Taking flight

Presented for your amusement, the first of a pair of Flying Gull socks. This pattern is my own, using a stitch pattern from a baby sweater pattern in The Knitter's Almanac. The stitch pattern is called Gull Wing and the yarn color is Sky, thus the name Flying Gull socks.

I charted the stitch pattern for knitting in the round, adding two two-stitch twists on either side of the leg to make up for the stitch count difference between the lace repeat and the number of stitches I needed for the sock. The pair of twists then splits at the gusset with one giving way to the gusset decreases and the other continuing down the side of the lace. The heel uses the eye of partridge stitch, which pairs very well with the lace. The mate is now the needles now. :)

I spent a few hours today with a group of like-minded women at Portland's newest crafty shop, Twisted. We met to support each other in our labors over the Mystery Stole 3 project. Ten of us were there and no two people were using the same yarn. There was white and black and jade green and a beautiful variegated blue and rust and alpaca and wool and laceweight and fingering weight -- you get the idea. All gorgeous! We tried working on them while we chatted, but no one made it very far. After a couple of times correcting errors, I put the stole away and worked on my sock instead. This lace is stuff that requires more concentration and less conversation! I'm not quite halfway through Clue 2 yet. I promise pictures soon (yeah, I know I've said that before)! :)


BTW, if you're in Portland, I highly recommend Twisted. It's a really nice, open, inviting space with a huge selection of teas to enjoy, workspaces with tables, some comfy chairs in the large picture windows to relax in and people watch as you knit, a very friendly staff, and lots of great yarn.

I ogled and petted lots of yarn, including some handpainted sock yarn. But in the end, I stayed a bit more practical (given that I have enough sock yarn in my stash now to keep a marching band's feet warm if I only had time to knit through all of it). From the large selection of Debbie Bliss yarns, I got a couple of cashmerino aran skeins in a lovely dark teal/blue. This is destined to become fingerless gloves for a Christmas gift. From the lovely collection of Trekking, I chose a skein of XXL in a mix of brown/white/light blue that one knitter said reminded her of chocolate and blueberries. That will become socks for a friend who has been pestering me to make her a pair.

Finally, is a skein of Blue Moon Socks That Rock in Sun Stone. It's just as bright and lovely as a sunny day. I'm going to have to pick a special pattern for that one! This wasn't purchased at Twisted, but rather was a prize delivered to me personally by Deb. How did I get that lucky? I made a donation to her fundraising efforts for the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America. The walk/run she's participating in is coming up on August 19th, so there's still plenty of time to contribute. Donations in any amount are appreciated. Every time the total increments by $100, she gives out a prize (random number generator and all that stuff). Anyway, that's how I won the STR, although the STR sure wasn't the reason I donated. :)

It's been a really nice weekend. I worked two casino nights, but only had one editing job to do. That left me plenty of knitting time, especially since I rode the MAX train downtown and took advantage of that time to finish up the first of the Flying Gull socks. Then knitting with the group today. Just lovely! Hope yours was good, too.