Warming to Pink

Lately it seems all I do here is talk about the weather.  But it's crazy!  We had delays and closures through Monday and then yesterday it was so warm when I left work that I threw caution to the wind and ran outside.  Take it from me, seventy degrees is no reason to go running on trails when the sun is almost down.  Especially when you forget your glasses.  Though I will say, I think that was the best outdoor pace I have maintained in a long time.

With our crazy weather I have decided that it is time to move on to warmer knits.  I am still working on the Lightning Shrug, but my startitis kicked in again on Monday when I received this little lovely in the mail.

Duckie by Unwind Yarn Company.  This was the colorway Dana dyed for her first round of the 2 Crafty Girls club.  I did not get in, but at the beginning of the month she put up a few skeins for preorder and I pounced.  How could I not buy Duckie yarn?  I suddenly had to knit a Pretty in Pink shawl.

I seem to be on a Knitscene kick because I dug out my winter 2012 issue and selected the Merging Ripples Shawl.  I love the way the pattern uses short rows to achieve a deep striping shawl.  The only problem is that it is knit from the bottom up, so the cast on was gigantic.  It took me all of this week's episode of The Carrie Diaries to get it cast on (I don't know why I watch this show.  I keep vowing not to watch another episode, but the clothes and music and guest stars keep pulling me back in).

Bloomie's Bear volunteered to model just how long it is.  My size US4 interchangable tip broke, so I pulled out a US 5.  I tend to knit tightly and I have more yardage than the pattern calls for, so I think it will be fine.

I am reminded why people love striping shawls so much.  I love the way the colors are working up and the short rows are so addictive.  I'm imagining wearing this with a spring dress and I suddenly find myself reveling in the potentially warmer weather -- a thought I still find shocking.

To see more splendid WIPs, check out Tami's Amis!

FO: Time of My Life Socks

Oh look at the pretties!

These are my Time of My Life Socks (Cat Bordhi's Darjeeling from The Knitter's Book of Socks).  I had a lot of fun knitting these as my lunch break socks at work, but I'm having even more fun wearing them.

The appeal of this design is the deceptive simplicity of them.  This is my first Cat Bordhi pattern and I have to say I am understanding everyone's praise of her genius.  The arch expansion and heel construction are pretty genius.  Unfortunately it's still a little baggy on my heels.  My current theory is that I have really narrow heels, which is why I love short row heels so much.

But it was still really fun to learn a new technique.

The real joy of these socks is the yarn.  I bought this from Unwind Yarn Company during a sale and it does not disappoint.  The twist holds up well to my crazy tinking needs.  Some yarns start to fluff up after a while, but I didn't have that problem. This was also my first time knitting socks out of a cashmere blend and they are just as soft and cozy as promised.  Add in some lovely splashes of color and this really is an awesome yarn to work with.

Because I tend to knit shorter socks I have almost half a skein leftover.  I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet, but I'm thinking yoga socks.  It is finally getting cold here and I'd like to be able to keep my feet warm without wearing out my regular socks.  We'll see what I come up with.

Paranthetical Socks

Thank you to everyone who expressed sympathy regarding my neck yesterday.  I am still pretty sore today, but I have regained a lot of mobility and am actually sitting fairly comfortably, which is always nice.  I also only work a few hours this afternoon at my second job, so I have not had to stand all day, which seems to have helped.  Instead I have been doing something truly terrifying, reading my thesis straight through.  I got through the first 50 pages this morning before I felt like throwing it out the window.  I'll try to brave the last few chapters tonight.  The thesis isn't scary because it is bad, I am actually tentatively proud of it, but the thought that everything I have done academically for the past two and a half years (really since high school when I decided that this is what I wanted to do with my life) boils down to a little under 100 pages of text is rather unnerving at times.

Aside from the ability to laugh without dying from pain, my morning was also brightened by the arrival of a lovely package.

This is a skein of Unwind Yarn Company's Luxe Sock in the colorway Lake Lure.  Dana, who is the owner of this fine Etsy shop, is one of the hosts of the Just One More Row podcast (I met her and Brittany at SAFF.  Lovely women) and offered up a coupon code to the listeners for the month of October.  Because of SAFF I decided to put off purchasing until the end of the month so that I could have full use of my yarn budget for the event.  And I am so glad I waited.  I originally had my eye on her Faded Graffiti colorway, but someone else bought it.  But!  I got an awesome skein.  Not only does it have 10% cashmere and 10% nylon (I've never tried any cashmere blends and I am afraid to use blends without nylon for socks), but it is also named after one of my hometown's local landmarks (at least I think it is)!  Lake Lure is in the same county as the town in which I grew up, and I have spent a lot of time out there.  Tourists love to go hang out on the man-made lake, and it was the filming location for Dirty Dancing and Last of the Mohicans.

Chris and I on his first visit

I am fantasizing about knitting this up as the Darjeeling socks from Knitter's Book of Socks (birthday present from an amazing friend).  I'm in fact so psyched about this project that I am pretty sure I shall be frogging another sock project to make room for it on the needles.

Now, before I frog, I want to say that I love the Hummingbird socks.  Pretty much all of the patterns in Knitter's Book of Socks are projects I want to make.  The Hummingbird socks are billed as the perfect project for verigated yarn because the patterning moves the color vertically as well as horizontally.  I'm just not so sure that it works for this skein of Miss Babs.  It is striping too perfectly, which is somewhat annoying in such a pretty lace pattern.  Plus I don't have the mental capacity right now for a pattern that requires full attention to the chart, so I'm gonna rip them out and put the yarn to good use as something else.  Maybe as Trillian?