Violets

My yard is full of dandelions at the moment.  I actually kind of like their cheerful yellowness… but they annoy me when they go to seed and the stems become long and gangly.  One yard flower that I love in every way, though, is the wild violet.  These sweet flowers appear in lawns up and down my street.  They are in full bloom right now, and I have to wonder if I was subliminally motivated by them to cast on for the Sugared Violets shawlette. 

This sock yarn has been marinating in stash for a long time…my mom gave it to me for Christmas in 2007.  It’s handspun and handdyed by Crafty in a Good Way from Merriam, Kansas (my mom found it in a gallery in Salina). Her website seems to have expired so you just have to trust me.  There is a lot of yardage (560 yards) so I was saving it to make knee socks with one day.

Then I learned what I now know about sock yarn choices and rejected it as actual sock yarn (100% superwash merino, 2-ply).  Since Rose Beck’s Sugared Violets calls for 430/550 yards (M/L) and the color certainly reminds me of violets, I cast on.  Here is a peek: It’s all bunched up on a circular needle now and I knew I wouldn’t have time to transfer it to a longer cable or waste yarn before losing the light this evening, so you just get a glimpse.  I’m nearing the end, though, thanks to a holiday weekend and road trip to Cleveland!

The knitting is quite simple, but the rows get longer and longer, which makes this project not great for picking up and putting down.  So, of course, I started one of these:

I think you all know exactly what this is.  :)