An Aunt's Duty

End of August I've started a pair of socks in Noro Sock Wool. This wool is fairly new and as I've knitted with Noro before (and, man I do love my Lizard Ridge blanket, now that it gets colder) I wanted to give it try. I've heard a lot about the yarn - it varies in thickness drastically, it breaks easily, it's a pain to knit, it contains many knots, the yarn has no elasticity whatsoever ... and really, most of it is true. What makes is worth knitting though, is the amazing colors the yarn has and how they slowly change along the way.

(sorry about impossing my less than lovely calves on you ...)

Today, I finally finished the Ziggys (pattern can be found in the last summer edition of Knitty.com). It's been a while since I did fair isle knitting, and going back to it by using a new (well, new to me at least) knitting technic wasn't maybe the smartest move. The new technic (Magic Loop - knitting of a sock toe up on a circular needle) did work, sort of, but I don't think it will replace the 'classical' sock knitting with double pointed needles for me.
The yarn didn't cooperate for some parts and I had to break it in a few places as I just couldn't see the pattern. This in turn lead to going into panic mode that the yarn won't last, resulting in me knitting the socks shorter than I've intended. (and of course, there is plenty left and I could have added some length) And there IS truely no elasticity - I had to increase the number of stitches so I'm able to get them over my heel.

So, conclusion: Lovely colors, but no more socks with that yarn for me.

To get a bit more relaxing knitting in, I've turned to a project that I'm doing for my youngest nephew. While I was in Sweden, my sister pushed a magazine into my hands, and let me know that I should make that pullover in that size for my darling nephew.

(the blue one on the right, but with the size of the red one)
My local yarn store had the wool asked for (though they had to order the specific color) and on Friday I've started knitting.
So far I've finished the back, and going to start on the front as soon as may be.
Easy - almost mindless - knit, absolutely perfect for watching TV.

And another update on the Castle Sampler - progress slowed a bit last week, but all in all, not too bad.