Minty Leaves and Maelstrom

Minty Leaves Socks
Originally uploaded by sunasak

Yay for the long weekend. It's enabled me to finish my Minty Leaves socks (they only took 9 days, so I was zooming on these, at least for me). I enjoyed these a lot, and am enjoying wearing them today! I had a lot of "business" at the yarn shop on Saturday, so I got a lot done in between people's questions and such, then yesterday I had a lot of time to knit while awaiting some out-of-town guests, and then while listening to conversations with them and their chatty (yet adorable in their own ways) daughters (7 and 10). I just had to knit 20 minutes this morning to finish.

So, I think I talked about the yarn already. I got a very tight gauge out of it, which makes me think I'd like to get some more yarn from this base to make socks that call for more stitches around--I like to make more intricate patterns, but with my loose gauge, I have trouble getting the socks to fit me. This Perfect Day Beat Sock yarn is something I'd definitely get more of. And I like the semi-solid effect, too.

The pattern was a lot of fun, and it looks better than I thought it was going to, other than the gusset pick-up on one side having a funny line--I guess I had never picked up on purl stitches before, and should have done a slightly different method. At least they match, since I did both socks at the same time! And it was fun to just knit nothing but the socks for a week. I was a monogamous knitter.

Well, I was actually a little unfaithful yesterday, because I was in spired to start a new project, the Maelstrom shawl (it is available on Ravelry, but only there as far as I know). It's a new pattern--mine was just its second project, but there was a LOT of interest in it at my LYS. I had seen it in the new patterns listing on Friday, and when I came to the shop on Saturday, Pat already had printed a copy and was waving it at me. Then another patron came in all excited about it (however, she is making so many other complex things right now, I doubt she'll get to this one). It's an easy knit, but I love the way it looks--like a hurricane from above.

I am not sure why I am making so many easy shawls these days, but I am fine with it. At least this one has more complexity than the Silky Kerchief. The pattern goes on and on--the author is very precise, and includes both written-out and charted instructions, so it would be a good project for a less experienced lace knitter.

I chose my brand new yarn that just came in the mail on Saturday. I have 1400 yards of fingering weight wool from Knitivity--Ray dyed the two hanks at the same time, so they match really well. The colors are very muted browns, blues and reds (the red is very muted). He called it "Mountain Cabin." I like how it blends with the decor of my media room, so I am hoping to use the shawl as a lap afghan. I'm not sure how big it will come out. The sample for the pattern was knitted, I think, with a slightly thinner yarn and on a smaller gauge, but I could be wrong. I'll just have to see! At any rate, I am enjoying how easy the yarn is to knit with, and the pattern, which has enough to it to keep me interested, but doesn't require constant attention to the chart, either.

Of course, I started a new pair of socks as soon as the Minty Leaves were finished. I just have to. I am making the pattern that came out for the Loopy Ewe's first anniversary, last year, but from a different yarn, a self-striping bamboo blend from Twisted Yarns, called Organic Stripe. The colorway is called "Batty," but it really doesn't look like a bat. It has gold, green and purple, but muted variations. I think the pattern will show up really well in this color. So far, this yarn really feels nice, too.

I hope to get more knitting done the rest of the day, though I have some work to do (I am a contractor, so no paid holidays for us!). Nor for the lawn maintenance dudes. I see a neighbor getting their lawn cut. Gee, those guys deserve a break, too, but I know they need the money.