We had such a short time together, but I know that you will be well received in your new home.

FO: Twisted Flower Socks for my Sockapalooza pal

Yarn: Fleece Artist Sea Wool in Moss

Needles: Crystal Palace US 1 1/2

I am so thoroughly infatuated with these socks. I’ve loved the pattern since I first laid eyes on it. My first attempt was mucked up, but once I took the highlighters to the pattern to distinguish the k2tog’s from the ssk’s and the left twists from the right twists, it went much smoother. These are by far the most complex and prettiest socks I think I’ve ever had come off my needles, and once I marked up the pattern, they really didn’t take that long. Maybe 2 weeks to finish the pair start to finish.

And tomorrow, they go to the post office where they’re adventure will take them to adorn someone else’s feet. I’ve adored the time I’ve had with them, but I know she’ll give them a grand new home.

Ok, I was intending to post something last night, but my apartment complex got zapped in the thunderstorm that blew through around 8pm. So, I’m posting now instead.

I spent the weekend on a crazy coaster trip in New Jersey and New York. I can now finally call myself a true enthusiast as I have finally ridden the mecca of coasters, the Coney Island Cyclone. I loved Coney Island, had fun at Great Adventure, and had a great trip out to some of the shore parks as well. We got lost in the middle of nowhere in NJ at 4 in the morning, got no sleep all weekend and had an absolute blast hanging out with a great group of my coaster friends. Plus, for all the traveling I do, it was my first time to NYC and all I really got to see was Coney Island, so I’ll definitely make my way back to the area in the future.

Monday night I got my sockapalooza socks from my sock pal! She’s Susan at vanknittyfair.blogspot.com and she made me an awesome pair of Monkey socks in Lorna’s Icehouse. They fit perfectly and I love love love them. She also included some awesome extras… some stitch markers and a lantern moon sock-sized bag Thank you, Susan! I loved reading my sock story and I’m glad to find a new friend through socks!

Getting my socks has been great motivation to keep knitting and get mine done. I got the cuff of the second sock done on the trip this weekend. The flight delays and non-night drives gave me some good knitting time. The heel flap got a little bit of work on Monday night and I turned the heel and made it 6 rows into the gussett last night. In the dark. By flashlight and candlelight. Seriously. Here’s photographic proof.

So, sockpal, I am still frantically knitting on your socks and they will be in the mail this weekend if it kills me. Fortunately, the foot of this pattern goes fairly fast and I’m motivated to be done ASAP. I think they’re totally worth the wait, and I hope you think so too!

I wouldn’t be  all that concerned over the fact that I’m not done yet (or that these are completely different socks than the ones I was planning to make). I’d be concerned over the separation anxiety that I’m having over the concept of putting these gorgeous socks (seriously, the best work I’ve ever done in sock form) in an envelope and just dropping it in the mail. What sort of cruel punishment is that?

There will be another pair or two of twisted flower socks in my future. Quite possibly another pair in the Fleece Artist Sea Wool even.  But seriously, who just drops these in the mail?

It’s a random day today, I’ve got too much going on and pulling me in a zillion directions.

Knitting has been scarce around these parts the last few weeks. I’ve been cleaning like crazy (successfully for once) and just have some quick bathroom scrubbing to wrap up tonight. Mike gets here tomorrow night, I’m working Wednesday and we’re on the road as of either Thursday night or Friday morning.  Almost two full weeks of much needed vacation in the works though. We’ll be roaming on the road for a week of that getting to Holiday World, Camden Park, Dollywood, Busch Gardens Europe, Six Flags Great Adventure and Clementon. Had to go with mostly big parks this year since the small parks aren’t open during the week yet.

It’s not all cleaning though. I’ve also been sacrificing some knitting time to discussing and organizing knitting stuff over on Ravelry. I totally lucked out and got on the invite list early enough to get in early last week. I love this site! It’s totally addictive in it’s current form and all the features they’re looking into adding will make it the be all and end all resource for project planning, community networking and just about everything else you can think of that relates to knitting.

On top of that, I’m loving the Pligg Alison set up for Sockapalloza after we broke blogger. I’ve more or less just put a lot of focus on reading about knitting and not as much into actually knitting.

Although, I did finish a pair of socks last week. 

These are the J-Knits lightweight sock on size 1s that I started when the Harlot was here. There was a ton of yarn left, enough that I could probably get a pair of footies out of them, and will definitely go toe-up with calf shaping when I get around to knitting the other colorway I have.

I’m making some progress on the second Aran Sandal Sock, and once those are done, the needles will be free for my Sockapalooza socks. Based on the comments on the last post, no one can decide on a varrigate, but the lavender color got rave reviews all around. Of the cabled patterns I had in mind, I think I’m going to give the Austrian Socks a shot. I haven’t seen any show up in blogs so they’ll be more unique than some of the other socks out there. Plus the construction intrigues me. (If you haven’t looked that closely at the pattern, they’re constructed top-down by making an i-cord, grafting it into a circle then picking up the stitches along the length of the i-cord.) If that is too much, I reserve the right to try a different pattern later if these don’t work out. But I have to give them a chance, they’re too pretty not to.

In the meantime, I need to get back to the scrubbing and packing, I’ll probably post some from the road where internet is available.

The options are never ending.. I was given free reign on my Sockapalooza recipients socks, and I’m at a loss for what I want to make. She said she’d love anything from a textured solid to wild colors in stockinette and everything in between. Well, I think I can probably produce anything in that range without too many issues, so what’s an indecisive knitter to do?

That’s where you all come in… reel me in some, help me narrow down the choices.

For Your Consideration:
I’m almost certain if I choose a solid yarn it’ll be the lavender colored Louet Gems I just bought this last week.

The patterns I’m considering for the solid are many however.

I’m leaning towards the more cable-y patterns for a solid. Bayerische, The Austrian Socks from Favorite Socks, or Twisted Flower from Cookie are the higher contenders here I think. Although there are a lot of solid-worthy patterns out there that have caught my eye, and I could be steered in a number of different directions with this one. Easy yarn choice, difficult pattern decisions.
Where as, if I go with a varigated yarn, I’d be more inclined to make Monkeys or Jaywalkers or even go with a basic stockinette, but the yarn choices are endless.

Yarnmonster Summer Swim

Another KimiK Merino this one in blues and greens.

Sunshine Yarns Tiger colorway

Cherry Tree Hill Rose Garden

STR Scottish Highlands

Koigu in a wilder Orangey redish color with various colors mixed in

The opposite problem here… easy pattern choice, difficult yarn decision.

So, leave a comment, steer me in a direction…. complex pattern in a solid or fun and crazy colors in something more familiar?  It’ll be a little while before a set of needles is free to start the actual knitting, but I do intend to start something soon. However, I kind of want to put this out there and see where popular opinion directs me in the meantime.