forgot how much I like to pick up and twist the stitches of a heel flap, and how I like to imagine a pattern in another yarn even before the current one's finished (can you imagine how a self striping yarn would move on the foot in a fun way in this pattern)? I'm cheating a bit... I've already started another shaped arch pair in some Dyeabolical Yarns handspun merino and they do look super awesome :)

Further awesome and further new...


knitting the heel flap on 9" circular

I used a 9" KA circular needle to knit these instead of my default dpns. I have magic looped, knit on two circs, but always return to my double pointed needles for socks. They just *feel* like you're knitting circularly, celebrating the spiral... not the back and forth, turn and turn back of circular knitting. I do love circs for some sock things, colorwork is nice with only two angles to manipulate floats over instead of three or four, but otherwise I'm a socks on dpns girl.

All that said, these are pretty cool! They take some getting used to-- I made myself stick to using them even though I wanted to quit during the first few inches. The needles are SUPER short, 2", and since I usually use the inside of my palm to manipulate needles (dpns and circs) it meant I had to learn to use my fingertips to knit. These KA needle tips are very light though, and pivot within the cable joins, so learning was not too difficult. I did need to pay attention and not push the working needle down so hard and so often, I ended up with a sore spot on my left pointer finger after several hours of eyesfree knitting at the fleece judging.

That is really the plus tho-- I already can easily knit without looking at my hands, but always have to at least unconsciously glance downwards when switching to a new dpn or circular needle. With these you're continually knitting in that spiral, no need to look down at ALL. I was also able to do all of the knitting (minus the toe) on these-- including knit the heel flap and pick up and twist sts from its edge. I did have to use some stitch markers to mark where the dpns would be, but for me that's not a big deal :)

So much so I decided it's time to restock my knitting stitch marker etsy store as well.


smooth lava rock stone knitting stitch markers by zeromarkers

I've got over sixty sets to list (!!) -- so all orders from my shop of two or more marker sets will ship for free *worldwide* thru the month of August!

A Verb for Keeping Warm also has zero stitch markers (and copies of the Shaped Arch sock pattern) for sale at their Sock Summit booth this weekend (booth #503). Happy sock knitting everyone!

knitting community crossover

Do you think Eunny knows she's even more famous? :)



Jamba Juice in-store flyer sporting Anemoi mittens.

(And in good orange measure, Pomatomus in Koigu p338 and Crosspatch Creations triple play roving in Rhiannon's Fire on my Forrester Dervish.)

Welcome back, have a good weekend! :)

Handspun Pomatomus in BFL

Pomatomus by CookieA.com
Winter Knitty 2005
Handspun 3-ply superwash BFL (spun by me); roving from pigeonroofstudios.etsy.com, "nightshade"
US 2 (2.75mm) dpns, 4
Started: June 17, 2007
Finished: August 5, 2007

Still my favorite sock pattern, my 4th and not final time knitting it :) I think it is a great one for handspun-- I'm always thinking my handspun isn't even enough for texture work, but the twisted stitches and ribbing mean that the heart and soul of the yarn stands out, not the thick and thin parts.



Even though I cut one repeat from the leg (it's still very long), I ran out of yarn for the 2nd toe and subbed in some leftover handspun merino superwash from the "glass ocean" socks:



Not bad :) I wanted to keep these a totally handspun pair, so I'm lucky I still had leftovers. Actually, I have leftovers from every handspun pair so far except these-- just need to think about what to do with them (besides falling back on them for toes!)

I like the color a lot, I think it also looks great as a 2-ply. Krista's been listing lots of handspuns, roving and sock yarns lately in her etsy shop (I may have a new something from her for an upcoming etsy friday) :) I can't remember if I custom ordered this roving or not, but when I have it's painless and you don't get all !!! when someone snatches something you want from your cart :)

Another variation of cookiea & pigeonroof studios...


Twisted Flower sock pattern from CookieA.com
Superwash merino sock yarn from pigeonroofstudios, "artichoke" colorway
Freshwater pearl and garnet stitch marker from zeromarkers*

Krista's superwash merino sock yarns are a *perfect* sub for the Louet Gems Cookie uses in all of her patterns. I'm going to frog this one though, seeing mine and browsing all of the TF's on ravelry, I think it really looks best in a solid since it is so deeply patterned. I'll use the artichoke yarn for another Cookie pattern though... haven't decided which one yet.

Going to go swatch something to get it out of my head, maybe spin in the rain flurries outside. Have a good one!


* I have more triangle garnets for custom orders and to be listed for sale later in the week. Other garnet shapes already for sale in my etsy shop... convo me if you like the triangles best.

almost knitting

just barely!


Pomatomus in handspun 3-ply superwash bfl
roving dyed by Pigeonroof Studios, "nightshade"
Started: June 16, 2007
US 2/2.75mm dpns, 4

Still my favorite pattern, and I do love the yarn. Summer's here though and the heat just makes me want to spin instead of finish up wool socks :) I really do like this pattern in handspun-- mine's never as even as commercial yarn and in patterned socks it just jumps out, the thick/thin (even if its not apparent, I'm just supercritical about it.) In Pomatomus though, the twisted stitches and the patterning don't really show the thinner/thicker spots in the yarn-- and its just a delight to see the detail of yarn stand out in the twisted stitches.



The color's fun too-- this single sock reminds me of an iceberg for some reason. At the heel, the yarn turned much darker and I can't wait to see how the other one shapes up colorwise.

Better detail of the darker colors on the sole in stst...



I've also put in almost all the time I need for this sock:


Handspun superwash merino sock, based on PGR's "Simple Socks"
roving dyed by zero.etsy.com, "the color"
Started: late May? 2007
US 0/2.0mm dpns, 4

I'm not feeling it, though the color is fun. Knitting these on US 0 has just taken the wind from my sails-- its just a consistent reminder my handspun singles were too thin to begin with. The ugh is mitigated by the fact I knit a good chunk of these by the light of "Deadliest Catch" while waiting up expectantly, so it keeps me sailing on :)



Back to my wheel :)


(i've recently switched to uploading pics full size to flickr and using their "medium" resized photo for blog posts-- its smaller than the quarter sized one i used to use. any input-- is it too small? i feel like it is and i can't see details i want to highlight, but can't really tell if i'm just being too picky. i would love your input if you had any!)

stfu: gee, bmp, dy, pom, 224

I have a thing about our wonderful language, how it looks :) That said, can a picture really compare? You tell me!




GEE Magazine, "love for games" (German)
July-August 2007
(with my bmp space invaders sock inside!)

When the editors of GEE asked if they could have some hi-res photos of bmp for their print magazine, I didn't really know if they were serious. Then the mail comes on Saturday...! :)

I took 3 years of high school German, and came away with 1) ich libe dich 2) how to make out in a semidark classroom while everyone else watches home movies of the Rhine and 3) that the boy with blue eyes would never ever notice me *like that* even though we had like, 5 classes a day together. So I have no real clue what the copy means in my mother tongue: "Stricken Von den Socken Die Space Invaders haben es, trotz heftiger Gegenwehr, geschafft, sich auf dem ganzen Erball zu verbreiten: Sogar auf Socken sind sie inzwischen zu finden. Das Strickmuster gibt es unter: http://sockpr0n.blogspot.com," and babelfish is more funny than helpful, but I like it.

[edit: Nadine was kind enough to translate for me in the comments! Thanks Nadine :) "Despite fierce resistance the Space Invaders have managed to take over the planet earth: you can even find them on socks now. The knitting pattern can be found at http://sockpr0n.blogspot.com."]

Recently, a bunch of yall were kind enough to alert me to bmp making the 10 geekiest yarn creations on the web list by threadbanger, too :) I found out before the story hit its tipping point from a post on Alyssa's blog (she has some fun photos of a Cookie A trunk leg show). All of this in addition to the other fun linkage when the pattern was first published, and its heady 224 keycard days all over again :)

(I thought it was fate that this t-shirt was printed today, so its on its way to me too:

from threadless, june 18 2007 printing)

Another fun stfu: Rachel and I were chatting and she mentioned that she heard mention of zero stitch markers on some knitting podcasts and that I should check them out. I don't have a soundcard on my pc, so podcasts are pretty much outfield for me... but what should appear in my mailbox? CD copies of Lime & Violet and Socks in the City! :) I knew the Stash and Burn ladies knew about my freshwater pearl stitch markers from their pre-Stitches West coverage of the Bay Area Knit Coop (hi Nicole!), but its neat to actually be able to hear my very first podcasts! Very cool, Rachel's a f*ing rockstar. :)



The CDs are hanging out with some of Rachel's "scratch art" yarn from her etsy store, Dyeabolical Yarns. She does custom orders if you love this colorway as much as I do. (Another, better pic of the yarn in this etsy post.) I think this hank wants to be a pair of teosinte socks (from knitspot)-- what do you think?

On another note, over the weekend I remembered why I think Cookie should be dipped in bronze like baby shoes:


(okay, so I didn't really forget why.)
Pomatomus in handspun superwash bfl, dyed by Pigeonroof Studios

Yum.

One fish? TWO fish!

My name means "fisherman" (I'll let you figure out which one), and is entirely accurate-- I have the blood of fishermen running thru my veins. My grandfather's solo vacations several times a year consisted of piling aboard rickety boats with other 60+ Japanese men headed to Alaska, the California coast, Mexico to fish for the big fish. He'd bring home the giant IGLOO coolers, always the red & white ones that had his name in block Sharpie lettering on all 6 sides, packed with glassy eyed giants... break out the good, heavy knives and fillet them all himself, get on the horn and within the next few days a small flood of people would come to visit and leave with pounds of fish (always leaving something behind... chocolates, crates of seasonal fruit, teas and cookies). I never had sashimi (or sushi!) in a restaurant til I was in college, it was always in my grandparents' kitchen, with a plate of shoyu for dipping and maybe a smear of wasabi if I wanted to be tough like grandpa that day. My favorite remains yellowtail, sashimi and cooked. (And don't get me started on hamachi kama, yum!!)

My favorite fish story from my grandpa... He came from a family of 12 brothers and sisters (!!), and the brothers loved to fish as much as he did. He and two of his brothers, and all of their sons (including my father, age 7), got up in the dark of morning, got dressed, headed to the all nite diner for a 3am breakfast. The boys (my father and his cousins) were stuffed to the gills with pancakes, waffles, all of the sweet breakfast foods while the adults sipped coffee, waking up for a long car ride. Clamboring on the boat, the kids were bundled against the cold but not against the rocking of the boat... on the ocean face, sick kids leaned over the boat rails and purged their sickly sweet breakfasts into the water, supposedly attracting fish for the catch.

My grandfather said it was cheaper than buying the chum at the dock. Yes, it was on purpose. No, my father doesn't fish now.

So, in honor of that, one fish...



Isn't this cute?! Zonda made me a sockfish for being the 1st commenter on her 100th post (hm, good idea! I just sent my 1000th commenter, Anastacia, some sock yarn to celebrate happy 1k to me-- but since it was a surprise I'm not going to post a pic!)



She also tucked in these adorable, perfect for socks stitch markers...

I am so spoiled sometimes :) I am waiting to use this bag to house my morale builder stockings... I'm still waiting for my acid dyes to start them! I was hoping to have them *done* by the first of September, but I don't think so now... :(

BTW, anyone care to share their favorite lace panel motif? I'm looking for something "leafy" to face downwards on my stockings... I still can't find one, my favorite points up not down (I don't have too many st dictionaries and don't know how to change it)... any suggestions? Something about 30-36 st wide, either single or doubled...? I'll be poking around online later today, hoping to find one...

Hm, did I say two fish??


Pomatomus by Cookie A., Winter Knitty 2005
Started: July 15, 2006
Finished: July 26, 2006
Trekking XXL yarn, colorway #100
US 1.5 (2.5mm) dpns, 4
16 gm left over from 100g ball
(this pic's for HPNY knits!)

Yeah, so its my favorite pattern :) Knitting it again (my 3rd time), I kept thinking... its like that boyfriend who was absolutely fabulous but yall broke up since it was too soon, you were too young, it wasn't right at the time... and then when you get back together again later, its even better than before-- no awkward getting to know you conversations but just where you left off with someone who knows you inside and out and just happy you're back in the arms of a good friend (i've got the Matthew Sweet "Girlfriend" album running thru my head lately)...

hm. maybe i took it too far that time.



Anyway. Third verse, same as the first-- the Trekking yarn (coloway #100!) seemed to make it fly off the needles as well, I was just fascinated watching it change over the "scales". It is a *warm* sock yarn, I don't know why but it feels like it will be warmer than any yarn I've used so far, interesting. It's not a soft yarn, not like the merinos, but just fun to watch knit up (not scratchy, but not soft being knit... not sure about after the wash). I found a few spots of overtwisting, but nothing that didn't even out over a few yards. I thought it would be splitty with the distinct plys of yarn and all, but no-- I didn't have any problems at all with it. I also had a lot of yarn left over-- I kept the sole at 36 sts (instead of 32) for a slightly wider foot, and did 3 repeats + 5 rows of chart B for the foot length (10.5" incl. toe, that was longer than the patt given the larger # of sts), and still had 16 gm of yarn left over.



I used the Holz & Stein ebony dpns I reviewed when knitting them up, US 1.5 (2.5mm). Tell you a secret, I didn't swatch this time-- I knew how stretchy the pattern was and that I was planning on adding a few sts @ the sole for a wider foot, so no worries-- I just dove in. I just measured the stockinette sole: 8 sts/inch and 11 sts/column inch on US 1.5 dpns in the round. I like the fabric it made.





My non-feetie pyjamas make another entrance. :)

Previous posts on Pomatomus in Trekking:

July 18, 2006

Previous posts on Pomatomus in Lisa Souza (2nd knit):
June 25, 2006
June 19, 2006
June 14, 2006
June 12, 2006

Previous posts on Pomatomus in Fleece Artist (1st time knitting the pattern):
January 3, 2006
December 28, 2005

Trekking on, singing their song, side by side...

(Looking for the sock yarn and Holz & Stein needle contest?)



It got to do its civic duty in the voting booths a month ago...



but didn't really get out trekking til this weekend.



It didn't like being splashed at Del Valle, but don't feel too bad for our hero...



In N Out makes *everything* better.

While Trekking, Pomatomus, and Holz & Stein ebony dpns* ...(and a sock bag from Trek!)...



all make Aija a very happy girl.



*not the same set i'm giving away in the contest ;)

plain and FANCY new yarn, p-words done!

Hey, thanks yall for leaving me so many comments on Friday. Too cool, really. :)

***

Ever have a great day and then come home and it gets better? Not to brag, but that's how *my* Saturday went :) I came home tripping the light fantastic (not quite like tripping in my college years, but that's another topic for another time!) and I found this in my mailbox...


Plain & Fancy
Sheep & Wool Co.
(no web presence I can find)
Single Sport
400 yd, 4.5oz
[edit: "made in america from american wool"]
Fall Leaves colorway

Eek!! Margene (yeah, her! can you believe she mailed me something?! to my ADDRESS??! i'm a terrible dork, i know...) sent me this after drawing my name from her one word comment challenge... I said skyful. :) I know, its not a real word.

I think I will use the slip stitch pattern from Knitty's Crusoe pattern, going toe up and maybe a Judy Gibson "you're putting me on!" toe up heel flap so I can use an eye of partridge heel to fully get into the slip stitch love... I'm saving it for when it cools down a bit, but man, once it does... watch out! :) I love it. Its a single/one ply-- like Malabrigo for the FEET. Oy. It really is too pretty for words, so a closeup:



!!!

I love it. I think I said that already. Thank you Margene :)

Phew, and if that wasn't enough for a great weekend-- I finished my Pomatomii.


Pomatomus from Knitty Winter 2005
Started: June 9 (?), 2006
Finished: June 25, 2006
Lisa Souza Sock! in Bird of Paradise, 1 skein (with 22 gram left over)
US 2's for the leg (2.75mm), US 1's for the heel flap/foot (2.25mm)

We should play "what's under Aija's couch?" but, you really don't want to know.

As I said before, I extended the leg one chart repeat and was left with over 20 grams of yarn from the 4 oz hank of Lisa Souza Sock! Yay! I think I will be paring down on long cuffed socks for the time being though, they're a little too slouchy for ocd-me, both these & my evening stockings (not bad, but I'm just picky sometimes about the darndest things). Is it nuts I'm trying to find sock garters I'd wear with them? I love these socks though, and the pattern, and even the colors. I know they look weird, but you know... faces only a mother can love and all that :)

Here they are together, fraternal second cousins or something...



And a closeup of the stitch pattern, a few different ways:


Striping on leg of #2


Purple - white - green pool on back of leg of #1


Orange pool, on front leg of #1


Small striping on both feet

Of course, the orange shows the stitch the best. I think the purple/white/green is too busy to see any of it. But I do like the way it looks over striping, both the wide leg stripes of #2 and also the feet of both.

Hope yall's weeks are as good as my weekend was! :)


Previous posts on Pomatomus in Lisa Souza:
June 19, 2006
June 14, 2006
June 12, 2006

Previous posts on Pomatomus in Fleece Artist (1st time knitting the pattern):
January 3, 2006
December 28, 2005



ps, if you're reading this & haven't left me a comment before, say hi! :) trust me...

Persephone, personified.

My family has always found it hard to buy me gifts. I was a super tomboy as a young girl* (so much so I'd get kicked out of women's restrooms and was asked almost daily about the nature of my gender by elementary school students), so not much in the way of clothing and dressup was a great pick. For my dad's part, he'd been on the ACME "gifted kid catalog" mailing list since I'd been branded some sort of oddity at age 3 and would send me presents from it for appropriate holidays. Favorites were always books, least favorites were puzzle games (I received a worse score on the LSAT's logic games than I would have if I'd simply guessed on each one). Most favorite was "Bulfinch's Mythology," a superthick volume of mythology and legends in prose form, gleaned from historical sources by some cat in the 1850's named, you guessed it, Bulfinch. My favorite bit of that book was the mythology section; at eight I would lay in bed when the lights were supposed to be off, reading about lascivious gods and the virgins who were turned into (insert inanimate object here) after rebuking their suitors... perhaps another perspective on how skewed I can be sometimes :)

I thought about this when gaping at my second Pomatomus sock... thinking if the first was Janus, this second was definitely Persephone (Proserpine, Proserpina)...





Persephone, daughter of Ceres (Demeter/the Earth), was "ravished" by Hades/Pluto/her great-uncle after he was struck by Cupid's arrow. Ovid (via Mandelbaum) does it best...

...In that grove,
Proserpina was playing, gathering
violets and white lilies. She had filled
her basket and, within her tunic's folds,
had tucked fresh flowers, vying with her friends
to see which girl could gather more of them.
There Pluto-- almost in one instant-- saw,
was struck with longing, carried that girl off--
so quick-- unhesitating-- was his love.

The goddess-girl was terrified. She called--
in grief-- upon her mother and companions,
but more upon her mother. She had ripped
her tunic at the upper edge, and since
the folds were loosened now, the flowers fell.
So simple is the heart of a young girl
that, at that loss, new grief is what she felt.

The Metamorphoses of Ovid, Book IV: 379-395
(Allen Mandelbaum translation, a post of favorites today!)

In short, dear Persephone was destined to remain Hades' wife (after you know, all of that rape and ravishing and all) for half of the year, 6 months, as she'd eaten six pomegrante seeds during her underworld stay. During those months her mother withdraws into herself, leaving the land barren and cold... and in her return Demeter causes the world to flourish again.

It's a stretch, but we've got some of that half and half, withdrawing receding returning action in this second sock. I still love it, they're both so freaking weird and wonderful.


from Bulfinch's Mythology, "The Rape of Proserpine by Pluto"
p 52

In other, non-mythology née sock news, these are looking mighty boring alongside their insane clown posse bretheren, above...



Opal Krokodil, color 31 (black & purple)
US 1.5 (2.5mm)-- 2 socks on 2 circs
"Yarrow ribbed sock" from Knitting Vintage Socks
...positioned precariously on jealousy soaked hibiscus flannel pj pants :)

These may well be a secret project they take so long! Oy, even with a little interesting rib stitch they are so boring (but, at least let me watch The Godfather the other day pretty much straight thru, so eh...) I picked the yarrow ribbed sock pattern since I wanted/needed something simple for this yarn and it has a heel and a toe I haven't worked before (German heel, French toe). I added on an extra repeat of the ribbing (72 sts) for a wider foot, otherwise its as is so far. I won't make the leg as long as the book calls for (8.5") though, to be conservative. I wound half the ball and cut it and would the other half... not sure of the striping but I wanted it to be at least close (not reversed, anyway.) Looks like drunk lightening bolts about now :)

I wanted to try the Opal after my last (negative? neutral at least...) post about it, a few boring thoughts ahead.

It is nice. I kinda get it now. :) It feels sturdy, like there won't be any holes in the near-near future, always a plus. It has a tighter twist than say the Lisa Souza Sock! (since I'm working them both at the same time, I'm bound to draw comparisons)-- which is good, again along the sturdy lines. I tried knitting it up on US o's (2.0mm) which would have been possible but made socks of iron and not in a good way... The 2.5mm was recommended by the ballband (I think! en deutche!) and its making a nice sock now. Perhaps if I pick up the new hiyahiya circular needles with their *american*/US sizing (!!) and nice cords/slickish needles I'd use a US 1 (2.25mm) on this yarn, but for now there's no way in 7734 I'd use dpns on this yarn-- I'd *never* finish the second sock. (Sorta segue: Have yall seen the new Knit Picks Options needles?? I want the dpn set! :) I think I'd make my fingers bleed though, I'm one of those finger pushing knitters. Always been a bit of a masochist tho.)

Part of my aversion is also the print/patterning of Opal yarns in general, lately I feel its silly to push a printed yarn like Opal into texture or stitch patterns, and it can just get so boring for me. I think I'm also not enthralled with their patterning (just from my perspective); I find the Austermann Step (PDF!!) more interesting as far as printed yarns go. But, I think I may pick up one of the handpainted Opal skeins with my next purchase from Simply Sock Yarn Company-- the base yarn is nice and is knitting up well (if not forever!) And Alyssa says it'll soften up nicely in the wash, too. I know the receipient will dig the colors of this yarn as well, so its keeping me strong and not winding any *more* yarn than "necessary".

...and in non-sock, well twice removed sock news...

The Yarn Harlot is coming to California! Too cool, I'm there. (Stalkers take note!) She'll be in Los Altos at Full Thread Ahead, owned by the Cherry Tree Hill supersock pusher Hojo :) BUT! Hojo only has 200 spaces and is requiring an RSVP via her website if you want to go-- no cost, just a save my seat! thing-- go on and rsvp now, there are 118 seats left as of this post.


*to fulfill a special request for someone i can't say no to... me as a young girl, photo of photo action again. yes, i was born a girl. but when faced with the question at this age of what i wanted to be when i grew up...

"a daddy."

Un sumo pomo down!

One down, one to go!







Pomatomus from Winter Knitty 2005 in Lisa Souza Sock! Bird of Paradise colorway. US 2 for leg, US 1 for foot (fits fine, 8.25" foot circ).

(A "friend" asked why I have such elephantitis calves in these pics... they can be kinda ungainly its true, but I just realized it may be the top down, perspective angsty angles that add to it. Thanks b... I was sure to put this in the early bit of the post so you wouldn't miss it :))

I love this pattern, I think it may be my favorite. (What's yours?) I did extend the leg one repeat (4 instead of 3), and weighing the finished sock and yarn left over on my handydandy Soehnle Myra food scale, I will probably have 20 grams of yarn left over once the 2nd sock is knit. How rad is that? This is a long legged sock! Love big skeins of yarn!!

I didn't mean my last post to read that I don't like the Lisa Souza Sock! yarn, I really do. I am just fascinated at what a difference such a low stitch difference* can make in the fabric's character-- check out the striping action on the stockinette foot at 68 sts. It just stands for me as an example of how not every yarn is meant for every pattern (if you can't stand a pool or a swirl of color)-- at 68 sts this is a perfectly variegated yarn with a few orange stripes. Kinda like Socks That Rock too... I think it looks best when its worked up into a thin striping action, but its hard finding a pattern that will always hit that sweet spot CO #. (Anyone have a favorite STR colorway while I'm asking? I'm putting together a wishful thinking tenative order and was wondering what inspiration yall could throw my way...)

I dig the orange burst at the leg-- it shows off the pattern better than anywhere else on the sock. I had a fun experience with this sock yesterday-- I took it for a walk with my sock bag on my arm :) I went for a quick errand without mini me and knit as I walked, having a quite cool experience; not as hard as I thought it would be. I felt like a member of one of those towns full of knitters that Richard Rutt talked about in "A History of Hand Knitting," where entire townships knit as they did everyday things out in public. I also was struck with the strange parallel I made against what most people occupied themselves with in public, cellphones. Wouldn't it be rad if everyone knit instead of carried on meaningless private conversations in public, making yarn companies and pattern writers rich instead of the communication industry? Yarn stores on every corner instead of service providers? Hm, we'd have to have some sort of monthly yarn commitment, 2 year contracts, new needles with cameras for it to really catch on. Admit it, how many of yall would be tuning in to the Harlot's 24 hr knitting needle cam? Wendy's'd be impossible to watch, too blurry or sparky with that speed. :)

***

I love showing off the cool things that hit my mailbox...



Knit badges/buttons! I'm not knitta enuf to get a knitting tat, so these will have to do :)

I saw these on a bunch of blogs after MDS&W but Jodi hadn't put them in her etsy shop yet-- when she did I snapped these up :) You can probably also just email her direct to order instead of going thru etsy (what I did, since I wanted to combine shipping)... My sock bags look complete now, eh? :)

And for Eunny's mini argyle stockings, when (I hope not *if*!) she posts the pattern for sale...



Lanett Superwash from the Patternworks Summer Sale. I've never heard of this before, but at about $16 shipped for all of it I thought I'd take a chance and am glad I did. To me the colors look great together (the charcoal grey borders on a flecked black), and the yarn on the skeins is soft (and the labels are partly in Norwegian! ...such a dork...)

BTW (and congratulations for making it this far), HPNY Knits wins my keenest eyed reader around non-contest (or perhaps has a second degree of separation obsession with Thomas the Train too)... Percy *was* hanging out in my last post, holding a flippy heel down :)

...off to knit some more of that Opal up (no, I didn't just say that, did I?? I really have been all over the place in terms of starting projects lately...)


*edit: I also didn't directly point out the change in needle size as well, but I went from a US 2 on the leg to a US 1 on the foot, which would affect a change as well.