My humble 0,165%

I did my share to reach the 100% goal:
The Sockapaloooza socks are finished and heading towards their destination. (If I may drop a hint, they are crossing some big water by now. Hehe...)

I can't express how grateful I am that Alison put all this work and effort into this third mega sock exchange again. I enjoyed it so much! Many thanks go also out to my sock sister Ashley, who was not only supportive in sock matters (I should let my socks posing with books more often!)
Unfortunately, I missed out on a lot of socks in progress while I was unconnected for almost a months in all. And then the parade of finished socks hit right into the end-of-term-stress. But what I saw was gorgeous and I lost count on how many socks are surely heading into my direction because I think I cannot live without them anymore.

Blogging without pictures is not much fun. But asking friends to take pictures of your knitting, would only earn you odd glances.
With exams almost done, Soackapalooozas off the needles and Ottawa socks long finished (post with pictures to come there, they are so long finished that they are in the laundry bin again)... I could cast on for a new pair. Yippieh!
Yarn choices were either the beautiful Cherry Tree Hill yarn I got from Becca (thank you, thank you!) in my radio box or some gifted Socks That Rock from Amanda. You can imagine that this is a tough one.

Cast on choice numero uno was Cherry Tree Hill (Champlain Sunset) and found out that this is yarn I don't want to have on my feet. Not that it's not soft enough or anything alike! Pah.. but the colours are so nicely variegated and there is some crispiness to the yarn - I cannot step on it. No way. I decided to carefully unravel the few inches I already knit in a seed stich rib pattern (no picture evidence of course) and now I am opting for something in lace. Any ideas for a lace project in sock yarn? I tried Branching out first which worked fine but it only takes 1/3 of the yardage I have. I want something bigger!
Postponing the CTH until inspiration hits me (I here my call for the Summer of Amzing Lace!), the STR were next in row. Embossed leaves from Interweave Winter 2005 is the pattern choice. I have no words to praise the yarn, so buttery, so soft. It glides over my needles so fast, I am sure little little knitting elves are included in the deal. The pattern might be a bit too delicate for STR yarn because it is heavier than the sock yarn I usually use and that would be approbiate for the leave-lacey design. But it looks nice anyway (you have to be patient) and I don't have to do the maths to make them fit to my giant feet.
I am supposed to read while knitting and the intuitive pattern would make that an easy task. But not the yarn. Such a vibrant colour and then all the red and pink and rusty freckles here and there. Thank you, Amanda, you chose a perfect colour for me! I can't stop looking at it! And sock number one is almost done!


No happenings in the the Dye-O-Rama business so far. I haven't ransacked the kitchen for another natural dye approach and the striped coffee & curry yarn is undergoing a UV-endurance test. But: Hello dye pal! Thank you for your comment! I didn't quite get the thing with typing in the preferences for the dying project - because it appears they were only meant for matching up but not sent to the pals (at least I have no information on the preferences of my pal. Maybe it will be beet root and coffee then!)
Mine are, well.. I would love some bright colours like red, orange and green, I am for solids as well as stripes or variegated. I do not care too much for blue and not at all for barbie pink but if you can 'justify' your choice with a nice inspiration (I love blue skies and the sea and all sorts of flowers) I will not be able to reject those colourways either. I also learned my lesson in the Sockapaloooza: crying over socks that couldn't be for me because I made the blue issue clear. They were so gorgeous that I had regrets on my stated preferences immediately. In essence: it's all up to you and I will like it!