As my buddies on Plurk know, I get to my office insanely early every day — by 6:00 a.m. This is not because I’m a morning person (not by any stretch of the imagination) but to lessen commuting issues and stress.

I’m the first person to arrive at my office so it’s nice and quiet. Because my office has a wall o’ windows that faces east, I will often take a photo of the sunrise. I’ll often post these photos on Plurk, and then place them in my Flickr group of sunrise photos, here. My favorite sunrises are the dramatic ones, like this:

A few months ago, Beth at Lorna’s Laces contacted me to see if I’d like to develop a “Color Commentary” yarn with them. Would I? Heck, yes!

She asked me for my thoughts on what I’d like for a WendyKnits colorway. Rather than go with my usual greens and browns, I thought “wouldn’t it be great to have a sunrise colorway?”

Several months and some spectacular dyeing later, Lorna’s Laces came up with this:

WendyKnits Sunrise!

In celebration of this gorgeous yarn, I worked up a simple sock pattern that showcases it to its best advantage.

Here’s a close-up:

This pattern is here in pdf format and will also be linked to from my free patterns page.

Want some WendyKnits Sunrise yarn? I happen to know that The Loopy Ewe (as well as other purveyors of yarn) will be carrying it within the next few days.

Wanna win some WendyKnits Sunrise sock yarn? Leave a comment to this post by this Thursday, May 21, 2009 at 4:00pm Eastern time and the Random Number Generator will go to work!

Okay kids, I am off to Oklahoma in the early morn and will return late-late Sunday night. I will not be online while I am gone, so I’ll talk to you on Monday!

Lucy Sez

“A couple of days alone with my Daddy?! I must primp and preen!”

Ever have one of those days when you have a serious case of writer’s block? Why do I mention that now? Oh, no reason . . .

Yeah. I got nothing. Well, I do have a sock that is growing — see?

I am just barely into the gusset increases on my second Rivulets sock here.

Okay, it is time to invoke one of WendyKnits’ Rules of Blogging:

When you don’t have any blog fodder, post a picture of shoes!

These are Mephisto shoes. The style is “Kaisy.” They are possibly the most comfy shoes I’ve ever worn. Seriously. With the possible exception of my Mephisto “Leidina” shoes. Love Mephisto shoes!

Lucy Sez:

“I vant to be alone!”

Tune in tomorrow when I will tell you a secret!

Judging from the comments about the cords on the Kollage square circulars, it’s not just me who has problems with them. But did you see this comment from Nancy?

I talked to the Kollage people at Stitches South and they told me they are coming out with a firm cable – probably by July. He implied that many people like the soft cable so they will be offering two different cables. I haven’t heard of anyone who liked the soft cable below a size 7 or 8 so I have a feeling if the firm cable actually works it will end up being the only one.

So, there is hope.

Meanwhile . . .

I have finished my first Rivulets sock and have just barely embarked on the second one.

This was going to be my main travel knitting when I head out to the S.W.A.K. Knit Out this weekend, but it looks like I’ll have a good part of the second sock done by the time I board a plane for Oklahoma Friday morning. So I must winkle together something else to bring in case I finish the second sock!

This has nothing to do with anything, but I glanced out my office window and saw this shortly before leaving today:

I’ve no idea what that was about. But it went on for about 10 minutes. That’s a lot of cyclists!

And Lucy just wonders when dinner will be served.

Last month when L-B was here for a quickie visit, she was knitting with some of the new square dpns by Kollage. She told me they were quite pleasant to knit with so I was intrigued.

I don’t knit with dpns anymore — haven’t for about 2 years now, so I ordered some of the square circular needles. (Sounds like a contradiction in terms, doesn’t it?)

Now, at the time L-B warned me that the cables on the circulars are very fine. She didn’t think I’d like them for knitting socks on two circulars.

Well, she is right. The needle tips themselves are fabulous. I love the square needles. However, the danged cables are very fine and it took me as long to push my stitches from the cable over the join onto the needle as it did to knit a round. So sadly, square circulars are not for me. It’s too bad because I really loved the needles. I’m not sure why they chose to put such a fine cable on the needles. I suppose the finer cable helps with the non-curling and non-kinking that they advertise. They may be easier to manage with heavier yarn on a larger needle size (I tried a size 0), but trying to push stitches in fingering weight yarn over the join on the size 0 is just not a happening event. Sigh.

Of course, maybe it’s just me.

In happier news, lookie here:

String Theory sock yarn!

The red yarn is their Caper Sock Yarn (a cashmere blend) in the “Fusion” colorway. The green/brown is T.O.E. Sock Yarn (100% merino) in the “Nerrivik” colorway. Aren’t they gorgeous?

In insomnia news, lookie here:

Amazing now much you can get done on a sock when you can’t sleep.

As I mentioned yesterday, this is Enchanted Knoll Farm Superwash Sock Yarn in the “Athelas” colorway. It’s 90% merino and 10% nylon and has a lovely squishy feel to it. It knits up into nice even stitches and is a joy to knit. I love the variegation, too — sort of subtle stripes.

The pattern I worked up for it is a simple one, but I think it shows off the variegation nicely. I’m calling it “Rivulets” because to me it looks like rain drops as they trail down window glass in rivulets. So there you have it.

I’ve also got other very cool yarn-related news, but can’t spill it yet. Hee hee!

Lucy sez:

“I know! I know!”

It was on Mother’s Day in 2003 that Lucy came to live with me. The volunteer from the rescue organization came over that Sunday for a home visit, and left Miss Lucy with me on the spot.

Lucy is celebrating that happy event.

She has remarkably good paw-writing, doesn’t she?

And I have a completed Rick-Rack sock to show you:

And from the side:

And I’ve started a new sock:

This lovely yarn is Enchanted Knoll Farm’s Superwash Sock Yarn in the “Athelas” colorway. Love it!

Lucy Sez:

Happy Mother’s Day!