Socks

I think I'm still in fancy cabled sweater destruction denial, so I've been working on socks instead. I like to have a project I can drag around with me wherever I go, even if I don't get to work on it.

Lately I've been working with some really yummy Claudia's Handpaint and the Monkey pattern. I really like it and they've been working up very quickly, aside from some gauge mistakes:



This was the first attempt, on #2 needles. It has taken me a while to realize that there's a huge gap between #1 and #2 needles -- half a millimeter really makes a difference here. So I was happy to find some #1.5 Crystal Palace dpns (sadly, one end was badly splintered, but I've been working to emery and wax it into submission) and now the Monkey socks are a little more the way they are supposed to be, after ripping the first attempt out entirely. I've also turned twisted ribbing into ordinary ribbing, and the plain heel into an eye-of-partridge one.



My camera seems to have difficulty with purple: these are in the colorway Purple Earth, which is shades of royal purple, lavender, green, and golden brown. Lovely, but even in natural light the photos don't seem to come out right.

On the other end of the spectrum from the relatively simple and speedy Monkey has been something entirely different. Can you guess? You can probably see them by now.

You bet! Eunny Jang's gorgeous Bayerische socks, in Lang Jawoll and #0 needles. Am I crazy? It's likely, but I will suffer to finish these, because they are gorgeous. I can't wait to wear them and show them off.



I feel as if I am building a teeny tiny cathedral when I am knitting on these. So many tiny stitches, and every single one must be just so. My wrists might ache a little, but I am so happy to work on these.

And I'm even using the yarn the model was knit in, a strange thing for me:



I'm only including this photo because it was kind of a surprise for me to stick my finger into the middle of the ball and come away with the spool of reinforcing thread. How clever.

In other news, I think I'm far enough along on Serrano to separate for the armholes and back, but I'm going to measure it at least twice more and count the rows, because I don't want another too-short sweater!

Comments

reluctantMANGO said…
Yum and YUM! The Claudia sock yarn has been calling to me too, but I've been able to resist so far ;) Both pairs of socks look great! The Eunny socks are just breathtaking, so intricate and precise - hope they bring you as much joy in the wearing as they do in the making!
2:23 PM
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