Yarn Along 2016.44: Back in Blue

I'm baaaaaccckkk!  Happily joining Ginny's Yarn Along this week after missing way too many this month.

Just writing this post feels like I've accomplished something. You don't know how I dislike it when life gets in my way and I can't do what seems to me like a simple thing (such as take a picture and write a short post to go along with it).  Honestly, November has brought so many strange (and formerly unacknowledged?) emotions to light for me.  Perhaps I will write about it in December. . . not sure, will have to give that more thought as it is fairly personal but yet probably totally relevant to a lot of readers.  So, hmmm. . .

But today, today is about yarn and knitting!

I've been working slowly on a sock (sock number one) that is supposed to be a pair finished by the middle of December.  That might, at this point, be an unrealistic goal.  I am to the gusset finally, and the slowness is all mine with absolutely nothing to do with the pattern, which is Tendril.  This is a great pattern, easy to memorize, no tricky bits, and it makes such an amazingly cool sock.  I was only two inches into this one when I knew it was probably going to replace Vanilla Latte as my favorite go-to sock pattern.  The spiral ribs are just way too cool.  Unfortunately they also seem to be hard for the camera to pick up.

I chose a skein of Knit Picks Stroll Fingering Tonal in Blue Yonder from my stash for these socks, and I couldn't be happier with the combo of yarn and pattern.  Because although this is not a self-striping yarn, the combo of spiral ribs and the color changes in the yarn is creating a subtle stripe.  I love it so much that I actually went online and ordered another skein of the exact same yarn (because I know DD2 will love these socks, that are actually supposed to be for a college friend of hers--DD2 asked in Oct if she could 'commission' me to make her friend a pair of socks in 'some sort of blue' because the friend so adored DD2's couple of pair of Mom-made socks).  So 2017 will probably find me making an identical pair for DD2's feet.

And, of course, while I was ordering that yarn, Knit Picks was having a big yarn sale, so I just couldn't resist adding a few more skeins of blue-themed yarn to my cart.  What can I say, I like blues too.

From left to right: 2 skeins Comfy fingering in Celestial, the 'replacement' skein of Blue Yonder, Blue Yonder being made into a Tendril sock, a skein of Stroll Fingering Hand Painted in Northern Lights (intended for me or possibly DD1 who likes purples) and a skein of Stroll Fingering Tonal in Cold Stream (most definitely for me).