More socks from me. I guess they give me a fresh footing for the new year.The pattern is Baudelaire, which is a free pattern on Knitty by Cookie A. I’ve knit this pattern a couple of times before, but I’ve always given the resulting socks away. Even though I’m a very generous person (!) I’m not usually so generous with handknit lace socks. Those earlier socks didn’t fit me. I gave them to people with bigger feet. There. I’ve confessed. I finally learned that you start the heel for toe-up socks when the work reaches the front of the ankle bone. I did that this time, and these fit perfectly.

Which means they’re MINE!

The yarn is Viola Sock, from a handpainter whose website is Viola and the Moon. My crummy photograph doesn’t begin to do justice to her artistry. There are (roughly) zillions of purple and blue hues in this yarn and little flicks of colour, too – like hot pink. It doesn’t want to pool at all. It’s scrumptious.

These socks stalled last spring because I became so inspired by the yarn that I decided I wanted to make knee socks. (Why do I love knee socks so much? I can’t explain it.) I only had one skein, which wasn’t enough. The store was sold out of what they’d had when I bought the skein, so I contacted the designer. She didn’t have any more either, but – after warning me about dye lots – she dyed me another skein. It was and is just as scrumptious as the first, but it is also much more blue. Hmm. I tried to blend the dye lots with alternating rows, but no matter what I did, I ended up with stripes around the calves. Not good. So (big sigh) after letting them gather dust for a few months, in December I frogged back and knit regular socks instead of knee socks.

The good news is, though, that I still have a whole new skein of Viola Sock to knit another pair of socks! I also have an idea that I’ll make stripey knee socks with it. (This is very good news.)