destined

So, if one wakes up with a swatch under their haid like this, is one destined to knit martha? I think so…. especially since gauge was spot on.

That’s one way to decide what yarn and pattern to use, heh!

belie

This handspun two-ply alpaca that Tracey sent me. Truly special special stuff. She suggested I might like to overdye it. Overdye it? ARE YOU CRAZY?

I love the crazy halo this stuff has, it’s truly amazing! Nominally a sportweight, it fluffs up into a solidish fabric on 6mms, even in fishnet lace.

Or does it?

I love how it’s got a dual personality here – solid and cozy when rested against the body, and its gossamer nature revealed only when you hold it up against the light.

Simple. Perfect.

juxtaposition

More than a year ago, I knit from my first purchased skeins of Koigu. The first sock was completed in five days, and was blogged here. That was July of LAST YEAR.

And no forward motion from there.

Finally, I realized two things. One, I never ever wanted to knit the second of the pair. And two, I didn’t want to frog the first sock. I didn’t want to reknit an whole entire perfectly fine well fitting sock just because I didn’t want the second sock’s process.

STANDSTILL.

What to do?

The solution was a bit unorthodox, I admit, but it worked, I think.

On the left is a cable rib sock. On the right is a river valley sock.

The only things the two socks have in common, other than that, of course, they fit, is that they have picot hems, are worked on 66 stitches, and have the same toe. Everything else is different.

And together you have a pair that fits, and a pair that shows the beauty of Koigu in two different interpretations. And maybe, in the end, more importantly: a pair that shows a year of growth.

And at the end, it turned out, that was what I wanted.

depth

Because it’s not enough that I design a colorway that layers three different reds onto each other.

Because it’s not enough that matching stitch markers being made, and a book discussion to match it to is being planned.

Because it’s not enough that I have a scarf pattern in test knitting. (both chart and written!)

There’s to be a kit offered soon. I’m excited. I hope you are, too.

choices

I love my job, my work. My career. What I do. I love that it has grown so much, so far, so much more than I could have ever imagined.

Yarn, from the time I wake up, to the time I go to sleep.

My creativity bursts forth at a feverish pace, obsessed with yarnovers and decreases, twisted stitches, cables. Patterns. The dyepots steam three days a week, a riot of colors and combinations and wet wool.

The routine is constant, yet every day is different. No two dyepot days use the same colors, no two knit sessions cover the same terrain, the same needs. Every day is the same, with not enough hours in the day to accomplish what I’d like to, and not enough me to do it all.

Every day is, at the end, about limits. Having them. Choosing them. Working with them.

I am never bored.

At the end of the day, it’s still all me. But a little bit better. A little bit more worthy.