*SPOILER* January Sock Club parcels

I am so lucky to be in two sock clubs this year. Both my January sock club parcels arrived yesterday!



The first one was from Socktopus Knit Love Club. The yarn is Sokkusu-Xtra hand dyed by Alice Yu (Socktopus). The colourway is called Coralina. As a serious hard-core pink/purple sucker, I screamed when I wrapped off the parcel. Different shades of pink and purple. What more can I ask for?


(Sokkusu Xtra: 70% Merino, 20% Cashmere, 10% Nylon. 366m/113g)

However I probably won't knit it into the designated sock club pattern. The yarn is soft and squishy. But I have a bad record and memory of felting and wearing out socks. Guess my gauge is not tight enough or my handwashing is not gentle enough or both. I really don't want to knit any sock with cashmere content -- I'd be too scared to actually put them on. So there's no point for me to knit some socks that I won't wear right? Luckily this Sokkusu Xtra is only a special treat by Alice to celebrate the start of the year. The normal sock club yarn should be a high-twist 100% merino, which I should feel more comfortable to knit socks with.

I still want to attempt the sock club pattern though. The skewed construction of the club pattern looks really interesting. I will probably knit it up with a skein of variegated Wollmeise or Blue Moon Socks that Rock.



Another parcel I got yesterday was from Blue Moon Rockin' Sock Club. Two skeins of STR medium weight with two mini skeins of emergency yarn!



The colourway is called Pinkie Swear & Aubergenius. I think Pinkie Swear is the colourful variegated one while Aubergenius is the semi-solid one in aubergine brown?

Each skein has about 102g and 228 metres.

There are two printed patterns and dyer's notes in plastic sleeves.



The first pattern is called Social Network. An interesting pattern combining cable and colourwork. I love the cable part. And honestly I think this pattern shows the yarn better. But I am really not that into the cuffs, heels and toes knit in garter stitch. If I really make this, I'd love to make modifications on cuffs, heels and toes...



The second pattern is Distelfink. The colourwork looks very complicated but the birds, hearts and flowers are so cute. The variegated yarn is a bit busy but guess I will still try to give it a go!

Alright. Time to wind some yarn up!

A lovely week

Just opened the 13th window of my advent calendar. Christmas is less than 2 weeks away!

I had a very lovely week:

(1) I had all the parcels sent out to my in-laws in Hong Kong and Australia. Two scarves and one shawl, if you cared to ask. It's a pain to meet the seasonal deadline. I swear I'll start doing Xmas knitting earlier next year. Maybe June or July.



(2) My Lopi Sweater is done! Have been wearing it for days. Love it. I call it Icelandic Michelin because of its bulky appearance, although it's quite light with only 370 grams in weight. A bit itchy but it's ok as I usually worn a turtle neck base layer underneath. Very warm. Very very warm. Will write a better FO post soon after I have chance to take some better pics.



(3) I went to Bristol last Wednesday to visit Cynthia (CrochetCynth). It's the first time we met in person after many months of messaging and talking on phone. Interestingly we did go to the same univ and we shared some common friends, but we didn't know each other till we met on Ravelry. We went to yum cha, which literally means "drink tea" in Cantonese.



(4)  We visited a farmers' market and bought some cheese and fresh pesto. Then Cynth brought me to Get Knitted, a lovely LYS located in the outskirt of Bristol. It's a lovely shop, with friendly staff and a VERY wide range of yarn collection from workhorse yarn to handpainted yarn. I am quite proud that I was quite well behaved and came home only with...



(5)  ... a ball of Flying Saucer plus a tiny bottle of sock stop.


(6) My reason for being able to stay frugal is... DH just got my a wonderful Christmas pressie: Blue Moon Rockin' Sock Club 2011. The photo below is a skein of Blue Moon Socks That Rock medium weight in my stash. Isn't it amazing? There will be 6 lovely skeins and 12 matching patterns arriving at my door next year. Awesome!



(7) And the legendary Cookie A's new book is finally here. It's one of the most beautiful knitting books I've ever seen.



(8) Some patterns are obviously too challenging for me, but I am very determined to finish at least 4 pairs from the book next year. Yes yes. I'll write it down in my Kniting Resolution list next week.



(9) At the moment, I am working on Marlene, another design by Cookie A. Have had lots and lots of frogging due to my exceptionally tight gauge -- I usually got about 8.5 spi with Wollmeise Twin and 2.75mm needles, but this time I got 11.5 spi. Lots of problems: Leg being too tight, heel flap being too long, heel fabric being too loose blah blah blah... But glad it's alright now. I have turned the heel and finished all gusset decreases. Guess it only need 3-4 more repeats before decreasing for toes.



(10) Ahem... although I've been quite successful in my yarn diet so far, I am not that good at keeping my fibre stash under control. A kilo of spinning fibre is coming on the way. There will be 64's Merino, Merino/Silk, Baby Alpaca, Shetland of 4 different natural colours and Massam. All are natural-colour ones from World of Wool. Very reasonable prices -- £19.4 for all 1000 grams of fibres. I got lots of plans with them. You'll see later. :)



 (11) Last but not the least, it's a sunset I saw the other day when I was walking back home after grocery shopping. The Winter Solstice this year will be on December 21. Hang in there! We've almost done half of the winter. There will be longer daylight hours afterward.