Here are the new sock mountain acquisitions. It seems I had a color scheme on the brain while picking some of these, but I have an explanation...
I looked for Panda Cotton in the above colorway at every store I went to last weekend---that was 20 of them, in case you forgot--with no luck. At around store 18 (I'm not sure--that day is a little hazy...), I found the ShiBui sock yarn in the upper right corner of the picture. I was immediately mesmerized and had to have it, thus relieving some of my longing for the Panda cotton color I couldn't find earlier. You know where this is leading, right? Immediately after purchasing ShiBui yarn in same color family, I then came across the Panda cotton pictured above in the colorway I had been seeking, only after already purchasing the ShiBui at a prior store. So did I skip the Panda? Of course not, don't be ridiculous. I was in full road and yarn store delirium by then, so the resistance shields were in full down position. Oh well....one is wool, and the other cotton, after all...
Joining the sock acquisition party picture is two skeins of Tofutsies on the upper left, and two colors of MegaBoot Stretch that I have been eyeing for a long time. The Duet yarn in the front is one of my favorites---the color just looks so retro to me, sort of like a 50's bowling team shirt, or those tri-color licorice candies that they sell in the bulk bins at the market. Anyway, those colors with pink heels and toes---too cute!
Here is the rest of what I acquired---mostly very inexpensive and to be used for fun, small projects for the summer....
The Fixation is to make some cute headbands, and the Euroflax is to make another hand towel to make a set with the one I've been working on. The DK cotton is for some little sachet bags, and the Noro is to make a small handbag. Okay, so that's ALL of it. Not so bad. Not at all.I also completed the scarf for my ISE4 pal. Here is it all washed, blocked and smelling like lavender...
It came out quite nicely for my first lacy project. I must say that the blocking would have been much easier if I had some blocking wires, but I managed with some extra fussing and attention to get the scarf to block out nicely. It was made with Mountain Colors merino ribbon in the Marias Falls colorway, in a simple feather and fan pattern. The actual colors are closer to the above picture. I hope my pal likes it.The only change I made from a traditional f&f pattern was that instead of one continuous length, I knit it in two identical halves and connected them at the center with a 3-needle bind off. It actually worked out very well, and I achieved what I wanted, which was for both ends to look the same.
And finally, remember the little ball winding disaster I mentioned a while back? Well, here's the rest of the story...I wanted to wind my single skein of Tofutsies into equal cakes so I could knit the socks two at once and have separate skeins to do so. So I wound the yarn, carefully measuring on my digital scale as I went along to try to get two fairly even yarn cakes. However, despite my best efforts, this is what I got....
WTF??!! Obviously, one of these things is not like the other. Even after my careful weighing and winding, one cake weighs 57 grams, and the other 42 grams. I used the same exact method of weighing in making the ISE4 scarf above, and all turned out fine. And to add to the insult, while winding the second half of the skein, the yarn launched itself off of the winder like a volcanic eruption (from the center) and landed in a tangled heap on the table. So besides two really uneven yarn cakes, add to the picture about an extra hour of detangling, unwinding and rewinding.....
I meant to cast on these socks about a week ago, but after the yarn betrayed me in such a fashion by being so obstinate, explosive and tangly, it was promptly placed into a ziploc to languish in punishment in the bottom of a knitting bag for a while. So take that, you mean ol' uneven-winding, exploding, all-tangly-like yarn!
I have recovered from the trauma now and will probably cast on for the socks soon. If you look for me, I'll be easy to find....I'll be the one with one whole sock and one toe-less sock made out of a great color of Tofutsies....If anyone can tell me what the hell I did wrong to get such a fraternal set of twins while winding this yarn, I'd be forever grateful. I certainly can't figure it out....However, until I do and in the meantime I have ordered one of these and will be utilizing it for all such pursuits from now on! When in doubt, throw more gadgets at the problem...
The upcoming week is going to be fun. On Wednesday, I get to attend a session where I am to be grilled like a barbequed wienie for a few excruciating hours about my clinical skills and knowledge, while at the same time trying to dazzle the hosts with my brilliant qualifications. I think they call it a job interview. Yuck.
There is a bright spot after that, though. On Saturday, I will be leaving for a weeklong vacation with cute husband at the beach in So. California. Yay! Not such good news for the poor minions, however. They will be spending their vacation being boarded in cages at the vet's office. Meeee-OW!
We haven't told them yet----they think they are going to the beach with us....
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