knitting news (and a little fabric too)

Well I promised to post about some finished knitting and so here you have.... yoga socks!









I know, I know, yoga socks don't take very long to knit, but I finished them! They are cute, and warm, and they fit (yes that's my scrawny foot in the pic above). Hopefully they will prevent my arches from cramping during yoga this winter. The yoga socks are knit from a free pattern you can find here and the yarn is some lovely 100% wool sport weight organic rambouillet from Tierra Wools (a small operation in New Mexico). The wool is dyed naturally using Cochineal (yes, bugs) and it is a beautiful deep red. I only used half the skein so I may make some wrist warmers or use the rest of the yarn for a hat.
I've also been doing some dedicated knitting on Orangina as I am determined to wear it this summer. I have finished the second panel and joined in the round for the 3x3 ribbing. The cotton yarn "Lara" Endless Summer Collection from Elann continued to aggrevate me with about 5 knots in one ball. Grrrr. Weaving in ends is not my favourite thing to do and cotton yarn seems a bit tricky. Does anyone have any tips for me? Should I actually tie a knot in the yarn?









I have also made a considerable addition to my fabric stash. Now, I do have quite a bit of fabric, but not much 100% cotton, and most of it is pretty old and usually not what I want to use for projects at this moment. (I know, I'm rationalizing.) I was tipped off about a great sale at Hancock's Fabric in the USA so I hurried on over to their web site and loaded up my in basket. In the end I purchased 1 and 1/2 yard cuts of some great prints for crafting and quilting as well as some larger yardages of two Amy Butler prints that are destined for clothing. I also purchased some sage cotton that I plan on using for a bolster for the back of the couch. Hancock's service was great, their cuts generous, the shipping charge was reasonable, and I didn't get charged any duty!
Oh, almost forgot! More knitting...I wanted to start another pair of socks. I have completed two pairs of socks so far in my short knitting career - both of which were lace patterns, top down, and using magic loop method. This pair is a toe up pattern using the magic cast on from Knitty and knit with dpns one sock at a time. The yarn is from a little shop in Port Alberni. Funny thing, I was driving around Port Alberni last week, just exploring a bit. I parked the car at the quay to have a looky-loo and what is the first shop I see? Yup, a yarn shop [edit: shop is Heartspun and owner is Karen - go see her!]. Fate, I tell ya. So, I picked up some rosewood dpns by H.A. Kidd (show above) and two balls of Marks & Kattens cotton/wool sock yarn in the clown colourway. The yarn feels great and I like the self-patterning yarn for visual entertainment on the plain sock. So far it is going smoothly!