Thinking about socks

It seems I never tire of socks. I’ve made just about all the knitted things, but more socks than anything else. And yet, socks and sock yarn continue to entertain and inspire me.

First up, I figured out a way to move ahead with Dave’s 50th Birthday Sheep Socks (remember they were in time out for a while). I used one of those tiny 9” circular needles for the 14 rounds of colorwork - in size 2.5mm, up from 2.0mm used for the rest of the sock. Those 14 rounds were pretty agonizing, most especially the 4 rounds that use 3 colors. Also, I had to catch floats on a lot of rounds so they wouldn’t be too long. But I persisted, and thanks to Steven’s manly sock blockers, I finished the first sock in Austin:

My sock blockers are far too small for these socks, so I brought one of Steven’s home with me for the second sock. I can mail it back easily when I’m done. I cast on the second sock in Austin and cursed through the colorwork on I-35 and I-30. Then it was smooth sailing. I finished the heel flap and turn on the drive, and now the sock is sitting in my portable project bag waiting for meetings during which I can knit. This pair has been a long time in the making! I think I may have advanced my colorwork skills a bit. I definitely advanced my knowledge.

Next up: the latest issue of PLY Magazine, which shipped just in time for me to take it on our loooonnnnngggg drive to Texas, is all about spinning sock yarn. Be still my heart! This is one of the most exciting issues they’ve published so far. You can see by my post-it flags that I had A Lot of Thoughts while reading through the issue. So many, in fact, that I devoted a few pages of my spinning journal to ideas and takeaways from the issue:

I have a braid of two of fiber in my stash that will be good to test some of these techniques on… and I might have just ordered a few more. I haven’t been working on my wheel since finishing the Muesli for my Humulus sweater, and I miss it.

Finally, I managed to visit way more yarn shops in Texas than I usually do – two in Georgetown and two in Austin. Texas knitters do not lack quality yarn choices, let me tell you! I was quite restrained, however. In a Georgetown shop, I spotted the West Yorkshire Spinners self-striping yarn from the Country Birds series. This handsome gray and red colorway is Bullfinch, and I think it would make perfectly cheerful socks for Boy 1 or S1:

WYS is a British yarn made in – duh – Yorkshire, probably in the shadow of Downton Abbey (just kidding). It’s a 75/25 wool/nylon blend, but is 35% Bluefaced Leicester. I suppose the rest of the wool content is mixed wool from the pool.

At one of the Austin shops, they carried entirely different WYS yarns, including the 2018 Christmas Special colorways. I got the Fairy Lights self-striping along with Cayenne Pepper, for color-coordinated cuffs, heels, and toes. I hereby pledge to have these knit up for Christmas 2019!

That’s my sock update for now. I’ll have some other things to share soon. I finished my Aito shawl before the holiday, but haven’t yet gotten a very good photograph. And I am very close to finishing my Humulus sweater!