Why it's a good thing that I write this blog...

Last night, after I finished knitting the first 10 rounds of the All Day Fair Isle Class knitalong hat, I finally was able to play with some of the coned yarn I got from Yarnia in Portland, while there for the Sock Summit. As a refresher, Yarnia is a unique store where knitters choose individual strands from hundreds of cones of yarn that line the shelves, which are then wound together by an extremely cool machine, on a cone for knitting. I bought 3 lovely cones, which have been calling me since I got home. And last night, I heeded the call.

The colors don't show up quite as well as I'd like in this shot- the individual strands are yellow, green, green sparkle, ice blue, and robin's egg blue.

The scanner catches the colors better, and if you click on the picture, you even get a sense of the sparkle (which is a nice, sort of understated sparkle, not Disco Ball at all). The combined strands are heavier than I expected- they're knitting up more like sportweight than fingering. I'm using 56 sts and size 3 (3.25mm) needles, which I think will work out. The fabric is going to be a little thicker than usual, but not as heavy as worsted weight socks.

I'm not having trouble with splitting the strands, though I am also being pretty careful as I knit. I haven't decided yet if I'm going to work the body of the sock in plain stockinette, or if I'll do a simple texture. I suppose I should decide soon, since I'm on the last ribbing round.

Anyway, back to the header- as I began knitting with this yarn, I realized that I couldn't remember the fiber content of the strands. But I knew that I'd blogged about the yarn when I bought it, so back to the archives I went, and learned that blue and green non-sparkle strands are wool (superwash, I remember now), and the yellow strand is bamboo, which means that the socks will be machine washable. Wahoo! (for the yarn, and for my obsessive logging of all of my Sock Summit purchases.)

The second shipment of yarn from the Emphatically Not A Chain Letter Sock Yarn Exchange arrived yesterday, from Georgia. I've never knit with Kroy, and this looks like great fun! Thanks anonymous Georgia knitter!

I am so excited, the Day of the Dead Paper Dolls, and Day of the Dead Stickers, by my friend Kwei Lin Lum arrived from Dover Publications yesterday. Both books are beautifully drawn and produced. I've known Kwei Lin online through my paper doll groups, since the mid 90's, and I am extremely happy to add her books to my collection.