Still alive

Haven't been blogging much. This is partly why:

I got new yarn for the store
a LOT of new yarn for the store. Mostly Peace Fleece and 100purewool. Yum!










This is the other reason why. 2 pairs of Christmas socks, finished completely Thursday night.


This pair is Trekking XXL color 108. It's a waffle weave pattern at the top.

A warning if you try to use this yarn. It's beautiful, but it does not repeat. Ever.

If I had known that I probably wouldn't have used it for my mom's socks, who is a math teacher and fond of symmetry.

I ended up unwinding the rest of the skein after working the first sock, wrapping it around cards so I could see the stripes, and picking sections that matched pretty well. I broke the yarn twice to pick a new section. Worth it, I think, for almost matching socks.
This pair is for my sister. I loooove them, and really do not want to give them away.

Unlike the first pair, which are too big for me, these fit me exactly. And this yarn is thick and perfect on the feet. It's Lana Grossa Meilenweit 100 Bosco.

I love them so much I have more than once seriously considered going out and buying my sister a book and keeping the socks. I hope she appreciates them!

The only bad thing about that yarn is how much it runs.

This was the first (of many) rinses they went through. Then I heated them up with vinegar, and rinsed some more. I couldn't believe how much blue dye came out of them, and yet they are, surprisingly, still the same color as the unwashed yarn I have left.



So after I finished the Christmas knitting, it was time to finally do something that wasn't plain knitting.

Since we're getting ready to drive to Florida after Christmas, I started a Pi shawl. I look forward to following Elizabeth Zimmerman's footsteps working a shawl on the road.

Yarn is handpaintedyarn.com merino lace (which is now sold as Malabrigo lace). Colorway is Applewood, or something like that.

I love it intensely.