One Sock, Two Sock, Red Sock, Blue Sock

I recently finished two pairs of socks. I'd finished knitting them awhile ago, but in an uncharacteristic move, I didn't weave in the ends for a month. The first pair finished was the pair knit from Cathy's stash: Swedish Fish.

I made a few modifications. I made the leg 68 stitches, up 4 stitches from the 64 the pattern calls for. I also ignored the patterning on the foot and went with a 1x1 stripe.

The second pair of socks was my third pair of Primavera socks. I really struggled to find a pattern that showed off the Mushroom Hunting color way from Dragonfly Fibers. The Primavera pattern is the perfect mixture of interesting pattern and simple knitting.

Of course I've cast on some more socks. Once I finished the Swedish Fish socks, I allowed myself to cast on another color work pattern: Roll The Bones. What's funny is that I'd looked at the pattern so frequently that Connor thought I had already knit it. It's an involved pattern, so I anticipate knitting these for awhile.

Orange is Baah! La Jolla in California Poppy. White is Tosh Sock in Filtered Light.

I also cast on new car knitting after finishing up the Primavera socks. This pair is called By The Seine River. It was written for a 72 stitch count, but I've modded it to a 63 stitch count. The pattern came out better at 63 rather than my usual 64 stitches.

Nox Yarn in the She's Filled With Secrets color way.

Does anyone else have a pattern that they have looked at so often that they might as well have knit it by now?

What Happens To Your Stash When You Die

A few weeks ago a knitting buddy passed away. She hadn't been well, but I hadn't realized she had taken a turn for the worse. Then, just this past weekend, a bunch of us were alerted that her stash was going to be dismantled.

Cathy had been quite thorough with her documentation of her stash on ravelry. I decided that the best way to remember her would be to knit a pair of socks that she had planned to make, but didn't get to. Only a few queued sock patterns had yarn ideas assigned to them. Cathy and I had bonded over color work socks, so when I saw that the Swedish Fish pattern was one with an assigned yarn, I made it my mission to find the skein of Baltic and Warm Maize in Tosh sock in her enormous stash. (She had over 1700 entries, not just skeins, on ravelry) Luckily I had some help and eventually was able to find each skein. I got a little teary when I saw that the skein of Baltic had already been wound.

I pulled out some other skeins while I was there. Most notably a skein of Baah La Jolla in Burmese Ruby. Cathy had the best taste in reds.

I also left with a sweater quantity of Brooklyn Tweed's Loft in Meteorite and Artifact to make another Pente. Cathy was one of the group of us who made a Pente together. She was the one who coined the term "stockinette hell."

Farewell Cathy. I hope that you have already found the yarn shop on the other side. I'm sure you will find the best red over there too.

Stitches West 2018

This year I wasn't going to go to Stitches West. I told myself, "I have enough yarn" and "If you go, you know you'll buy more because you have no self control once the yarn fumes hit you." So that was that. The day before Stitches opened to the general public my father said, "Well, if you don't go, you might be sad about it, but if you do go, the worst that could happen is you'll forget about the experience. Also, I need a replacement 'Knit Long and Prosper' mug. Mine got chipped." Ever the dutiful daughter, I went.

As you can see, I got the "Knit Long And Prosper" mug from Pawley Studios... and a few other things. Connor came along during his lunch break and talked me into two skeins from White Birch Fiber Arts. The bluer one is "The Truth Is Out There" and the purple one is "Travel Agent For Guilt Trips." We also got a pretty soap dish from Kunihiro Pottery. I've been jealous of the one I gave my mum back in 2015. Then there were the girl scouts...
After all those purchases Connor had to go back to work so I was left to my own devices. I picked up a skein of Baah! La Jolla in La Perla. I've decided that it's my favorite skein of white, it's hard to find, so it is worth the money. After that, I wandered around, peeked in a bunch of different booths, and almost left without any more yarn. The last booth I stopped at was the Plucky booth. There are some really hardcore fans of Plucky. I am not one of them, but I appreciate their colors. I picked up three skeins of Trusty Fingering in Barn Door, but tragically, I needed four to make the sweater I wanted. As I lamented being short a skein, two fellow stitches west attendees chatted with me. They said, "Don't you know you can preorder skeins. Also, that grey would look great on you." Then they left. I wish I could tell those two lovely ladies that they succeeded in enabling me. I not only bought 6 skeins of Trusty (worsted) in Metro, I preordered four skeins of Trusty Fingering in Barn Door. I didn't get a chance to say thank-you, but just know you helped me enhance my stash.

Stitching States And Socks

It was another busy week with school and other commitments, but I still have found a little time in the evenings to work on my crafty pursuits. My Hylestad socks are finally done, for one.

Hylestad socks in Plucky Knitter Primo Fingering's En Garde and Baah! La Jolla's La Perla

Truth be told, I had finished them a week or two ago, but only finally sat down and wove in the ends. We've been watching Man In The High Castle and it is too interesting to weave ends to.

I've also be knitting away at my Rose By Any Other Name socks. I was hoping to have them done in time to wear for Valentine's Day, but in the last week the temperature has gone up significantly and now it is too hot to wear hand knit socks. I'll try to get them done anyways, just in case it decided to cool down.

Vanilla Socks in Canon Hand Dye's Rose By Any Other Name

Then there are the socks I cast on while we were in Hawaii. Or rather, I cast them on while we were in the airport to leave Hawaii. Still counts as Hawaii socks, right?

Groovy socks in White Birch Fiber Art's Wile Thai Ryder

There was also a night this last week where I was overcome with the need to work on my USA quilt. First I was just going to stitch a bit of Oregon. Then I was just going to stitch the California coast. But before I knew it, it was past midnight and I had finished all of Oregon, California, Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico. I got to move the hoop and now I only have the gulf states and a bit of the east coast left.

The quilt is still far from being done, but at least a major potion will be complete.

Has anyone else found solace in their projects this week? Are there any projects that you've felt compelled to work on?