The intermittent blogger strikes again!

There’s so much to write about again, and why I haven’t just been writing as these things happen, I don’t know, but there it is.

I got my savior socks out in the mail to Kristin, and she likes them! Yay!

Yarn: Sundara Yarn Sock Yarn (100% superwash merino) in Hydrangea from the Petals Collection
Pattern: Calla Lily Socks by Sundara Murphy
Needles: Inox #1 dpns (my favorites)

Since she got stiffed by her original pal, I had to make sure Kristin got an extra special package, so I picked up a cool Paperchase lunch box and notebook at Borders, pulled a ball of Opal yarn from the stash, and threw in some chocolate, both foreign (Ritter Sport) and domestic (Scharffen Berger).

So I now have two skeins of Petals Collection yarn left: Dahlia, which is a vibrant orange with rosy undertones, and Lenten Rose, a gorgeous purpley-gray color. I love that yarn so darn much, and I love the socks that result, and I almost don’t want to use them up. So I’ll just let it sit in my stash for a while and see if any worthy sock patterns come my way.

For kicks, I checked the Sockapalooza 4 database today, and there were actually a couple of pals there who didn’t get a pair of socks. So I have a pal to save! Yay! I looked her up on Ravelry, and it doesn’t look like she has any Sundara experience, so I think I can remedy that! I don’t think I’ll post any pics, though: now that there are so few people expecting socks, it’s that much easier to track down the person making them for you.

They came! They came! My beautiful Sockapalooza 4 socks came!

Michal sent them from sunny LA along with some yummy chocolate and other treats. Her struggles in the knitting were worth every stitch. They fit perfectly, avoided the dreaded pooling, and are a great demonstration of why everyone loves Lorna’s Laces so much.

Knitters are such good people. Having a perfect stranger knit and send something so wonderful… Well, it’s something really special.

I got my Sockapalooza 4 socks out in the mail today, along with a couple of little surprise goodies. Here they are:

This is Nancy Bush’s “Conwy” pattern from Knitting on the Road. I used the Fall Foliage colorway from Sundara Yarn’s Petals Collection, which was, as usual, a pleasure to work with. It blocked up beautifully, and I’m hoping my pal really likes them.

I also found these excellent Fort Wayne greeting cards at Borders. The photography is by Suzanne J. Rogers, and there are all sorts of local landmarks. This is the downtown skyline photo I like the best; my sock pal got a great shot of the Sunbeam Bread sign.

Now I can’t wait to get mine!

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.

I just retrieved my sock pal’s information, and by some wonderful stroke of luck, our feet/ankles/calves are almost exactly the same size. How very convenient.

I’ve had these on the needles for about a month now:

They’re lovely — the gorgeous yarn is from Sundara’s petals collection, and the pattern is Nancy Bush (who is awesome). I don’t know. Maybe I’ll get them finished and decide whether or not I want to part with them, and then figure out something else to make, instead.

Ooh! Also, yesterday my knitting friend, Katie, took me with her to Warsaw, IN to visit The Shuttle Shop, a sweet little yarn store. She had a gift certificate to spend, so she was doing some serious shopping, and since I’m still on a yarn diet, I just bought another one of those ridiculously cute Dale of Norway baby pattern books. There’s no baby niece or nephew to knit for yet, but I couldn’t resist. I mean, look at this:

Ridiculously cute, right?

I said I wasn’t going to do it again, but I did it again. I signed up for Sockapalooza 4 and volunteered to be a sock savior in case someone else drops out. At least I have several months before they have to be done — the mailing date isn’t until August 2, so there’s plenty of time.