Some do, some don't

Fall into the Knitting Black Hole. Projects, I mean. This sock certainly didn't. Once I picked it up and started knitting on it in earnest, the stitches flew by and it was finished before I believed it possible. I even measured it with two different tape measures, a ruler, and against another pair of the Emperor's socks before I started the toe decreases. But my husband tried it on, and it fit beautifully. He can't wait until the other one is finished.

It looks like this yarn is discontinued --it's one of the Knitpicks sock yarns, in the "Crayon" color. That's too bad, as it's a nice yarn. I especially like how the little bits of color show up in the yellow, like smudges or something. It softens what otherwise might have been a pretty hard-edged stripe design.

After having done two pairs of socks in non-striped yarns and several pairs in striped yarns, I have to say that striped socks go much more quickly than non-striped socks. Maybe it's the anticipation of the next color... maybe it's being able to measure your progress with your eyes more easily... maybe it's the natural tendency to say "I'll just knit to the next blue stripe and then go to bed..." but so far, there hasn't been a Knitting Black Hole for these socks. I'm almost to the heel flap on Number Two!

I did break one of my Lantern Moon ebony needles, though. It just fell apart in my hand. Luckily, I'm a four-needle sock knitter and the ebonies come in packages of five. But, I think when I'm finished with the second Crayon sock I'll retire this set and stick to my Susan Bates Qucksilvers. They're practically indestructable, and only slippery when you need them to be.

Last week I checked Alice Starmore's Tudor Roses out of the library via interlibrary loan. It's a collection of sweater patterns inspired by Tudor period historical figures connected with Henry VIII, and they're clever, beautiful works. There are two men's pullovers, one a complex all-over stitch pattern and the other a richly colored fair-isle. The rest of the patterns are for women's sweaters of every type. Even though the book features complete instructions for each pattern, you end up with the feeling that you're not really meant to knit any of them (although Wendy managed to do a wonderful job on two of them). I found the collection very inspiring, and the little bit of designer left in me thought "what other historical themes could one translate into a knitting pattern?" If I come up with one, I'll show it to you.