Comfort Knitting

This week has been all about a sock. I'm using the skein of Woolarina Yarn that I got from MDSW to make a pair of Celebrate Socks (by SockPixie). This yarn is some wonderful comfort knitting-- it has the elasticity and warmth of wool with the softness and sheen of bamboo. It's squishy and featherlight and all I seem to want to do is knit with it.

I made this first sock about 6" in the leg. I'm always afraid that I will run out of yarn because of my pontoon feet, but I think that once again I underestimated the distance that a skein of yarn will actually go. I'm nearly done with the first sock, and I've only used one of the three (unequal) cakes that I wound. I suspect that I'll be trying to come up with a pattern for some tiny amount of leftover yarn.

Maybe I'll knit a flower. Or a cupcake.

I'm waiting on (yet another) Knitpicks order. This represents the last of my summer knitting projects. I have a faculty ten-month contrast at MPOW which means I'm off work from June 15 to August 15. Unfortunately, it also means I don't get paid in July or August, so I have to stock up now. I bought enough cotton yarn to make the Imprint Tank from the Summer Interweave Knits. I changed up the colours, since I'm not a fan of the blue, and will be working this tank in Lilac and Blackberry on Honeydew (two purples on light green). They're springy colours, but I think they will carry well into early fall. I'm thinking pairing it with a black suit, or a black skirt and a light cardigan.

Like a lot of other people, I wasn't overly impressed with this issue of IK, but not for the reasons most gave. I like the look of colourwork. I don't think the patterns are frumpy or dowdy or outdated. I just don't bother with summer knitting. It's too humid in Northern Virginia to wear handknits, so any pattern I look at between now and about October had better be well-served with a wintery yarn substituted. Sadly, that doesn't describe most of the patterns.

However, I did pick up a couple of new knitting books that promise better things. First, I nabbed a copy of  Knit so Fine by Myers, Sulcoski, and Grutzek. Most of the patterns are not really my style, but the tips and tricks for working with finer gauge yarn look like they'll be invaluable.

I also snagged the last in-store copy of Sensual Knits by Yahaira Ferreira (AKA bitter purl). I want one of everything in he book. Seriously. These are some majorly gorgeous patterns. I haven't wanted one of everything since I grabbed Fitted Knits. I see lots of knitting ahead of me.

And a quick note for folks who read me via Ravelry: I have made a pretty severe pruning of my project notebook on Rav. I took out every single thing that I've given up on, including multiple pairs of socks and at least one sweater. This summer, there will be a frog pond party. Hey, reclaimed yarn is almost as good as new yarn, right?