You know how sometimes you just become obsessed with a certain yarn/project/person and you can't get enough? If you are obsessed with a certain yarn, you can't put the first project down. You ignore family and get less sleep so that you can continue knitting. Once you've almost completed your project, you imagine what you will knit next. And then after you knit another project with that yarn, you think up more and more things to knit to rationalize your binge on every color that dyer produces. I have a feeling MANY of you know what I mean... and if so, tell me below what yarn has really really moved you, b/c I need to get over my obsession and move on already!
My obsession with Seacaost's Merino/Tencel began when Jen sent the sock club shipment to me last month- Lagoon is the special edition colorway that we worked on together for the Specially Solid Sock Club (sorry, it's all sold out but read the blog or the newsletter to find out when the next club will start- likely in a few months). I love this color so much, that I actually took a finished sock to Sherwin Williams to have them color match it for our family room walls. I kid you not. The results? Disastrous. The light reflected off the tencel in the fabric and wouldn't allow for an exact match, but I now have SEVEN 2'x2' painted squares that show my inability to get the perfect color. Again, I kid you not.
James is modeling the Lagoon sock at the bottom of this post, and as you can see, it was darned hard to get him to sit still for two seconds to get a decent picture. Does this mean that I get to deduct all James' costs b/c he modeled for my business? All those diapers alone would make for a SWEET deduction. Yeah, Douglas, I'm asking YOU. I'm hoping for an unrealistic e-mail that reads "Yes, Mr. James D. is now a huge deduction, so start sending me the receipts!"
I used the Uptown Boot Sock pattern in IK's Favorite Socks Book. The pattern is lovely, but it doesn't allow for any stretch or elasticity, so I WILL NOT be knitting it again. In fact, I may be tearing out these lovely socks b/c there is not enough stretch in the gusset to make them comfortable for the friend I knit them for (and she has tiny, delicate feet). It's a shame, and it did cause me a little anger, b/c it's the first pair of socks I've ever knit that really aren't wearable and have to be completely reworked.
Because I can't get enough of Jen's yarn, I'm offering a very special colorway (shown at left) that will be dyed only until Valentine's Day, and it's named Black Hills Gold. Take a look at this ringand you'll see why I gave it this name (I have no affiliation with the website, I just like the picture). When I was proposing color ideas to Jen for the sock yarn club, my original idea was for a pink-tinged bronze. I love the way the tencel reflects light, and I wanted to take advantage of that characteristic by having a traditional metallic-colored yarn dyed. The samples Jen dyed up weren't solid enough to qualify for the Specially Solid sock yarn club, but I really, really loved one of them, so I'm offering it to every one of you, not just the club participants. I'm halfway through my sock in this color, and created my own cable pattern to show off the lovely colors. I'll post the stitch pattern (not a whole sock pattern though) next week (hopefully!), as it's an easy design and really shows off the color nicely. And there's been no offensive pooling of color, so it's working well with cables.
Oh, and if that isn't enough to prove my obsession, I've asked Jen to dye a couple solid colors, Silver and Straw into Gold (neither coordinate with Black Hills Goldthough), should you want to knit some solid socks in the Merino/Tencel!