Hello, my friendly sock pal! Thanks for leaving me a comment — I knew you were out there, but having some proof thereof is helpful. I know I left some kind-of persnickety instructions in my profile about color (What can I say? I’m not a fan of pooling…), but I’m sure you’ll be able to find something you’ll like knitting with, and I’m sure I will love the finished product.

I had an anonymous email exchange with the pal for whom I’m knitting about her preferences, and she didn’t tell me anything specific about style or color (except to exclude her least favorite). She’s set herself the goal of knitting socks with 12 different sock yarns over the next year, a mighty admirable one at that. With Lorna’s Laces and Koigu already spoken for, I’m thinking I should try to find something completely out of the way so as not to duplicate any of her on-deck yarns.

And speaking of something out of the way, my sister, Sarah, reminded me that I haven’t made her a pair of socks yet. While I was visiting at her house in Wisconsin last weekend, we went through a bunch of questions to try and get down to what she wants in a pair of handknit socks, and the requirements are thus:

  • super warm
  • soft and snuggly
  • the kind of socks her husband will make her take off in bed
  • not worn out and about with shoes
  • easy care

It’s that last one that’s the killer. I had all kinds of ideas for yarn until we got to the “hand wash vs. machine wash” question. So, do you know of a extra soft and warm yarn that’s machine washable? Maybe a blend of superwash wool and alpaca? Anyone?

Here’s a taste of the aforementioned Swallowtail Shawl from the Fall ’06 Interweave. There will be much more to show when I blog about my handy new blocking frame, but you get a sense of the Bird of Paradise colorway from Sundara.