Yarn Love in Finland? Hooray!

I must make a confession to all my blog-fiber-friends. I have Google set up to comb the internet and send me an alert for all of our yarn names, and our shop name. That's right. That usually means that I get alerted when some blogs about our yarn. (Have I confessed this before?) It's not vanity, my friends. No, it really isn't. I just feel so much satisfaction when I see someone knitting with a palette I've created for them. I feel that even though they crafted the final piece with their ingenuity and skill, that in a way, I am also a part of their creative process. That the end result is a sort of collaboration.....

This morning (via Google alert, and hence the opening paragraph) I found that Niina in Finland has some of our yarn! Perhaps this is only cool to me, because I dyed the yarn, and in some small measure each skein is like my "yarn baby". But still, something I dyed will be knit in Finland! Go check it out.

Order Away!

Two bigs orders went out this month. The largest going to The Loopy Ewe. And another, quite sizeable order to WoolGirl. The WoolGirl order is about 80% all new colorways, per Jennifer's request. And of course, this is where you can get our brand new, exclusive sock base: Elizabeth Bennet. Elizabeth is 65% superfine merino, 15% silk and 25% bamboo. Don't miss out, it's to die for! (Going up tomorrow, Sept. 9th, according to the store blog!)

For all those Loopy Groupies, the current order going to Sheri is our Scarlett O'Hara base. This is very similiar to our new base, but it's machine washable. 60% Superwash merino, 30% Bamboo, 10% nylon. I love working with this base. It's very squishy, with just a hint of sheen....

Pink Whirlwind - Finished!

Here are my Pink Whirlwind socks, finished. These are knit from Valentine, one of our new semi-solid colorways. (If you would like to see more semi-solid colorways, please request them at your favorite Yarn Love retailer.) This is the Zephyr sock pattern which I thought was going to be much harder to knit, but was a total breeze!

Don't Do It.

Don't go over to Sheri's blog. You know, Sheri from The Loopy Ewe. And come to think of it stay far, far away from her site. It's better (or worse, depending upon how you look at it) than crack. Fortunately for me, she's mostly sold out of many fantastic hand dyed yarns. So I only bought some Panda Cotton. Lol! Only. I'm supposed to be saving money for the upcoming business events. It never fails, if I'm not "saving" money I'm good about not spending it. But when I'm "saving" money you can just watch it fly out of my wallet. Perhaps I should just stop saving. *giggle* Anyway, Sheri posted these super cute sheep stitch markers in Project Spectrum colors. That's right. Irresistible. Don't click the link in the side bar unless you're prepared for the consequences. *wink* Remember, I warned you.

Completion Issue Socks
They're finished now. They actually have been for two weeks - but I've been too busy wearing them to take pictures. So here are a few for you to enjoy. This is the last day of the month and it seems appropriate that I should be posting them now. These are for Socktopia, of course. They are the second go at this month's theme. The first pair - the Tiger Eye lace socks are just past the heel turn. They were a bit more involved than I anticipated.

These are knit from Emu Superwash - it's a DK weight yarn. They are my first pair of machine washable socks! Also my first knit from commercially spun yarn instead of my hand spun. I cast on way too many stitches at the toe. 16, I think. That would have been a good number for fingering weight yarn, but it makes these toes a bit wide. Plus, the socks are a tad bigger than I prefer all the way around, due to the fact that I didn't swatch. I just cast on at the toe and tried on as I went. Next time, I'll swatch so I get a better fitting sock.

The pattern is my own. A very simple combination of Sand Stitch and ribbing. They're nice and stretchy. Easy to knit but not terribly boring. They're also a bit shorter than I like, but I ran out of yarn, so there's not much to do there. They are totally wearable with slippers and great for around the house. I think they'll also be good for Christmas time next year as they show mostly red and green.

Tiger Eye Lace Socks

The pair that aren't finished today. They won't be either. I'm just past the heel turn. They are really pretty, though. And I am getting faster at this whole lace thing, too. This is pretty much my first outing with any sort of more complicated lace pattern. I've done some simple stitch patterns but nothing this involved. It's also my first time designing with lace. I noticed a couple nights ago that the difficulty rating on this pattern is "Experienced". Oh, well. I'm enjoying it!

I'm through the heel now and about 1" into the cuff. I added a little 9 st lace detail to the center back, and ribbing in between to keep them nice and snug. Should be pretty. I found a great website dedicated to sock toes and heels both for cuff down and toe up. It's fanastic - you can find it here. I did the No Pickup Gusset Heel, version 2. It worked out just fine! I do like it alot. The pics below show you the progress. These are knit from Tofutsies color 724.