For the Love of Texture

I am in love. Truly in love with the texture and pattern of these socks.

It's not the quickest knitting pattern, but I don't care - the texture of the slipped stitches which are then twisted two rows later is beautiful. The mini twisted stitch cables down the sides - brilliant. The fabric it creates for the main part of the leg is just beautiful. Purl stitches set off the mini cables and add just enough to the more woven look of the main part of the leg. Love Love Love. The pattern calls for 6 repeats for the leg. Too short for me. I wanted more of this beautiful pattern! After four additional repeats I have finally started the heel. I wanted plenty of pattern and texture to look at on the leg.

The heel flap is also not your typical slip stitch or eye of partridge heel. The stitches are slipped on the purl side, and the twisted stitch cables continue down the heel as well. Love Love Love.

After missing out yesterday on the book I really wanted at the Interweave hurt book sale (by the time I could get through on line, it was gone - seems like they had the exact same server issues as they did last year!), I was glad my books from the huge KnitPicks sale arrived.

All packed full of beautiful inspiration. Just in time for more colorwork! I'm not so sure about the Vogue Color book. There is a lot of Intarsia, (which I don't really like) and not as much stranded patterns as I would have hoped. The other two - Selbuvotter and More Sensational Knitted Socks both look like they are chock full of goodies. I'm not a huge mitten maker, but the patterns in the Selbuvotter book will work very well for socks, hats and just about anything else. I'm looking forward to really diving into these this weekend.

Random Act of Kindness

You really never know what may happen in the world of Ebay and the internet. For quite a while now, I have been lusting (to put it mildly) after a copy of Anna Zilboorg's Simple Socks. My library network used to have it, but it went missing. I was lucky enough to take it out before it got "lost", but was really bummed when I saw that it was no longer available. The prices around the net for this book are well over $60. I just wasn't ready to spend that. The same book, but in hardcover and an earlier publishing date is Fancy Feet (kind of like the Charlene Schurch mitten book - Knitting Marvelous Mittens and Mostly Mittens - same book, just different publishing dates). Once again I scoured the net looking for a half decent price. Several of these (as well as the Simply Socks) have come up on Ebay recently. I've gotten out bid each time. Surprisingly last week, someone emailed me that they had a copy that they would sell me outright (no bidding - yay!) for a steal of a price - at least $30 below any price I had seen. How could I say no? The seller was wonderful, very communicative and even offered to pay for insurance as she says - "the book is irreplaceable". It arrived yesterday.

Pretty much brand new condition. Minor (and I mean very minor) wear at the spine. Other than that, it's perfect! I took it outside and sat down to flip through the truly amazing book. It has 45 patterns/charts for socks. Many of the socks have multiple charts and you can use bits and pieces of them to make your own design. It also has a whole section devoted to sole patterns. I'm surprised the pages didn't wear out from me flipping through them all night! I'm not sure why this person emailed me, I wasn't even the second or third closest bidder on some of these auctions, but I am forever grateful for her kindness!

Since the patterns and pictures are the best part, here's a little preview.

My favorite, I think, is the "Dogs" pattern. It took a minute for me to see it, but I am totally smitten. This will get knit into something!

Speaking of dogs, we did quite a bit of training last night in our front yard. We are lucky to have a nice, big, flat front yard, so I hauled out the agility equipment and set up some training courses.

The neighbors thought I was training dogs for the circus! I had a good laugh at that one. A few of the kids came by to watch, and the boys did very well. Weather wise it was a perfect night, and everyone slept very well.

Design work continues on MSS (my sister's socks) - after receiving the new book, I now have to re-think several things!