some fun fabrics and an interesting start

No parent visit is complete without a trip down to Pacific Grove/Monterey. We went to the aquarium this time, which has been a long while! It was a really fun day of fins and bubbles, but at the end we squeezed in a trip around the Point to Back Porch Fabrics and Monarch Knitting. Uncharacteristically I did not get anything at the yarn store, but we did find fun things at the fabric store. I was charmed by the cats and bunnies so very much, both Ruby Star Society I think. I was also really pleased to find that echinacea print from Anna Maria Parry. That line has been out for a while and I did not snag the navy/orange/pink when I first saw it, nor did they have it this time, but I do enjoy this colorway quite a lot. And now looking at these stacked, the coordination with the cat print is quite excellent. Perhaps a drawstring bag? The bee print is a lightweight canvas that will probably end up being a sturdy zippy bag. 

Another uncharacteristic thing in my yarny world is that I started a pair of socks. Right? It's been YEARS. I have never truly understood the draw, though I have knit a couple pairs for myself (which turned out too big and I never wore them, they have been donated) and a handful of gifts. I don't mind DPNs but the yarn twists and tangles were not relaxing and unlike many I have not considered socks as "mindless" knitting. That all may be about to change... I have been a) watching an almost unhealthy amount of YouTube including two lovely ladies who knit A LOT of socks and b) trying to knit from my stash and getting stuck on this ball of yarn that has been peeking out at me saying "me next". 

Well, first off look at the super cute kitten stitch markers. Learning about placing markers every 10 rows to help the second sock match without as much counting kind of changed the game for me, as has knitting on small circular needles instead of DPNs. I finished this first sock in two days. TWO DAYS. I can now see how some people might consider doing 52 pairs of socks in a year if you're enthusiastic about knitting only socks at clip of a pair a week. 

I tried really hard to consider other things I could have made with this yarn. But, it's self patterning. That can be a lot of fun things (including some great teddy bears I've made in the past) but I really felt like this was my chance to try socks again. The yarn is an acrylic/rayon/polyester blend so maybe I won't mind it on my feet as much as wool? Not that wool was really the problem with the first pairs, those were just kinda baggy after wearing. I went down to fewer stitches here. It will be interesting to see if I can keep the heel flap and gusset instructions held in my mind for the next sock (a test to see if it can be truly relaxed), and how I feel about knitting the second sock after the excitement of the first has worn off. TBD. So far, so good.