Look, Ma! It's Toe-Up!

I finally bit the bullet and decided to try a toe-up sock. It seems like it's a good skill to have since someday, I may want to get the most out of some very expensive yarn that I bought and won't want to take a chance on running out. If you knit a sock from the toe up, then you can stop when you run out. The nice part is, you won't have your toes dangling out of a 1/2 finished sock! Plus, you can try it on as you go. I have a sock that I started about two weeks ago, but, being the genius that I am, I lost one of the dpn's, so it's in limbo. I'm not fond of it anyway. So, I decided to dive in and try the handspun, hand-dyed yarn that my SP7 sent me. Knowing that I wanted a toe-up sock, I perused my Sensational Knitted Socks book, chose an appropriate stitch pattern, and dove right in. Let me tell you, short row toes are fun! Doing it reminded me of the first time I turned the heel. You sock kniters know what I mean. The anticipation, the disbelief, the trust, the realization, the amazement, the awe, in that order. I just had to go on faith that this whole thing was going to work out, and it did! It was fascinating the way that strategic use of short rows created a little pouch for my toes! Did I mention the yarn? The colors are amazing...totally me...and you can see from the photo that there's absolutely no pooling. It's just maintaining a lovely striping pattern. So far, I'm making decent progress, I think.

I know what you're thinking. Didn't I say on Wednesday that I started Sitcom Chic? Well I had a bit of a crisis with it on Wednesday night. I finished my first ball of Sugar Plum Cotton Ease and started in on a new one. I couldn't believe it when I saw the difference in the dye lots! I've always sort of a laughed off Cotton-Ease dyelot issues. I've basically never paid attention, but it cost me this time. You see, I bought the first one I used in Boston and the others I I bought in San Diego. Luckily, Kris was kind enough to agree to trade me the 6 skeins that I bought her in Boston for 6 that I have, and that should solve the problem. Meanwhile, the project has been stalled out since then.

Check out this photo, though.
Can you see the difference? The one I bought in Boston has more of a red undertone while the ones I bought here are much more blue.