Yarnalong: Consider the Fork, Constellate, and Smooth Operators

Knitting: Phew, I’ve finished a few projects up and now I want to cast on all the things! Does this ever happen to you?  I keep telling myself that I can’t reasonably knit multiple sweaters, socks, hat, and a giant shawl all at the same time … but boy, do my fingers want to!  So far, I’ve been reasonable, splitting my knitting time between two small projects. The first is the newly released Constellate hat by Hunter Hammersen, which I’m knitting out of some long stashed Tosh Merino Lite (woohoo, no yarn purchases here!). The second, a pair of Smooth Operators (pattern by Susan B. Anderson) for Mr. N.  I’m using some old leftover Tosh sock for the heels, toes, and cuff and Loopy Ewe Loopy Legend Sock yarn for the sock proper.  I got the yarn in December when I placed a Christmas order with The Loopy Ewe.  Apparently (despite having not ordered from there in quite some time!), the order nudged me over a threshold that meant I became a Loopy Groupy, so they sent me this yarn as a gift!  How nice!  Mr. N had been dropping some, ahem, not so subtle hints that he would like more handknit socks, and while I couldn’t manage them before Christmas, I gave him a little handknit sock coupon that he could “redeem” after the holidays.  He loves purple, and when I showed him the yarn from TLE, he really liked it.  The colors are very nice, but it’s pooling like nobody’s business!  On both socks, on one side, all purple and blue (as in the sock on the right) and on the other side , a vertical column where that happy yellow, tan and cream appear (what you see on the left sock).  I wish the colors were more evenly distributed, but hey, the yarn was a free gift, and after a quick video chat yesterday where I showed him the offending pool, Mr. N assured me in no uncertain terms that it does not bother him (I think he was a bit baffled about what exactly I thought the problem was ….)

Reading:  Consider the Fork, by Bee Wilson.  Well, I’ll probably be reading this awhile!  Since last week, I’ve gotten through the first chapter on pots and their history, which was fascinating, and cracked open the chapter on knives, which I’m even more excited about.  A lot of you expressed interest in the book last week, and I’ll say that having now read past the first few pages, it has not disappointed.  If you like cooking and history, I think you’d really enjoy this (there’s even a bit of science.)  Although, I think I need to stop reading books about food before bed … they make me just a bit hungry!

You can head over the original Yarnalong post to see what people from all over are knitting and reading this week — and as always, I love to hear what you’re up to in the comments.

And speaking of comments, thanks friends for your comments about my Droving socks! I was so excited to finish and share them, and I really appreciate your kind words!  And if you’re wondering about those sheep sock blockers, they also came from The Loopy Ewe.

Happy knitting!