Simple Can Be Good

I got me some new yarn in the mail. As if I have time to knit anything else while working on that big ole blanket! But I saw this stuff and really wanted to make something out of it--it is Sprout by Classic Elite and it's 100% organic cotton. It's very light and has a fun texture. Plus it comes in these beautiful colors, which just happen to go very well in my home decor scheme. I got this from Kaleidoscope Yarns, which was the first place I ever bought yarn online, many years ago. I got free shipping and a free pattern for a baby blanket, which is what I intend to make, only I'll use it as a small throw. 

The pattern is pretty much "knit in garter stitch and change colors every other row until you are out of yarn," with the addition of leaving a fringe on the edges. Very simple. Some would say mind-numbingly so.

But, I don't say that. I am going through a phase where simple knitting feels good. I like building those easy mitered squares in the color-changing yarn. And I have a feeling I will like knitting a nice rectangle with this lovely textured yarn, too. And why not? Just because you CAN knit complex things doesn't mean you always have to. Knitting is not a race, as I tell students, nor is it a competition. My wish for all knitters is that they make projects that bring them joy and pleasure.

I was making so many complex things in the last few years that it was beginning to feel like a job, and I felt pressure (mostly internal, I assure you--no past knitting associates need get upset) to do better and better--to knit fancier projects in fancier yarn. I was being pretty hard on myself when I failed--like when I tried ten times to get that lace shawl to transition to the next level, or when my Shetland shawl self-destructed and I fell apart. Why do that to myself? I like knitting. I like using knitting to zone out and meditate. So, why not make some projects in garter stitch? It can be fun, and the results can be beautiful--I think this color combination will make for beautiful stripes. 

And I am making a sock when I need to do something portable. It is toe up, and with NO patterning on the foot. Just knitting. But look at this yarn! Whoa! It's Creatively Dyed Calypso, with 15 different colors that don't repeat regularly. Stockinette is what looks best with a yarn like this.

I'll probably do a simple rib for the legs. And I will enjoy it, especially since I also, on a whim, got two new types of size 0 needles to see if I like them. One's Kinki Ambari circular bamboo needles. They have a very flexible, clear cable and the bamboo is very, very nice. Haven't started using it yet (thus you see the old Hiya Hiyas in the photo--my Knitpicks size 0s broke when I um, accidentally whacked them in the hospital). The other ones are little teeny Addi Lace turbos. I hadn't tried the little ones yet. I will use those on my other socks in progress, shown here with broken needle and started many months ago:

It's Cookie A's Devon, in Fleece Artist Somoko. I started these last July, then went into knitting hiatus, so there has not been much progress. My bad. Can't do anything with them at all with THOSE needles, anyway! If I get a hankering to do something with yarn overs, I can switch to these, though.

(Ignore the Foo Fighters CD and mosquito repellent in the photo. I didn't style much. We can't find where all the mosquitoes are coming from in our house, but I am SICK of them, I tell you.)

I did want to share one more simple knitting idea for any of you who also want to see what you can do creatively with garter or stockinette stitch. One of the members of an email list I am on but am a bad ole lurker for send the link to this blog post from Annekata. It shows experiments the blogger has done knitting with sewing thread. Doesn't it look ethereal and different? And all it takes is simple stitches--it's the material that is interesting!

OK, I blogged again. I am so proud. Now I think I shall knit.

Socking It to Me

Perhaps I am getting back into the knitting a bit. I moved along on the plain pair of socks I am making and started a patterned pair--getting braver again!

I must have measured poorly on my previous socks, as I tried to write down when to start the gusset on a toe-up pair to make the sock fit just right. I ended up making the gusset at least a half to 3/4 of an inch too soon. Gee, can't I even get a basic sock right? The good news is that I now have memorized the number 6, as in six inches to starting the gusset. OK. Six. Got it. More good news is that I just made the gusset longer and the heel a bit deeper as a consequence, and by gosh, the sock fits just fine.

My incredibly white leg wearing the foot portion of a sock in Trekking XXL

I am really, really liking this colorway. It really looks like smoldering embers to me, so it fits with the Flaming Desire theme of the socks I showed last entry. I'm now working my way up the leg in a 3x1 rib, which I like because it looks more stockinette like but does hug the leg more than a plain stockinette leg does. Thus, it will sag less when I wear it, and I do plan to wear these nice, utilitarian sockies.

I guess the next pair I am working on also fits in with the theme of heat. I am using some really lovely yarn. It is Fleece Artist Somoko, which is a blend of wool, mohair and silk, in a colorway called "Sun."

Beginning of Devon sock pattern in Fleece Artist Somoko.

This sock is top-down, and comes from Cookie A's Sock Innovation book, a pattern called Devon, which has yarn-overs on every row. This will be my third pair of socks from this book. I am enjoying going through the book very much. Cookie A says that this pattern works in both solid and variegated yarns, which is why I picked this yarn. Also, it's just plain cheerful. I had almost chosen a more subtle green peppercorn skein, when the happiness of this hank called out to me. While I did once make a sock with some yellow in it, this will definitely be my first orange-yellow one. I am wearing more colors like this lately, so I think in the fall this one will actually get some use. I'll find something good for that other yarn.

I am finding it fun to limit myself to the yarn I have on hand. I have so much sock yarn that it's not exactly horrible to have to choose from what is already there. I'm trying to slowly use up all my workhorse yarns (the Opals and Trekkings and such) and intersperse them with the exotics and hand-dyed ones. This Somoko is definitely exotic. It feels very different from the Trekking in nice sturdy wool and nylon. Having a plain and a fancy sock to work on is perfect--I get lots done on the easy one while riding in the car with my son as he improves his driving, waiting for seats in restaurants, etc., and the complex one keeps my mind of the violent scenes in the Angel television series that Lee and I are now watching every single episode of, thanks to our friend Kira selling it to us.

Perhaps NEXT weekend will be the "get that shawl going again" weekend! Thanks to all who commented on the last post in person, on Facebook or by email. It's nice to hear from you.