Tadah!

   That is what I say every time I finish a knitted item, which is greeted by varying degrees of  impressedness (I don't think that's a word, and neither does spell check, but I can't think of a word that means that, so you get the idea) by my boyfriend fiancé husband (still not the first one I think of, maybe someday).

   I have noticed that the more knitted items you show non-knitters saying "I made this myself! All on my own! From string!" they will get progressively less impressed with you. In fact, if you happen to wear anything at all that it might be vaguely possible to knit that you did not make yourself they tend to get a bit disappointed in you. I once had a lace shawl, a mystery KAL from way back, can't remember who did it but it was one that ended up being a Swan Lake theme, if you know what I'm on about, leave a comment. Anyhow, it was a lot of work, and I was rather proud of myself. I was wearing said shawl at a work gathering, and chatting with a gaggle of coworkers (non-knitters every last on of them) when one of them said "And of course you made that shawl" in a tone that suggested everyone was tired of hearing that I made things, but I hadn't even been the one to mention it. As if to say "Yes yes, you made that. Its very lovely and probably took you a lot of time and effort. We are all sick of hearing how talented you are, would you shut up about yourself already. The rest of us do stuff too, you know. I have read a great many books, and I don't see why that should be any less impressive, but you don't see me showing off about it." Now this coworker is a lovely person, and I am sure he did not mean it to sound like that, but it did sound like that or at least it did to me. Maybe to someone who has less of a constant impression that nobody cares what you have to say it might have sounded better, but he wasn't talking to one of those people. 

   Anyways, here are my socks. They are quite lovely, and they took me a long time. The pattern is Hedera by CookieA, though I modified the toe and heel to fit my personal preferences. The yarn is Stricken Smitten Sinful Sock in Scheherazade's Sky, which came from the CookieA Sock Club. 

   I started these socks because I wanted to have some knitting that matched my wedding colour scheme. I know that's a little nuts, but if you're not going a little nuts before your wedding you probably aren't doing it right. 

In case you though I was cheating, and calling one sock of the pair done, you can see both of them here. 

Sneak Preview: Mrs. Jardine

   I am very excited to tell you guys about my newest pattern that will be released very soon. I am just waiting for my boyfriend fiancé husband (someday I will get used to that) to finalize a few more photos. But here is a preview for you guys:

   This sweater is a prime example of necessity as the mother of invention. The yarn store where I work, Passionknit, had just four skeins left of this gorgeous purple yarn (Madelinetosh DK in Vishnu). So I decided that I needed to come up with a sweater that would only take me four skeins. Of course the best way to make sure I had enough was to use a fabric that was very open. I picked out one of my favourite lace patterns, grabbed a needle one size larger than the yarn called for and got to work. The product was a loose open sweater that makes a great lightweight top for Spring. I hope you will like it as much as I do.

   While I knit the sweater out of a wool, it would also look great in a cotton or bamboo blend. Something even lighter would make it perfect for the warm months to come, though its hard to believe the crazy winter we have had in Toronto this year will ever loosen its grasp on us. We can only hope, and knit.