Such a sock yarn addict

So I've been doing pretty good with the New Year goals thus far. I taught myself Fair Isle a couple weeks ago, and knit up the Faux Isle hat in Noro Kureyon 157 & Patons Classic Merino.

Purty, huh? Too bad I didn't think to give extra length to the floats until *after* I'd finished the hat. The two colour parts are considerably more snug than the single colour, so it doesn't fit my head at all. Granted, I've got a freakishly large head, but still. As I've already woven in all the ends & everything, there will be no frogging of this puppy...it'll just go with the rest of my decorative hat collection. I don't know how many hats I've knit so far, but only one of them has actually worked properly. Argh.

Also in keeping with the goals thing, I finished my February Socktopia socks. These are the Conwy socks from Knitting on the Road, by the amazing Nancy Bush.

I used Socks That Rock for the very first time with these socks (Ruby Slippers colourway), and dang, it's nice stuff! It's soft & squirshy, and the colours are gorgeous. They did turn my hands pink as I knitted them, but that's no big deal, I guess. It sure as hell won't keep me from using STR again, that's for certain.

Speaking of my adored Socktopia, I thought I'd clear it up a wee bit for y'all. Socktopia is a year long KAL, basically. Each month, the lady running it posts themes (Bed of Roses is the theme I chose for the Conwys, for example) on the website. Your job as a Socktopia member is to choose a theme, and knit a pair of socks based on your interpretation of that theme. When you're done, post pictures of your socks to our Flickr group. Everyone who posts their socks in the allotted time frame gets entered into drawings for cool things like sock yarns & other goodies. There's also other random prizes, and weird games, and just a general fun community of sock knitting addicts like myself. I really like it there...you get to see tons of pictures of gorgeous socks, and get new ideas for patterns you might want to try, or yarns, and hear other knitters reviews of such as well. And, at the end of the year, you wind up with twelve pairs of socks! You can't argue with that, imo. I'd wanted to knit a pair a month anyway, and the themes just make it all the more entertaining for me.

Since I did finish my February socks already, I went ahead & cast on for another pair at random. This is the beginning of a toe up sock in Interlacements Toasty Toes.

It's a totally crap picture, but trust me, it's GORGEOUS yarn. I'm using the Irish Heather colourway, and have decided to name these socks Caoimhe, in honour of my friend's lovely daughter. Yes, I'm geeking out like crazy & naming all my projects from here on out. Partly because it's otherwise hard to tell the difference when I'm talking about "the blue toe up sock", because I've made *many* blue toe up socks, and partly because I just like naming things. So there. And yes, I know that some people will undoubtedly laugh at me and think me weird, but that's hardly anything new, so there you have it. The Caoimhe socks are coming along quite nicely, and I'm REALLY digging this yarn. It's pretty thick, nearly sportweight, I think, and soooooo soft & sproingy! The colours, since you can't really see them worth a shite here, are deep blues, greens, & purples, and really saturated & pretty. I pulled this yarn out of the stash as a break from all the red socks I've been doing lately. Don't get me wrong, I adore my red socks, I just wanted a change for a while. The Caoimhe socks are working up quite quickly, which is also nice for a change, after all the superhigh stitch count socks I've been doing. (I'm using size 2 dpns on these, and they feel huge.)

Also on the needles, with a wee bit more urgency, is this sweater...

This is a simple raglan rollneck sweater for Boy the Younger, in Plymouth Encore worsted. The urgency comes in when you realize that February is half over, spring will be here soon, and Boy the Younger is growing by the minute. I did make it a bit on the largish side, but I'll be sad if he doesn't get to wear it at least a few times! I finished the body last night, and will pick up the sleeves today. There's a rolled edge at the cuffs & waist hem, and I'll pick up for the collar shortly too. It's pretty mindless, as it's entirely stockinette in the round, but that's okay. Sometimes mindless is good.

When this sweater is done, I'll be casting on for BPT, using KnitPicks Swish in a gorgeous deep brown, appropriately named Truffle. I'm looking forward to this one, though the sewing in a zipper thing sorta scares me.

I'm still enjoying the swap thing beyond all measure these days. I was in a "lightning round" VD swap (heh) via the knittyboards recently. Basically, it was a Valentine's Day themed swap, one package, superfast & really fun. My upstream sent me a fabulous package! There were two really interesting books, a pattern-a-day calendar, lots of chocolate & yummy goodies, and the most GORGEOUS bag of merino & silk fiber!!! It's a lovely shade of plum, and omg, it's soooo soft! I'm waiting to spin it up, though, until I'm better at drafting. I'd cry if I took that beautiful fiber & made it into a skanky looking mess (which is about all I've made thus far). It's great motivation to improve my spinning, though! Thank you so much, KnitChick07! Sadly, no picture, as we sort of fell onto the contents of the box like wolves. :-D I'll definitely be posting pics of the fiber, once I'm worthy of it, though!

Also in current swap news, my KnittySP8 ROCKS. I received a package just the other day, and let me tell you, it really picked me up!

It's been really cold here lately, and in all honesty, I've been terribly depressed. It's partly seasonal, partly otherwise, but at any rate, this package really brightened my day. There's three different kinds of Jelly Bellies, two different kinds of chocolate, treats for my goofy cat (smelled creepy, though most cat food smells creepy...the cat disagrees, of course), the COOLEST air freshener ever (I can't drink coffee anymore, due to the caffeine, but I love the smell...it's a little takeout coffee cup, and it smells fabulous! I love it!), and omg, be still my beating heart...Socks That Rock!!!! It's absolutely stunning!! It's lightweight, in the Tide Pool colourway, and oooooooh....I loves it. Thank you SO much!! Holy overuse of exclamation points, Batman!!