Saturday, January 26, 2008

Olympia Socks

Please note! Below the knitting content there is a picture of the January Rockin' Sock Club shipment, if you don't want to be spoiled scroll slowly and stop after the sock recap!

Last night after posting I went out to a craft night with a new group. I had a blast, met a lot of neat new people, and got some good progress done on my Olympia socks. When I got home I was pretty tired but it is beyond my ability to leave socks when they're in the toe decreases so I had to stay up and finish them - not too late though.



Pattern: my own in-my-head stockinette sock
Yarn: Panda Cotton in Bleeberries - Grapes ~ no idea what a bleeberry is ;)
Needles: size 1 (2.25mm)
Started: 12/31/07
Finished: 1/25/08

I got this yarn on a trip to Canvas Works in Olympia, WA over the holidays. I was in dire need of a darning needle to finish my Central Air socks and made my friend drive me to the yarn store. He was surprisingly nice about it but did want to get out of there quickly. While I was there I saw the Panda Cotton which I haven't seen locally (ok, I saw it once and didn't like the colors) so I picked up a couple of balls.

This yarn is pretty splitty - the cast on ends had unravelled into little threads by the time I finished the socks and went to weave them in, and I did have a few sections of the yarn do the same while I was knitting. I really liked the yarn despite this, it's very soft and the finished socks are lovely. As I was putting them on this morning I was struck by how much less stretchy they are than wool socks. It's to be expected from a cotton and bamboo yarn, and the elastic does help. Personally I prefer wool, but this yarn would be GREAT for a vegan or wool-sensitive person. And I'm sure I'll be changing my mind in the summer when these socks will be on my feet while the wool ones hang out in the back of the drawer.

WARNING! Spoilers beyond this point!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I arrived home tonight to find the first package from the '08 Rockin' Sock Club! I must say that I agree with Tina's sentiments on red - it is one of my least favorite colors for some unknown reason. My mom likes it too but thankfully I did not grow up in an all red house. However, I like this yarn.



I've also made the decision to try to keep up with the club this year. (I know, what a novel idea!) I think I probably had that idea way back in '06 which was quickly derailed by my hatred of the very first sock club yarn - Rainforest Jasper - when I saw it in the skein. However, once I finally got around to finishing those socks (in August '06 at the Gorge right before seeing Tool!) I loved them. They are probably my favorite Rockin' Sock Club socks that I've knit to date.

The problem being that I decided I would continue knitting the socks in order. After my pitiful performance on the Cedar Creek socks, I proceeded almost immediately to Rock and Weave and completed them in a reasonable amount of time. Then came my 14,000 pattern modifications on Hippy Crunchy which I believe took me all the way into 2007. I finally finished Central Air in December after starting them in May. I'm way behind, about to start Marble Arches from the '06 club. But hey, only two more pairs and I'm done with '06!

See the pretty yarn all wound up:



In any case, maybe I'll try to finish a pair of RSC socks a month this year - that way I can catch up on some of the older patterns while still staying current.

Listening to: Passenger ~ Deftones, In Motion Part II ~ The Gathering, Lomo ~ Klimt 1918

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5 Comments:

Blogger Michelle said...

Love that STR color! Maybe I should have joined this year after all...

4:36 PM  
Blogger Batty said...

Those socks are fabulous, as is the STR shipment. I'll have to live the dream vicariously through other people's blogs this year while I faithfully knit from my stash. But I can hardly wait to see what kind of sock it's going to turn into!

6:51 PM  
Blogger ~RaenWa~ said...

Great socks I like the color I will have to rememeber thatyarn scop if I ever make it to Olympia I also find myself liking colors in yarn that I wouldn't like if they were in anythng else

9:00 PM  
Blogger Nichole D. said...

Awesome socks! I'm always so motivated when I see other people's pretty socks- maybe this year I'll finish a wearable pair!

I love the STR, it reminds me of one of those little red and white peppermint disc candies.

6:24 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Your socks are awesome, as always :) Just a note to let you know that if you haven't already, you will be getting a package in the mail from your favorite fairy (at least for right now) just any day now :)

9:19 AM  

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Sock Yarn

    A quest to use sock yarns:

    Yarns I've had:
    * means I really liked it

    4-ply Soft
    A Piece of Vermont*
    Alpafina
    Artsygal*
    Artyarns Supermerino*
    Austermann Step
    BMFA Sock Candy*
    Black Bunny Fibers*
    Brown Sheep Naturespun Sport
    Chinese Mystery sock yarn
    Claudia's Handpaints
    Conjoined Creations Flat Feet
    Crystal Palace Maizy
    CTH Supersock
    Dicentra Designs
    Dorchester Farms
    Fabel
    Fearless Fibers
    Fixation*
    Gloss (KP)
    handspun
    Inspinknity*
    Interlacements Beibi Seda
    Interlacements Tiny Toes
    Interlacements Toasty Toes
    Jarbo Raggi
    JKnits*
    Jojoland Melody
    Koigu*
    Kona Superwash
    KP Essential
    KP Merino
    KP Palette
    Limbo
    Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock*
    Macek Designs
    Madelinetosh
    Magic Stripes
    Mega Boots Stretch
    Microspun
    Nature's Palette
    Noro Kureyon Sock
    Opal
    Panda Cotton
    Paton's Kroy*
    Peru DK
    Peruvian Quechua
    Regia Bamboo*
    Regia Cotton
    Regia Strato*
    Ruby Sapphire
    Sockotta
    Socks That Rock*
    Star (Classic Elite)
    Stitch Jones
    Sunshine Yarns*
    Three Fates Cauldron Sock*
    TOFUtsies
    Trekking*
    Wick
    Wildfoote*
    Wollmeise*
    Wool Ease
    Yarn Pirate*

    In Progress:

    Perchance to Knit
    Regia
    Vesper
    Yarns in the stash:

    All Things Heather
    Ancient Threads
    Apple Laine
    Araucania Ranco
    Artyarns Ultramerino
    Autumn House Farm
    Baby Ull
    Ball and Skein
    Baywood Yarns
    Bearfoot (Mountain Colors)
    Briar Rose Fibers
    Brooklyn Handspun
    Cavyshops Handpaint
    C*eye*ber Fiber
    Cervinia Calzetteria
    CTH Superglitz
    Chasing Rainbows Dyeworks
    Chewy Spaghetti
    Classic Elite Alpaca Sox
    Colinette Cadenza
    Colinette Jitterbug
    Country Classic Yarn for Sox
    Crash Into Ewe
    Crown Mountain Farms Sock Hop
    Curious Yarns
    Done Roving
    Dream in Color
    Duet (A Swell Yarn Shop)
    Dye Dreams
    Ellen's Half Pint Farm
    End of the World Farm
    Fashion Trend Sportivo
    The Fiber Denn
    Fleece Artist
    The Flock Bransonas
    Fortissima
    French Hill Farm
    Froehlich Blauband
    Fyberspates
    geeyouknit!
    Gjestal Silja
    Great Adirondack Soxie
    Greenwood Fiberworks
    Jaeger Matchmaker
    Jarbo Mini Raggi
    Jawoll
    Jawoll Cotton
    Just Our Yarn
    Knit Purl Natural Collection
    Kona Superwash
    KP Dancing
    KP Essential Tweed
    Lime & Violet
    Lisa Souza
    Louet Gems Pearl
    Luxe
    Mama Llama
    Merlin the Cat
    Meilenweit Cotton
    Meilenweit Trend
    Mind's Eye Merino/Tencel
    Mirasol Hacho
    Misty Mountain Farm
    The Natural Dye Studio
    Neighborhood Fiber Company
    Over the Rainbow Twinkletoes
    Peterle
    Pigeon Roof Studios
    Pine Woods
    Posh Yarn Lucia
    Prism Saki
    Pucker Brush Farm
    Regia Surf
    Reynolds Swizzle
    Reynolds Soft Sea Wool
    Rio De La Plata
    Royale Hare
    Roz Houseknecht
    Schaefer Anne
    Scout's Swag
    Sheep Shop Wensleydale
    Shelridge Farm
    ShibuiKnits
    Sockenwolle Unipo
    Spirit Trail Fiberworks
    Spunky Eclectic
    Steinbach Wolle Sockenwolle
    Sundara Yarn
    Sweetgeorgia
    Tess Designer Yarns
    Twisted
    The Unique Sheep
    Universal Ditto
    Valley Yarns Franklin
    vanCalcar Acres
    White Oak Studio tvyarn
    Wisdom Yarns Marathon
    Wool in the Woods
    The Woolen Rabbit
    Yarn Botanika Radiance
    Yarntini
    Ysolda Yarn
    Zen Yarn Garden


    To check out:

    Pippikneesocks
    Sophie's Toes
    The Spinning Bunny Yarns BFL

WIPs and FOs