Tangled Up In Blue

Free of deadline gift knitting, I've gone right back to my old flame - Socks. Okay, so I was checking out the lines on a Sunrise Circle Jacket pattern, knitting, ripping, editing to match gauge and bodily peculiarities. But that isn't cheating. I didn't spend more than a week on the sweater before I slagged back home to the Socks.



Above is my most recent attempt to reflavor vanilla. Koigu, baby. I'm totally in love, and it shows. I knit the entire first sock in 24 hours, and I've actually cast on the second instead of moving to the next yarn and letting the single snooze.



Strawberry Fields. Love them.



Schaefer Anne. A colorway I like to call Buffy. Yes, as in the Slayer.



Jade basketweave socks. Shibui sock yarn. Gack. I have 2 more skeins, and that's all I'm ever going to buy. It was like knitting with cheap unmercerized cotton, only not as good. The socks are pretty, though.



Jaywalker, second attempt. I cast on the larger number of stitches this time. Still no success. I'm inclined to stick to Vanilla for the time being.

1 Scarf, 2 Scarves

A few years back, a friend gifted me with a beautiful scarf that she'd made and decided wasn't the right colors for her. Ever since, I've wanted to return the favor. As the scarf was given to me before I'd taken up knitting in a way that involved nice yarn and a "stash", the scarf has been a sort of demarcation gauge for what I've learned.

My own version of the scarf was seed stitch, as was it's model, but mine was knit up from Noro Kureyon colorway #40 (nearly 3 skeins) and the model was made from Malabrigo (1 skein?). The color changes were fantastic, and there was always some color surprise in each skein. It was fun to knit, and after washing and blocking that sucker was over 80 inches without fringe. Yoiks.

I sent off the package and that was my job done. I had returned the favor.

Today, the story of the scarf continues. The friend I sent it to is a welder in Seattle who rides her bike to work. In order to have something lovely and colorful to wear to work and yet retain a bit of scarf that doesn't turn black with soot and metal, my friend cut her scarf in half and retied the fringe. That just genius!

Where Has The Time Gone?

The internet, which holds great value to me as a place to learn about new yarns, is also a place I'm supposed to do things like maintain a blog and keep up with Ravelry. All in the good name of yarn, true. But what a time sink.

This week we introduced ourselves to Fios, which is four times faster than our previous service. Things don't load, they appear. Since then, I've uploaded all my current projects to Ravelry. I guess it's time to start working on my blog again.

I'm back to knitting socks for myself now that the holiday is over. I've even begun working on the Sunrise Circle Jacket, though after finishing the back and half the left front in a size 41 I discovered my gauge problems were really going to mess things up. I've decided to knit the fronts in a size 37 and the back in a 41 with fewer rows.

I've finished my first (and last) pair of socks in Schaefer Anne. The colorway is very wonderful (dark reds, blues and purples), but the dye comes out on my feet when I wear them. I have enough yardage left to make a third sock. Oi.

I think I've learned my lesson about Christmas knitted gifts. Fewer and with less ambition next time.