Life has been full! Since the house has been up for sale this spring we’ve had people traipsing through almost every weekend, opening closets full of clothes, studying the state of my kitchen cupboards, sometimes getting to witness my supper in the midst of cooking. There was one nibble on the line, but we had to throw it back because it was too small. Of course, with all the cleaning and such going on, the two things that I’ve been making time for are knitting and sewing. Finally I have shaken off the malaise of winter and fallen head over heels with my sewing machine again. Not to mention that I have actually finished not just one but two projects that were on my needles. Aah, Spring, how you make me feel alive!
The first one I finished was a pair of socks. Socks that I had started in January, frogged in February, and restarted in March. You have no idea how difficult it was to unravel that first sock, even though I knew I would never be happy with it the way it was. I was completely done except for grafting the toe, and I realized my tension had changed between the leg and the foot, and that the leg was far to big to ever be worn comfortably. So, one day, I gathered all my courage and started pulling. Very cathartic, very scary, all at the same time. Now I am totally in love with them.
I found a pattern I liked online, called Hedgerow Socks. It called for a solid color, and like a doofus I picked out this absolutely gorgeous variegated merino wool yarn. Colinette Jitterbug yarn in castagna (which means chestnut in Italian, if Wiktionary is telling the truth). I think I may try this pattern again with a color that brings out the pattern. Of course, now that I’m hooked on hand-knitted socks, I’ve got a folder full of patterns that I really, really, really want to try, so making another pair probably won’t happen until, oh, say 2012?
