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| Vanilla Bean Striped Socks |
And my poor Rhombus socks are not getting much love from me these days.
Why do I avoid them? Let me count the reasons:
- the pattern is too fussy and involved for travel or distracted knitting
- the yarn is too dark for night-time knitting
- the yarn feels kinda thin and bumpy and not very satisfying to knit
- between vacations at work and compressed deadlines thanks to the PanAm Games I've been stupidly busy at work
- there are other socks I'd rather be knitting
Wouldn't you know it the June shipment for the Cookie A sock club has arrived. The club yarn appears to be the same base - kinda thin and bumpy and not very satisfying to knit - and it's almost the same colour. NOOOOOO!!
The June patterns are leaving me cold too - both are written for knitting on 2.5mm needles which seems mismatched for the light fingering weight yarn supplied. Did I mention that the yarn has no nylon? Yeah, not a great candidate for knitting at a loose gauge. Oh and did I also mention that the April club yarn also had no nylon? I'm sure not feeling any sock club love. So far this whole club thing is feeling like a bad idea to me.
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| Delias eucharis Socks |
So where does that leave me? I did finish another pair of Vanilla Bean striped socks with Striped Turtle Toes yarn from Turtle Purl in a colour way called "Rock Paper Scissors". This is more of the yarn that I bought at the Knitter's Frolic in July, and once again I got a deal because the skein set was slightly underweight. I knit to-up this time but still with the afterthought heel to keep the stripes perfect. Truth be told I could have squeezed out another couple of stripes at the top cuffs but I wanted to start and finish with red and I didn't want the natural white colour at the heel.
I LOVE these socks. I've knitted them for the Warm Hands Network so it's unfortunate how perfectly they fit me and how entirely comfy they are. Makes it harder to give them away.
I'm also make rapid progress through Delia eucharis socks by Hunter Hammersen. The pattern is very fancy looking but surprisingly easy and intuitive, although I don't entirely appreciate the fact that Hunter Hammersen needs to have her own special chart symbols. Seriously? Isn't the usual symbol for a knit stitch just an empty square? grumble, grumble, grumble!
The yarn is Alegria by Manos del Uruguay and it is heavenly! Plump, soft, squooshy, AWESOME. I haven't taken a recent photo but I've turned the heel on the second sock so these'll be off the needles sometime this week. These are a gift, and if they weren't intentionally too small for me it'd be a challenge to give these away too!
So what's the plan for the next Year of Projects?
- Cookie A sock club patterns - two every second month
- Knit. Sock. Love. - the remaining patterns carried over from YoP 4
- interspersed with whatever socks for charity and gifts that catch my fancy
8 comments:
I can see why your not feeling the sock club love at the moment and I hope it improves for you , also that things settle down from busy so you have some more time for knitting. I'm looking forward to seeing what more socks you knit up over this coming year. I'm in love with the cable look to your present sock and I really think the red yarn is helping. I'm going to see how how you get on with it before adding it to my favourites list.
Contrary to your thoughts... That is a pretty focused list... Just open for whatever strikes you too... Have fun!
I think you are truly Cookie A-ed out and I don't know that it's necessarily the club itself but rather a combination of the club and the KSL book you're working through and maybe you just need a Cookie A break. Perhaps find another designer to go after for a little while?
I just love those stripey socks!! And the second sock is gorgeous, the yarn looks heavenly, unlike the other yarn! Your new list looks perfect and I really look forward to seeing your next batch of socks.
I was only in the cookie a club for a year, I did not renew....and I'm always so impressed that you make and give away so many socks....they take me so long to make...I'm selfish and keep them all!!!
Your socks are a yay! Their colors are like that monkey. I like variety and so I can see why you are tired of the club.
I think that is why I never have joined a sock club. I don't think I could knit a pattern I didn't like with a yarn that wasn't making me happy.
Hope you find the right yarn/pattern in your next one. :-)
Your socks are so beautiful! I considered signing up for the Cookie A club, but it's just too expensive with international shipping (living in Denmark and all...) so I couldn't justify it. Some other time...
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