Springtime On My Mind

We've gotten so much snow here in New York City that I'm rethinking my retirement plan of moving to Canada.  I've wanted to live there since forever, but the amount of snow, ice and cold that we've had this winter (not to mention gray clouds and frigid cold), is only a drop in the bucket of some areas in Canada and I can't stand it!  All I can think is, "I can't wait until Spring!"

With that in mind, I've turned to knitting socks with bright colors.  Get your sunglasses, folks.  These socks are bright.

First up is a pair of socks I test knit for Bunniphish (Heather) back in January:

They're called 'It's A Blizzard, ho!'.  They were made with Madelinetosh sock in chartreux (which means 'OMG, where'd you find that color?).  I used US #0 which made them a little more snug than I"m used to, but they fit and I don't feel like me feet are wearing a girdle.  Heather designed these for someone and the pattern (US $5 on Ravelry) is higher in front than in back.  So cute!

Then, as if bright isn't enough, I made these:

These are called Snow and Ice by Stephanie van der Linden from the book Knit Socks for All Seasons.   I love these socks!  If they don't remind you of summer (as opposed to winter), then nothing will.  They were so easy to make, after I modified the pattern to have fewer ends to weave in.  I used Paton's Stretch in kelp, and Lion Brand Sock Ease in white, US #2 needle.  These socks are 'wavy', which my son says means 'cool'.

Now I have to get back to my sleeves.  Oy!  The sleeves of any sweater are so boring to make that I always get side tracked.  The sweater is about 75% done, I just have to plow through.  Give me strength!

My next pair of socks will be plain vanilla socks, I think.  I have the yarn all ready - and I'm using yarn from stash.  It's still early in the year and so far I've only purchased one skein of yarn while at Vogue Knitting Live.  I'm so proud of myself.  Stash is going down, down, down.