Summer of Magical Socks Update

This sock yarn— which stripes very nicely, by the way — is from Darmafey's Cosmic Fibers, an Etsy shop. It is her "Sorted into Ravenclaw" colorway, and although it is not at all metallic, you can tell that the silver color really is supposed to be silver and not just gray. These soft colors transcend the Harry Potter genre, and make great all-purpose socks. Kinda like Harry Potter stealth socks — muggles would never suspect their magical origins. :)

The stitch marker is another of the tile wine glass markers I found on eBay. (The seller is taking time off from eBay to have a baby, but here's the URL.) This time, I filed a groove around the edge of the tile and fitted a wire into the groove. The tile is varnished to render it waterproof.

The socks themselves are my favorite Wendy's generic toe-up sock pattern — with feather & fan leg, short-row heel, and a turned-picot hem. I used a provisional cast-on. There are 64 stitches in the foot and 72 in the feather-and-fan portion. I used size 0 Knit Picks DPNs.

Next up? My "Sorted into Slytherin" socks are blocking tonight, and I'm already working on the second "Sorted into Hufflepuff " sock!

A Tale of Two Socks

I really, really, really like self-striping sock yarn. I've had OK luck with self-stripers from big yarn companies (up 'til now), but my preference is for the smaller, independent dyers. It's a lot of work creating a nice self-striping yarn, and I truly admire those who do it well and take pride in it. My June sock experience only increased this admiration.

I received a beautiful skein of Tofutsies in two of my favorite colors, pink & lavender, as a much-appreciated gift. Taking a time-out from woolen Magical Socks, I decided the lighter-weight Tofutsies would be the perfect travel project to take on my trip to Florida. The first sock was delightful:

The second sock was kind of a surprise:

A very deep pool!! The only reason the pool changed sides is because I had to snip out a 20-inch section of yarn that was missing an entire ply. (Is this a Southwest Trading Company issue? I had the same thing happen with 3 of 5 balls of STC Bamboo — the only other time I have ever run into this problem.)

I liked working with Tofutsies: even with sharp size 0 Knit Picks DPNs, I had very little splitting. I liked the feel of the yarn. I liked the colors of the yarn. So what's up with the pooling in the foot??? I have never had this problem with yarn from independent dyers — have I just been lucky, or does personal pride in a job well done factor in somehow?

At any rate, I don't think there will be any more "self-striping" Tofutsies in my future.