progress!

Two socks, completed and happily paired up forever and ever!

The Hideaway socks are finished, and once the testing is finished, the pattern is polished, and some decent “modeling” shots are taken of these cuties, the pattern will be released – should be in the next week for sure! I’m so happy with the way these came out, and I love knowing that they’ve already been through the ringer with other knitters too.

Well, enough of that. Let’s move on already, so much yarn, so little time hahaha. I have a few other yummies lined up next (although, can I take a minute to mention how hard it is to keep up your knitting groove in 95-degree weather? My fingertips sweat just thinking about working with wool. eeeeewww Ok I’m done). Although, no sooner do I say that, but what do I have to show you? An alpaca/merino blend yarn. Right.

I’ve never worked with yarn from The Fibre Company before, but I have seen it here and there in the shops. Once I saw that the luscious Canopy Fingering yarn was being featured in this beautiful red/brown/coral “Acai” colorway, I took the plunge and got three skeins for a fall accessory design. Coral shades are THE hot colors for Fall 2011, according to the folks at Pantone (who do this for a living – can you imagine how fun that would be?), and I’m intrigued to see how the Canopy Fingering will work up, since it’s a blend of drape (alpaca and bamboo), stretch and warmth (alpaca and merino), and a bit of sheen (bamboo). As they say on all the muckraking TV news stations, stay tuned for further developments.

Until the weather cools down about 30 degrees, however, my sights are set on this little pretty:

A big hank of Sea Silk from Handmaiden in Canada in my favorite colorway of theirs, “Paris.” (Right, like you couldn’t have guessed that one….) This is an unusually large skein of Sea Silk with approximately 650 yards, rather than 440 yards, because of a mistake in its production. So I’ve been thinking about a lacy rectangular stole worked up on a larger-than-recommended needle to maximize the given yardage. The winding is the easy part – now to swatch and actually pick a stitch. You’ll be seeing a lot more of this one, and I have a feeling it’ll go pretty fast. And if you haven’t seen and/or worked with Sea Silk before, it’s the dreamiest blend of silk and seacell – any finished project has amazing sheen and unparalleled drape. I’m a huge fan, so if you ever see it in a shop, my advice is always to grab it up before it’s gone!

That’s it on the knitting front for today. Lucky me, my dear friend and I have tickets tonight to see “The Bright Stream” by American Ballet Theatre at Lincoln Center. ABT has been getting great reviews for their current season, and I can hardly think of a better way to beat the heat. It also reminds me to keep moving with a little bit of grace, too 🙂

Keep the A/C handy, and pass the water/iced tea/lemonade/sangria!