Socks up the wazoo*

Well, not literally, but they are made from yarn dyed in WSU Cougar colors.

Yes, despite the fact that I haven't posted for a while, there has been knitting happening here. I started these socks on October 1st and finished them October 11th. Not bad. Just my basic sock pattern, a 2x2 rib with slip stitch flap heel. In this case, the yarn does all the talking and didn't need any more pattern to make it look good.

The yarn is from Yarn from Caryn's Creations, 75% wool/25% nylon, purchased at Stitch 'n Pitch in Seattle a while back. Caryn has yarns dyed in team colors for several Washington State-based teams. A single skein has a generous 400 yards, so you can easily make socks that fit even my big feet. This one is the Cougar self-striping fair isle and it worked up really nicely. I was worried about what might happen at the gusset, but it came together perfectly.

I'm not sure what her base yarn is, but it's not very tightly wound, so attention had to be paid to avoid splitting. I think it's worth the effort, though. There's a soft halo to the yarn, too. I gave them a good soak in Eucalan tonight and they're blocking now. I'm quite pleased with them and hope they'll be appreciated by their recipient, too. :)

I used my new Knit Picks Harmony DPNs in US size 2 (2.25mm). These are now my new favorite needles. Aside from the fact that they're pretty, they are very strong and don't bend at all like the bamboo ones tend to do. They also have very pointy tips, a plus that will come in quite handy when I do socks with lace or cable patterns.

The Christmas knitting is coming along. Tonight I made a great hat that only took a couple of hours on size 15 (eek!) needles using Rowan Big Wool. Quite a change after working with so much sock yarn. I'll get pictures and post more info this weekend. :)

* For those of you not familiar with Washington State University, it's commonly referred to as "Wazoo" thus the cutesy title. Sorry, just trying to be punny.