A month or so ago I gave into the tempting new spring yarns at knitpicks. The stroll tonal sock yarns were just too much to resist. I’m only human! And now I am a human with pretty pretty sock yarns and a new sock book!
Lets take a closer look, shall we?
Stroll Handpainted Sock yarn in the Cartoons colorway:
Stroll Tonal Sock yarn in the Gypsy colorway:
Stroll Tonal Sock yarn in the Canopy colorway:
Stroll Tonal Sock yarn in the Royalty colorway:
These yarns are so much more beautiful in person. I also picked up another US2 circular needle (it’s next to impossible to only knit one sock pattern at a time, trust me) and I got Wendy Johnson’s “Socks from the Toe up” book.
This book has a bunch of wonderful patterns! I can’t wait to start knitting on them!
I’ve also done some more spinning, it’s turning out to be a long slow process. I’ve decided to invest in a little better quality spindle that I ordered today. It’s a very pretty pink top whorl drop spindle. If you are Etsy.com check out Dragoncraft’s shop….she makes some beautiful spindles! I also plan on ordering a 20 color sampling of roving on Etsy to practice my spinning. I figure I should start with some reasonably priced fiber to spin while I am learning.
The issue with the spindle I have now is it’s so light I have to literally hand spin the spindle to twist the fibers and then hold the spindle between my knees and draft more fiber. The new spindle will be heavier and will be better able to spin while I draft, that’s the theory anyway. I’m still new and learning about all this. I plan to pick up a DVD called Respect the Spindle that is supposed to be an excellent source to learn to spin on a drop spindle.
In knitting news, I’ve been working on shawl. I wanted a basic lacy shawl to throw over my shoulders when it gets chilly in a room. I’m always cold so it seems like a good idea to knit up. The yarn is knitting up beautifully. I love how the stripes are coming on it. It’s a basic pattern that I just kind of threw together. I didn’t want anything too complex.
It should turn out to be a nice little shoulder shawl once I block it.
I also started another pair of socks from the Sock Innovation book using the Cartoons sock yarn. However, I ran into a little issue. I started the sock on Us2 needles, however I am going to have to rip that and start again on US3s. This sock only has 60 stitches and therefore is a smaller sock. Translation – I couldn’t fit the stupid sock on my huge foot! It’s not a total loss of time though. I only had a few repeats of the leg chart. I’ll get it back in no time. I didn’t get any pictures, but I assure you the sock is going to look extra awesome once it is completed!
~~Happy Knitting~~
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