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As Violet would say.

Where is the time going? September seems to be whooshing by at an alarming speed and though I've been doing plenty of knitting there doesn't seem to be a lot to show for it. The second Beryl sock is past the heel and gusset and working towards the toe.

I love this green, but it's difficult to photograph. Another few hours should see these done.

Part of the apparent lack of knitting progress is that there is secret un-bloggable knitting. Not a job, alas, but a gift for someone who reads here. The knit itself is not difficult, though it requires full attention. Interestingly, though, the project has become invested with a surprising amount of emotion and I am plotting a full post on this after it has been gifted.

I received a package from Simply Sock Yarn yesterday (surely I am not the only one taking advantage of the strong loonie in this way?). Amongst the contents were these two skeins of beauty.


Fleece Artist Merino, one of my very favorite yarns in Amethyst (r) and Cosmic Dawn (l). Yes, I've decided to jump on the bandwagon and knit me a Chevron Scarf while I'm on vacation. The example in the book never really spoke to me, but having seen some of the amazing examples on Ravelry has pushed me over the edge. The knitting itself should be unchallenging (ideal for holiday knitting in fact) but using this much colour...yikes. The Amethyst is pretty much what you see here, but there is a whole lot going on in the skein of Cosmic Dawn. I'm way outside of my comfort zone here, but that is part of what travel is about, I think. Doing things differently than one might at home.

And speaking of travel, I have a staggering list of things to do before I leave - I haven't even packed my knitting bag yet. Best get on that, non?

M & Ms and I-cord

My friend Pepsi (not his real name) estimated at the time of his thirtieth birthday that by that point in his life he had almost certainly eaten his weight in M & Ms. He further anticipated that he will repeat this feat over every following decade. Pepsi is a big guy so that's a lot of M & Ms (these facts may not be unrelated).

That little factoid crept into my mind since in the past few days I have knit more than my height (in fact more than Pepsi's height) in I-cord. It's one of those rare times in the knitting when it's okay to knit too much (it'll be cut anyway) so I have decided to err on the side of too much, rather than run short. I want the handles of the fabric of the cosmos bag to go comfortably over my shoulder and I-cord always looses a lot of length in felting.

The Beryl socks have finally hit a stride and are moving right along. The mid weight STR is working up at a significantly larger gauge than I had anticipated. Now that I've stopped fighting it I can see that the end socks are going to be lovely and cushy. The yarn has a nice hard twist so the stitch definition is fab.


See? Nice. This sock progress shot has been brought to you by my new camera. I'm still getting used to it, but I'm pretty pleased thus far. Macro goodness!

And with the new camera we finally have a FO shot of the mercury twist socks. It's vexingly difficult to photograph ones own feet in a pleasing manner.


See how the cable takes a funny little jog over the heel? I should have fixed that. Overall though I'm very happy with them. The pattern is Cable Rib socks from Favorite Socks and the yarn is Patons Kroy (4ply) in Mercury.

The evenings are getting cooler here and it's only two weeks till I head to the Alps. Woolly socks are definitely back in the wardrobe rotation. This makes me happier than it probably should.

September already?

Knitting progress has been good this week: The body of the Fabric of the Cosmos bag is done. It is comically large and floppy as all pre-felting pieces are.


No, I haven't finished the book. I'm still working on it though. I would say so far the reading and knitting experiment has been a qualified success. Next time I'll maybe go for slightly lighter reading matter. The knitting is a bit substandard as well. Some of the sloppiness is due to the loose pre-felting gauge. The tension just isn't consistent. In this case it will all even out in the felting. The colour is a little truer in the first photo.


Before felting however I must knit a whole lot of I-cord for the handles. I was all set to whine about the length of the I-cord, but I am humbled in the face of Ann's edging. Ann's steadfastness in the face of miles of garter stitch remains an inspiration to us all, I know. Still, it's lots of I-cord.


The black yarn and overcast skies conspired to make for difficult photography....sorry.

The three day weekend let me get a start on the STR socks. Several times in fact. I can report that if nothing else, the yarn holds up well to frogging. Not enough to show yet, but I think I'm on the right track.