The Mitten Factory Is Closed

It took staying up a bit late last night, but I'm happy to report that the last pair of holiday gift mittens is officially off the needles! Here's a look at the pile:

All of these were knit using Susan B. Anderson's Waiting for Winter Mittens and Fingerless Mitts pattern, with some minor modifications. I believe the original pattern has you put the thumb gusset in at the end of the round, but I put it in the middle so that the beginning of the round falls on the outside edge of the wrist/hand when the mitten is worn. I also used lifted increases rather than the m1s called for. I adjusted my needle size on some of the mittens using thicker yarn (those would be the pairs worked in Cascade Eco Wool; I went up to a US 6/4.0 mm for those), but most were knit on US 5/3.75 mm needles. The other yarns I used were Knit Picks Telemark and Merino Style (both discontinued), Malabrigo Merino Worsted, Blue Moon Fiber Arts Targhee Worsted, and Valley Yarns Amherst.

I can't promise there won't be more of these mittens, especially since I've pretty much got the pattern memorized now and I have lots of worsted leftovers that would make great mittens to donate, but I do need to take a brief break.

Finishing off that last mitten meant that I was now free to finally cast on my Gift-a-long projects! The first one to jump on the needles was a new-ish pattern called Eiswasser. I'm knitting this for Rainbow as a gift, and it's a surprise, so that means I can only work on it at work or after she's gone to bed. It's not going to be a quick knit by any stretch of the imagination (the cast on starts with 156 stitches, and that stitch count doubles once the ribbing is done to accommodate all pull-in of the cables), but I think it'll look pretty amazing.

The yarn I'm using is some Fibernymph Dye Works Bedazzled in Cake Pops that I bought several months ago with the intent to make something for Rainbow. I think the stitch count is going to be large enough that I won't really get stripes once I get to the cabled part, but that might be better because it won't obscure the stitch pattern as much.

The other GAL project I'll be starting this evening is the Dancing Leaves Cardigan I've been swatching for over the past week. I did finally get gauge on US 1.5/2.5 mm needles (yes, you read that correctly!), so it will be a very fine gauge knit and will likely take me all of the GAL period to finish, if it fact I can finish it by then. I figure that if I can limit myself to working pretty much exclusively on these two projects, I can get them done.

But who am I kidding? There's another project on the needles for when I need a break from thinking -- just a pair of plain stockinette socks in FDW Traveler (Lisa's sportweight base) in the colorway Coffee at Luke's. I cast them on after Thanksgiving dinner, thinking they'd be good to work on during the Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life marathon I had with my mom the next day.

I suppose it's probably not a bad idea to have a fairly mindless project on the needles for those times when I want to knit when Rainbow is around!

Feeling the Blues (and Greens)

Despite my best intentions, I ended up spending most of the holiday weekend knitting rather than spinning. That meant that I made good progress on my knitting projects, but my spinning hasn't progressed as much as I would have liked. I have two bobbins (of three total) complete of my second skein of FatCatKnits Rambouillet, with the second just finished earlier this afternoon.

I really love this colorway, which should come as no surprise given that blue and green are my two favorite colors. This spin is so pleasurable, and I must admit that I'm going to be sad when it's done. I think I can safely say that Rambo is a new favorite fiber breed (I suppose I just go gaga for the breeds that are crimpy and puff up when washed). Given how much I liked this fiber, I think I will finally get around to spinning up the Rambo fleece that I bought at Maryland Sheep and Wool several years ago.

I'm hoping to give the wheel a little more attention this week, so with any luck, the next time you see this fiber, it'll be in the form of a finished skein of yarn!

Knitting Friday

Hi, everyone! I'm a day late with my usual post because I decided to take Thanksgiving off. Well, not really, but the reality is that I was busy most of the day and by the time I remembered it was Thursday, it was pretty late and I just didn't have the mental energy to put together a coherent post. So you get a Friday post instead.

On this Black Friday, I'm staying far, far away from the malls. Instead, my mother is coming over and we are spending the day binge-watching the new Gilmore Girls on Netflix. I'm planning on knitting as much as possible while we watch. For one thing, the mitten factory is almost done. I finished up this pair for my father earlier in the week:

(Waiting for Winter Mittens by Susan B. Anderson, size L for width but size XL for length, in Cascade Eco Wool)

And then these were finished last night before I went to bed (but you'll have to make do with an in-progress shot):

(Same pattern, size L, in the discontinued Knit Picks Telemark)

I'll be casting on the last pair this morning and, if I'm speedy enough, finishing it in short order so that I can move on to knitting projects I'd rather do.

One of those projects is a surprise gift for Rainbow, who asked me to make her a brioche cowl like mine, but shorter. I pulled out some handspun that I spun years ago with the intention of making something her and cast on. I think this will be a quick knit, as the yarn only had 180-ish yards and this is the result of one evening of knitting:

Gale's Art BFL in Crayon Box

If those two projects don't keep me busy enough, I've got a new pair of socks that I cast on last night with this skein of Fibernymph Dye Works Traveler (Lisa's sportweight base) in a colorway that's very appropriate for today's activities -- Coffee at Luke's.

Lisa is actually having a progressive sale in her shop this weekend, and she has a lot of holiday colors in the store right now, so I'd encourage you to click over!

Whether you're shopping or shopping from home this Black Friday, I wanted to remind you that 18 of my patterns are still on sale for the Indie Designer Gift-a-long with the code giftalong2016. There are thousands of other patterns on sale as well, so definitely take a look and support independent designers this holiday season. And don't forget to come join the fun in the Gift-a-long group!

Pattern Release: River Waters Shawl

It's another Tuesday, and another pattern from my Stitchburgh collection is ready to make its debut. Presenting the River Waters Shawl!

This design was inspired by Pittsburgh's three rivers, the Allegheny, the Monongahela, and the Ohio. In fact, the spot where I'm standing in the photo above is where the first two come together to form the third. The ribbed cable band along the lower edge of the shawl represents the movement of the water in the rivers, as the cables twist toward the center from the outer edges just like the Allegheny and the Mon converge to form the Ohio.

This shawl is worked in several directions for an engaging knit. You start by knitting that long ribbed cable band. When that is complete, you pick up stitches along one side of it and use short rows to shape the garter stitch body. Finally, you pick up stitches along the other edge of the band to knit the bottom border. This pattern will challenge you a bit -- you need to know how to do a provisional cast on, work ribbing and cables, pick up stitches, do short rows with w&t, and do an I-cord bind off -- but no one element is particularly challenging. It's definitely one of those patterns that looks more complex than it is. The ribbed cable band, for instance, is basically the same row repeated over and over again except for the one row with cable crosses.

The sample was knit in SpaceCadet Celeste, a light fingering superwash merino yarn, in a colorway called Look Up! I deliberately chose a slightly variegated yarn, as the water in the three rivers does vary in color. I used two skeins, but I had plenty leftover, as each skein has a generous 490 yards. You'll need approximately 700 yds./640 m to knit this.

Buy the pattern:

Buy the collection:

*  *  *  *  *

Before I sign off, I wanted to mention that the fourth annual Indie Designer Gift-A-Long officially kicks off tonight at 8 p.m. EST. The pattern sale (in which between 5 and 20 patterns from every participating designer will be 25% off with the coupon code giftalong2016) runs from the start of the GAL through November 30 at 11:59 p.m. EST. All participating designers will have a bundle of their on-sale patterns featured on their Ravelry designer page; you can find mine here. The GAL itself will run through the end of the year, and I highly recommend joining the group and participating in the -alongs. There are tons of prizes to be awarded (both physical prizes and coupon codes for free patterns) as well as lots of fun games and camaraderie!

Sproing Goes the Skein

Have you spun Rambouillet before? I haven't (we won't mention the Rambo fleece that's been sitting in my stash unspun for sevveral years), so I was very pleasantly surprised with my latest spin, half of a FatCatKnits club shipment. The two colorways were inspired by lobsters. I decided to spin up each colorway as a traditional three ply with the hope that I could use both skeins together in some sort of colorwork. I picked the reddish colorway, Clawd (hehe), to spin first. It turned out exactly as I hoped.

It is fluffy and plump and soft -- and boy does it have major spring to it! The whole skein has great elasticity. To give you an idea of just how much sproing we're talking about, consider this: I wound the skein off on my two-yard (72 in.) niddy noddy. After it was washed and dried, the skein had shrunk up to 51 in. If that doesn't give you an idea of the amazing crimp of this fiber, I'm not sure what would.

I've already started on the second colorway in the shipment, a medley of blues and greens called Gamma. The first bobbin is almost finished.

The colors are very distinct now, but I'm approaching this colorway in the same way I did the first: Each little bundle of fiber is being split into four strips (I've found the fiber is a little easier to draft this way) and then spun end to end. My hope is that the colors will mix up when the yarn is plied for an overall blue/green shade.

One thing this spin has taught me is that I LOVE spinning Rambouillet! I predict that fleece will not be neglected for much longer.

Can You Guess What I'm Knitting?

Another day, another pair of mittens on the needles. I did finish up the nearly done pair you saw earlier in the week shortly after I posted, so that's one more pair off the list:

It's flash-required-for-photo season again. Blergh.

Pattern: Waiting for Winter Mittens & Fingerless Mitts by Susan B. Anderson, size XL
Yarn: Cascade Eco Wool, color unknown, approximately 183.5 yards
Needles: US 6 (4.0 mm) Knit Picks Options, magic loop
Started/Completed: November 9/November 15
Mods: worked hands 1/2 inch shorter than called for before decreases; picked up extra stitches for thumb to close gap (decreased in first round)

These were really much faster to knit than the start and end dates would lead you to think. I put them aside for several days to finish up another project (more on that in a moment), but when I did pick them up, they got finished very quickly. The pattern calls for a worsted weight, but the Eco Wool is more of a bulky, so these turned out a little larger than they would have if I had used the right weight of yarn. That's not necessarily a bad thing, and certainly the thicker yarn meant a faster knit. I have another color that I'm planning to use for another pair, and I think I will use the same needle size but go down to the size large in the pattern.

As soon as I had cast off and finished weaving in ends on these mittens, I cast on for the next pair. These are for my brother, who is a big sports fan, so he is the lucky one who will get black and gold mittens (conveniently, all our local sports teams use the same colors). The first mitten is done and the second will be started this evening.

I worked on this pair last night when I finally made it to the Steel City Fiber Collective for their weekly knit night last night. I saw some familiar faces and some new ones, and it was nice to spend a bit of the evening with other knitters again. I didn't stay very long, as Rainbow was a bit clingy before I left and gave me sad puppy dog eyes while she asked me to come home in time to put her to bed, but I'll definitely be back.

After I posted on Tuesday, I did indeed block my finished shawl. I'm very pleased with how it turned out. The shape is the same as the first sample, but the look is really different. With the yarnover eyelets in this version, the shaping is a bit more obvious.

Colors not accurate

I've already gotten a draft of the pattern written up, so now I have to do some final measurements, make a schematic or two, and take some photos.

This weekend should be a busy one, though we really don't have much scheduled. We are having some windows replaced on our third floor next week, so that means cleaning out the rooms up there, one of which is the spare bedroom I refer to as my stash room. It's in a bit of disarray (I tend to just toss stuff up there and grab it when I need it), so I'll have to put everything into bags or bins so that we can move it to a closet or the basement while the work is being done. I'll have to take down my swift as well, so I'll need to wind yarn that I'll need in the coming week or two, and I'll need to make sure any yarn or fiber I want to use in the foreseeable future is easy to access. I suppose that for as much of a pain as it will be, it will also be useful in that I'll organize things and clean out random crap that I've tossed in that room over the years.

The Mitten Factory

Welcome to the mitten factory, where we make mittens all the time. You may remember that I decided last week that everyone in the immediate family was getting mittens for holiday gifts this year (excluding the Mister, who won't wear them, and Rainbow, who already has several pairs from me and gets more as she outgrows them). Two pairs were done several weeks ago, and after a good stash dig, I've got yarn for the five pairs that remain to be knit. I decided to go with the largest sizes first, as they'll take the longest. The current pair is an extra large being knit with some leftover Cascade Eco Wool on size 6 (4.0 mm) needles. I have about an inch of thumb left to knit before I can call these done.

I really love how thick this mittens are knitting up, and I'm tempted (once I've gotten all the gift knitting out of the way) to use whatever Eco Wool I have left to knit some really large mittens and felt them.

Here's the yarn I have selected for other pairs -- more Eco Wool in another shade, some deep-stash Knit Picks Telemark and Merino Style (both now discontinued), and some Valley Yarns Amherst that was in the goodie bags for Stitch and Pitch years ago.

I managed to finish my handspun shawl over the weekend -- the picot bind off took me quite a bit of time -- so that I can focus my attention on gift knitting. I still have to block it (which may just happen this evening), but it felt good to get it off my needles.

I do have one bit of stash enhancement from the weekend, and that was this beautiful skein of worsted weight from Fibernymph Dye Works that I had preordered and that Lisa was kind enough to bring to me at Indie Knit and Spin.

The colorway is called Smooth Sailing, Sunny Skies, and it was sold to benefit Hurricane Matthew relief. I didn't really need another skein of yarn, but I decided to splurge because it was for a good cause, and I'm glad I did, because I really love this colorway. I'm fairly certain I'm going to use it for a hat for me.

In light of all the gift knitting going on here, I didn't want to forget to mention that the Indie Design Gift-A-Long is happening again this year and will kick off next Tuesday (November 22) evening at 8 p.m. EST, with the sale running from November 22 through November 30. I will once again be participating as a designer, and this year I've been asked to be a mod as well, so if you're in the group, you'll likely see me around a lot.

And now if you'll excuse me, I have some mittens to knit!

Satisfaction in Fiber Form

After my pound of merino yarn, I needed something much faster and more in the way of instant gratification. I found it in my August Southern Cross Fibre club shipment, a really delightful merino/mulberry silk blend. I decided for a thicker than my usual three ply, and that's exactly what I got.

This skein looks to be about DK weight and roughly 224 yards. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it, but it sure is satisfying to squish.

I got started on my next spinning project yesterday while I was manning my booth at Indie Knit and Spin. I had pulled out my last shipment from the FatCatKnits club -- two colors of Rambouillet inspired by lobsters -- and split each color into thirds for two traditional three-ply yarns. My hope is to use the two colors together, provided there's enough contrast between them. I've already completed two of the three bobbins of the first color.

Speaking of FatCatKnits, I received two packages from Ginny earlier this week, the next club shipment and another order. The club shipment is on Falkland:

The other order was this vibrant braid of Targhee:

As if that wasn't enough fiber for one week, I found this beauty on the giveaway table at IKS:

This is 4.2 oz. of merino from All Spun Up, my former favorite indie dyer from when I was just getting into spinning. This has clearly been in someone's stash for quite a while because Kristin hasn't updated her Etsy shop in quite some time, but I was thrilled to find it and will certainly give it some love!

Keep Calm and Knit On

It's been a very emotional couple of days here. I don't want to get into politics because this is a knitting and spinning blog, but I'm sure you're all aware of the outcome of the presidential election in the United States. I didn't get much sleep the other night, as I was up late watching the returns, and frankly I don't deal well with uncertainty, so I haven't been at my best. At times like these, I'm glad I have my crafting to turn to for calm.

I have certainly been doing a lot of knitting the past several days. Over the weekend, I cast on for a hat for Rainbow after she admired the one I wore to go running Saturday morning (it was something I whipped up a couple of years ago in a very bright neon pink acrylic). I decided to make her one, and I found an old skein of Patons SWS (now discontinued) in my stash that I thought would work well. I finished it on Tuesday evening, but I'm not sure that I'm actually going to give it to her.

For one thing, the yarn was not the best choice. It's a singles yarn, which made it rather difficult to work the two-stitch cables and resulted in poor stitch definition. I was also worried that I'd run out of yarn, so I made it an inch shorter than mine and went down in needle size, and I think it actually might be too shallow for her. So chances are good that I'll turn this into a felted bowl and knit her another hat out of something more appropriate.

I spent a lot of time working on the handspun shawl on Tuesday evening, and I'm now in the home stretch -- and the knitting is bigger than my circular needle, so I can't fully stretch it out to show you. I just hope the yarn I have left holds out!

I have not yet cast on for my sweater, but I have a feeling that will come soon. In the meantime, I have decided that everyone in the extended family will be getting mittens this year. I have two pairs done, so that means I have five pairs left to knit. I can knit a pair in a couple of days -- probably faster if I am only knitting on them -- so that seems doable. We'll likely be having our family gift exchange in early to mid-December, so that means I have about a month left. I've had a good dig in my stash and pulled out an assortment of worsted weight options, and the third pair has already been cast on in some leftover Cascade Eco Wool.

I did want to mention that this weekend is Indie Knit & Spin. I'll be there selling some of my quickly growing stash of handspun, including some skeins you've seen on the blog in recent weeks. If you're in the Pittsburgh area or an easy driving distance away, I really encourage you to come and stop by this show. It's a small show, but it has some really great vendors. There will be demonstrations going on throughout the day as well as a raffle with some great prizes!

Pattern Release: Pierogi Slipper Socks

It's Election Day here in the United States, and no doubt you've heard a lot about this particular election no matter where you live, so I'm sure you'll be happy to hear that this post is entirely politics free! Today, all I want to talk about is the pattern I've released today for a cozy pair of slipper socks.

I knew when I started planning out the patterns in the Stitchburgh collection that there had to be something included that was inspired by food. It might surprise you to hear it, but Pittsburgh has a pretty hot food scene. A lot of the food you can get in the city is inspired by the various ethnic groups that have settled here over the years, and one food item you'll find in abundance is the delicious dumpling called the pierogi. Pierogis are Eastern European in origin, and you'll find them stuffed with all sorts of yummy things -- potato, cheese, onion, etc. You will find them all over the place in Pittsburgh, whether they're being sold at a food truck, a church fundraiser, or a high-end restaurant. If you go to a Pittsburgh Pirates home game, you'll even have the privilege of seeing the Great Pittsburgh Pierogi Race N'at (for a taste of the full experience, check out this video). So it seemed only natural that I design a sock with a pierogi-like feature.

The Pierogi Slipper Socks are designed to be extra-cozy footies for cool days and nights. They're worked from the cuff down, starting with a hemmed cuff, and have a tab of fabric on the back of the foot, just above the heel flap, that looks rather like a pierogi. The pattern has been graded for four widths -- 7 (8, 9, 10) in./17.5 (20, 22.5, 25) cm foot circumference -- and the length is adjustable to your foot.

Now let me rave for a moment about the yarn. The yarn I used in the sample is Shetland three-ply sportweight from the Ross Farm; this particular skein came from a sheep named Hyacinth. This is a lovely farm wool, which means it's not overly processed and you might still find a bit of veg matter here and there but it also still has a bit of lanolin in it. You can really sense that this yarn came from a sheep (unlike some commercial yarns). And I loved knitting with it (so much so that you will probably not be surprised that there's another Stitchburgh pattern using the same yarn coming up). Although it's labeled a sport, this knits up more like a DK, so it worked up at a lovely, squishy, dense gauge in these socks. I used less than one 250 yard skein to knit socks that fit my 9.5 inch feet. Your yarn usage will obviously depend on how long your feet are, but I'm estimating you'll need between 75 and 100 g of yarn.

These slipper socks are not only fun to knit up, they're fast. They're worked up at a gauge of 6 stitches per inch, so the rounds are relatively quick, making this pattern perfect if you need to whip up a pair in a hurry because your feet are cold or you need a gift.

Buy the pattern:

Buy the collection:

A Month's Work

It took me exactly a month, but I have officially finished my Blue Footed Booby spin -- a full pound of blended merino top spun into two-ply fingering weight yarn.

My consistency on this spin was pretty good -- my second skein was only about 10 yards longer than my first skein. In total, I have about 1,490 yards, give or take (my measurements are always estimates). That's a little less than what's listed for the pattern I want to make, but I might end up making a size smaller because I've seen a bunch of comments about the pattern running large. I'm not going to cast on just yet, so I have time to weigh my options.

After spending all that time spinning up a pound of the same fiber, I needed a little change, so I got out my August shipment from the Southern Cross Fibre club -- a luscious blend of 65% merino/35% mulberry silk -- and started a traditional three ply that I think will come out roughly DK to worsted weight. I'm already nearly done with the first bobbin.

This is a such a pleasurable spin, as all of David's fibers usually are, but I feel like I'm giving myself a real treat.

Speaking of SCF club shipments, my September shipment showed up earlier this week. This month's selection is Rambouillet, and the color David selected for me is called Allium:

The color isn't quite accurate; the greens are a bit brighter and more prevalent. I also ordered the other colorway for the month because I loved it as well, but it'll be coming in a separate shipment. And my next FatCatKnits club shipment should be here tomorrow as well -- lots of fiber coming in! I guess the timing has worked out well, because next Saturday is Indie Knit and Spin, and I will have a large amount of handspun for sale. If you're in the greater Pittsburgh area, please come by and see me!

The Gramps Style

Hey hey, look what's finished!

When you're excited about your new sweater, you wear it with your jammies!

Pattern: Gramps Cardigan by Kate Oates, size 8
Yarn: Berroco Vintage (50% acrylic, 40% wool, 10% nylon), in color 5152/Mistletoe, approximately 3.25 skeins
Needles: US 5 (3.75 mm) and US 6 (4.0 mm)
Started/Completed: September 26/November 1
Mods: see below

This sweater marks the fourth time I have knit the pattern and I still feel like I could knit it again without becoming bored, so I think that's a pretty good indication that it's a good pattern.

Each time I knit this pattern after the first time, I made adjustments, and that was certainly the case with this iteration. The main place I made modifications was on the sleeves. I really like symmetry, and it bothered me that the cables on the sleeves did not mirror each other, so I switched the twist direction on one and attached the sleeves such that the cables on both sleeves cross toward the front of the sweater. I also adjusted the cables at the top of the sleeves, making them narrower so that the cable stitches would not be eaten up by the raglan decreases. Speaking of the raglan decreases, I switch the order of them so that the decrease lines would lean away from the markers (the pattern calls for doing ssk before the marker and k2tog after; I did k2tog before and ssk after). Finally, because I picked up fewer stitches than specified for the button bands, I eliminated one set of short rows for the shawl collar.

While I love how this sweater looks, I will say that it does seem to run a little small, especially in the sleeves. Rainbow wears a size 6 and is pretty slim, but even the size 8 sleeves are very snug on her. I think if I were knitting this again for her, I'd add four or eight stitches to the sleeves and omit some of the increases. I'm not ripping and redoing at this point, but I am going to try steaming the cuffs to see if I can get the acrylic content of the yarn to relax a bit.

Overall, I'm calling this a win, though there were some hiccups along the way and the yarn isn't necessarily what I would have chosen (though Rainbow is perfectly happy with it, and that's what matters). I'm hoping that this will fit for at least a couple of years; if not, expect to see me knitting another dark green sweater next year.

Wool Season, Sort of

Every time I start to get excited about the weather getting to be perfect for sweaters and socks, we get another heat wave. Over the weekend, it was in the 70s again, and it's expect to hit 75 tomorrow. I've still been wearing my hand-knit socks, for the most part, but there have been days when my feet have been rather warm. I'm not really in a rush for winter, mind you, but I do enjoy wearing my handknits, and I would rather have some consistency -- I actually went to pick up Rainbow from Sunday School wearing a t-shirt and sandals, and then yesterday I was wearing a turtleneck sweater!

In spite of the weird weather, I did manage to finish another wool project over the weekend, and it's another pair of mittens.

Pattern: Waiting for Winter Mittens & Fingerless Mitts by Susan B. Anderson
Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted (100% merino) in Azul Bolita, less than one skein
Needles: US 5 Addi Turbos, magic loop
Started/Completed: October 24/October 30
Mods: used lifted increases for the thumb gusset rather than the m1 increases called for

These were a piece of cake and I hardly had to think about what I was doing. They were so quick, too! I probably could have knit a mitten in a day were it not for that pesky thing called work. I did change up the increases a bit, mainly because I wanted to see how they looked compared to the increases called for in the pattern. I also picked up a couple of extra stitches when I started the thumb to help eliminate the gaps, but I decreased those away in the next round. I still haven't decided who is getting these mittens, but at least I have another gift done.

I am extremely close to finishing Rainbow's Gramps Cardigan; I only have two rows and a bind off left to do on the collar/button bands, underarm grafting, and ends to weave in. All that should be completed this evening, and once Rainbow picks out some buttons, she'll be able to wear her new sweater to school!

I cast on a new project for my lunchtime knitting, though in a way it's also kind of an old project. Remember the multicolor shawl I finished a few weeks ago? I'm knitting it again, but this time I'm working it in stockinette and using yarnovers for my increases.

The yarn I'm using is some deep stash handspun, some Crown Mountain Farms Targhee that I spun up into a three-ply fingering way back in 2010, when Rainbow was still an infant and my crafting time was limited. I thought it was too soft for socks, so it's been sitting in my stash ever since, just waiting for the right project to come along. I love how this yarn reads as kind of a drab brownish color from far away but, knit up, actually kind of stripes with all the colors it contains.