Bikini Elf

Those who check my blog regularly may have noticed there’s usually a lull between my projects. I get tired of knitting and want to do other things. That’s what’s happening now. I’m ready for reading and taking long walks. Spotting small amounts of sunshine and stepping outside to enjoy it. Planting in my herb garden. I hope you will check in again sometime. I look forward to knitting, but I just need a break. I may be gone for several weeks this time.

Yesterday was my birthday and I chose to go yarn shopping. Jeremy and I went to Portland and met up with Chrissy, who acted as chauffeur and tour guide. We started off at Close Knit, where we bopped from one yarn to another, petting and oohing over practically everything. Toward the end, we chilled a little and stood chattng about the Artyarns Supermerino and silk. I realized that I was with someone who appreciates handpainted yarn, sock yarn especially, as much as I do.

As we were putting on our seat belts for the drive to Knit/Purl, Chrissy gave me a birthday gift. My first Opal sock yarn! It’s self-patterning and the natural colors of black, yellow, brown and white will match most of my casual wardrobe. I’ve been wanting to try it for a while. Thanks again, Chrissy!

At Knit/Purl, we briefly checked out the sale yarn downstairs, then headed back up. Here’s where we really went crazy. As much as we tried to look at other yarns, we kept going back to the sock yarns and ogling the Blue Moon colorways. We overcame the urge to grab armfuls of it, though I carried a hank around the store. I ended up with some handpainted alpaca for my shawl, which was my birthday gift from Jeremy.
Jeremy and I headed to Lloyd Center, to spend my birthday gift card and had dinner at Stanford’s. Before going home, we stopped at Yarn Garden.

Socks for three knitalongs: Sockapaloooza, Knitting Olympics and Knittin’ Mom’s Sock-a-Month. I used Wendy’s toe-up sock pattern for the basic sock and my own creativity for the textural design as I went along. Knitted February 10-26.
First each sock was going to have a sort of stylized map. I’m familiar with the shape of my state, so this worked well. But I just couldn’t do justice to my sock pal’s home, not on a deadline, at least. So both socks represent the lovely state of Oregon. One sock has an image of Oregon, the other has a pine tree.
Correction: I will probably keep these and make another pair of Oregon socks for my pal. I didn’t size them quite right for her and I want to account for stretch of the free-form designs with my next pair. I should have made the images thinner so they will stretch and look correct when worn. My pal’s socks will most likely be another color, just so I don’t get bored with this green.
For more photos and details, click “more” below the photo.

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