Blue Friday

Happy Thanksgiving!

Tomatoes by Bonnie Rollin (my mom), photographed in her Sacramento studio.

On Wednesday, a wonderfully balmy day in DC, I did the unthinkable: I left the house without my knitting!

Now, I was kind of in a rush, since Chris was working late and we wanted to have breakfast together. But I'd planned on sitting out in Dupont Circle in the afternoon, listening to podcasts and working on a pair of socks.

We were a block from home when I noticed my project was still at home...in our fourth-floor walk-up apartment. Really, really did not want to climb all those stairs again, to say nothing of the back-tracking I'd have to do to get home.

So I decided to do what any self-respecting knitter would do. I hopped on a bus, went all the way up Connecticut Avenue, and headed for the Stitch DC-Chevy Chase Circle store.

After a lot of squeezing, stroking, petting, and general yarn fondling, I purchased a bag of jewel-toned, rich blue yarn: two skeins of Debbie Bliss Pure Silk in a soft periwinkle blue, and two skeins Nature's Palette Fingering in Lupine--a lovely violet blue. My plan was to make Jane's Hedgerow Socks, which I've been eyeing for quite a while now.

So, yarn wound into a nice little cake, new Addi Lace circular needles in hand, I took the bus back down the hill to Dupont, and settled in on a nice sunny bench to knit in the glorious sun. The temperature was more than 70 degrees, no breeze...just a warm, wonderful day.


Knit four, purl two, knit four, purl two...The strand of Nature's Palette felt so silky running through my fingers, even more so than in the skein. Jane's Hedgerows were going to be mine.

But wait! Something's happening...Oh, no. Not again! The color, the texture---I realized with a sinking feeling that this yarn was not destined to be the JH socks after all. My "creative genes" were kicking in, not to be ignored.

What became obvious to me was that the Lupine was perfect for a pair of socks I've been dreaming up for about six months. Later that evening, I pulled out the pattern notes I'd been keeping and started charting the pattern and swatching.

I was almost derailed when I realized I'd have to knit these socks from the toe up (which I've only ever done on one pair of booties), but I persisted and all is well. My excitement is growing...This is going to be one cute pair of socks :-)

So here I am, knee-deep (well, almost) in blue yarn. And someday soon, I'll have a little surprise for you. Meanwhile, I have plans for the Pure Silk; a Chevron Scarf and my second Pink Granite sock to finish; and a halfway-designed cloche to complete.

Wish me luck...

Blue Friday