Ok, so I really finished them a week ago. Shush.  Overall, I am very pleased. Adding the extra cuff repeat was definitely the way to go. Of course, because I’m trying to take pictures of my own feet, that part of the picture was fuzzy. But trust me, good call.

And, unlike the last pair I knit for myself, these ones actually fit! No baggy toes, no narrow heels. My feet are in love.

Sadly, my opinion of the yarn, Wollmeise, didn’t improve after knitting the first sock. The yarn is ridiculously prone to tangling, and splits like crazy. It makes me wonder what kind of crack people are on when they stay up all night hitting F5 trying to snag some. Don’t get me wrong. The colors are beyond reproach, and it’s a quality that seems to be pretty consistent in all of Claudia’s colorways. I’ve got a couple other skeins of this stuff that I’m not planning on parting with, and if I stumble across some elsewhere, I’m certainly not going to snub my nose. I’m just not going to drive myself to a murderous rampage in search of a yarn base that makes me go, “Eh.”

I may need to see if I can trade off one of my 100% wool skeins for a skein of the 20/80 blend, and see if that’s any better.

Next on the menu is Irtfaa’s Shawl, a knit spot pattern. The pattern is 13 flippin’ pages and, to be honest, after reading over it, I think it’s probably the most challenging thing I’ve tried to knit yet.

Grumpy Cthulhu says… “Gnargh. Don’t fit. Rarrrr.”

I’ve finally made enough progress on my Pillars of Fire socks to have something to report.

I’m loving the pattern. It’s easy to follow, easy to memorize and very…. flowy. It practically crawls up the foot. Not in a creepy crawly way, but in a sexy, sensual way. Because socks? Can totally be sexy. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: If you haven’t already, check out Terry Ross Designs. She’s got some fantastic patterns up for grabs, many of which will work well for varigated yarns.

However, while I’m diggin’ the pattern, I’m a bit torn on the yarn. Maybe it’s because all the hype about the Wollmeise has raised by expectations to unreasonable heights. I can’t say a thing against the colors. They’re incredible. The more I knit, the more I like it. The colors flow and blend perfectly. I don’t like red, but I like this. That should really say it all. I also like the way the fabric is knitting up, firm but flexible, and I have high hopes that it will soften up quite a bit when washed. When these are said and done, they should be fantastic on the feet.

However, there’s something to be said for how a yarn feels while you’re knitting. The biggest reason I don’t ever knit with acrylic? Because I can’t stand how it feels on my hands. I’m finding the Wollmeise to be incredibly cottony, and hard on my hands. Not acrylic hard, but not as soft as I would expect from 100% wool. As I knit, I find myself just slathering my hands in lotion. (Cozy Stitches, by the way, has some fantastic crafter’s lotion. I highly recommend it.) Also, the yarn splits like crazy. I keep sticking the needle through the plies, and then end up having to pull it out and try and get everything all straightened out so I can get my needle in the right way. At one point, I found myself considering gnawing through some of the plies just so I wouldn’t have to deal with untangling everything.

Overall, I’ll definitely be knitting with this again - it’s just too beautiful not to - but I’m probably going to be darn cranky with it half the time.

I kind of wish I had more to report in regards to photos, especially since I’m learning to use the camera and taking most of the shots myself. However, my Dream in Color Baby should be showing up later this week, and then I plan on casting on for Irtfa’s Shawl. And then, and then my friends, we will be swimming in pictures.

In the meantime, keep an eye out for rouge Hounds of Tindalos. I discovered today the my own dear Fluffy has a sweet tooth for socks.

It’s all socks, all the time here at Sheep Geek Central. I’ll be starting another lace project once the Dream in Color Baby comes back into stock, but in the meantime, let me show you some socks.

The Bellamoden sportweight socks are finish, and have been for about a week. They’re currently off to their new home.

The yarn knit up beautifully. It’s very smooshy and sproing-y, which, for me, is huge. The twist could have been a little tighter, but, even so, the yarn wasn’t splitty at all. You can get Bellamoden’s yarn at The Loopy Ewe. And, probably, some other places. I wouldn’t know. *grins*

The only complaint, is that the stitch pattern didn’t show up very well. This pattern, Making Tracks by Wendy Johnson, really needs either a solid yarn, or a lighter yarn. Sadly, I love dark purple. Still, while not very defined, the stitch pattern does offer some extra texture to the yarn.

Snuggles thinks they’re plenty warm and comfy. And that’s what counts.

And, being that I’m not doing sweaters for a while and I’m waiting on my laceweight yarn,  I’ve started another pair of socks. This one is for the Summer Red Knit-A-Long, being hosted ove at The Loopy Groopies board on Ravelry. (Of course, if you’re not on Ravelry, those links won’t do you a darn bit of good.)

The pattern is Pillars of Fire (yet another Ravelry link), by Terry Ross, and the yarn… oh, the yarn. It’s Pillars of Fire by Wollmeise. That highly coveted, ultra-rare, incredibly gorgeous stuff done up by Claudia out of Germany. I managed to snag this stuff by being part of the Loopy Ewe Sock Club, and while I’m not normally a fan of red, I’m loving how this is knitting up.  It’s a pretty subtle shift between red and orange. On the ball, it looks like it would be overly… stripey. But, surprisingly, it’s hardly striping at all, subtle shifting around like, well, a pillar of fire.

Kiki, Minion of Darkness, is also liking the sock pattern. Of course, about half a lace repeat after I took that picture, I discovered that my gauge was a bit too loose and the socks weren’t gonna fit.

*makes very unhappy grumbling noises*

Appalled by the poor quality of my pictures, Lovely Roommate has taken it upon himself to improve my journal’s photography. This is made easier by the fact that he has a Nikon D40X, and I do not.

So, I give you the Agatha Shawl, Take Two!

I am quite proud of it. Also, with the better camera, you can also get a good look at the stitching and patterning.

Ninja shawl!

In non-shawl related news, I’ve finished the Bellamoden socks. However, since they’re part of my Loopy Swap package, which is getting mailed tomorrow, I won’t be posting pictures until then.  In the meantime, Snuggles guards the package with his life.

Today we discover just how bad the lighting inside my house is. Obviously, I need a better flash. But in the meantime, we’ll make do with what I’ve got.

And what I’ve got is this:

That would be the Agatha shawl in the bowl from Monday. The pictures really don’t do it justice. At all.  The yarn used is Dream in Color Classy, purchased from The Loopy Ewe, in the color Some Summer Sky. The color varigations just shimmer across the lace pattern, accenting it nicely.

The nice thing about this pattern is that, instead of focusing on the yarn-overs and decreases, the lace stitches actually accentuating the flowing section of stockinette.

Also, it’s an uneven triangle pattern, which means the “arms” of the triangle are extra-long. Since it’s knit in a worsted weight yarn, this makes it perfect for wrapping around you on a cold night. Since this is a comfort shawl for a friend of mine battling an illness, it doesn’t get more right.

Sadly, the lighting thwarted any attempts get a decent pictures of the shawl “in use”. This is the best I got, thanks to my Lovely Roommate goofing off with the camera. (Oh, there will be vengence.)

Finally, Snuggles is still refusing to model any of the Bellamoden socks. Instead he’s chilling at the coffee shop, eating my goodies.

So, after an incredibly, unreasonably long hiatus, The Sheep Geek is back up and running. For those wondering, we initially went down because of a server crash. And then there were vet school applications. And then I got into vet school. And then rabid monkeys ate my brain. It happens, ya know?

I had these amazing plans to re-open the blog with photos of a shawl I recently finished. Unfortunately, after I got it all nice and wet, I discovered I didn’t have enough blocking pins.

As you can see, it’s still sitting nicely in a bowl of water. Where it’s been all week. However, once I do get it blocked, I’m sure it will be lovely. It’s the Agatha Shawl, by ThatLoganChick Designs. Unfortunately, it appears the shawl pattern is no longer sold at her Etsy site, but only through Ravelry. Which sucks for those not yet part of the cult.

So, since I can’t show ya’ll the awesome shawl, I will instead show you my sock.

There it is. Isn’t it lovely. It’s the Making Tracks pattern, by Wendy Johnson. The pattern is available at The Loopy Ewe (like most of the knitting stuff I have lying around these days), as is the yarn - Bellamoden Sport in The Color Purple. You can also pick this stuff up at her Etsy store. I’m fantastically thrilled with the yarn. It’s gorgeous and springy and is knitting up beautifully at 6 stitches to the inch. My only complaint is that it’s not showing off the pattern as well as I’d like, but I think that’s more a case of a poor pairing on my part. The pattern, I think, would do better in either a solid or a striping yarn. And this is neither. Oh well

.

You can see the pattern a bit better from the side. And, poorly matched or no, they’re still awesome.

I tried to get Snuggles to model it, but, faced with the daunting prospect of the Single Sock, he has shunned it. He promises to model it when I finish the mate. Cheeky bugger.

Also, I give you a shaved cat. Because I think it’s funny.