"busted"

Look what came in the mail! A Patterworks catalog! And a squishy white bag full of ... yarn? I don't know, since Agent Gray told me to wait to open my Socks That Rock packet so she could open it with me. So I waited, although you can see that even while taking the picture I want to tear it apart and see what's inside. The Patternworks catalog came with the gift certificate that my brother sent me for Christmas: we missed each other over the holidays and so were not able to exchange gifts in person. I'm not sure what to use the GC for, so I'm going to sit on it for a bit and see what ideas I come up with.

Another thing that apparently came spilling out of my handbag was the new sock project! Look at the lurvely red Koigu that I am using for the Embossed Leaves Socks (from the most recent Interweave Knits). So pretty! The yarn was a gift from Agent Gray a few years ago for my birthday, or for babysitting her sock yarn while she was away on the Appalachian Trail, or both. Anyway, I'm glad I waited for the right pattern to come along: the texture of the leaves will go nicely with the very subtle variegation of this yarn. And it is SOOPER soft -n- squishy.

Speaking of sock yarns, it was suggested that I make public my feelings on the KnitPicks Essential yarn I used for my Blackly Waving Lace socks, recently finished. Since I made these socks to wear at work, I have been wearing them a lot more than I usually would any single pair of socks, and I can say for sure that I do NOT like this yarn. My feet are sweaty-clammy most of the time and it feels like spun plastic against my skin. The knitting of the yarn was not bad: it wasn't any more or less splitty than other sock yarns, though I had to switch to bamboo needles because the stitches were sticking to the Inox sock needles. But ICK ICK ICK I would never ever buy this yarn again, even though it is very inexpensive and has an acceptable range of colors. Knitting socks takes time, because though the project is small it requires about a gazillion TINY stitches per sock, so why would I spend any amount of time on something that will spend the rest of its life on someone's tender little foot? Maybe I would buy this yarn if I were being forced to make socks for someone I didn't like, but then again, why would that ever happen? Heaven forbid this nation slides into such decrepitude that handknitters are held at gunpoint and coerced into making items against their will.

Speaking of decrepitude, my friend raynorgrace referred to a decrepit old man as "busted" recently, and I have since found myself noticing and pointing out the "bustedness" of other poor folks. "Busted" is a fun word, and I encourage you to use it, unless raynor specifies otherwise. "Fiduciary" is NOT as fun, but also can be used in a pinch, I guess.



So I took the mail packet to Agent Gray's Place of Business and she busted free the sock yarn!!! OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH! I am 6,000 times more pleased with this purchase than I thought I would be, and I was already expecting a lot.

The variegated yarn on the left (colorway Fire on the Mountain) is NOT in fact the colors of the Uber-Skein (like it looked on the Blue Moon website, alas) but it's also not the neon-Easter-in-Vegas mishmash that I'd feared. Kind, gentle readers may already know that I am very much against the pooly-pooly flashy-flashy of handpainted sockyarns, but that fact did not make me hesitate in buying this yarn. Not in the slightest. I have a (not so) secret plan for this yarn: Grumperina's insanely popular Jaywalker pattern from MagKnits. [Agent Gray sez: "No! Everyone's making Jaywalker, make something different." I will not let that deter me from fulfiling my destiny, even though she's always right.] The runner-up pattern is Knitty's Crusoe from way way long ago. The subdued green (colorway Falcon's Eye) on the right is simply heavenly; it will probably be the first to be knit up, and I am auditioning patterns for possible use. Knitty's Pomatomus is a strong contender, and also a few from Nancy Bush's most recent sock book.

All of this new yarn fun does not make me feel guilty because I have done what I thought was almost impossible: I finally applied for some jobby-jobs, AND I finished the gigantic blue watchcap.



I do not expect the orange-headed boy to model anything, even the hat that he BEGGED me for, so I model it myself, for YOU my adoring, adorable readers. The Inca Alpaca (Classic Elite?) knits nicely, quickly, softly, lusciously. I'd say this project went TOO quickly, as I didn't have nearly enough time to enjoy it. I'll just have to play with the little ball left over. Anyway, I guess this means I get the grey cashmere beanie back. As much as I love my bright red Lamb's Pride devil hat, I love that cashmere oh-so-much more. He gave me the beanie at first because it didn't fit his enormous noggin, but when winter came he took it back because a too-small hat is still warmer than no hat. I think that might be the best way to bribe me into gift-knitting, the offer of a luxury-fiber good in return. What knitter would say no?