Shortly after taking the photos of my new sock-in-progress Catriona yesterday, I ripped it back to the heel because I wasn’t satisfied with the increases on the leg.

I’ve finally learned to listen to the little voice in my head that tells me something is not right and I need to rip back and change it or I will never be happy.

(Conversely, I do ignore the little voice in my head that tells me to push under the train the annoying woman who invariably shoves her way in front of me on the platform because she has to be the first person on the train. Trust me — this takes tremendous willpower.)

To get back to knitting, I started the leg increases too soon. Because this is a lace pattern and quite stretchy, there’s no need for increases until a bit further up the leg. so that’s where they are now.

There was a question in the comments asking what I thought of Raven Black by Ann Cleeves. Well, I enjoyed it. It’s a murder mystery (or as it says in the Amazon.com description a “taut, atmospheric thriller”) set in the Shetland Isles.

While not the best mystery I’ve read, it was far from the worst. A very entertaining read, with a cast of nicely-developed characters, more so than a lot of mysteries I’ve read.

The book is the first of the “Shetland Island Quartet.” I have a copy of the second book (White Nights) which I will be reading soon, and apparently the other two books of the quartet are not yet available.

Okay, who wants my copy of Raven Black? Leave a comment to this entry by noon EST this Sunday (February 22) and I will call upon the Random Number Generator to pick a recipient.

Just for Fun

I’ve been looking for a new perfume. I’ve got a couple of old standards that I will never stop using, but I like a little variety, you know? My two favorite perfumes of all time are Guerlain’s Shalimar and Cacherel’s Anais, Anais. I am also very fond of Opium, but it’s too heavy for me sometimes.

Anyone have any perfume recommendations based on my loving those three?

Oh, I do have a few samples at home . . .

Lucy sez:

“I dare not turn my back on her . . . “

Before you start thinking “Wow! She sure made a lot of progress since yesterday” I’ll tell you that I actually started this sock last week and then had to set it aside for a few days to work on something on deadline. I just picked it up again last night, right before starting the heel turn.

But it’s coming along and looking okay, I think. I’m going to call the design “Catriona” because the lace panel up the front has a Celtic look, I think, and I happen to like the name Catriona.

(Also, I just finished reading the novel Raven Black by Ann Cleeves and there was a murder victim named Catriona in the story.)

I started the center lace panel while I was still doing the toe increases.

You know. Just to be different.

I’ve decided to make this a kneesock. I’ve started the increases up the back of the leg, as you might be able to see in this photo.

I was unsure about this colorway with this pattern when I first started — would it be too much variegation? But I think it works. Hard to tell from a photo, but it real life, the lace pattern shows up nicely.

Thanks for weighing in with your favorite sock yarns yesterday. It seems as though a lot of you like the same yarns I do. So many sock yarns, so little time . . .

In closing, Lucy is gonna be so mad at me when she sees I’ve posted this photo . . .

A new day. And a day where a couple of things actually went right. This has so not been the norm lately, so we are pleased.

I have a bit of time freed up for knitting, so I started a new sock.

This is my own design, being knit from The Sanguine Gryphon’s Eidos sock yarn in the “Crito” colorway. I purchased the yarn at The Loopy Ewe a while back.

I love The Sanguine Gryphon’s sock yarn — her colorways are just amazing. And my favorite of her sock yarns is the Eidos base — it’s 100% merino wool and it has a lovely firm twist so it shows patterning beautifully.

I’ve learned that most of my favorite sock yarns have a 100% merino base with a firm twist — ShibuiKnits Sock, Tempted Good Grrl, Claudia Handpainted, Fleece Artist Merino, Cherry Tree Hill Supersock, et cetera.

While sock yarns with the addition of bamboo, tencel, cashmere, and other fibers are lovely, I think there’s nothing like good old merino with a firm twist.

What are your favorites?

Meanwhile, Lucy had a relaxing day at home.

Move along now . . .

I’m still working on non-bloggable stuff during my regular knitting time, so I have nothing to share.

Lucy has nothing to say, because she spent a portion of the day doing this:

Then she had her annual check-up at the vet (she did great). Then she looked like this:

Well, she did have a tough day . . .

First off, I wanted to give you a heads up that Crystal Palace Yarns kindly linked to my Waterfall Sock pattern — here is its page on the Crystal Palace site. You’ll want to check out the free sock pattern page while you are over there, by the way.

Next on the agenda, I wanted to point you to Jacqueline’s blog, where she is holding a raffle of some awesome prizes for people who contribute to the Australian Red Cross appeal for the recent Victorian Bushfires. Donate at the Red Cross site and forward a copy of your receipt to Jacqueline at the address knittershelpingvictorians at gmail dot com — every $10 (Aus) you contribute gets you an entry in the raffle. Anyhow, you can go to her site to read all about it. There are some great prizes to be had!

I hope you all had a nice Valetine’s Day. Here’s what I gave the KOARC:

A giant heart-shaped chocolate chip cookie.

We celebrate Miss Lucy’s birthday on Valentine’s Day. She got a new toy and played with it until she was exhausted.

Today we are relaxing!