oooh pretty.

I finally got around to photographing some lovely, lovely yarn I bought over the holidays at home. Right here, if you’re curious. My hometown isn’t a very upscale place, more the acrylic crocheted blanket kind of place, so I was mighty surprised to find some pretty super sock yarn on offer.

blown out color, but PINK!

This is some very sproingy and smooshy Cherry Tree Hill supersock solid called, in what I can only imagine was a fit of understatement, pink. It’s more like super-duper-grapefruit-gummy pink. So saturated.

Hello. I am pink. Don’t you want to eat me I look so gorgeous?

In a spontaneous act of yarn and pattern attraction, the supersock really, really wants to become a pair of Go with the Flow socks [ravelry link] by Evelyn A. Clark from Favorite Socks. We’re just waiting on Deutsche Post, baby.

Of course I should be a pair of socks. See how good I look on the floor?

It’s Project Spectrum perfection.

I also bought some of the supersock in cherry, a name which almost completely fails to conjure up the fire engine, the tomatoey-cherry goodness, or the Japanese lacquer cabinet contained in Cherry Tree Hill’s alchemical dye pot. That fiery nugget remained at home, burning a hole in my closet floor.

did I mention that I’m knitting socks?

Yeah. I thought I had.

After finishing up Jaywalker sock #1, I moved on to something a little easier. Namely:

Just your basic toe-up, stockinette sock. In a nice chunky yarn. No real pattern; I started with Judy’s magic cast-on, increased until it looked right, did a short-row heel, knit until I was almost out of yarn, and finished off with a rolled stockinette cuff.

After that nice little break, I finally faced up to the fact that I was not liking the Marigold pattern with self-striping yarn. Frogging ensued. And then I started a pair of Charades.

Much better. The pattern is super easy to memorize and knits up super fast. All in all, good evening knitting. I have some issues with my selvage (??) edge, but I’m trying to ignore the slightly messy few stitches, comforting myself with the knowledge that my mother will neither notice nor care.

The pattern is so understated yet groovy, that I’m considering another pair in charcoal for my dad. We’ll see. Since my copy of Knitting Vintage Socks is in storage, I’m feeling the lack of interesting sock patterns for men.

And, finally, since the days are starting to get noticeably longer and the temperatures are not nearly as frigid (okay, cold-ish) as earlier, I naturally started a wool sweater. Not just any wool sweater, though, but another version of the ubiquitous Drops 103-1.

This time around I’m using the recommended eskimo yarn (color: army).  So far, no problems.  Even my spit splice turned out okay.  I feel a bit sheepish about knitting another cardigan with the same pattern — I should be more adventurous, try new things, spread my wings and soar — but I really like the Drops 103-1 and I really want a wool version, instead of my current craptastic acrylic blend.  Which is not holding up at all well.  I’m hoping to get a lot done this weekend.  Because I’m starting to think about knitting a kicky little top to wear to my sister’s graduation in the desert.

still damp from blocking, but that’s an FO, right?

pattern: Citrus Yoke Pullover by Katie Himmelberg (IK winter 2007)

size: 41.5

yarn: ggh Aspen in Marine (MC) and Petrol (CC), 15 balls MC + 3 CC

needles: US10/6.00mm KnitPicks Options circs

mods: shorter neck, under-arm gussets for larger (i.e. wider) arms, CC on cuffs

started: December, 2007

finished: February 2, 200

ETA: new picture.  Seriously, I looked pregnant in the other one.  I’m not.  This sweater just loves the belly.