Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Mystery Gift Revealed

Finally, I can reveal what I have done with the Cherry Tree Hill Supersock. I was planning a surprise visit home to attend my sister's college graduation. Boy was she ever surprised. I bought the Sugar Maple colorway since her favorite colors are orange and yellow. Each sock took 3-4 knitting nights to complete.

Details
Pattern: Jaywalker Socks by Grumperina
Yarn: Cherry Tree Hill Supersock in Sugar Maple
Needle: US1 (I do adore Brittany's 5'' DPNs)
Modifications: Converted to an ankle sock (only 6 pattern repeats before beginning the heel).
Final thoughts: I adore the jaywalker for yarns with short color runs, so it was perfect for this CTH. I love the way the yellow makes the zigzag pattern stand out. The yarn was great to work with, too. It has a really tight twist so I didn't have to worry about splitting stitches, but the twist doesn't compromise the elasticity. Additionally, the colors are so lovely that every color change brought immense delight. I loved seeing this work up with the pattern.

The socks themselves were a big hit. Hollie loved the exciting colors and the fit. I loved that they actually fit (I was quite nervous about this; thankfully, the knit stitch is quite forgiving). I consider this project a big hit!

After paying my homage to the fibery gods of orange I decided to get back to my roots and indulge in some nice greens. The gray fiber is a sampler of alpaca top, and the silvery green is a merino/tencel blend. The yarn is a gorgeous handpaint by Miss Babs, a fiber artist in Tennessee. The colorway shown here is Forest Afternoon. It really does invoke feelings of strolling in a grove and watching the light shine through the leaves highlighting all the different shades of green. I hope the shop decides to carry more of her colorways (it looks like the sampler set they purchased has sold really well) because this yarn is downright squishable! I am looking for the perfect pattern while I work on my other projects.

Enjoy all the pretties!

2 comments:

Karen said...

It sounds like your trip was great! The socks look amazing- I'm so glad they fit :) I broke down and got that Miss Bab's that I'd been eyeing too...I can't wait to use it. It's sitting on my bedside table and I just pick it up and squeeze it every once in a while :) Hope to see you on Wednesday!

Kristen said...

It's good to know someone else noticed the squishability of this yarn!