Brainy Lounging Socks

A while back my friend Sojourn Knitter gifted me some yarn from Sauveterre Design.  It is lusciously soft, pretty and marvelous to work with.  The base is Estelle, 100% Italian cashmere in the crocus colorway:

I wanted to make socks, and I chose the Brainless pattern because I fell in love with the fancy gusset:

The pattern was problematic because it wasn't very well written and I'm not a very good follower of instructions when it comes to socks.  I think I know everything about making them, until I met these socks.  The truth is, if I knew everything there is to know about making socks, I wouldn't need a pattern, now would I?   I'd be able to just look at the socks and know what to do, if that was the case.

You have to know everything about making socks before tackling these.

The first sock was started in November 2012 and the second sock was finished today.  That says a lot.  I could go into detail about why these socks were a problem to knit, or I could just show you the finished project:

Lovely!  I love them dearly.  The fact that they are cashmere means they will be lounging socks because cashmere has a tendency to felt and pill, but it is so worth it for the beauty and the softness of them.

Now I can go on to my next project which is in this lovely bag from Maria Elena Bliss on Etsy:

I love my little sheep!  And inside is a project that I'm not working on - I just wanted to see the bag full and to let you see the inside of it:

There's 10 skeins of yarn in there!  That's one large and very pretty bag.  Maria Elena makes quality bags - honestly.  If you don't have one, maybe it's time to get one.

Now that the socks are done and I am able to reclaim my kacha, maybe I should go find some other UFOs, finish them and reclaim some needles.

Lastly, this is the month of May, as you well know.  I will be participating in a spin along (SAL) with Diane of Knitabulls in preparation for ...

The Tour de Fleece!  Yep - woo hoo!  The more I spin, the more room I have for the fleece and fiber I plan to buy this year.  I'd tell you my goal for the Tour, but then I'd have to stick with it and I would feel bad when I don't make it.  Suffice it to say, there's going to be a spinning frenzy come July!  Yay!

OK, I'm calm now.