Garnet Dream

As you know I went to the Rhinebeck Sheep & Wool Festival last year. The Blue Moon/Socks That Rock booth was mobbed yet again. I love their stuff and I love the mill ends, it just feels like such a deal. Last year Lucy325 was the newbie and could be enticed to jump in an dig while the more experienced members of our group hung back. Digging through bodies and yarn does pay off, she got her hands on some of the lightweight STR (or Rocket Sockets if your MMH) in the color Garnet Dreams. My inner three year old instantly threw a tantrum screaming, “It’s red and black! It must be mine!” But composed Samurai that I am, I smiled, nodded, and said it was nice as my eyes scanned for a second skein. No second skein. And even though we were roommates, I managed to resist the urge to steal it from her bags while she slept before she had the chance to get attached and notice it was gone.

Fast forward six months to spring of this year. Lucy325 is not a stasher. This is not something I understand. She frequently purchases yarn and then later decides she’s not interested in knitting with it. Again, see the inner three year old, “It’s mine. No I’m not going to share. It will stay with me until I can’t stand the sight of it and then it’ll stay a little longer.” So there we were shopping in our local LYS and she mentioned nonchalantly that she didn’t really like the STR she got at Rhinebeck and maybe she’d put it up for trade. I instantly said I’d take it. Perhaps a bit too fast as she gave me a quizzical look that said, what do you know that I don’t? A week later the yarn was resting atop my TV.

And now here we are. This turned out to be the yarn I needed to get me knitting socks again. I spent an afternoon searching for a simple pattern that wouldn’t get lost in the red, purple, blue, beige color shifts of the yarn. Wendy Knit’s Diagonal Lace Socks seemed like a good choice. Knowing that Wendy’s lace patterns tend to make looser fitting socks than I like, I dropped down to 51 sts (a typical sock is 64sts for me). Having learned not to trust 100% merino sock yarns I used beige reinforcing thread around the ball of the foot. And to prevent the inevitable spiral effect that accompanies every skein of STR that I’ve knit with, I’m alternating knitting from both ends of the skein. Knit on size 1s they are dense close fitting socks. I absolutely love them. And I’m so happy Lucy325 brought this yarn back from Rhinebeck! Inner 3 year old “No I’m not going to knit these socks for her! They will be mine! Mine Mine Mine.”