I actually finished up with these socks for Katie a few days ago. They are my very first pair of 2 @ a time, toe-up, short row heel socks. I have to say I am a complete convert now. There may be some unusual times where due to pattern dictates, I may still work in more traditional ways. But I bet a majority will be done this way. The reasons are many, the trials are few. First of all, the socks come out perfectly matched, every time. You don't get second sock syndrome, you won't run out of yarn prematurally and they are easy to tote around with you without fear of losing a DPN. The only trials are that it can feel like you are trying to wrastle an octopus those first few rows of the toes and sometimes the stitches between the heels and bodies stretch when doing them at the same time. But compared to the problems of doing them any other way, these problems pale in comparison. I did send them off to her this week but no word back on if she likes them and if they fit.
The rest of my knitting time has been taken up with new dyeing experiments. I have a sweater project planned to start as soon as I finish up a few quick UFO's. This pattern calls for 8 different colors and I wanted them all to be from my natural dyes. So I did 4 cochineal, 1 very pale pink, the main color-a deeper pink, a true red and a maroon. To get the deep maroon I overdyed with black walnut. What a pretty color in real life. The camera just does not do it justice. Then I did a brown with the same walnut and a lighter brown came from a 2nd go round with the dyestock. Then to get cream I just threw 100g into an almost totally exhausted dyepot. It just changed the color enough to say it is no longer white. I still needed 1 more color and I was planning to do green. Early in the season I got a nice green using my black hollyhock blossoms. So I had been collecting for awhile and holding the blooms in the frig til I got enough to dye 80g or so. Imagine my suprise when this time, under what I thought were identical circumstances, I got a lovely purple gray color out of black hollyhocks. But it really looks good with my other colors so maybe Mother Nature intended for me to get this color so my sweater would look great!! But honestly I think the difference may be the temps that the blossoms grew in. The green came from early season blooms when we were still only hitting the 80's most days. The purple came from much later season blooms when the temps had been in the upper 90's and 100's for days. So in a few weeks, when I am done with my aran cardigan and have a pair of socks started for a friend-I get to start said new sweater. I can not wait!! Even tho I am knitting a long sleeved sweater in fingering weight which means it will not be a fast project. And except for the stripes on the front it will be a boring knit, all stockinette. But those colors will make up for the tedium and I expect I will love wearing this sweater for many years to come. As usual the pic below will not show the colors as well as I would like but it kind of gives you the idea.
I also have been running some small dyeing experiments and have actually started a real notebook. More on that soon as I am doing the notebook in a way that I think I can post each page right on here except for the actual yarn sample. Will have to think that one thru just a bit more.
So next post you should be able to see Audry. Except I promised her I would take her to Nashville and take her picture somewhere glorious in the hotel gardens. So you will get to see her once again amongst the beauty of the flowers and fauna that grace the Opryland Hotel when I get back in a few weeks.
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