An FO and an expedition.

I'm usually very good about finishing projects in a timely manner after having started them. Not so with this FO. I cast on a month ago, finished the first sock in a few days, and .... nothing. Everything else seemed more interesting than casting on for the second sock. I'd rather start an enormous, intricate lace shawl. I'd rather wind 400 yards of singles off my spindle, by hand. I'd rather scoop the litter box. You get the point. Second sock syndrome is a b!+¢#. I decided to finally put an end to the madness. I refused to be beaten by a harmless sock, much less a pink one. So, yesterday, this was born:

Pomatomus by Cookie A. (rav link)

Fibra Natura Yummy

US 1

Despite the horrible attack of second sock syndrome, I actually enjoyed knitting this pattern. It is so named because the motif resembles the scales of a blue fish, whose genus is Pomatomus. The yarn, however, I'm not so wild about. It's got tons of twist in it, and it feels very stiff. I like the dye job, though, as it didn't pool or stripe.

Can't finish one thing without starting another. So, I cast on for Selbu Modern by Kate Osborn (rav link). I'm using some Knit Picks Palette I had lying around for purposes like this.

This afternoon, I made the trek to Article Pract, a wonderful yarn shop in Oakland. I love the variety of gorgeous yarns and fibers they have there! Mmmm! (Ooooh, and this was the scene of my first encounter with Malabrigo Rasta. It was quite epic to see a wall full of huge hanks of daringly-dyed super-bulky single-ply awesomeness!) I purchased the raw materials for my next sweater, Bliss by Samia Buchan (rav link). I'm going to do it in Cascade 220 Heathers, in the colorway birch (shown below). The color is actually less nasty-green-brown in person, and more mustard yellow. If you look closely (in real life, can't see it in the picture), you can see hints of rust and olive. That's delicious. Nicholas agrees.

While the above was a premeditated purchase, at a price with no guilt attached, the following was more of a love-at-first-sight/touch type thing. 2 oz of handpainted merino. Meh. Not too shabby!

Oh, and a sidenote about this adventure. As I was walking from the bus stop to my apartment, above-pictured goods in hand, I came across a woman sitting on a bicycle, craning her neck towards a second-floor apartment, reciting lines from Shakespeare in full voice. There is no apparent explanation for this. Oh, the joys of living in Berkeley.