The Abigailia: I've been knitting...

Although the audition, presentation, etc. took over most of my thoughts over the past few months I was still knitting. And, now I have some proof. One of my projects is still secret, since it isn't done yet. But, happily I have some FOs to show off finally, now that Christmas has past. (The post on my mom's lace socks have been returned to the public eye as well- from back in October.

Now, for the show:

*Start sultry music* *Melodious microphone voice* First we have Abigail, or rather Abigail's legs, showing off a lovely pair of socks. An example of how a basic cuff down sock recipe can create visually exciting and impressive socks when using the right yarn. Opal does it again with their silk ("seide") yarn. 30% Silk and 70% Wool makes for a yarn that initially was unpleasant to work with, but seemed to become more relaxed with time.

*Young knitter sits in front of blank background for a person-to-person interview* It really didn't feel soft at all. Honestly, I still wouldn't call it soft, but it's not scratchy the way I originally thought it was. I expected something different from a part-silk yarn, when I ordered it online. Still, I really like the way the colors worked up. Really like. The colors are deeper than they look in the picture, and make a cool pattern. I used size US1 DPNS.

Opal Silk, color 1359 -- sure to please your brother -- and get a response from his girlfriend that every knitter will appreciate, given that your brother is a landscaper. "You are NOT wearing those to work!"

Ok, the runway-post-style is getting to me. I'll stop.

My most recent FO was for the Stitch n' Bitch secret santa. I drew Steff as my giftee (somehow I knew I would, and was glad). I spent way too much time looking for the right yarn for her, but the result worked, I think. These socks were possibly my most intricate project yet, and took quite a while. I don't know why these lace socks (size 11) took longer than my mom's lace socks (size 11 1/2), but they did. I hope you'll indulge me, as I have a lot to show.

Yarn: Trekking XXL 104 Ombre (I liked the yarn. It was soft, and the colors were pretty in that they very slowly change shade- sometimes into colors I normally wouldn't think of going with the color scheme, but somehow work.)

Needles: Knitpicks Options DPNS US1 (first time using them. I like them, but they are much heavier than my usual bamboo. It felt really good to slide the yarn on and off. It felt luxurious. It just took some time to get used to the weight. That effect improved once I had knit more than an inch or so.

Pattern: "Chevron" from Charlene Schurch's book: Sensational Knitted Socks. pg. 71

I was stunned by the effect of this particular pattern with this particular yarn. I wanted to knit lace, and I wanted a self-striping yarn. The two don't often work well together, but this did. I love it. Of course, Charlene Schurch made this pattern specifically for self-striping yarn, but I didn't believe her until I saw it.

I admit that I had a long moment of serious consideration over the sanity of this pattern when I got to the heel. I was excited about this heel, which she calls the "forethought" heel. I'm always perturbed that when you knit with self-striping, the heel never really works into the color changes. This heel takes that into account, and is intended to result in concentric circles of color for the heel. I didn't believe her at this point: