Gifts given

Here are my husband's finished Zauberball socks. I'm very happy with the way they turned out and I think he is too, since he's already taken possession. I tried to say that they were a gift and that he was going to get them when a "gift exchange" was necessary, but he wasn't too keen on that idea. He pretty much called me a tease and a hold-out and threw in the conversation that he would NEVER do that to me. It made it kind of hard to take them back. Which is fine with me, because now I have his exact measurements and I could truly knit him a pair without him knowing in the future. I'm not very good at holding out anyway, it's just not my style. Especially against pressure like that.


The Burnin' Hot Hands gloves were gifted to Son #1 last weekend and I think he liked them. I've seen him voluntarily grabbing them to wear twice so I don't think he's doing it just to make his mom feel good.


I also got him a Trindle and some fiber and will be teaching him how to spin as soon as time permits. He did pick out this Yak/Merino blend from Abstract Fibers so it wasn't a total surprise. We're lucky enough that our LYS carries a good selection of fiber so he could browse in person. Of course he picked the most colorful one he saw. The more color, the more he likes it. I'm pretty lucky that he appreciates color as much as I do.

I don't think he is as excited about it as I am, but his younger brother (son #2) is extremely interested. When I was practicing with it to get the hang of it, he was sitting there watching me fascinated. He came over and would keep the trindle spinning while I drafted and he's got a good knack for it. I might try to teach him too, since the interest is there.

Speaking of color, Son #1 was very interested in this when it came. The second shipment of the Rockin' Sock Club. This is smile-inducing yarn here. It's quite electric and you can't help but laugh when you see it. It's called Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. I wasn't sure which of the two patterns I wanted to make, because I liked them both. So I had to get some help from my other half and he settled it for me. I'm going to make the pattern on the right, Merry Socksters.



This is a project I had started about a week before the shipment came. It's called Parallel Twist by Jeannie Cartmel and I've been thinking about these ones for awhile. I saw the pair Cupcake made out of her Vesper sock yarn and decided right then that that was what I was going to do with mine. I am really enjoying the stitch pattern and love the way it jags the stripes.

The only thing I would change about this pattern is the heel. It's a short-row heel done over 31 heel stitches and I think it pulls too tight across the ankle. Lucy Neatby teaches to turn a short-row heel over 60% of the total stitches and this sock is only using 48% of the stitches. I made it the way the pattern says because I usually have always followed Lucy's advice, and I wanted to see if there was a reason this pattern was written this way. My conclusion is that the fit would be better over 60% of the stitches and I might have sacrificed a little of the stitch pattern at the top for the heel turn to make sure these fit better. I'm going to see how they fit Son #1 because he has much skinnier feet than me, and they are almost as long. The socks may be a little long for now, but I'm sure he will be my same shoe size very soon. He is not as keen on this yarn as he is my psychedelic shipment from Blue Moon Fiber arts, but he said these were okay too. :)