summer! (not just socks)

Oof, it's been quite a while...Summer is here! I am so very very happy (even if it is raining atm) School is out, and the public pools are open. I've set up my lounge chair and umbrella on the deck so I have a great spot for reading or knitting and I've started doing yoga outside again.  I can tune out B's noisy playing while I do yoga on the deck, but a few houses down, we have a neighbor who uses his backyard as a workshop and the incessant noise of power tools is not as easy to tune out. Happy baby pose (ananda balasana) is not so happy with a band saw going, ah well, urban living...

I haven't been knitting at such a frantic pace lately, the end of school meant a lot of baking, and some volunteering, which helped to curb the obsession, it's nice to think about things other than socks! Like reading! I've been reading a lot, though nothing new; I've been re-reading a lot of memoirs. Mostly addiction, mental illness and rock star memoirs (sometimes it' a combo of all three). I did recently start reading a biography of Kurt Cobain, Heavier than Heaven. It's not great. I loved Nevermind, and Incesticide and In Utero were pretty good albums, but I wasn't obsessed with Cobain and Nirvana like many of my peers. As an aside, Foo Fighters are a way better band than Nirvana ever was.

But back to KNITTING! Finished both Garter Waves socks and they are yummy! So pretty, fit awesomely. Smooshy really is smooshy! Surprisingly, the pooling doesn't bother me, it's fairly minimal and less obvious in person.

Taking pictures of socks can be difficult, by no means am I a photographer, I use either a basic point and click cam or my Samsung Galaxy (which generally takes pretty good pictures) I tried a bunch of times, using both cameras, different lighting , to the best of my ability (except outside, maybe I should have tried outside :/)  and the actual pattern isn't very visible. Which is too bad, because they really look lovely in person.

I'm still working on my plain Heritage Paints Celtic sock, but it's kind of boring. I've designated that sock as my "travel" sock, but I haven't been traveling! I've barely even used public transportation lately!
So, boring sock is boring, but I've started the Vanilla Latte sock using SweetGeorgia Tough Love Sock in Stormchaser .This yarn is absolutely gorgeous, feels good in my hands. I was aiming to get some Tough Love Sock in a solid colour because I prefer solids, but I could not help myself, in the hank the Stormchaser colourway just grabbed me and even though I know there will be pooling I don't care. I love the colours, and I love how they look next to each other.  I hope this is a stretchy yarn, I'm making this sock on 2.25mm...only .25mm difference from the 2.5mm needles that I've used for the last two (and one half) pairs of socks but I figure since the pattern is a K6, P2 ribbing throughout, it should be more elastic than a plain knit?

Vanilla Latte has been designated the Pushing Daisies sock. The show started in 2007, and while we did have cable at that time, I didn't particularly watch a lot of television, unless it was Animal Planet or TLC, so I missed it. It was brought up on a Ravelry thread about favourite tv shows that showed  knitting/crocheting and someone mentioned Pushing Daisies, so I IMDB'd it. The premise sounded interesting, I downloaded a few episodes and was hooked. It's quirky and Burton-esque(lite). It's only two seasons however :(

 I will most likely also start another sock within a few days because the Vanilla Latte sock is also pretty plain and I need something with YO's and SSK's to really keep me interested. So much startitis, but there's so many lovely yarns to use and so many socks to knit!