Socks, Spices & Prom

Good morning!

I have a couple pairs of completed socks to share with you this morning.

This was a skein of Three Irish Girls that I had purchased in Madison over Easter weekend. (56st stockinette socks on size US2 needles)

And again, while I am not in love with how it striped, I am thrilled with how the colors flashed at the gusset. I think it looks like a flame.

My other finished pair is in my own hand dyed. I'm very pleased with them! (60 st stockinette socks on US1 needles)

Again, I am so fascinated by how the dye pattern affects the striping/pooling in the sock.

I've switched to a different sock base for my shop, but still love how this fingering base lays so flat and smooth even before blocking.

Many of you know my husband is the cook at our house.

He has quite the selection of herbs and spices. Penzey's is his favorite place to shop in the whole world.

This was one drawer next to the range that was jammed with jars of yummy stuff, but very disorganized and he was having trouble finding things quickly while cooking.

I found these cool jars on clearance at Crate & Barrel online.

And so began the transformation.

I bought 5 dozen jars and there are only 12 or 14 left. His collection now encompasses TWO drawers and over 50 jars. I ordered oval labels too. I'll update you on this in a few weeks after everything has been labelled.He is a very happy husband! Squee!

Our daughter calls him The Golden Child.

It's hard to believe our baby boy is this big. He graduates from high school in June, and will leave us as empty nesters in September. I got a quick pick before he ran off to Senior Prom last Saturday.

Thanks for stopping by for a visit and a catch-up this morning!

Linking up with Nicole's KCCO and Ginny's Yarn Along.

Have a great week!

Melissa

Hospitals, Socks & a Shop Update!

HOSPITALS:

My apologies for going missing for a few weeks.

My Mom had her right hip replaced on March 29th. The surgery itself went very well. Her TCU plan did not. I spent 3 days with her at her home after she was released from the hospital, and have either visited or taken her to PT every other day since.

Did I mention she lives 45 miles away?

Its been a rough few weeks. We'll both be fine, but it will be a long haul. She has three weeks of PT left before she heads back to work.

Fingers crossed!

SOCKS:

I found an absolutely LOVELY yarn shop right around the corner from the hospital, Linden Yarn & Textiles.
  

The staff is very friendly and welcoming. I was allowed to walk around, touch anything I wanted, without anyone trying to hold my hand. 



Even though I dye most of my own yarn, I still purchase a ton of it from other sources. I dissect every skein. (These pictures aren't fantastic. I took them on my Mom's hospital bed.)
 

I'm absoluteley fascinated with how a hand painted skein like this comes out in a project!

The color doesn't create any pattern, and one end of the skein was darker than the other.

The weather turned cold, wet, and chilly here yesterday. I wore these last night & even slept in them! Cozy toes!

This second pair is on my own hand dyed. This is a skein that I chose not to sell because it had a white spot in it where no dye etched.

I'm almost finished with the second sock and I still can't find the "bald spot".

To many knitters, stitch markers often make the project 'that much more fun'. My very good friend, Dee, made these for me. I'm a HUGE Wizard Of Oz fan. She made me an entire set of WOO themed stitch markers for Christmas. What you see here are Dorothy and the Hot Air Balloon. She's the Best!

My third pair of socks is in a skein of Three Irish Girls in the Malibu colorway that I purchased at The Wisconsin Craft Market in Madison, WI.

I LOVE how the colors flashed here at the gusset. The rest of the sock...Meh. I like how it stripes a bit, but I don't like the 'blue dot' in the middle.

My standard sock is 60 sts on size US1 needles but I wanted these to be a little lighter for Spring/Summer. What I came up with is a 56st sock on US2 needle and they're perfect! Very light & airy. I'm very pleased.

SHOP UPDATE:

I haven't dyed in quite a while and the itch was getting pretty bad.

Diving in to this Indie Dyer scene is a little scary. I spent the winter experimenting with possible bases and found a domestic distributor that I'm very happy with. Their wool sources are very reputable with a focus on small farms and a co-op type community.

There are three new bases in the shop (that I haven't 'named' just yet). Etsy link button is top/right.

Two tweeds in Mountain Stream and Sidewalk Chalk.

Three hand painted/variegated in 75/25. Colorways are Lava Flow, Pretty Bird, and Coral Reef.

Three One of a Kind skeins that I have NO IDEA how to duplicate. Also 75/25 skeins in Thistle Grey, Indigo Velvet, and Punked Parrot. These were experiments with metalized dyes, acid levels, set times, AND SPECKLES!

The last four are 75/20 with 5% Stellina in Morning Wildflowers, Cool Waters, Atomic Tulips, and Fairy Sunset.

If any of these are out of stock and you are interested please feel free to let me know. With the exception of the three OOAK skeins, all of these colorways are repeatable.

OR, if you would prefer the colorway in a self-striping...we can talk. It's definitely do-able I just don't have any skeins warped for self-striping at this time.

Sheesh this was a long post! Thanks for toughing it out with me. It feels good to be back!

Linking up with Ginny's Yarn Along and Nicole's KCCO today!

Thanks so much for stopping by,

Melissa