*cough cough* Thank goodness colds are not contagious through the blogs. I am happy to see the end of this week, I must say. The week’s highlight was Tuesday night’s dinner with a friend and an amazing lecture at National Geographic Society; after that, the week is a blur of rainy weather, sitting in traffic, and coughing. (To spice things up a little on my long rainy commute home from work, I did a red light camera series of photos. It made the drive a little better.)

…enough of the kvetching! everyone has those kind of days (weeks)!

On to the socks!

Autumnal Equinox Socks
Yarn: Lang JaWoll Color
Source: All About Yarn
Needles: Size US 1 DPNs
Pattern: 68-stitch stockinette with Dutch heel

I enjoyed working with this Lang yarn, and would definitely do so again. Each ball of yarn comes with a reinforcement thread of yarn for the heel and toes. I actually forgot to knit those in, but I did go back and go over the toe, and run the thread through the heel flap for an extra lining. The colors are what obviously drew me to this yarn - I saw it at one of the local yarn shops last summer/fall. I knew I wanted something simple to show the stripes of color, and the basic stockinette was just right. Another pair for Socktoberfest - this is the first year that I have completed two socks in the time frame (well, almost… I started these the last week of September, but whose counting, right?) Do check out the lovely socks pouring in at the Socktoberfest Flickr group! I have enjoyed the low-key “fest” this year, and I hope you have too, and its not quite over!

This weekend is quiet and perfect. I will wear my new socks and curl up in my cozy green chair, catch up on my reading, and nurse my cough with some yummy tea. I am about half-way through Diane Ackerman’s An Alchemy of Mind: The Marvel and Mystery of the Brain and it is just as beautiful as her other books (although my favorite is still A Natural History of the Senses - the first one I read by her) … and I just got a copy of one of the new knitting books on the market, and from initial observations, it may be the best informational knitting book out there. Stay tuned to find out more about that!

Sock one of the Autumnal Equinox socks is complete. And there just may be a new contender for my favorite sock yarn. Lang JaWoll feels and knits up a lot like Trekking, one of my other favorite yarns. It is not silky soft like some yarns, but not really rough either. It creates a sturdy fabric, especially on size US 1s.

 

My socks do get some wear, so I am always impressed when I can get a nice strong fabric. Sock two will be on the needles very soon. These socks will be frequently worn… probably with my cute new shoes… and those will just have to wait until the finished pair shot

Thanks to Jennifer at Blue Lace Fiesta, we now have some pretty Socktoberfest buttons too - you can download them on this Flickr page.

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I had a very nice weekend hanging out in DC. I went to the Crafty Bastards festival (third year in a row!) with Bec and Karen, who was up from Durham, North Carolina. Before going to the festival, we stopped by Hoopla, a small eco-boutique store in Adams Morgan. Funny story: remember the Adams Morgan Day Festival a few weeks ago? well, I entered a little contest while I was there, and I actually won! I got a call from the people at the shop telling me to come in and redeem my $100 gift card. I was thrilled, and jumped at the chance. Karen and Bec helped me choose some things:

The top is a woven cotton from a cooperative in Nepal. The top fits so well and will look great under (and over) several pieces. And the BEADS! they are made from magazines and newspapers, spiraled into small rolls and dipped into adhesive. They are beautiful crafted by a cooperative in Uganda, and sold under the name of Paper to Pearls. Both of the items are fair-trade, and are beautifully made.

…and the festival itself was great fun too!

Lolly and Karen with Woolarina purchases (no yarn for me!)

Bec lusts after the purses from Rebound Designs

 

 

 

 

 

…I have celebrated the turning of the seasons with a mindful and observant walk through the woods…

More photos on Kris’s blog

 

…and by casting on for an autumnal colored sock…

I felt the need to re-motivate and reinvigorate my sock knitting. While I have a beautiful sock yarn stash to choose from, I was not feeling an especially large pull towards it, favoring sweater and cardigan knitting instead. There has been a great influx of patterns that have swayed my eyes, but with Socktoberfest right around the corner, I thought that a stockinette stripe may bring more inspiration. Several ideas are floating around in my head about my own goals for this October; yet in the mean time, I am enjoying the process of this lovely seasonal sock (knit with Lang JaWoll Colors) and the changing of the season…