Several months ago some friends and I took a little road trip over to Tolt Yarn and Wool for the Local Color Fiber Studio trunk show. Hang on. I need to pause for a moment. That may be one of the happiest sentences I have ever written. There are so many good things packed into that one little sentence. And I didn't even mention that our trip also included brunch at The Grange Cafe!
I think I've swooned about Tolt in this space before. It's basically the perfect yarn shop. Even its distance from Seattle is perfect, because it stops me from spending absolutely all of my money there but is still within an easy drive for special purchases. I know, I know. I said I was stash busting this year. BUT WAIT! This trip wasn't just to buy any old yarn. It was to buy super special fantastic yarn, which is totally within the rules.
This super special yarn is made by Local Color Fiber Studio, a duo of super talented women based on Bainbridge Island. They are basically everything. First, all of the wool they use is US grown, sustainably raised, and domestically milled (including some of my favorite Imperial Stock Ranch Columbia). It's just the best wooly, wool. Second, they use all natural dyes which are grown and foraged right on the island. Third, they are just so good at what they do. I mean, look at these colors!
If that wasn't enough, all of their yarns come with these super cute tags to let you know what the yarn was dyed with. Adorable. And also really fascinating. I just wanted to look at every single hank of yarn to see what it was dyed with. I may have done that.
Plus. Plus. They're really nice people. Can you tell that I love them? Yep. Like I said, they basically encompass everything that I love about wool and yarn and crafting in general.
On to the pattern! The patter is from the Autumn 2014 edition of Pom Pom Quarterly. I purchased it at Churchmouse Yarns and Teas on my annual birthday trip to Bainbridge Island. See! It all comes back to Bainbridge. We visited the Local Color ladies at the farmer's market that day, but I had already spent my "birthday allowance" at Churchmouse so I had to walk away for the moment. But! The sock yarn they had available really stuck in my head, and I thought the colors would be great for this pattern.
I have been wanting to knit myself a pair of socks for awhile now. I've knit quite a few pairs of socks in the past, but they have always been gifts. I also wanted to try a different construction method to hopefully learn some new skills. My preferred method (because it's really been the only method I've used) has been top-up construction, with a few different heel types. This pattern is written ankle down with a heel method I've never used before, and I LOVED the look of the slipped stitch pattern and the finished product. Slip stitch patterns are super fun to knit. This one was a little bit of an exception to that since I was working with three colors and the rounds are so short. I was finding it really had to work hard to keep my yarn from getting super tangled, and so this turned out not to be the "small, mindless, portable" project I was expecting it to be. Once I got that sorted by being more mindful of my balls, things went pretty quickly. The second sock probably took me about half the time as the first!
In the end I can say I like both toe-up and ankle down. Now I know I can use either method for future patterns and don't have to limit myself to just one type or another. Hurray! Knitting skills expanded!DETAILS
Pattern: Arionette by Wencke Lucas from Pom Pom Quarterly Autumn 2014
Needles: Size US 1
Yarn: Local Color Fiber Studio Rambouillet 2-Ply Fingering
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