Yarn Swap Stash Enhancement

I've talked about our yarn swap last Saturday and you've seen the pictures. But I didn't think about showing you what I got in exchange for my weird black and white Lion Brand yarn, the odd acrylic boucle (although I did really like the colors of that yarn!), and a little bit of cash.

As is usually the case on my blog, the colors aren't too great. (Do I need a new camera? Or just more talent? Don't answer that....) Most of my new stash isn't labeled, and I'm not sure how much of it I have, but it's so much better than the yarn I took! In the upper left is some pretty lavender linen yarn, Louet, I believe, that Kim didn't like. In the upper right is a whole bunch of something that I have no idea what it is, but the colors are so pretty -- pinks and red and light green and a bronzey color. It's a relatively thin yarn (maybe DK weight) with definite texture. In order to take this yarn, Betsy forced me to take the blue and purple and sparkly Skacel Summerwind you see in the center. It's really kind of pretty and I'm thinking it could become something for my 9-year-old niece. And in the front - the piece de resistance -- a whole bunch of pink/rose/maybe kinda fuchsia mohair with thin multicolor strands intwined. I see a shawl....


But first, I see a sock. This is the Sixth Sense Sock from the Six Sox Knitalong (I don't think that link will work if you haven't joined the KAL, but go ahead and click it to find out!) The yarn is Koigu KPPPM, evocatively named P717. It's not nearly as blue as it looks in the picture, although it does have blue in it. In life, it looks fairly neutral, in a slightly pinkish tannish way.

This is a fairly simply pattern, although you'll see the cuff is turning up. The cuff is in garter stitch, although the rest of the sock is in a variation of 4x2 rib. I've just begun the heel, which is a short-row garter stitch heel. This is my first short-row heel and I haven't done enough so far to know if I like it or not.

And for those of you following our weather -- the high today was supposed to be in the high 80s, but it got up to 97, which wasn't a record - it got up to 100 in 1996. That was the summer that my parents built their house down here (which they lived in for 3 years, before moving back to Illinois to be near the only grandchild. Yes, it's true -- Simon wasn't enough for them!). Anyway, I remember that summer was hot, so I guess it started early. And right now, I'm hearing thunder and see a little lightning, but I'll bet there's no real rainfall.