Saturday, March 1, 2008

What Do Ribbing and UFOs Have in Common?

Nothing! But while I'm knitting a grand total of 33 inches of k2p2 for my fair isle vest, my mind wanders in and out of knitting consciousness. Last night, I remembered the baudelaire socks I started knitting in January. I need to finish them. They would be my very first pair of socks for myself. I made my husband a pair last summer for his birthday. Previously, I've also knit about 3 single baby socks and 3/4 of an adult sock. Discovering toe-up knitting was critical for me. In my opinion, it makes a difference to start at the bottom and see the sock being formed more quickly. Once the heel is turned, the final length of the cuff is up to the knitter. With toe-up, you can also try the sock on as you go for a better fit. Something about knitting a bottomless tube when starting top down, just drives me batty. Another reason I need these socks is because I love socks! Male dress socks to be exact. I'm in my husband's sock drawer way too much. I like the intricate color work, the comfort of the cuff, the warmth, the material of male dress socks. Women knee-high socks just aren't as nice. Why is that? Anyway, this summer, I'm going to be a sock fiend so I'll have my own stash in the Fall, made with love. Yipee! Want to see my progress on the sock?

The yarn, oh, it is delicious. These socks are cashmere baby! Oh yeah! I combined Habu cashmere nep A-96 with a skein of finger weight cashmere from School Products. The Habu is beige color with flecks of orange and pink, which glow against the turquoise cashmere. Both were purchased in New York on a trip. I've been to the city twice in the last 8 months and each time, I've come back with cashmere because you can't beat the cost! The Habu cashmere, 107 yards, I scored for a little under $10.00 and at School Products, I bought 380 yards of the finger weight for I think about $15. The Habu showroom is a very cool visit, but totally dizzying. Baskets on the floor and a small closet to select from the inventory. Definitely check out the website first and go with a shopping list or you will get lost in the shuffle like I did. School Products is right around the corner. I love that store! Yarn on cones too! In addition to the cashmere, I bought camel hair yarn and over 1,000 yards of Italian wool very inexpensively. Hot damn! I'd love to go again toward the end of the summer, if I successfully stash myself out over the next few months. Wouldn't that be a great reward? Actually, I also want to check out the Webs tent sale one year.

How did I digress? Anyway I like the baudelaire pattern, the stitch repeat you can almost remember after two rounds or so. I think I'll leave the project in the car and work on it when waiting for my son after school or while "passengering."

Progress on my KAL, yes! I'm finished with the ribbing for the front. Instead of heading right into the fair isle, I'm going to do the ribbing for the back so I can work on all of the fair isle together. Also, I'm concerned that I might not have enough of the Jaeger extra fine merino in garlic. Boo hoo! I'm so scared because it is discontinued! Yikes! But I did make contact with someone on ravelry and with an online store, both of which have the dye lot I need! Hooray!

4 comments:

Sheila said...

Hi K_Purls2,

Thanks for stopping by, I haven’t worked on my pullover all week, needed a break and bumped-out some crochet hats, now that I’ve gotten that instant gratification, hopefully I'll resume working on it tomorrow.

Your Green Gable came out fabulously and perfect color choice. The Habu Cashmere sock is comeling lovely and like the flecks of color mingling with the turquoise.

Anonymous said...

That is one gorgeous sock...can't wait to see it done.

Kris said...

The sock looks awesome and what a score on cashmere!

You know..not having enough yarn is one of my worst fears, but it sounds like you've got it all worked out.

BrownBerry said...

In just this one post I can see that we have SO MANY knitty things in common. I'm just now working on my first pair of toe up socks and the photo of yours is simply inspirational!

I'll be back!