Tree Bark

Pattern available as a downloadable PDF file for $5.


As in socks, that is. Here is the first of the pair -- the second one is OTN already.

This yarn is, as you can see in the picture, from Sharon of StitchJones (also available in Oregon at Twisted in and All About Yarn). The color is called "The Trees," thus the name of these socks, Tree Bark. I wanted to do something that fit the color theme of the yarn and broke up the hand-dyed variations a bit.

I wasn't sure when I started how much the colors would pool, stripe, or just be all over the place. Part of the fun of using hand-dyed yarns is discovering that kind of thing. As it turns out, the greens started striping right away, while the browns pooled a little bit. But once I got out of the ribbing section, the browns started striping in a very pretty spiral fashion that I like a lot.

This yarn is very nice to work with. It's got a great deal of spring to it and is really soft. It's a mix of wool and nylon and has a nice, tight ply that eliminates any problems with splitting. The sock is exteremely comfortable and warm without being bulky. Me likey!

Spring here in Oregon has only sprung on the calendar. Although we had a few days of warming temperatures and sunshine -- just enough to make the crocus and daffodils bloom and many of the flowering trees burst loose in beauty -- it was only a teaser. Yesterday I worked at the shop all day and watched as the weather did its thing. There were bursts of sunshine, not to be confused with warmth since the temperatures were still no higher than the 40s F. Then there was rain. Not the drizzle we Oregonians know and love, but sheets of rain. Then I noticed a sound change and went to the window only to see massive amounts of hail falling from the sky. In just a couple of minutes, there was a pretty good coating of hail pellets across the parking lot. It went on for what seemed a really long time before turning to sleet, then back to rain. For a while, it was just grey outside. Then, just as I was closing up, the hail broke loose again. Craziness. Almost April. Yeah, right!

I swear, I was waiting for the frogs, but thankfully that didn't happen -- at least not while my car was in an open-air parking lot!

After work, I went downtown to Knit/Purl to help with inventory. Yep, that's right. I worked all day in a yarn shop, then volunteered to help another yarn shop do inventory. I admit it, I'm a yarn junkie! Of course, it helped that those of us who helped were given pizza and a gift card in exchange for our labor. My gift card was immediately spent on some yummy ShiBui Sock yarn in periwinkle and orchid. How could I resist???