Catching up

Clearly I am still trying to find my blogging mojo. It's amazing how easily one falls into the habit of not updating the blog. Yes, I'm full of brilliant insights.

OK, I promised some finished objects in my last post, didn't I? Here's the first of two (although in actuality, it was finished second):

Yarn: Colinette Jitterbug, "Copperbeech"
Needles: 2.00 mm DPNs

More plain stockinette socks! Sorry, I know they're boring, but they're such a great take-along project. Besides, the Professor likes to wear ankle socks in the summer (if he wears socks at all), and he doesn't have nearly enough of the handknit variety.

I figured ankle socks were the way to go with the dismal Jitterbug yardage. Of course, I didn't know about the yardage issue before I bought this skein of yarn, and I didn't check the label. Normally I have plenty of yarn left over after knitting a pair of socks, so I don't often double-check the yardage. I expect a 100 gram or 4 oz. skein of sock yarn to have enough yardage to complete a pair of average size socks. Apparently the Colinette people don't understand this concept. However, I can't be too upset because it's my own fault for not looking at the numbers. Lesson learned.

The yarn is nice to knit, though. As countless others have noted, it's strikingly similar in feel to Socks That Rock lightweight. Given that STR is less expensive and has more yardage, however, I see little reason to go back to Jitterbug, at least for socks. (I can't believe I just noted that STR has more yardage than another sock yarn. How surreal.)

And now for something I'm completely happy with:

Fiber: All Spun Up 100% merino
3 ply (Navajo/chain ply)
620 yards
124 grams

And for all of you who like to see the "before" photo of the fiber:

(Obviously it isn't a true "before" shot since it also includes the finished yarn. I just had the foresight to buy two bumps of the same fiber.)

This spinning was pure fun. The fiber was dyed in nonrepeating blocks of color. Kristin doesn't dye these "color block" fibers very often, so I thought carefully about how to handle this one. In the end, I decided Navajo plying was the way to go. It was the best way to preserve the color sequence that Kristin had so carefully dyed.

Now, what does this yarn want to become? Socks? A scarf? Will I even be the one to knit it? Only time will tell.