the Akamai Knitter

I started another pair of socks a month ago and they are a perfect project to take with me when I’m out and about.

The pattern is the Retro-Rib by Evelyn A. Clark from the book Favorite Socks. The yarn is Trekking Pro Natura in color #1603 that I purchased from my LYS Isle Knits.

It’s a simple pattern that’s lovely to knit as it’s easily memorized. I did make one slight modification. The pattern has you twisting a few stitches every other row and I decided to twist those stitches every row. It’s easier for me to keep track of and it gives the stitch more definition.

I adore the Pro Natura yarn. It’s 75% wool and 25% bamboo, which doesn’t make it as slippery as the Regia Bamboo yarn. The Regia line has 45% bamboo as well as 15% polyamide, which makes it much slicker.

The Pro Natura has a nice sheen to it and great stitch definition. It also has just the right color variation to it, so the yarn doesn’t compete with the pattern. I have another ball of this in my stash and I plan to use a more complex stitch pattern with it.

It might be too soon to say, as I don’t even have the first sock done, but I foresee many pairs of socks in this yarn as it’s become one of my favorites!

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I received a really cool package this week. It’s origin was most unsual.

It just so happened that when I ordered some yarn I failed to notice that it would arrive from Inner Mongolia. I think I was so overcome by the prices and the shipping rates (only $4.95!), my eyes just glazed over all other information on the site.

I think that getting a package from China was just as thrilling as getting the yarn itself. After all, China is the country of my ancestors! Even the stamps are nifty.

As thrilled I was with the box itself, what lay inside overloaded my senses. The first offering I have for you is the Cashmere/Silk in color #923. The color in the photo is fairly accurate and I’m so in love with it.

It seems to be more of a cobweb weight then a traditional laceweight. So I think that I might use it for the Sampler Stole from A Gathering Of Lace. I don’t have anything this fine in my stash. It’s so soft and the sheen is unbelievable.

Next up, is the 100% Cashmere in color #622. This yarn is slightly thicker then the Cashmere/Silk blend, but I can most definitely live with that. Especially since it’s so soft. I don’t think I’ve ever felt a yarn this soft. This might be destined to be the Summer In Kansas or I might do another Peacock Feathers shawl.

All this has me itching to cast on with this new and delectable yarn, but I have something else waiting in the wings ready and raring to go.

I’ve decided not to start anything new until I finish the MS3. I wonder if swatches count as a project. Hrm. What do you think? ;-)

Have a great weekend and thanks for reading!

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It seems as though my startitis has not been limited to just one hobby. Knitting with my own handspun yarn has inspired me to continue spinning my own yarn for future projects. Even though I already had a spinning project waiting in the wings, I decided that I wanted to spin yarn for another shawl. So I dug into my stash and came up with something different.

When I mentioned to a friend that I had decided to spin some thrums into a laceweight yarn there was some derisive laughter involved, but I decided to persevere and see what I could come up with. Even if I couldn’t come up with a laceweight, I thought a fingering weight would still be useful for a shawl.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that even though I couldn’t get the thrums to spin as fine as I would like it, it still spins into a consistently thin single. I’m not sure if I’m getting a laceweight or not, but the singles are about 24 wpi (wraps per inch). I’ll most likely use this as a 2-ply, so if anyone knows what weight yarn that will come out to, please share!

This fiber is soft to the touch and very easy to draft. There are little neps of different colors that I have to watch out for, but other then that it’s been smooth sailing. I got this quite a few years ago and I was afraid that it might have felted a bit like some of my other fibers have, but it’s perfectly fine.

All in all, I foresee many enjoyable hours with this delectable fiber and my wheel!

P.S. Thanks to all of those who have emailed me about Hurricane Flossie. It was never really forecasted to hit O’ahu/Honolulu, but I was still nervous! It’s now been downgraded to a tropical storm. The island that was most effected was the Big Island. Thankfully there hasn’t been any major damage and I can now stop worrying so much since I have family in Hilo. Thank you again for all your concern!

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I finally surrendered to the massive case of startitis I’ve been fighting and started a new project last week. I reasoned that this was a special project and that this was a goal I had set for myself from the very beginning of the year.

Oh yes, I had all sorts of justifications, but in the end it really doesn’t matter. What matters is that I have something on the needles that delights me to no end. It’s the Flower Basket Shawl and I’m using my very own handspun yarn.

I did get off to a rough start though. I began with size 5US/3.75mm needles and the resulting fabric was less then delightful. I just didn’t care for the stitch definition.

As much as I hated to admit it, I had to start over on smaller needles. Ripping out what I had done was a careful process as was more then a little nerve-wracking. I kept thinking that the yarn was going to crumble beneath my fingers! Of course that wasn’t the case, as the yarn isn’t nearly that delicate. Paranoid? Who, me?

Once I was done with the frightening frogging of the handspun, I started knitting once again with size 3US/3.25mm needles. Before I had gotten through the first repeat of the second chart, I knew I had made the right decision.

The difference might not be quite as discernible to others, but I can see it and that’s what counts. Since then I haven’t been able to put this down. This is how much I’ve been able to get done since Saturday.

Working with my own yarn tickles me endlessly and helps keep me entertained with this relatively simple stitch pattern. I keep stroking the material that I have created from the very yarn itself and the feeling of wonder never ceases.

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I could no longer bear to listen to the tragic cries of the Emo Spires any longer, so I finally took them out of hibernation and finished the first sock. (This colour is particularly hard to photograph, but I did try my best.)

After languishing for so long in my work basket, I had a hard time picking these up again. I think this is the most complicated sock pattern I have yet to do, but I love the challenge.

I did cast on for the second sock, but with the 6th clue of the MS3 out and with a tantalizing new project on the needles, I’m having a hard time dragging it out to work on. I’m afraid that once again the moniker Emo Spires will ring true.

Does this mean I’ve finally succumbed to Second Sock Syndrome? Eek!

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