A sock story

I have some fabulous new socks. You want to hear their story? They're made from one of my fabulous swap sock yarns. Remember this yarn?

I received it as part of my master plan to get yarn sent to me, I mean as part of a yarn swap with Adriene. I let it marinate in the stash for a time while I considered what it wanted to be. I was torn between socks or a shawl. 

Finally it convinced me to make it into socks. I chose a plain sock because I really like plain socks and I think they best showcase the yarn's colors. I feel I should note that this is the hardest yarn to photograph I've ever had. The colors just refuse to be captured by my camera. Although the following picture is closest to real life I've gotten.

I enjoyed knitting this yarn so much. It eventually became my purse knitting somewhere between sock one and sock two. And that is where my thinking changed. When the yarn moved into my purse it was almost like a bit of Adriene was traveling with me. 

We won trivia night at the Legion. There was even a question about the Canadian flag. Did you know it was adopted in 1964, almost 100 years after it became a country? I learned that on our first and only trip to Montreal. 

Next "Adriene" went with me to the dentist to have a filling replaced. She was lucky for me there too because I did not require a root canal that day. I may still need one but that appointment was Ok.

Friday we watched some March madness at a friend's house. Yesterday we went to meet a new friend for lunch and had a pleasant conversation. Although we figured out the new friend does not want to become a knitter since she resisted touching the sock. It is amazing how knitting warps your mind. I don't think twice about whipping out a sock at the table, other's most likely see it as odd or even a bit gross. Sorry I did not think of that sooner. 

Today "Adriene" went to Easter services with me. I thought it was a great day to wear some new socks. By the way this yarn feel fabulous on the feet, just a bit decadent.

Yarn: Dragonfly Dyewerx Smooshy sock in the Spellbound colorway.

Thanks again Adriene for swapping with me. Who knew yarn could be so much fun? Oh wait we did!

Don't worry the Ember Socks from the previous post moved into my purse. Heaven forbid if my purse was without yarn, I would have to resort to reading my Kindle without anything in my hands, the horror!

I need more adjectives

Bouncy, plump, smooshy and sproingy, OK I admit I made that last one up. But really these are all the words going through my mind as I knit one of my swap yarns into socks. You remember the yarn swap don't you?

I chose the Spellbound colorway in the Smooshy Sock base from Dragonfly Dyewerx. And yes it is holding me spellbound. I think it is the orange bits that keep me knitting along. Well that and the afore mentioned adjectives used to describe how nice this feels running through my hands. This contrast with the project right before was astounding. That one was a rugged, rustic yarn that I loved for not coddling me. This one is the opposite, it could only coddle me more by bringing me tea and tucking me into bed.

Now I struggled with was to do with my special swap yarn. I wanted to make something breathtaking and one of a kind. But I settled instead on the thing that makes me the happiest, plain socks that fit well. Socks knit in a fabric that shows off the yarn coloring but does not distract from it.

In my heart of hearts, I feel many times, less is more. What can be more beautiful than a humble sock to place upon my grateful feet?

Oh yeah, humble socks with a touch of cashmere, you're right!

Yarn Swapping

Yarn swapping or why having internet friends is a good thing.

I've told you all about the swap remember? Well good things come to those who wait. We had to wait out super storm Sandy. Thank God it did not hit us, but waiting for yarn is hard!

Yarn, tea and hand made truffles, oh my! Believe me there was more chocolate, but they're just the right size for the just one more scenario. I was waiting to take an artistic picture but time keeps marching on and the days just keep growing shorter...

First up we have Dragonfly Dyewerx Smooshy Sock, 80/10/10 SW Merino/Cashmere/Nylon blend. This skein is 435 yards/100 grams of 4 ply yarny goodness called Spellbound. Hey wait a minute, Canadians use yards? I thought it would be in meters. It must be to sell to us weird non-metric Americans. (Having been trained as an engineer, I think the metric system is better, but hey old dog new tricks and all that.)

I can not believe Adriene sent me a second skein of yarn! (Tara, I hope you made her buy you lunch for the discount you had to have given her. Again, good friends are an awesome thing to have.)

Back to the yarn, Twisted Smooshy Sock 80/10/10 SW Merino/Cashmere/Nylon blend. In the Inky colorway. Hey I just figured out what the little checked box next to OOAK means. I have two different One Of A Kind colorways from Dragonfly Dyewerx! (Yes I can be a bit dense sometimes.)

Now a question for the audience, I can make socks from these, right? Normally I would not think twice but since they're a gift that contains Cashmere, does that change the rules? Help me out people, I can feel the urge to cast on creeping up on me! Socks or shawls?

And back to the tasty portion of the package. Handmade truffles? Wow. Adriene has a talent that I just don't. I do however make a wicked good cheesecake, but that is awful hard to ship to Canada by an amateur.

The teas are Wild Strawberry Green Tea, After 8 Rooibos and Possibilitea Cream Earl Grey. D is very excited to have some new tea to try. I made him wait till I had a picture before we can open them. Waiting for tea is hard too!

So there we have my definition of a successful swap. I got to send my first package to Canada. I got over worrying about making the perfect choices and decided to send things that I myself love. If we share the same sense of humor, love of yarn and tea, how could I go wrong? I tried to box up a small portion of the Rhinebeck experience, I hope you enjoyed it Adriene.

If you want to see the other side of the swap, pop on over to Adriene's Couch, I hear you can sit a spell over there. Her pictures are better too.

Hatching a plan

You know how reading blogs make you feel like you know a person? You've never met in real life but you know what their pets look like and what their spouse asked them to first knit for them. I have that feeling with Adriene at Adriene's Couch. I found her blog because of blogging group on Ravelry. I read a few posts and was hooked especially when she did a post about yarn cakes including a picture of her attempting to bite one.

I read for a while before I commented but when I did a friendship was struck up, well at least it was in my mind. I will admit to feeling a little weird when I started telling my husband about Adriene, my Canadian blog friend. But then I am weird so I'm ok with it, and Hubby knows me well enough to be ok with my weirdness too.

So this year when I was talking about going to my festivals, Adriene commented that it was too bad that we live so far apart, wouldn't it be nice if we could go to one together sometime? I thought to myself it would be fun to do that.  Then the plan hit me, if we could not attend a festival together, we could buy yarn for each other. I think it may be why people do yarn swaps. I've never done one but I thought what the heck and asked her. Luckily she said yes to my plan.

I would by yarn for her at one of my festivals and she offered to buy me some yarn (maybe some Canadian yarn) at her vacation yarn store. (Yes I do believe that we should all have a vacation yarn store.) So it would be a bit like attending a festival together. Yeah I know it is a stretch but hey allowances must be made.

Now the pressure is on what do I get? First I researched how yarn swaps have been done and we traded a list of questions and set up some ground rules. We discussed allergies, color preferences, fiber preferences and set a price limit. I think we may be a tad excited because the price limit was renegotiated. We questioned the exchange rate between the Canadian Dollar and the US Dollar. Turns out that the difference is minimal now, and I think it has been for a few years.

So now it is a few weeks to Rhinebeck and I am all excited to buy yarn for my Canadian blog friend. Man, I hope I get her something she will like. I am having a hard time deciding, now I want to buy all the things! But first I think I will test out the US to Canada mail system. I'm sending a card first, you know to see how the yarn's journey may go.

Anybody have any advice on how packages between countries work?