Knitting in pink

The August pattern for the Sockamania KAL was quite fun. Just a combination of knits and purls spiraling across the foot and around the leg. The pattern was written top down but I went for it toe-up. The yarn I used was yarn that had been given to me under the form of a knitted sock and the rest still unknit. The sock didn't fit so I ripped it out and I waited until I found the right pattern for it. The yarn is Colinette Jitterbug in Copperbeech.

I enjoyed working with the yarn. It hadn't suffered one bit from having been previously knit and frogged. I also enjoyed the pattern so the first sock was finished in 3 days. Due to the demise of the Regia socks I was knitting for DH (they were too small), I was able to cast on right away for the second sock. After knitting the toe I hit a snag... There was a knot in the yarn. I just went on with the new yarn. It wasn't until I'd knitted a few inches that I realized that the yarn was striping quite differently then in the first sock. The way the color was painted and the colors themselves weren't quite exactly like the other. (You can see it fairly well if you click on the first picture above to enlarge it.) I guess they (Colinette), just tied two different dye lots into one... I know it's happened to other people, I remember one in particular that was quite disastrous. Anyways, what I'm trying to say is: I really enjoyed the yarn and I would use it again, but I'd really be aware that there might be more than one dye lot in one hank.

Stats
Sock #1 was knit between August 5 and August 8, 2007, sock #2 between August 10 and August 15
Yarn: Colinette Jitterbug Copperbeech
Pattern: Spiraling socks by Anni Design (August pattern for the Sockamania KAL)
Mods: Knit toe up on Magic loop with short row heel

Now on the needles: The second one of these. I just might have 2 pairs of socks finished by the end of the month!

Contest

Back in March I participated in a contest over at SweetPea's blog. The winners could win some yarn from Rohrspatz & Wollmeise. I had been drooling over their sock yarn for quite a while so I participated of course. I ended up being a winner and won one set of mini skeins from Wollmeise. That's a sampler of all the colors that they produce. That is over 40 different colors.

I received them yesterday. And let's just say that I was quite impressed. Look at all those colors! Aren't they just beautiful all together like that? I had fun taking pictures this morning and created this mosaic.



I also put them in a set for your enjoyment. You can also see different pictures on SweetPea's blog in her March archives.

I don't know yet what I'll be doing with it but I'm thinking something along the lines of a log cabin squares blanket or something like that.

Spinning

I spun up the Dragon Fibers I received last week and plied it this morning. I waited until this morning because I was waiting to receive this:



My father-in-law made this for me. The lazy kate I received with my wheel didn't work very well and I thought that this kind of kate would work better. My FIL likes to do woodscrafting so I asked him to make one for me. And he finished it last night! Actually, he didn't consider it finished but I convinced him to let me take it so I could try it out... I don't think it's going back to his house!

He also helped make a bigger niddy noddy:



2 x 1/2 inch plastic t-connectors, 4 feet of slightly smaller diameter dowels and some masking tape...
I haven't tried it yet but I'm pretty sure it should work just fine. This niddy noddy should make 72" skeins.

So you want to see the spinning right?



I still have a little bit on one bobbin and about 20 grams left to spin, then we'll know how much I got out of that 4oz of BFL roving. I'm really quite please with my first experience spinning up painted roving and I'm glad I've got much more in the stash!

After knitting 2 repeats of the Sockamania May pattern I had to stop and think. Did I like it or did I not?

This is what the sock looked like. I wasn't sure if the yarn/pattern really worked together and I almost liked better how the stockinette portion of the sole looked. Also, the knitted up sock didn't quite look like the others I'd seen knitted up here. So I just decided to rip back to the toe and start over, in plain stockinette.



I think I like it better. The pink and the neon green spiral around the sock and that looks kinda cool!. The yarn I am using is Perchance to Knit in color Flash. It will be available as yarn4socks' June Artist of the Month starting June 1.

So after frogging the Sockamania May Day pattern I needed to find another yarn that I would think worked better. And this is what I came up with:



The yarn is Scout's Swag in color Run Like Hell. I think that the semi-solid color will work better with the pattern. Even if I can't figure out why my sock didn't look like the others.

ETA: The comment function is now working again. If you wanted to post one you now can!

The theme for today, as you might have guessed, is "Socks". Lots of socks. Socks for the Sock a Month KAL 3, socks for Sockamania, socks for Socktopia and socks for Sockapalooza. That's a lot of socks!

First are the pair I just finished this morning. They are my Twisted DK socks in Wing.

When I see them I keep thinking of a Monet painting, but when I searched for that painting I just couldn't find the one I was thinking of. Maybe you know which one it is?

The first sock I knit was the one with the least amount of pink. I could have started the second sock in the same place to have matching socks, but I was going for a mismatched look so just continued the yarn where I left off. Now I wish both socks were like the second one I made, with the most pink. But I still like them, they're fun and they were super fast!

Stats
Fastest pair ever! Cast on sock one April 28, Bind off sock 2 May 6. Just over a week.
Yarn: Twisted DK in color Wing
Pattern: My own: Toe-up Magic Loop Short-row heel.

This pair will count towards my Socktopia and Sock a Month KAL 3.

Next up is the next pair I need to cast on, for my Sockamania KAL. The pattern is really pretty and looks like it's going to be fun. Now I just need to chose which color yarn to use.



I've never knit with a dark yarn like the one on the left and don't know if it is going to work out well with the pattern. I'm sure the one on the right would work though. Any suggestions?

Next up is Sockapalooza 4. My pal likes green and knee highs and I really wanted to do something she'll like. I found this pretty yarn by Dream in Color in the lovely color Happy Forest. The yarn looks like a sport/DK weight yarn and will be perfect for the Elegant Ribbed Stockings from "Favorite Socks" pattern.



The yarn is a semi solid and not a solid like in the book, so I hope it will still work with the cables of the pattern.

I won't be casting on quite yet. Gotta get a headstart on my Sockamania socks...