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Opal socks

§ July 2nd, 2006 § Filed under Opal Brasil Socks, Travel § 5 Comments

I’m so glad some folks liked the cloverleaf pattern! Do let me know if any of you make them.

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Here are Opal’s "Brasil 501" socks. The colours here are a little out of control for me. I looked long and hard at them and it’s the yellow and green that seem out of place; the blue/purple/pink can be made to work together. I think I prefer solid-coloured socks with some texture. But I was pleased to be able to match them up together, after a couple of false starts on the second sock.

But this is a quick knit in stockinette, so there’s that to be said for it. Made on size 0 bamboos, with 60 stitches and 2×2 rib cuff. I also made them cuff-down, and I’m not that happy with the cast-on.
I do cable cast-on usually for the cuff to be stretchy but it still
seems tight.

I don’t like this Opal yarn much. This skein was a little threadbare in parts. It’s also a little rough and I found that it was making the skin of my right index finger chafe a lot. I haven’t washed them yet though, so we’ll see. I also have a huge amount left over, almost enough for another sock.

Last leg of the road-trip: spent a day on beautiful Lake Tahoe yesterday. It’s amazing how some alcohol, consumed slowly on a sailboat over a sunny afternoon, can take the edge off a crowded place on a long holiday weekend. I went there gritting my teeth in anticipation, but actually enjoyed myself very much.   

Colour and sensory overload

§ June 7th, 2006 § Filed under Opal Brasil Socks, Travel § 7 Comments

Thanks so much for all your comments and sympathy on the Ipod, folks! The good news on that front is that the guy who contracts the packers out to the moving company said that if I didn’t find it on arrival he’d reimburse me for it without my having to file a claim. So. I still hope it turns up, but in the event that it doesn’t… and would you believe it, my friends in the city got together and gave us an Ipod as a farewell gift with a lot of music on it, which was awful sweet of them. So please watch this space as I narrate the (mis)adventures of this next-gen machine.

I’m in Colorado, in a small motel in a small town in the southwest, and it has free wireless internet! No coffee or water, but free internet. Delightful! I drove through some of the most gorgeous country today; the southwest is lovely and breathtaking, both when it’s stark and dry and when it’s green forest and snowcapped peaks. Somehow its sheer grandeur resists capture in a camera, and perhaps that’s just as well.

Oh, and speaking of photos not being the real thing, I saw Spudsayshi’s Orenburg Shawl in person this weekend and it is absolutely stunning! It’s gossamer light and a lovely shade of almost lilac. It’s going to be an heirloom when it’s done.