Totally Addicted...

"Wanida"

Corny Eunice

Whew... what a blast! These socks were too fun to put down.



Like I said, Maizy wasn't my favorite yarn too work with but I won't mind knitting this pattern again sometime. Maizy is a corn fiber and elastic blend that is quite splitty and actually doesn't feel very elastic. But really, what should I expect from corn? The texture of the yarn added to the bulkiness of the pattern as well. So my advice would be to use a fine smooth yarn like Lorna's Laces for this pattern if you want to try it. And I think you should!



"Eunice" from Sock Innovation by Cookie A
Crystal Palace Maizy in "Ivory" (white really)
Size 1 Knit Picks magic loop

Corn? Really?

Saturday morning was spent surrounded by sock yarns and patterns. I pulled out many seasonal colors from solids to stripes... wound at least 1/2 dozen hanks into colorful center-pull skeins... and spent much time pondering the perfect spring pattern.

Finally, dizzy with options and color, I settled on...






white.

Afterall, one can always use white socks... and I thought the wool alternative might be good for summer.

Boring? Maybe.

But two days later...



Not so boring!

The pattern is "Eunice". My second pattern from Cookie A's Sock Innovation. The pattern is wonderful and super addicting, but the yarn... eh. Unfortunately it's splitty and doesn't provide the pleasing tactile experience of knitting with wool. I almost ditched it several times but, like I said, one can never have too many pairs of white socks.

Indecision

My brains are scrambled. That's the only way I can describe my head as of late. So I'm going to send you to visit one of my favorite designers... Anne Hanson. She has such an eye for beauty in the everyday things as well as being an incredible designer. I especially love her lace and socks. (You can see all her patterns here.)

I recently started her Caricia after weeks of agonizing over the perfect yarn. I really wanted to use the Malabrigo sock in Indiecita that I had purchased...



but I only had one skein and I wanted to make a medium size version. In the end I decided to go ahead and make a one skein version because this yarn just really needed to be this shawl.



Please excuse the colors. I have found this yarn almost impossible to photograph.

Then when I saw Anne working on Trevi... I knew it would be next on my lace list. I was quick to order the kit from One Planet Yarn & Fiber when it was announced so I could use the same Pewter colorway of Handmaiden Sea Silk she had used. The yarn is just amazing. Again, I'm sure I haven't captured the colors but the subtle transitions of silvers, greens, and bronze are stunning.




So here I sit surrounded with beautiful yarns and gorgeous lace patterns... and I've spent my morning trying to pick out a sock pattern to start. Scrambled I tell ya.

The Non-Essential Essential

As I mentioned before, I recently picked up one of the much anticipated Knit Kits.



You've most probably seen them around by now, but I thought I'd throw in my 2 cents just in case. I must admit two things up front... (1) I really didn't need this, and (2) it's much bigger than I expected. For some reason, I expected some little key chain size doo-dad full of microscopic gadgets. But that doesn't mean it's too big... just that I'm terrible at visualizing objects in my mind.

Anyway, as you can see, it has it all... tape measure, row counter, crochet hook, thread cutter, stitch markers, needle protectors and scissors.



I can personally testify to it's claim to be TSA approved because I bought it in St. Louis and flew home with it. (You know... curiosity and all.)

While I can't say that the Knit Kit contains anything that I don't already have at least 2 of... I can say that I'm pleasantly surprised with how convenient it is to keep in my purse and how often it's come in handy already. My only concern is the quality of the plastic construction... it feels quite fragile, but I guess time and use will be the judge of that though.

I still need to get buttons sewn on my last sweater, but I've started a little something for summer.



It's the Trellis and Keyhole Tank from the summer Interweave Knits. I'm using Rowan's new Lenpur Linen, a very soft and lightweight yarn that is knitting up beautifully.

Ribbed Ribbon Socks

I really enjoyed knitting these socks. They were the first toe-up pair that I really felt comfortable knitting (and didn't have to re-do the heel numerous times).



The pattern is Ribbed Ribbon Socks from Wendy Johnson's new book, Socks from the Toe Up, using Oceanwinds Knits sock yarn (in a forgotten colorway) on size 0 needles. Very nice yarn by the way.



The actual color is somewhere in between these two pictures.

Happy Mother's Day!

What can I say, boys will be boys.

(BTW - This next photo was taken less than a year ago.)

The difference just blows me away!