No Knitting tonight!

Just a few pics!

Yesterday, Lil Emp and I took a walk to the beach!

He played in the sand and this was our view...
Kinda dumb that we don't walk down that way often, huh? Would you believe it really is about a 15 minute walk from our home?

And my dear bud, brought me out for a belated birthday dinner to the House of Prime Rib! A classic, but I must say, veeeerrrry bad on the WW program! I mean, I'm supposed to have 'rehearsed' going there, what I'd order and what I'd do...but guess what?

There was no rehearsing! Only a Tenessee Tea (Jack Daniels, Amaretto and Pineapple Juice) and wine on top of -what else?-PRlME RIB! Seconds on the creamed spinach-no seconds on the meat!
But come on-with an atmosphere like this? How could I resist?!

I know I have so many other things to get done right now-among them, an informational 'brochure' for tomorrow's "New Parent Orientation" at school! Yeah, nothing like the last minute! I'm proud to say that I did get the "Welcome Letter" done, though...Yeah, the life of a PTA President!

But look-I finally got the second "Joe Cool" sock done and now have a PAIR!!! They are sooo cute on Lil'Emp, 'cept for one thing...he says they are 'scratchy'! He only put them on so I could take this picture, and proceeded to wiggle around in them-I had to take maybe 8 shots just to get this one-he kept moving, putting his hand into the picture, etc...

It's a good thing I didn't bother knitting "Pikachu" heads (yes, Pokemon) to use as 'tassels' for his mini Malabrigo loafers, cuz he seems to think those are 'scratchy', too!

I SWEAR this is the last time, but I will probably try one more mini-malabrigo loafers for him using STR doubled. If he finds those 'scratchy', I give up!

And here is what I tossed in the steamer quickly on Tuesday night:This poor yarn had sat, damp, in a plastic bag waiting to be dyed. I wasn't getting around to it and decided I'd experiment with a 'semi-solid'. Using some dye I had gotten a while ago from KnitPicks in Mulberry, I mixed some up, trying for a smaller quantity for a lighter shade and basically tossed it into the bag with the skeins and tried to work the dye into the yarn. Overall, I think I like it!

Better go-everything else calls!

Can I start the stole already?!

Apparently not, since I only finished swatching today, having decided the Habu might not be such a good idea! So Motley Hue it is for the SSiii. I was flip-flopping on the bead choice, but I am pretty sure (well, I guess I am 'sure', since I just ordered the rest of the beads) I'm going with the Colonial Grey-lined crystal.

I pulled out the Silver-lined Rosaline 8/0 beads I had purchased for the MS4 and guess what? I think they may work with my now RED Mystery Stole 4!

I bought the appropriate sized crochet hook that will fit the 8/0 beads, so I am set to swatch AGAIN for MS4! Uh...except I still need to wind the new yarn!

Meanwhile, SSiii swatches are washed and laying out to dry.

Above is the fabric I settled on. Well...sorta. I went up to size 5 needles for this swatch and was too lazy to do a whole nother swatch with size 6, so I finished the top portion (the last 10 or so rows after the last beaded row) using my size 6 Addi lace needles. You can hardly detect them, but this whole swatch has the Orchid-lined crystal beads attached.

Here's the swatch I did with the size 2 needles; the top portion has the Colonial Grey-lined crystal beads attached. I decided this fabric is tighter than I preferred.

Here, I was trying to show a side-by-side comparison of the two beads. Clearly the Colonia-Grey shows up much more in the photos. The funny thing with transluscent beads is that so much depends on lighting! In real-life, the Orchid-lined beads seem much more visible. But still, I'm going with the subtler Colonial grey...

OK, maybe this wasn't the best idea (you know, the laziness size 6 needle idea...) and you can't see much difference; but regardless, what do you think? Size 5 needles (bottom 9/10 of the swatch) or 6 (top 1/10 of the swatch)? (All shown on the first swatch)...

Must be I'm focused!

Phew! With my parents' surprise 75th Birthdays Lunch behind me, I am wiped out! During a time of brief moderate sanity (moderate, I say, as I actually contemplated participating in the Ravelympics and brief because shortly thereafter came the insanity of the thinking I'm doing both shawl KALs...), I had decided I would NOT be participating in the Ravelympics on Team Blue Moon when I realized the planning of and this actual event fell at the same time. Probably a very wise idea...

But I am happy to report that the Central Air socks are now a pair!

And I have now finished Clue #3 of the Mystic Light Shawl. There are still 2 more clues to complete, and Secret of the Stole iii the begun! And I've not finished swatching with the Habu-possibly because I am realizing the error of my way in thinking that this was a good idea to knit something so big out of yarn so absolutely thin! But I need to figure this out soon!

I stretched out one half of the shawl on the clothesline. As always, not the best pic, but: 1) I live in the City; it is overcast today, 2) it has grown much bigger where the width exceeds the circ length, 3) I'm trying to give you an idea; I am not a photographer!, 4) You all loveses me anyways, right?! ;)

In the meantime, I got this out of hock at Article Pract!
They were able to look up my past gift certificate and I was able to use it to pay for this lovely skein of Yarn Place Gentle. The color is Wet Stone and it is a very dark, olivey-tealy green with a grey tone to it. I LOVE this and it seems to have a nice, tight twist to it. $20.25 for this 100g ball of 1380 yards! Not bad, huh? And I have $7.38 worth of credit remaining on my gift certificate! YAY, ME!!!

Now, off to go play me some BRAIN AGE cuz it taught me, "...knitting can activate your prefrontal cortex...Using both hands to create something can be a stimulating brain activity." Or maybe I should just go and...KNIT! ;)

Got me some lace!

Well, not exactly lace, but lace weight yarn! And at NO COST. In fact, I got back $1.78 in change! I made it over to Article Pract and found that they do, indeed, carry Cashwool. And I was able to find a beautiful cranberry red color. In addition, I was able to snag 2 cones of Habu in a gorgeous sage green color!

I loved the color of the Habu, but it is REALLY thin. I mean REALLY. THIN...Nartian suggested I swap out the BMFA Laci for the Habu; use the Habu for the SSiii since DK is using a fairly thin yarn for hers. I agree with that, so long as the Habu swatches up ok. It may drive me nuts to knit with in which case I can always carry it along with some other Habu for a lacey scarf or something if it doesn't work out. But I will swatch and see...

But for now, the results of the ssiii swatching:

Size 2 needles with Colonial Grey-lined crystal beads (I stupidly didn't realize I was supposed to add the beads as I went, so only ended up beading 2 of the 3 beaded rows...):
Then I realized I needed to go up a few sizes on the needles. I went up to a size 5 and tried out the Orchid-Lined crystal 6/0 beads:
I haven't completed this swatch, since I am now starting to swatch the green Habu so I can decide whether I need to switch this yarn out to use on the MS4. If not, I can use the Cashwool for the MS4 or (if I can find my other gift certificate for Article Pract) purchase this other lace yarn I found today--a gorgeous heathered greenish-teal color. It's on hold as I write! Keep your fingers crossed that I find that gift certificate!

Swatching, not Watching...

...the Olympics, that is! Never been very big on them except as a kid when I was into ice skating. But then, again, that would be the winter olympics!

Well, here is The Knittery lace in Moonlight. LOVE this colorway. Don't love how the lace is knitting up with it. The colorway is so incredible that it really competes with the lace patterning. LOVE the way it washed up and the feel of it, too! Oh well...

The good news is that if I decide not to purchase new yarn and continue on this attempt at insanity that is, the Mystery Stole 4 KAL, I still have other things to occupy my time. Like the Secret of the Stole iii, which I finally started to swatch for!

I'm further along that what is shown in this pic, and the beads above were placed on the swatch. I think I should have read up on the crochet hook beading method first, cuz then I would have realized I needed to hook the beads on as I went along! Oh well...I continue on the swatch and am this swatch will at least have the upper three bead rows with beads attached.

So far, I still can't tell which beads I like best. I'm now leaning towards the Colonial Gray-lined (the ones I have placed on the right side...). I will probably try going up a needle size or two and do a second swatch at which time I'll add the Orchid-lined crystal and see what the overall look is.

And while I'm discussing my swatching, let me add that working with the Laci so far is FABULOUS! It has a softness to it and good stretch! Me loveses it! But what else could I expect from a Blue Moon Fiber Arts yarn?! Definitely less lofty than the Dream In Color Baby I'm using for the Mystic Lights shawl, but its smooshiness is much like that. And the hand is soooo soft! I'm sure the Baby will feel softer once washed, but the Laci already feels so soft knit up without washing! I'm no expert on lace, but so far, I have to say that this is a winner in my book!

Beads! Beads! More Beads! Cake!

I can't believe I FINALLY got the whole 1750 yards of Laci wound into a cake! And without the help of the Jumbo winder, since I had returned it and hadn't gotten around to borrowing it again! Nartian was right-go S L O W... And here it is!


I think alot of the driving force in finally getting this wound is that my beads arrived!

Above, Laci is shown with the three bead choices (left to right): Colonial Gray-lined Crystal, Orchid-lined Crystal, Gilt-lined Peach. Off the bat, I think a NO on the peach. The Silver-lined Rosaline is in the background and I think would be a lovely choice, except they didn't offer it in the 6/0 size. The ones in the background are supposed to be for the MS4 KAL and are size 8/0.

So now I REALLY have to swatch!

When Duty Calls, I Answer!

And that's why I ended up casting on yet another pair of socks! But look how awesome my Socks that Rock Blarney Stone is knitting up?!

This is the Sunshine Socks pattern from SockPixie that a friend of mine had done using a skein of STR in Purple Rain that I had given her as a consolation for the fact she had knit her brand new Shabui (a gorgeous CherryBlossom colorway-pink with flashes of lime green!) into Monkeys that only a small child would fit! And well...she has three boys! Three boys who are not of the petite variety!

Anyways, she knit this Sunshine Socks pattern up and the socks turned out gorgeous! Our other friend decided she would try out the pattern and found herself getting 5 remaining stitches from the original 70 stitch CO! So, being the helpful knitting pal I am, I told her I'd take a look at the pattern.

I looked. I counted. I didn't get it! Not even messing with it on an already in-progress sock! What was I to do? Only what any good Knitter would: I cast on so I could figure it out! And proceeded to get 2 remaining stitches after the first round! HUH??????????

So I even get KnittingGolfer Marcy to look at it, while at the same time getting on the 'hot line' to my Purple Rain knitting bud to review what I obviously must be getting wrong! Well...turns out there was nothing wrong with the pattern or with our interpretation! It was actually something I had kinda suspected from the get-go: we are more used of knitting with patterns whereas Purple Rain Knitter learned by doing under the supervision of her knitting aunt without patterns. Naturally, PRN followed the pattern, no problem, since she was actually FOLLOWING the pattern! We, on the other hand, probably leaped over a K2 or a P1 here and there resulting in the extra stitches at the end!

Long story longer, this is a great pattern! Especially for our lovely hand-dyed yarns. Just be veeerrry careful when running the first row-those K2's after K2tog with P1's scattered throughout can throw some of us more confident, (or shall I say, reckless-?) knitters! But really, once it gets going, it is awesome! and looks great!

And before allowing that to distract me from my housework and other knitting projects, I actually have an FO!

The pic is a bit bleached out, but this is my newly ungrafted, length extended, grafted back, end-woven-in and completed Ruffled Roses scarf! When I saw this scarf at Annie Modesitt's site, I thought it was so clever! She offers it to LYS for free* to encourage knitters to visit their LYS. I immediately contacted Allison at ImagiKnit and asked her to request it. Bought the yarn, did a pretty good job (cuz well, I can often not be very good at focus...) focusing on this project and finished it. Only to find it was a bit too short; well, actually, it was a bit strangling around the neck, to tell you the truth! Could I live with it? As much as I wanted to just 'live with it', I couldn't. Not if I valued my ability to breath! So it sat. And sat. And sat...Because face it-and I think you all know what I'm talking about!-when you feel like 'knitting', you feel like 'knitting' and this was not going to be 'knitting'. At least, not until I got the grafting undone-oh yeah, and did I mention that the ends had also already been woven in? Bottom line: the yardage of the two green skeins of yarn were obviously NOT enough for my fat neck-even having done an extra lace repeat of the reddish/brown color at the base! You could either: a) do as it says, if you have a slender neck or knit tighter, b) decrease the ribbing after the lace portion or c) buy extra yarn! d) utilize the proportions of colored yarns differently to avoid the 4th Misti Alpaca yarn skein purchase...

So there I sat last week with Nartian while we both enjoyed each other's company while performing 'knitting-related' drudgery tasks! She, seaming Monkey 1's fingering weight sweater; me, un-grafting, resetting stitches and lengthening the scarf! We were in hell, but we were together! And now our tasks are complete!

I kept my focus on the Central Air sock and the Mystic Light no-longer-KAL shawl (the one person on the Rav board I thought would be KAL with me had her KALs mixed up and is actually working on her MS3! But that's how I ended up joining MS4!-lol!) We may yet KAL together on the Mystic Light, afterall, I am that slow...yeah...more like CAL (crawl-a-long!)

I am happy to report that I have finished Clue 2 and have started Clue 3. And as much as I knew it was too good to be true and had pictures to lead me to conclude otherwise, I had been thinking there were only THREE clues!-HA! Who was I kidding? There are FIVE, People! FIVE CLUES! So I gues that maybe makes me at least 1/3 through?

When I finish Clue 3, I'll flash a new pic, cuz it isn't looking much different from the last pic at this point. But if you looked at the link above, it shows how the finished shawl is supposed to look. Let's hope I can be as good as Adrienne and finish it!

(*PS-Nartian told me there was some buzz about this pattern on Ravelry-seems some LYS had the nerve to sell this pattern to someone! Don't buy it-it is supposed to be offered for free through your LYS! They may require purchase, but they may not charge for it! Can you believe that?!)

Choices, and the possibility of a lone lace KAL!

I swatched the "The Knittery" Merino Lace Moonlight colorway for the Mystery Stole 4 KAL. Rather, I started to swatch. Here is how it looks thusfar, after 1 1/2 pattern repeats:



I'm thinking it is too variegated for this project! I will continue the rest of the repeats for the swatch, then block it for a final verdict.

In the meantime, I've been pondering what to do:

1) Not do the MS4 right away, thus postponing the yarn purchase (cost-$0.00)
2) Buy a second skein of this lace yarn I pulled from my stash (cost-~$15.00)
3) Buy enough lace yarn for this project from The Loopy Ewe with my $25 gift certificate (cost-~$50 less the $25 certificate+shipping=~$30)
4) Same as idea 3, only purchasing at Article Pract with a $30 gift certificate (cost ~$20.)
5) Shop for some cool new lace yarn (like perhaps 4 skeins of this?!) from somewhere (cost-$45-50)
6) Buy some BARE from Knitpicks and dye it myself (cost-$15 w/shipping)
7) Buy some undyed lace yarn at Dharma Trading Co. (cost-not sure, but I think they have some around $30; add gas and bridge toll of $5!)

As you can see, only option 1 is a zero cost proposition. Option 2 won't be more than $15 (I think they run $12 but the price could have gone up...). BUT...this assumes they have said yarn. And another thing to consider-no shipping and I could probably postpone the purchase until next month. And then, there is the risk that the dye lots may not be the same even if they DO have said yarn...Options 3 & 4 also assume that the said stores actually HAVE a lace yarn that will meet my requirements (light, non-variegated). Options 6 & 7 will take extra time to dye, but I know I can make a solid/semi-solid yarn that should work.

So my more practical, disciplined, knitting pal says, 'DON'T DO IT!!! DON'T BUY MORE YARN!!!'' (Yeah, definitely not of the same Knitter Species as many others of us are!) What can I say? She is much more practical-minded with her purchasing and she's not what I consider 'frugal'; just not the compulsive/emotional yarn purchaser I am...

So for now, I will endeavor to finish the MS4 swatch, then I'll post it and poll the rest of you for your input!!! As always, feel free to comment at any time-no need to wait for the big Swatch Post!

One hour...and a half!

...just to hand-ply this much skinny two-ply yarn!
and then, to wind it into its puny little skein...
The good news: I see progress! Below is all the handspun put together, compared to the roving that is left. Looks like it is almost finished! Well, maybe in this pic it only looks a little past 1/2 way, but remember, the stuff on the left is spun and denser; the stuff on the right has more air! I think I am at least 3/4 way there!
Why my little diversion this afternoon to spin, rather than knit?

Must be because I just got this from Nartian for my birthday!!! Thanks so much, Nartian!

It's a Blue Moon Fiber Arts "Sheep 2 Shoe" kit! And guess what the colorway is...?

PUCK'S MISCHIEF!!!

Biased as it may sound, I LOVE this colorway! If you just look at it, you can see why, so no, it is NOT because it happens to have been assigned the name suggestion I made long ago in a contest!

(NOTE: the above was started as an entry for Sunday, August 3; alas, Lil' Emp called me away to help him figure out how to find a "Lumineon" pokemon...yeah, duty called!)

Speaking of contests...

I have to say I'm kind of embarassed to admit to having won two more...

one, being the one over at Tina's Blog at the Blue Moon Fiber Arts website! I received my Rare Gems the other day! It is very dark-almost a Ravenesque black, but extremely dark teal with streaks of natural color.


And look-a very slight hint of yellow!

The other contest was one that Raquel had at her blog, Rockinknit. And can you believe what she sent me for a prize?!

A tin of chocolate (dark! my fav!!!), a notepad, and yes-you are seeing this correctly--A $25 gift certificate to the LOOPY EWE!!!!!! I have heard many wonderful things about this on-line shop and haven't had a chance to order there yet, so now that I am on my yarn shopping hiatus, I can keep this for a guilt-free splurge into wonderful yarniness! The hard part will be deciding what to use it for! There are so many awesome indie yarns and gorgeous patterns at the site!

Thanks for a fun contest, Rocky! (I had guessed what she was knitting in the middle of the night on her lit knitting needles! She was making a knitted 'tag' for a tree in front of her house-too fun!-in honor of a group in Texas called "The Knittas". Yeah, in the middle of the night. Really. Using her light-up knitting needles! No one can say we knitters aren't motivated individuals now, can they?)

As an addage, Raquel and I were in Scout's dying workshop together and met through Marisol. Raquel has only been knitting since December and has been participating in Sock Wars, knitting fine lace scarves, socks...I swear, she's amazing--one of the 'naturals' at this craft!

So if you are still with me, a couple more things I've been working on...(yes, this long post is just for IrishGirlie!)...

I started a gift for a friend! Nicholas' Gloves using lightweight STR doubled. Colorway: Valkyrie.

Incredible as this may seem, I'm working on a second sock! These are the Central Air socks I started back in February using Spunky Eclectic's Super Sport in Route 66-the colorway is so NOT me, but I absolutely love it!

And look what I resurrected! It's the Mystic Light KAL shawl-I actually pulled this puppy out, finished Clue 1 and am 1/2 way through Clue 2! YAY ME!

Favorite details: the braid running down the center ...

and the cabled edging!

So I must admit that I had started this entry before my rant about crazy Shawl KALs that I am thinking I am actually going to participate in! Actually, I am going to attempt to KAL, just don't know if I can truly keep up!

And now, here are the lace yarns I'm planning on using...
for the Secret of the Stole III:

Blue Moon Fiber Arts "Laci" in the Motley Hue colorway. Like the Mystery Stole 4, this one is to be knit with beads, so I 'auditioned' a couple of coulors on the skein. One is kind of a champagne color (slight pink tinge and silvery center). The second is a irridescent sheened topaz. I think the lighter champagne color wins out, but I'll have to see what I actually find in a store!

And here is the second skein from The Knittery. It is 1040 yards; the pattern calls for 1100 yards which includes a 'fudge factor'. I am thinking I shall take the risk with this one. What do you think? The colorway is "Moonlight" and it is merino lace.

The above shows the darker beads on the Moonlight colorway; below are the lighter beads. I gave up trying to get a better pic-that was the best I could do!

PHEW! Yeah, this was a long one for me, too, folks! If you got this far, congratulations! If you had to come back and re-visit (or perhaps skim through), I totally get that!

Always falling short! (...or, what the ---- am I thinking?!)

Falling short on time. Falling short of intelligence-I signed up for two more stole/shawl KALs! Which brings me to the third FALLING SHORT: laceweight yarn!

So I'm on spending hiatus, no? YES! I decide it would be soooo fun to join yet another two KALs! The Secret of the Stole III is about to start, and Mystery Stole 4 started taking sign-ups! Am I losing my mind? I signed up for both and am now mentally rummaging through my stash. OK, my Blue Moon Fiber Arts "Laci" that Lara gifted me will be PERFECT for SSSiii! Generous (1750 yards, baby!) yardage! And the right color for SSSiii! But doesn't it figure that MS4 calls for just about 'anything goes' on the color part, states that beads are 'non-optional' and the 4 skeins of Optim I own have 246 yds each to them! Yeah, 246 yards! People-that's 984 yards total-I did the math...I think the second largest amount of laceweight I have (or something close enough for substitutions) would be 800 yards! And the rest would all be around 350-400 yards! OK, I just remembered one other skein--I'm holding out hope-let me revisit my skein from The Knittery and I will return with the verdict. Keep your fingers crossed for me, though I seem to recall that it is around 1046yds (though 1046 is something I may be willng to take a chance on!)

So Nartian and I are both embarking on this two-stole journey! But, as many of you know, she would be the one to place bets on! Join us on this journey if you aren't already signed-up--maybe you can help push me along!!!

Too tired and lazy to blog...

So for now, here-have some CAKE!
Unfortunately, Nartian was out having to get her car repaired and missed out on this yesterday!

The issue of tightly wound cakes...

A question had come up about the consequences of having a tightly wound cake of yarn. I know that this was something that until I had read this on BeadLizard Silvia's blog, I had never have even given a second thought to! When I read it, I thought "HOW GENIUS!"

"http://beadlizard.blogspot.com/search?q=winding+yarn:
8. Yarn health. Wind relaxed center-pull balls. A tightly wound ball blocks the yarn and when you wash your garment the yarn will return to its preferred length, often making the garment considerably smaller than expected. A tightly wound center-pull ball will also be more likely to burp clumps that proceed to tangle and waste your time. I usually wind from hank to ball, then wind the ball once or twice more to get a soft, squishy ball. If you don't own a ball winder, buy one or go to a friend's house and have a winding party with hers. (Bring cookies.)"

I know many people are aware of this issue, some giving more importance to it than others. But just as there are those who know this, there may be others who had not heard. Just thought I'd share in case there were others who may not yet be aware of this tidbit of knitting knowledge.

And this, another reason my yarn-winding venture of the other night occupied a considerable amount of my evening...

Green, Green, My Stash is GREEN!

Adding to my "Green Sock Yarn" sub-sub stash, compliments of Marcy (KnittingGolfer at Rav...) ! THANKS, MARCY! This is a handpainted sock yarn from WEBS' "Kangaroo Dyer" and is a gorgeous green! I love it, it has lots of hues of green that I favor, and yet is like no other in my green sub stash!

Green with hints of teal; a gorgeous green!

And this is what I spent the majority of my free time this evening doing...

Finally winding the 3 MAMBO sized WooBu from Blue Moon Fiber Arts for the Giselle pattern!

Actually, it was all my free time and the time I should have spent doing constructive things around the house! (Like, you know...declutter and the like...) But the three skeins are wound, thanks to Ivy (Knit1,Bling2), who lent me her Royal JUMBO ball winder! The catch was that I had to figure out how to assemble it and use it!-lol!

It actually was very straight-forward except for the fact that intially, when attaching the 'wings', they seem to scrape upon the white central disk. Instinctively, I wanted to pull them futher out, but the opposite approach is correct-you make sure they are slid completely down, and upon tightening the screw all the way in, the wing pushes out and you are in business. It sets it just at the correct angle to avoid the scraping. The small screws are quite long and protrude a good 1/2" in past the wing, but when set correctly, there is no problem. You just gotta have faith!

This faith took 1/2 hour or more to gain!

This I tell all of you readers because one day, you really may be setting one of these puppies up yourself and this will all come to you, saving you a good 30-45 minutes of your life!

Intrigues and Freaks me out at the same time...

which is whiy I had to jump on and blog about this!


From what I understand, this is a hornet's nest. That's what my mom said. I searched and it says 'wasp'. Everything I looked up differentiates between honeybees and wasps, but are wasps the same as hornets?

Anyways, this is attached to the fire escape landing on the building next door to ours. Very interesting to look at the papery layers and watch the wasps(?) exit and enter and at the same time it freaks me out! Eeeew...right next door. And I live in the City, where 'next door' is literally next-door. Like feet away.

And for a minor bit of knitting content: I had to rip the Joe Cool socks back! My child is growing so fast that I had a skewed image of how small his foot really is, and it ain't all that small! At least not to go down from 48 to 36 stitches. I could have gone with the 42 stitch count compromise, but I figured I'll go looser and see. Hey-we all frog our socks every now and then, and even a 48 stitch count sock is mild compared to the 72 stitch ones, right?

What I know (or maybe don't know...) about Koigu PPPM and BMFA Socks that Rock

There was an inquery on Ravelry the other day asking for comparisons of Koigu Painter's Palette Premium Merino and Socks that Rock. While I am sure I will be overlooking many of the different points, I thought I would do a visual side-by-side...

Here are thet two yarns: to the right, Socks that Rock in Kaw Kaw colorway; on the left is KPPPM (colorway is numbered and I don't think I kept that back!)...

So I guess that is one obvious difference! STR colorways are named, while KPPPM colorways are numbered! I don't know about you, but it is easier for me to remember the names, rather than the numbers! But ok, maybe no one cares, since this difference does NOT affect the knitted fabric! (Really, it doesn't..!)

And below, the strands shown side by side: top-STR, bottom-KPPPM...
Now I kinda did a 'wraps per inch' kinda test. Interesting to me is that I always believed STR is a bit 'thicker', meaning you'd get less WPI. Not so; in actuality, it almost seems like it is actually a bit 'thinner'!


Admittedly, I kinda don't recall what this next picture was supposed to illustrate. I think the same as above (but maybe I tried to get a better representation to illustrate the common WPI.)

Now in this picture, I pulled the ends taut; can you notice how the Koigu has thinned out but the STR has remained about the same tickness? It keeps its density. And another thing to note: they both seem to have an equal amount of stretch. Neither stretched considerably more or less.So that is all the insight I'm able to offer at this time, other than what all was posted at Ravelry.

OH! And a new, improved pic of me in my recently completed Ribby Pulli Scoop! I think I would have added some short-rowing (which I HAD considered but thought the ribbing would pull out enough...) to compensate for my bust and belly. Obviously, the ribbing was not enough, since the back hangs down a good 2-3 inches longer while the front tends to "scooch" up. But what can I say? I was in a 'press on in the round and get this finished' mood and wasn't about to stop to think about and calculate the short-row shaping! Really. I swear, if I had decided to do the short-rowing, it may have fit more excellently and my sweater design teacher would have been proud of me. But alas, you and I may not be seeing this completed item had I gone that route, either!