FO: Spectra Scarf

Some things are set aside while the stress and the constant battle of moving is going on. Knitting was one of them.

I haven't really had the mindset to sit and do something quietly for a while now. It seems like a luxury and I just can't bring myself to splurge. I'm hoping that once I get settled next month, and the shipment box with a tote of crafty supplies shows up I'll be a little more inspired.

I did recently finish the Spectra scarf I started way back in March. Everyone loves Westknits right now, and I couldn't resist his designs either. Even here in France, several knitters I met were sporting his goods. Well, Paris probably does have more scarfs per capita than anywhere else in the world, so I'm sure obsessively stitching away at one of his patterns is a good move all around.

I loved this pattern muchly. It used up a skein of Noro Kureyon Sock (which you couldn't pay me to knit a pair of socks out of) and two skeins of Knit Picks Gloss sock. I ran out of the Gloss first and that was where the scarf ended. It's a combination of short rows and simple intarsia that makes it shape the way it does.

And what better way to celebrate the status of a newly minted Parisian than a picnic on the Champ de Mars?

I couldn't think of one. The lawn was surprisingly filled with few tourist and lots of like-minded picnickers.

When the sun comes out in Paris, the masses head for the parks and the lawns with wine and food and friends. It's a very good idea.

I do love my new scarf. It keeps me just toasty enough and it drapes elegantly. It needs a good blocking as I just hung it up on hair clips on the curtain to stretch it out a bit- the bottom edge would ruffle less if it was really bocked. The pattern is simple and it only took two repetitions before I had it memorized. It really shows off colorful yarn nicely.

FO: Broadripple Socks

I have not given up hope that one day, I will have knit everything I have in my stash. I'm still forcing myself to pick projects based on the yarn, and in somewhat alphabetical order. Just because.

I dug out a couple skeins of Knit Picks Felici that has been hiding out in my stash for eons now. 5 years maybe? It's been a while. The colorway is "Schooner", but it's been discontinued. Anyway, they were the next sock yarn on my list and I had the urge to make socks. The yarn has a good amount of nylon in it, so they make good, hard-wearing socks. I still wear a pair of socks I made from them back in 2008, and they have held up just fine. Also, it's good sock yarn for gift socks as they are superwash, and your aunt who just does't give a shit about her deliciates will still have a pair of socks at the end of the day.



I really like self-striping yarn. I think I was fooled into thinking some handpainted yarns were self-striping, but the stripes would pool and do weird things and it was impossible to find a pattern that didn't get lost in all that clown barf. No more loud multi-colored handpaints for me, thank you.

I choose the Broadripple Sock pattern from the Knitty Summer 2003 issue.



I made these toe-up, two at a time. That's my preferred method since it allows me to use up every last yard of yarn. The socks I made toe-up tend to be much taller than the anxiety-inducing cuff-down pairs.



The pattern was really simple- just one row of lace to memorize, and a modified feather-and-fan pattern at that. I added 4 extra stitches to the pattern just to give them a little more ease. The pattern is written for a thicker DK weight yarn, and I was using fingering weight, so a few extra stitches didn't hurt.



I love the stripes. LOVE. I got them to more or less line up. They were really quick to knit as well- the pattern had good flow to it, and the stripes allowed me to gauge my progress in a way that made me want to knit more on them. I could get 3 stripes worth done per commute.

These will be gifted to a fairly irresponsible laundress with cold feet.