Great Unexpectations (and an FO)

Pattern: Basic Sock Recipe
Yarn: KnitPicks Sock Memories in Fly Fishing
Needles: Clover Bamboo US Size 2 DPNs
Notes: The sock yarn is softer than I remember and knits up quickly. I still will not purchase more KnitPicks sock yarn in the future, in liue of other brands I like better. Plus, I like thinner sock yarns and a size 2 needle is a bit large for me.

I try to be relatively rule free when it comes to knitting, since knitting is meant to be my creative outlet, but I am a bit of a control freak and find I exert rules even when rules aren't necessary. Because of this, I try to keep one project going with yarn I have purchased from a particular shop, then I can pop into the shops knit nights guilt free. The use of yarn from the shop is strictly a self imposed rule. The shop owner is wonderful and would never kick you out on knit night for knitting with something from a different store, I just try to promote her business because I selfishly love having her shop around. Therefore, when I finished the socks for Little Clover, I was very tempted to knit with some Duet Sock yarn in the color "Spring Glen," but tossed it aside because it wasn't from my favorite LYS.

I dove into my stash to find a spring inspired sock yarn and pulled out skein after skein after skein (boy, I have a lot of sock yarn) until my fingers finally stumbled upon this:

It looked springy enough with its light blues and purples. I thought I spotted a dot of pink here and there as well, so I took it to my swift and ball winder and began to become intrigued withe yarn. As a general rule, I don't like variegated or self striping yarns. I'm more of a semi solid to solid color kinda gal. I feel a single color gives me more variety and opportunity to play with texture and color techniques, so at first blush, I was only slightly excited with the yarn. Then as I wound the yarn, I noticed the color changes happened very quickly. I guessed the colors were repeating, but it was a mass of colors as the yarn flew off the swift. I became really excited about the possibilities in this ball when I saw it on my table. I couldn't wait to see what would happen when I casted on, and the yarn didn't disappoint me.

The yarn is not pooling and it isn't striping. I'm not getting vertical color shifts either. The yarn is shifting hues in a vertical manner, but there are flecks of color throughout the little bit I've knitted. It has almost a tie dyed look, but then again, not really. Honestly, it looks like a colorful semi solid. I actually watched the yarn as it slipped across my fingers forming the bumps and Vs. I was excited and couldn't wait to see what color came next and would it still line up in neat columns. (I think I may need to get out of the house more) This yarn is the perfect yarn for the beginning of Spring. Maybe having a rule or two isn't quite so bad.