I'm in Love

I am pretty much in love with what I'm working on right now.

Isn't that a great feeling?  Both the Denver Cowl and the Cosy Stripes blanket are just so lovely I can hardly stand it.

The Miss Babs Yowza Whatta Skein that I'm using for my cowl is soft and bouncy (which makes that damn K3Tog, YO, K3Tog into the same three stitches maneuver infinitely more doable), and the colors just make my heart sing.

It's full of browns, blacks, greys, creams, and the occasional flash of peach or ice blue.  I couldn't be happier.

I'm using Stylecraft DK (a 100% acrylic yarn that totally does not suck) for my Cosy Stripes.  I'm actually using the color-pack that the designer put together, and in the order that she did hers in.  I'm essentially crocheting it from a kit.  And I LOVE it.  The colors are perfect, and the yarn is really (surprisingly) soft and pleasant to work with.  The pack is available here, in case you wondered.   I did the math and the exchange rate worked out that the yarn was $2.60 per 100g ball, shipping included.  That is such a reasonable price.   It's pretty much as far from shopping local as I could get, but I'm still delighted with it.

So those are my two main projects -- both started on January 1.

I've also been plugging away at my socks.   I finished up one of my Beer and the Voice socks (just what it says on the tin -- I cast them on so I'd have something vanilla to work on when I need stupid knitting).  Anyway, Sock #1 is done, and in an effort to stave off the dreaded SSS, I immediately cast on its buddy.  I decided to go for fraternal rather than identical.  Mostly because I couldn't be arsed to pull out nearly 2/3 of the color repeat to find the place to start, and partly because I like to shake up my not-quite-but-almost obsessive need for things to be matchy-matchy.

The second sock starts with the blue.

I'm also almost ready to start the ribbing on the first of my Double Gusset Toe-Up socks.  I'm trying new things, and continuing my quest for what Jasmin of the Knitmore Girls once called a "positive toe-up sock experience."

It looks a little weird, but I couldn't get the sock to lay right on two circs.

Slight segue -- I used to hate toe-up socks because my short row toes and heels looked like ass and the heels were invariably too shallow to fit well.    Long time friends of the show will remember that I was experimenting with this as far back as 2011.  I've recently knit the Mystik Spiral socks by Josh Ryks which use a version of the OMG heel.  That actually fits quite nicely, and so far so do the Double Gusset socks.  My horizons are gettin' broadened over here, y'all.

Of course, as happy as I am with current projects I'm already planning for what's next.  I plan to cast on either Brickless or Trillian soon, and I'm about to go wind yarn for a Color Affection shawl.  I'll be using Cascade Heritage sock yarn.    Koren and Jess both also have fingering weight yarns in Yellow, Red, and Brown so we're planning a wee "along."  Koren very wisely pointed that red bleeds like nobody's business, so a bit of swatching is in order.  I never swatch for shawls because I'm a rebel that way, but I will for this one -- I don't want to finish the entire thing and end up with Red all over my Yellow.

And last but surely not least, one of these beauties is destined to become a pair of Rivendell socks.   The green one on the left is Knit Picks Hawthorne in "Laurelhurst".  The blueish grey to the right is Rain's Obsessive Stichery.  It's the Fred sock base, in the "Lake on the Mountain" colorway.   I picked it up at Fiber in the Boro last year.

Oh, and one last thing -- did you notice the project bags in a couple of my pictures?  They are Erin Lane bags that I picked up at SAFF.   I love them to pieces, and they've rather inspired me to get back into my sewing room and to do some project bag sewing of my own.