Night Gulls

I haven't posted in over three weeks because I've been on a secret mission. But now the cat (or the sea bird, rather) is out of the bag, and all can be revealed.

Behold, a new sock pattern -- Night Gulls -- created by my good friend, fellow librarian, and fellow knitter, Janelle. Aren't they cool? And Janelle chose me to test knit the large size. So much responsibility! But Janelle was thorough and kind and carefully considered all suggestions. I was a little nervous about it -- not knowing whether I would be able to be objective about a friend's pattern, wondering whether I would be able to be thorough (I tend to gloss over some parts of patterns) -- but the whole process was fun. A lot of hard work (especially on Janelle's part!), but extremely rewarding.

As Janelle mentions in her pattern notes, the socks have a kind of sampler feel. The top has a slipped gull stitch pattern that leaves the effect of a flock of seagulls (no, not that kind), and after a garter ridge divider section, a diagonal rib stitch that brings to mind rolling waves. So if your interest is piqued, check it out. If you do decide to do this, I can highly recommend using Dream in Color Smooshy. It was awesome to knit with.

I should say that I haven't spent the entire preceding month working on just this project, although it is the only knitting I've managed to accomplish. The weather here has warmed up considerably and our poor yard, much neglected after a couple years of intense drought, needed some attention. So weeds have been pulled, plants added, bamboo eradicated (as much as one can -- sigh), and ibuprofen ingested. All of this pulled me away from knitting and I didn't get to spend as much time at the needles as I would have liked. But the yard's under control, the Night Gulls have flown, and now I need to get back to those Men's Argyle Socks -- if I can even remember how to do them anymore.

More posts soon -- I promise.