Happy Spring!

Hello everyone - after a bit of an absence, I'm back to the blog, nose to the keyboard so to speak. It's funny how we just get caught up in the details of living life and things get away from us. But, never fear, while the blogging was lacking, there was knitting. And stash enhancement. Good stuff.

This is the finished Charade sock from my last post (ages ago!). I'm very happy with the sock pattern and the yarn - I'll definitely revisit both of these in the future. The pattern is easy to memorize without being monotonous and the yarn is delish. I want piles of this stuff, enough to frolic in I like it so much. I'm a fan of hand painted yarns - I like the play of colours and the unique qualities that the hand dyeing process lends to the soft like buttah merino. I bought two skeins from the same dye lot and laughed when I knit them up. While the colours are very similar, the socks look like close cousins rather than twins. One is more blue and subdued than the other, but they're close enough that it doesn't really matter. It's that element of surprise in knitting with hand painted yarns that keeps me coming back for more. I haven't worn these beauties yet, so I can't comment on how they hold up to wash and wear, but I'll keep you posted.



My needles were still warm from Charade when I cast on for my next socks, a pair of plain janes in some Fleece Artist merino that had been in my stash for ages. This was actually one of the first skeins of yarn that I ever bought. These turned out to be a little roomier on my narrow foot than I usually like, but I've found them a new home with someone who I'm sure will really appreciate a nice pair of hand knit socks. It's funny. but I was actually kind of sad to knit this yarn up. It's always been in the stash, heck, it's a founding member of my stash. It was there for so long because I just couldn't seem to find the right pattern. Everything was too patterned, too complicated, nothing fit. Plain ol' stockinette did the trick for me. I'm always on the look out for a new fancy sock, so it was nice to return to the basics.

Since I bid farewell to a longtime denizen of the stash, I felt free to welcome in some new members. I am just returned from a trip to South Carolina and made a point of stopping at Knit in Charleston. I foolishly left my camera behind that day or I would have documented the sheer volume of yarny goodness that is stuffed into that space. They have all manner of yarns and a decent slecetion of knitting books and accessories, including those fancy-pants knitting bags often profiled in knititng magazines. I had a good browse and settled on some Colinette Jitterbug sock yarn, some Nature's Palette sock yarn and a monster skein of Interlacements' RickRack II. I just fell in love with the colours (it's the large ball in the foreground). I haven't decided what I'll
knit it into, but for now I'm content to gaze upon it's lustrous, shiny self.
Happy knitting!

Two words, sounds like . . .

I haven't posted lately because I was almost certain that my knitting mojo had deserted me. I looked everywhere - in my STR Serendipity? Nope. Latvian mittens? No sir. Surely it must be hiding in my Holding Hands, Feeding Ducks scarf. Uh-huh. I began to despair. Nothing was right. Things got started only to be frogged shortly thereafter. No fun, no fun at all. Then, in serach of inspiration, I went to the yarn store and found me some nice sunny sock yarn. Some Oceanwind Knits Merino in fact. I was certain it must have some mojo in it somewhere. And I was right. It took me a few patterns to find one that felt just right, but we have on the needles the first Charade sock. I've been admiring this pattern for a while and so far it's been an enjoyable knit. A two row repeat makes for good tv knitting and is just what I was looking for. Hurray for knitting!