Is it possible to be in love.... with a sock?

I think it just might be...

Cookie, [the designer of Hedera, Monkey, Pomatomus and several other socks] has launched her website, Cookie A!

I've been watching for news of this since I first saw a picture of Rhiannon on her blog.


This morning, I quickly purchased the pattern for this, and five others. Go check them out.

Expanding my stash... One sock yarn at a time.

There has been serious stash enhancement here at Midnight Purls. Unfortunately, being buried up to my ears in tax returns leaves little time for photographing and linking to all the beautiful yarns I've been discovering.

Sock yarns are pretty new to me, and I am making it my personal mission this year to try out as many different varieties as I can.

I've already given Socks That Rock a try, and I liked it so much, I ran off to their website as soon as that second sock was off the needles to buy a ton more. I'm doing my best to wait patiently for the yarn to arrive, but I am getting antsy. Can you blame me? It's beautiful, it's just begging to be knit.

In keeping with the hand dyed theme, I'll share with you the gem that arrived in my mailbox this afternoon.

Purchased off of etsy, it's a skein of Merino/Tencel sock yarn in a colorway named Lovely. I grabbed this great find at Chewy Spaghetti's etsy shop, and I think it's safe to say that this is one shop I will stalk religiously for new yarn. That Chewy Spaghetti has a great eye for color!






The pictures might look pretty, but I assure you, this yarn is even more beautiful in person. So beautiful in fact, I'm having a hard time picking a pattern that will do this yarn justice. Feel free to share any suggestions.

My first socks!

I finished my first socks!



They're so comfy! I love wearing them around the house, and they look awesome with jeans! [This picture is the best color representation of the yarn.]


And, a close up of the heel.


The details:

Yarn: Socks that Rock, Lightweight, colorway: Xmas Rock. The yarn was a Christmas gift from Knitxcore.
Pattern: 2 X 2 rib.
Needles: Knitpicks Classic Circular, Size 0, 32 inches.
Notes: I didn't follow a pattern for these socks, I just winged it as I went along. I decided I wanted to do a toe up sock, and choose a short row toe and heel (provisional cast on 32 stitches, short rowed down to 12 for the toe, and short rowed down to 12 for the heel as well.] I used Misocrafty's tutorial for avoiding holes. It took a little practice to get the hang of picking up those double wraps on the purl side, but by the second sock, I was a pro. I decided to do the ribbing on the insole of the foot as well as the leg because I wasn't sure if the 64 stitches I cast on would leave the sock too loose or not, and figured the ribbing would help hold it to the shape of my foot if it was. I'm glad that I went that route, as the socks, they are a little big.

All in all, I'm mighty proud of these socks. I absolutely love them, and will probably wear them only around the house since they are a little big, but they were a great learning experience. And the yarn. Wow. I finished them at Joe's and didn't have any wool wash with me, so I just threw them in the sink with some warm water for a few minutes before putting them on my sock blockers. Even without wool wash, the yarn softened up tremendously.

Eye Candy Friday!

Tax season leaves me little time to actually blog, but I thought I'd share some of the pictures from Joe's and my trip to NYC. [The trip was awesome, and I'll post a more detailed blog post about it soon.]

First up, our view from the hotel room. That building on the right is the Empire State Building. [As always, click to enlarge.]


A view of the Empire State Building, close up.

And finally, a view of the Empire State Building at night, all lit up in red, white and blue.


I have a ton more pictures to post, including some knitting and yarn related pics, so stay tuned!