Birthday Swag (Adriana)

I had a very yarny birthday earlier this week. I'm so lucky that my friends know me so well to get me such yummy yarns! I feel quite overwhelmed by all the goodness and I don't know what to knit with first!


From Heather and Gen, this is Fleece Artist Merino Sock in Mahogany. I love that shock of red.


Heather and Gen also gave me this beautiful FA Sea Wool, colour unknown (possibly Origin). I've heard so many good things about this yarn; I'm so excited that I finally get to play with it.


After I admired her Regia Strato socks, The Jane got me some of my own! This is Granite, a discontinued colour, which has a lot of meaning for me growing up as I did on the Canadian Shield. My favourite provincial park had mountains of granite. I'm not really sure why Regia named this colourway that as the granite I grew up with was not navy with steaks of purple and blue, but I still love this colour. I may dye myself some true granite sock yarn one day (my mom has promised me some granite rocks to serve a inspiration).



As a birthday present to myself I bought 5 balls of Rowan Calmer in Plum (colour truest in second picture) from Redbirdknits. I hadn't ordered from there before but it was an excellent experience. Since it was my birthday I got a discount on the yarn (or would have if it hadn't already been discounted) and I got free shipping. The yarn arrived two days after my birthday which was very speedy! This yarn is destined to become a fun and flirty summer top and shrug (if there's enough left over).

The yarn that Heather and Rosemary dyed for me as part of the dye challenged arrived within days of my birthday so they felt like presents too!


I asked Rosemary to try to match the colours of my dress and I think she did a fantastic job, especially given the truly terrible picture I sent her. I think the turquoise section is my favourite.



I was trying to find some colours that were out of my usual comfort zone and I asked Heather if she could try to reproduce STR Azurite. I think she did a great job.

These both used Knitpicks Gloss as the base yarn. That 30% silk definitely gives it a glorious shine.

Just so you know it hasn't been all stash acquisition around here, I have managed to get some knitting done too. I finished the Birthday Bolero (pictures to follow after the recipient receives it) and I whipped off a One Skein Wonder too fast to bother blogging about it.

This is a gift for a friend who may or may not read the blog.

The current project on the needles, and the reason I haven't yet cast on any of my scrumptious birthday yarns, are the Spiral Boot Socks from the new IK. After two friends independently said the yarn looked like candy these have now been renamed Candy Socks. The yarn is my own Deegu.
First sock in progress

Finished first sock

This yarn pooled something terrible. I need to do more experimenting with colour sequence in an attempt to stop the pooling. I even alternated both ends of the ball in an attempt to break up the colours; as you can see, I wasn't that successful. Still, I do love these socks.

With so many beautiful sock yarns at my disposal, it's all I can do to keep plugging away on the Candy Socks. I keep myself motivated by thinking about all the stunning patterns I can make when this is done, like this, this and this. (Knitty came out at the perfect time for me!) I haven't yet decided which pattern I'm going to do next and more importantly, which yarn is right for which pattern. If you have any suggestions, shout them out in the comments.

All in all, this was an excellent birthday :)