Sparkly Socks, and Stashbusting

I am on a stashbusting mission- there is yarn in every room of my house, except for the bathroom (and some days, there's yarn in there too). I need to use up some of the yarn I already have, before I buy more.

To that end, I have been knitting with leftovers (the Hitchcock Sweater), and stuff that I bought but forgot, including these wonderful yarns that I picked up last summer in Portland, at Yarnia.

Yarnia is a unique store- it's crammed top to bottom with fine yarns on cones in all colors, sizes and fiber contents. You choose the colors and blends you like, and the folks there will wind them together for you on a cone. The combinations are endless, and the colors are intoxicating, and the yarn is cheap (I don't think either of the above cones cost more than $10, and both have/had enough yarn to knit a pair of socks).

This yarn consists of 5 strands of very fine yarn- ice blue, darker blue, green, yellow, and metallic green sparkle (I'm a sucker for The Sparkly). The combined strands look like they're slightly heavier than heavy fingering weight, but they knit up like worsted weight. I used my general worsted weight sock formula (size 5 needles, 48 sts), and a simple texture (K 3 rnds, next rnd: K3, P1 around) to make the sparkle pop.

This yarn feels slightly thinner than the green above. It's 3 strands: cream wool, peach wool, green metallic sparkle (as I said, sucker for the sparkles). But it blooms nicely, and I'm knitting it with the same pattern as the green sparkle socks.

One caveat about this yarn- it's the definition of *splitty*. It's very easy to lose a strand, especially the metallic one. And no matter how carefully you unwind, one of the strands will eventually end up either being too short or too long. It's not a major problem (either cut the other strands and tie them on again, or cut the long one and do the same), but it does happen at regular intervals (say, every 3" in the knitted fabric).

And- I didn't write down the fiber content of these yarn combos, which  means that while they might be totally superwash, I can't vouch for it, so the socks will have to be hand washed.

Here's another stashbuster- a doll sweater using only leftover sock yarn bits and pieces (and despite the way it looks in the pic- the bottom front edges do line up properly. The buttonholes stretch the ribbing out). (Note to Self: next time, make fewer buttonholes). You wouldn't think so, but one of these sweaters (knit on size 3 needles) takes more yarn, and more time than a sock. But it's oh so cute, and more than worth the time and effort.

See- they do line up...  (once again, note the sparkle)

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.