Embarrassment of Yarn Riches

I'm still knitting along on my (Pat) Herringbone socks, using two colors for the heel flaps, too. Turning the heel has been a bit tricky, but I finally got the first one on the fourth try. Hopefully heel number two will be easier.

I've also received more yarn from across the Atlantic. I know, I know, I don't need any more yarn. It came from High Weald Fibre Factory in the UK. They've been great to order from and the yarn gets here in record time -- within the week. And look what else: they included two really nice stitch markers for free!!



On the left, more Zauberball to make a pair of (Pat) Herringbone gloves. I think they'll be nice and challenging, esp. since the pattern is Japanese. Plenty of people on Ravelry have blogged about them, plus there's a rough translation online, so should be interesting.



High Weald also has a great selection of Trekking XXL, so I figured I might as well order a ball to knit a pair of Christmas socks for my brother. Never too early to think about gifts.



So, I'm happy to have a number of relatively small knitting projects in the line-up. And I haven't forgotten about our summer sock knit-along. I'll be looking at my stash for that yarn.

(Pat) Herringbone

Talking about herringbone makes me think of Pat Harrington, remember him? Schneider from "One Day at a Time"? I used to love that show. I thought Valerie Bertinelli was the prettiest girl ever. And when she married Eddie VanHalen it was almost too good to be true. (By the way, I'm happy to see that PH is still alive. Wikipedia also tells me that he won both an Emmy and a Golden Globe for his portrayal of the janitor with a heart of gold.)

But I digress. . . These herringbone socks are the most enjoyable project I've worked on in a long time. I have plenty of yarn and might make these into knee socks, but that would require me to do some shaping, I believe. And I don't know if I'm up for that.



Also, the colorwork really does a number on my hands. Something about the way I end up holding the needles and the yarn cramps up my fingers the next day. This morning my joints are a little swollen and my wrists ache. Oh, the sacrifices we make for our craft. . .

Ballsy

When I was in upstate NY this past weekend (4th of July), I stopped by the Fingerlakes Fibers yarn shop in beautiful Watkins Glen.

My excuse for going yarn shopping (because I really need No More Yarn), was that the daughter of one of my mother's friends is having a baby. I suggested that we could make a joint gift -- she could buy the yarn and I'd knit some booties and a hat. After some serious deliberations we chose some hand-dyed superwash merino ("Sophisticate") from Brooklyn Handspun. This stuff is nice.

I also came across another BH colorway that I couldn't resist, called "Feverish." I thought I could use it to make the herringbone socks I've been wanting to do, that are from "Sockn aus aller Welt."

So instead of coming home with no skeins of yarn (restraint), or one skein of yarn (for baby boots), I came away with three skeins of yarn, now all nicely wound into balls. Behold:
So the pink, on the left, will be for the baby boots. The yarn is a tiny bit thinner than regular sock yarn so I'll be doubling it to make larger sizes, hence the two balls. In the middle is the other skein of Brooklyn Handspun, which I'll be using in conjunction with the brown on the right, Smooshy from Dream in Color, for my herringbone socks.

Guess those argyles will have to wait. . .

Aaaargyle!

I was innocently going through my stash, minding my own business, when I pulled this box from an upper shelf near my knitting books. I knew right away what it was, and knew that I'd been avoiding it for years. At the time, I got hung up on the seaming and was concerned that it wouldn't fit.

Maybe it's time to face the music. To sew up this sock and start working on the mate. The cuff's already finished.

Should I make a pledge to finish these before I begin something else? Would it make me a better person? A better knitter?

Oh the dilemmas we struggle with these days. Aaaarg(yle).