In which I admit my addiction(s)

I said I wouldn't do it. I said I'd pace myself. The knitting world needs this pattern to be shared in a step-by-step fashion, so knitters everywhere can rejoice in its freshness, revel in its genius, relax into its rhythm.

But I couldn't help myself.

No, I'm not talking about Melanie's gorgeous lace (look, see, wow!: clue 3 done before clue four comes out tomorrow!), though of course I could be.

I'm talking about this pattern:


The start of my second pair of Coriolis socks. (Cat, when is this book coming out anyway?????)

I finished the MS3 Clue 3 chart on Tuesday night and immediately went into withdrawals. So, Wednesday, I dug this KnitPicks Memories (Geranium colorway, reds and pinks and greens, I don't think it's available any more) out of my stashette, and cast on again, this time using size 5s because the Austermann Step pair on size 6s came out a leetle bit big--just a skosh, as my mom would say. (Long o, as in most.)

The genius of this pattern is such that I, and I'm not a super fast knitter, have finished AN ENTIRE FOOT OF A SOCK in only a few knitting hours. It's some plain stockinette, some ingenious shaping, and just plain really cool. I feel like Cara on her monkey/jaywalker streaks.

So I promise to do my best to be a better blogger and record the process on Geranium Coriolis #2. But if I get the shakes and the cravings and I've already finished clue 4, and if Micah's hogging Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows (ay yi yi, so many addictions in play this week!) I reserve the right to cast on with impunity.

I bet I'll be knitting this again. And you should too.

In which I play catch-up

I haven't posted a photo since May 29th. Of course, I've hardly blogged since then--it's not as fun without photos, right?--but I HAVE been knitting. A Lot. So it's back to the joy of writing on a nearly-daily basis. I have essays in my mind and on my mind (having just returned from AP training) and the itch to write is in my fingers. More on that another day; today is all about What's On (And Off) The Needles.

As I caught up on my documentation of Works Progressing, I noticed that, by accident, I am following the June/July colors for Project Spectrum: red, black, and metallics.

First, the Red: my lovely swallowtail shawl, which for now is gracing the back of the couch:


I finished this one up a couple of weeks ago--told myself it had to be completed before I started the Mystery Stole. I couldn't be prouder. The color, the nupps, the bindoff, the blocking--all went just so so so well. Though it matches the couch well, I do plan on wearing it; I have my eyes on this tee to go under. First day of school, anyone? (Am I the only teacher who carefully plans her first day of school outfit?)

On to the black/metallic:

Here is my Mystery Stole through the middle of the second clue, about 135 rows in. (I'm up to row 179 now, in clue 3, but haven't taken photos of it yet.) The color is a charcoal grey, but looks washed out here; the beads are a metallic mix with a variety of sheens; some look like silvery hematite, others coppery, others golden, others almost black. I'll try to get a better closeup and post my theme guesses soon.


And, finally, the redANDblack project: Cat Bordhi's Coriolis sock:
This project also deserves a post of its own; to understand the genius that is this design, just take a gander at this--it's the toe.

Intrigued? More soon!