Monday, May 21, 2007

Should I Dye or Reverse the Sock Pal Karma?

Sockapalooza 4 has arrived to Casa de Hipp. Just my luck, I have been assigned to knit socks for a master sock knitter. She seriously posts four new pairs of hand knit socks on her blog each week. I assume they are all knit by her, but since her blog is not written in English (international sock pal! super fun!) that assumption might make and ASS out of U and ME in the end. We have already exchanged emails, in which I have warned her that I just learned to make socks last year and she has generously said she will be happy with anything I knit for her. Woo hoo! Easy going...now that's my kind of sock pal.

Nevertheless, I want to make socks that will make this nice lady happy in her far off land. The first order of business is yarn selection. Thanks to the Yarn Lady Bag Sale (no worries, purchased pre-yarn diet), I have eight balls of Scholler Stahl Fortissima Colori Socka Color. Go ahead, say it out loud to yourself. "Schoeller Stahl Fortissima Colori Socka Color". Fun, huh? The balls I have are blue, white, and gray. The yarn is good stuff, but my sock pal had no mention of blues or grays in her color preferences. Easy going, yes, but I can do better.

My first thought is to use this yarn anyway and overdye it with Kool Aide into something that is better suited to my sock pal's preferences. I've decided to make a pair of baby socks as my swatch. I'll see how they dye up and go from there. With all the pregnant ladies around me, my swatch can be used as a baby gift, too. Two birds with one stone!



My second thought is to use the sock yarn sent to me by the person who was supposed to knit socks for me in Sockapalooza 3. She ended up not having time to knit me an actual pair of socks, but did send two skeins of gorgeous soft yumminess from Zen Yarn Garden as a karmic offering. I have made a pair of socks for Mr. Hipp out of one skein, leaving this one - Raspberry Chocolate - for me to pet and sigh over. Please excuse the cat-as-background. She decided that it was her time to join the cat-modeling fun.



If anyone out there has any thoughts on the matter, I would be glad to hear them. Off to do some chores before "Heroes" comes on. I don't know what I will do with my Mondays this summer!

7 comments:

knitty_kat said...

here from Pligg -

does this mean you have Mondays off now? NICE! If this is the case, then you will knit of course!! LOL

Definitely a challenge knitting for someone that you see as a master knitter. Do you best, use this as a learning experience. The over dying sounds like a great idea and may be something she hasn't done!

Good luck!!

s b said...

Dyeing is a lot of fun. I really like the results when I dye my yarn in the skein and then knit it up vs. knitting it into an object and then dyeing it. My "imperfections" as a dyer add a ton of depth to the finished object when randomly scattered throughout the piece instead of concentrated in one place by dyeing the finished object. Just a personal preference of mine...
I really like the yarn from your old sockapalooza pal...so may choices!

Seanna Lea said...

If you are anything like my hubby and I, you will spend most Monday evenings bemoaning the fact that there is no Heroes on!

I think the Chocolate Raspberry is stunning. Do you have a pattern in mind?

muoriska said...

Tuff choise to make. I love dyeing.. so much that I sometimes rather dye than knit. And Rasberry Chocolate is really beautifull yarn.
I think I can't hel you on this matter.

alison said...

Don't be nervous about your sock pal being some sock knitting superstar. If she makes herself a lot of socks then she's a genuine sock-lover and will love whatever you make for her! I think that Raspberry Chocolate is lovely and would make beautiful socks for your pal.

Carola said...

It's hard to judge on something one hasn't seen. I mean, I (and you) don't know how your dyeing experiment is turning out. But it sure will be fun! The Rasperry Chocolate is so tasty, ehm pretty. It would be a wonderful choice for your pal. And don't worry about sending socks to a super-sock-knitter. She definitely love handmade socks and by participating in this exchange signed up to the surprise. You will do fine!

Jess P. said...

I like the raspberry chocolate a lot and think it would make a stunning sock. Plus, if your petting and sighing is any indication, it will be fun to knit with something that soft.