About a week ago, I finished up TheEnablers’ Crazy Zauberball socks:
I was even pretty good about getting the ends woven in and giving them a nice bath, so by the end of the weekend my husband had a fresh new pair of socks to wear. I checked my project history – apparently I had quite a dry spell for socks and didn’t finish any socks in all of 2020. Now I’ve finished my 2nd pair for 2021, so I’d say the dry spell is broken. Granted, the last pair I completed for TheEnabler were his kilt hose (which he does wear), so those were a biggie.
While knitting the socks above, I remembered how much fun it is to knit with Crazy Zauberball. And then I felt a little jealous, because I don’t have any socks made by Crazy Zauberball. He has three pairs now, and his brother has two. Jeeze… why don’t I have any? Whose at fault here? Oh wait, me! All of these socks in this yarn are ones I made!
Time to remedy this…
I enjoyed making my husband’s socks in “Jackie wie Hose”, and his are a lovely mix of colors. But it doesn’t compare to the satisfaction I feel knitting up these in Herbstonne in colors I picked for myself. I love the warm colors – reds, oranges, yellows – but I appreciate how darker hues in the cooler colors can help enhance them further. The navy and indigo blues in these just make the reds and oranges of the yarn more intense. I think I’m going to like these socks…
Unravel – Fri 21 – Sun 23 May 2021
I miss yarn festivals. I remain so grateful that my husband and I made the time to go to Wonderwool Wales and Shetland Wool Week back in 2019. Some of the US based festivals quickly adopted a virtual version in 2020 and again this year. And I’ve attended a couple, but it’s a struggle with the time differences – I’m popping in and out of a few talks, and don’t really fell part of it. Some of the European ones have had simplified online versions with live Facebook or Youtube streaming, but without the classes.
Don’t get me wrong – I loved the course I took at the Knit+Escape festival, and enjoyed some of the talks. But I couldn’t join the knit nights, and watched some of the stuff as recordings. It’s not the same connection…
So I was really excited when I learned that Felicity Ford, who taught at Shetland Wool Week, would be teaching a virtual course in a UK based virtual event: Unravel. She’s teaching Sunsets & Sheep: Recolouring a Stranded Colourwork Design, and is using a design I love but have hesitated to try to make without getting the exact same colors it’s originally done in. They look like they have a nice line up of classes. Sylvia Watts-Cherry is teaching intarsia in the round at this festival too – if the class I took sounded fun, now’s another chance for you to give it a go!
I’ve also signed up for Roosimine, an Estonian lace inlay technique. My husband asks how the technique works, and I had to explain I have absolutely no clue, that’s why I’m taking the class! There are 18 different classes at the festival – not a huge number, but they seem to cover a nice variety of knitting and fiber based skills.