*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!

In Search of the perfect pumpkin

I am always a pink sucker. If you look at my Ravelry project page, you may find that about half of my FOs were in pink. I still am a pink sucker. Tutu was the very first skein I picked from Wollmeise booth in Knit Nation. I also grabbed two skeins of strawberry ice cream pink sock yarn when I visited Wolle Roedel in Munich last month.

But since earlier this year I've been experiencing some gradual changes in colour preference. I became more interested in greens and more open to blues. I blame the pleasant British summer here for changing my perceptions on colours. Green meadows and crispy blue sky are rare in my hometown.

Yet another change has happened. Again it may be related to the season. Autumn. October. Halloween. What would come up in your mind? Yep. Golden yellow or orangey tones. Or pumpkin in particular. I can't explain why. But I have been longing to get a skein of semi-solid pumpkin orange sock yarn for a while. Not the citrous orange. But more the subtler richer orange of a matured pumpkin.

I wanted to cast on the TTL Mystery Socktoberfest socks but always wanted to get the right orange for that. I found something close last night. There are two different indie dyers here offering pumpkin colourways. Unfortunately I am still not 100% sure if that's what I want. After all, orange is a hit or miss. I can be happily embrace many different kinds of pinks or purples. But for orange, it will either be the perfect one I can marry to, or it will end up being buried in stash bin forever.