New Yarns!

Handspun yarn! My favorite barber pole! This was spun by my friend Megan using Crown Mountain yarn. I love it but I'm thinking it is a little too soft and fragile and of course it is very special so I'm trying to think of something equally special to do with it. Ideas?

Cindi picked out this Sock Candy yarn for me at the Medrona Fiber Arts Fair. I've been really anxious to try this cotton yarn from the makers of my beloved STR.
I haven't decided what sock pattern to use. Ideas? Anyone use this yet? Tips?

I love the colors. Really bright and saturated.

Oh, and Zephyr wouldn't move so I could take the pictures. So the dog leg is to show scale! :)

Started STR Monkey Socks

Pattern: Monkey
Needles: two Addi Circs size 0 (2mm)
Yarn: STR Prove it All Night

It is a pretty easy pattern and I love the color of this yarn.

Collinette Jitterbug Socks Finished!

I saw this yarn in a LYS and fell in love with the color.

Later I realized that the amount of yarn 267 meters (292 yards) was less than what would come in two skeins of koigu (350 yards).

So with some concern as to the amount of yarn I decided to do a toe up and a lace pattern in order to maximize the amount of yarn.

This is pretty much my favorite formula for toe up socks:

I used the easy and great looking Knitty Magic Cast On

Then I select a stitch pattern. For these I used Child's First Sock stitch pattern from the Nancy Bush Knitting Vintage Socks. I used just the stitch pattern which is meant to be toe up but didn't really have a strong direction to it and it worked fine as a toe up.

For the gusset and heel I use the Generic Pattern for Your Putting me On Socks. From there I just went up the cuff till I had no more yarn.

Needles: I used Addi circs size 0 (2mm) for the toes and heels. This seemed a soft yarn even though it is tightly twisted. I wanted to do the whole sock with the size 0 but given my concern about the amount of yarn I went up to Addi size 1s for the foot and cuff. This stitch pattern is really stretchy so these socks aren't as tight fitting as I normally like but they are so soft and the color is pretty and overall nice to knit with this yarn. It will be interesting to see how they wear. The yarn went pretty far. If I get some of this yarn again I'll try a plain pair of toe ups and see how far it goes.