Unexpected yarn! Ice cream!

Two balls of yarn arrived as a surprise the other day. Of course, one of them is supposed to go back to my mother in the form of socks. A fair trade-off, I'd say.

I have so many DVDs and books that I need to get back to the library. I have one episode of North and South left, and then I need to watch Mrs Henderson Presents. Two more BBC series await me this week, and then I have some modern stuff due next week. I did not manage to crack open Moonlight Twilight (see, don't even remember the name of it) and will have to return it, unread, and put my name on the waiting list again. Another book is already overdue. Good thing the fees aren't bad at all.

I made another batch of ice cream. I had to fancy this one up because otherwise it would look just like the vanilla, of which there is still a very small amount left in the freezer. Behold the white chocolate ginger ice cream! It's tasty.

Some socks (and sock yarn) of mine

With sock pals checking out other participants' blogs, I feel the need to post something. Unfortunately I think all these socks and yarns have already appeared on the blog, so there's nothing really new here. My most recent load of laundry was blues and greens. I'm not sure how that brown one ended up with these others.

When my husband sees this photo he'll probably start shaking his head at all.that.yarn. Remember, my mom and Melissa gave me some of it! And most people have way more. I can show you pictures. Scary pictures. Anyway, I've stalled on working with the STR cake in the bottom right. I'm thinking of giving Monkey a go. It's in Broadripple right now and it's OK. If Monkey's no good I'll probably go back to that. The Regia Silk may someday be Bayerische. The tanzanite STR on the left may become Leyburn socks. I'd also like to make Anastasia socks, Embossed Leaves, Retro Ribs, and I'm sure some others I've forgotten about. So, I hope that helps my sock pal out some.

I have a pattern idea for my sockapalooza match: the scales skin socks, aka snake skin socks (photo 1, photo2). I like that this pattern isn't too popular out in blogland, and I can find no evidence on my pal's blog that she's made it or even heard of it. I can see she has read Harry Potter, so I think it would be cute to make these and rename them for one of the dragons. Sound like a decent idea? I just don't know how they'll knit up--stretchy? always falling down?--so I may do some swatching before I decide.

Looks can be deceiving

So, what is the difference between the Greenwood Fiberworks (top) and the Zen Yarn Garden (bottom) cotton/lycra sock yarn? Why did the 72-stitches-around pattern that worked perfectly for the former come out huge in the latter? Let me show you something.

Both strands below were about 7 inches with no tension on them, but when pulled tight, the Greenwood about doubles in length, whereas the Zen only gets to 10 inches. So Greenwood's more elastic and contracts more after it's knit. That probably means it wears better than the Zen. I think I'm willing to keep the pink for myself and give my mom the "campfire" color if she wants.

Sockapalooza 4 signups have started. I've been ambivalent on it for a while now. I loved knitting socks for other people (I had one pal and was a sock savior for another), but the socks I received are a little too big for me. I don't have much sock yarn I'm willing to part with, and I'm trying not to buy more for now. I don't know what to do!

A sock that will make you laugh, if you're a woman. If you're a man, it will probably make you uncomfortable.

Here's my Loopy Ewe order (with flash): Regia Silk in pewter and Sweet Georgia in Omakase 2, if that means anything. The order came with small samples of a couple of yarns and some needle inventory cards.


The Sweet Georgia in sunlight:I wonder if one skein really has more red in it. The Regia Silk (55% new merino wool, 20% silk, and 25% polyamide) is so soft. I may have smushed my face into it several times. I'm thinking Bayerische, but that may be too ambitious. We'll see.

If you're not yet a Loopy Ewe customer and want to be, let me know so I can email you an invitation and get $5!

Cappuccino chill

This arrived yesterday. Yarn that I don't have to pay for but still get to play with is pretty cool. I told my mom about this yarn I found online that looked similar to Greenwood Fiberworks' cotton/lycra sock yarn and she bought this for me to make into socks for her.

Cotton/lycra sock yarn from Zen Yarn Garden (which also has an etsy shop)

One of the best cotton sock yarns is still around

Greenwood Fiberworks had me worried there for a while. Her store was empty of sock yarn every time I'd look. But now she's got a few skeins of a new color--Campfire--for sale. I can't buy any now, so I hope she'll have more in the coming months. I need a pair for myself!

Goodies in the mail

So I got my birthday present in the mail yesterday from Melissa. I shook the box and wondered what the metal clinking sound was. I decided to open the box and if the present was wrapped, I wasn't going to open it until my birthday. But it wasn't wrapped. Oh well! :) I got very pretty Lorna's Laces sock yarn in the color Bucks Bar. Very yummy. I also got a sheet of Muppet stamps because I had used all of mine and my post office does not sell fun stamps (Muppets, quilts, children's book animals). Also in the box were Scrabble stitch markers and Gryffindor self-striping sock yarn, which Melissa said I could decide which one of us it was for after knitting it into socks. Um.... No, I really will consider giving it back, I swear. The clinking sound was from needles that came free with the Gryffindor sock yarn.

Got nothing to say. It's been too hot to do anything. I will be busy all week so this is probably it until the weekend.

Yum

My haul

The first three hanks are superwash merino, and the last two are cotton with a bit of elastic (so they say, I can't tell). I haven't knit in days because it's been too hot and I've been busy, but I have something I'd like to get back to now that it's a reasonable temperature.

Black Sheep Gathering

This is the only photo I took yesterday at the Black Sheep Gathering. It shows some, but by no means all, of the sock yarn for sale at the Blue Moon Fiber Arts booth. What I bought you will see in a future post.

We saw lots of hot sheep, hot goats, and hot bunnies. 100% of our sample of bunnies (2) did not want their noses touched. Poor things.

My husband was most interested in the wooden items, commenting on the complex, beautiful $600 and $700 spinning wheels and digging through a container of niddy noddies, none of which looked like the ones I'm finding on the web.

It's currently 99 degrees with 24% humidity and a breeze, making it feel like 97. In Williamsburg, Virginia, it is currently 88 degrees with 66% humidity, making it feel like 97. Huh. Of course our temperature is still climbing. The house is about 20 degrees cooler than the outside temp. Tomorrow, more of the same.

Unexpected loot!

All this came in the mail the other day courtesy of my parents. They stopped by Baadeck Yarns while on vacation. The yarn is sequestered in an extra bedroom until I feel like testing the blue yarn for allergies. I had some symptoms after opening the box, but it could have been something else. I know I like Opal and am excited to get to try out a new sock yarn, the Fleece Artist. It's fun enough when you get a package of yarn that you ordered yourself, but one you didn't know was coming is the best. Thanks, Mom and Dad!