Newly Discovered Sock Yarn

I love colorful socks. Yup, the ones that don't match and have outrageously bright colors. While at a yarn store in St Paul yesterday, I came across the coolest sock yarn that definitely fits my yarn requirements for a colorful sock. I picked up two different skeins of Fleece Artist Somoko sock yarn. It's hand dyed and comes from Nova Scotia. It's 65% Merino, 20% kid, 10% nylon, 5% silk and is machine washable. I can't wait to make socks out of this cool yarn! One pair will be for me, the other for a birthday gift for my niece. Shhh! Don't tell.




Another yarn that I purchased was the Malibrigo sock yarn. It's a Superwash Merino from Uruguay that is kettle dyed. I've made a sweater out of a bulky Malibrigo, but have not used their sock yarn yet. This should make a fun pair of socks as well.

Knitting on the Beach Report

When I packed for Cozumel, I packed two sock projects, some yarn to do a couple of quick dish cloths and swiffer covers, yarn and pattern for an alligator scarf, and a partially completed warm wool scarf. I know, quite ambitious.

One of my goals was to teach myself to do two-at-a-time magic loop socks. I tried, got confused, and went back to my two circular needles. I think I need to see it done to grasp the whole concept, or maybe just be in a place where I can concentrate a bit more. Oh, well, someday it will happen.

What did I accomplish knitting on the beach? lol, not too much! I made one dish cloth, one sock (nope, not one pair, just one sock) and knit a bit more on the partially completed wool scarf. I had too much fun snorkeling, where we saw 30-40 different species of fish, attending a huge Carnival celebration that rivaled New Orleans Mardi Gras, and exploring the island.

Here are pics of my sort-of finished projects - the dish cloth is the pattern found here and the socks are the free Hedgerow sock pattern from Knitter's Review found here.

A Week of Scarves! Day 6 - Diamond Modular Scarf

Diamond Modular Scarf

It was fun to learn a new technique in making this scarf. It's done in short rows and knit continuously, not pieced together at the end. The yarn I used was Artyarns Supermerino, which is a lovely, stretchy kind of yarn that is hand-dyed.

The pattern is not free, but you can check the Artyarns website at
http://www.artyarns.com/newsite/patterns_main.htm to find out where you can purchase the pattern and yarn. There is a similar scarf on their site that is a freebie. They will email you the pattern if you join their Yahoo group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/multidirectional/

Note: This is not one of those mindless projects that you can do easily while multitasking!

Materials:
3 skeins Artyarns Supermerino
Size 7 needles
Guage: 4 1/2 stitches = 1 inch
Approximate size: 5" x 54"

Chit-Chat ~ addi Click Interchangeable Circular Knitting Needles

I just read about the new Addi Click interchangeable knitting needles that are now on the market. I love the individual addi Turbo circular needles that I own. The cords don’t twist like some other brands and the knitting “feel” is far superior because of the smooth nickel plated needles. I like to think I knit faster and better with these, but it might be all in my head. Either way, they have always been my favorite circular needle.

Now Addi (German made needles, U.S. distributor Skacel) has come out with a set of interchangeable circular needles. The addi Clicks come with a lifetime guarantee and include:
• 10 different sizes of addi Turbo™ tips (US 4 – US 15 - does not include US 5 and US 10.5) These are constructed of nickel-plated, hollow brass.
• 3 different lengths of new, extremely pliable blue cord (24”, 32” and 40”)
• one connector piece which you can use either to join your cable together so that it becomes a stitch holder or to combine cords for longer lengths.
• A heart-shaped needle sizer
• A luxurious padded case for your needles

Oooh, how I’d love to own a set! The price tag is around $150 retail for the set. The online Addi Needle Shop currently has a pre-order sale on these for $139.95. I’m still thinking about it…..maybe I could justify the purchase price if it was, say, a Valentine’s Day gift from my husband? He’s always looking for good ideas, so I might just drop a hint or two :-)