Knitting news for April

It's been some time since I've posted about knitting. Well, it's been some time since I've posted. I'm finding it difficult to make myself sit to blog. Silly really. I second guess myself into thinking I have nothing to blog about. Silly.

However, there is knitting news.

I finished the Barn Swallow socks from Autumn House Farm, "Herdwick Fine" yarn.

This is cool yarn. I hadn't heard of it before, but saw it when I went to Rosie's Yarn Cellar in Philadelphia for my audition. Well, I didn't audition at Rosie's, ...you get the idea. I also got a skein of "Bracken". If you go to their link you'll see that they really do have amazing colorways. I've been happy with the yarn itself too- although I admit that the vividness of the colors is what I fell in love with. The yarn itself has nice stitch definition. I used my usual size 0 needle for the cuff and size 1 bamboo for the sock itself, and am pleased with the result. I do seem to recall that the yarn didn't feel quite as stretchy as some other yarns, but it is 100% merino, so that may be why.

These are the first real socks I've knit for myself. Hooray! (Well, my first pair were for me, but they were made out of acrylic worsted weight. I live in FL. Therefore they don't count ;) Unfortunately I made the socks a little too small for me. I'm always making them too big, so this time I overcompensated. My fault, not the yarn's. The sock feels quite warm though- I'm not sure if I'll be wearing them in the summers here. They'll be nice in the fall/winter.

After I finished these socks I went on my mission for David's sock yarn. You've heard about part of this process here. So, I made an order with Lisa Souza, having heard great things about her sock yarns.

(Sock! "Emerald City" on top, with Hardtwist "Seafoam" on the bottom.)

I haven't tried out the Emerald City yet, but I must say that the colors are just what I was hoping for- very vibrant, full, and gorgeous. Also I've seen and felt the socks of other knitters' who used the Sock! and it felt wonderful.

Now, the Hardtwist. I don't know about it. This is one of her newer yarns, and I got it because I heard people say that it was spongy and had nice stitch definition. People on one forum referred to it as a Socks That Rock yarn with Lisa Souza colors. That sounded fabulous. Really, I was looking for a yarn with excellent stitch definition and something sproingy because I want to use this yarn for my first cable project.

The color is PERFECT! When I ordered it, I didn't realize how perfect it was. David's favorite color is "seagreen". You'd be surprised at how elusive "seagreen" can be. I've been trying to figure out what he means by "seagreen" for awhile now and try as I might, I haven't figured it out. I ordered the seafoam even though the picture on her website was, in David's words, "too blue to be "seagreen". HOWEVER! The minute we got the yarn David got a sweet smile on his face and I felt at such peace. I could tell that finally we had found "seagreen". The yarn we got, in person, isn't quite as blue as on her site. Thank you Lisa Souza!

Since that moment, this yarn and I have had some issues. First, I wound it up. Well, I wound up half of it. The other half is now in a tangled mess on the mantle- I'm trying to believe that it will de-tangle itself by the time I need it. Still, the seagreen-ness calmed and nurtured me as the sun glanced in upon it.

Then I was off to swatch. This yarn is much thicker than my usual sock yarn. I started with a size 1 Crystal Palace bamboo needle. ARGH! The yarn would barely move and it was torture to knit- too much friction. I moved up to a size 2 bamboo. STILL! Then I moved to a size 1 metal (Knitpicks Options). Better. Still difficult, but better. I put aside the part of me that just wanted to plunge ahead even if I didn't have the right needle. I made another order from Knitpicks for their DPNs. (I really like their DPNs by the way. Very smooth and nice.) So, I'm now using size 2 metal Knitpicks Options DPNs. This is giving me a fairly tight, but not too tight fabric.

I've tried a couple cables on the swatch at this point, and I think I get the idea. Now I just need to decide what pattern to use. This gauge (I'm getting about 6 st/1 inch) is making it difficult to find a pattern I like for cabled socks. I may just make up my own. Now wouldn't that be putting myself into this sock. Feel the love honey?

While all this was happening we went on that trip to visit David's friends. On the way I started the first pair of socks ever where I didn't know who I was knitting them for. I always start with a specific person in mind and put that person and our relationship into the sock. However, this yarn, much as I love it, didn't seem to fit anyone I knew. Still, I started it and had finished the cuff by the time we got to Macon, GA. As David and I sat in a circle talking with these guys who have been a big part of our past I knit and knit and knit. I got more knitting done in that 24 hours than ever before. I basically finished the leg in in fewer than 24 hours- something I've never done before.

I had a truly wonderful conversation with Matt, one of David's friends. He seemed particularly interested in my knitting and we got talking about relationships, life, feelings, etc. As we talked I knit. After we talked I knew. These socks were for him. I measured his feet. I'll show you some pictures eventually. I'm partway into the foot of the first sock now. (My pace slowed considerably after we came home.)

I started the second sleeve on the SKB yesterday and the shawl progresses slowly. That's about it for now on the knitting front.