my half-breed odyssey

A pair of wonky-ass socks.

Sock yarn is the sort of thing you can buy on impulse and have relatively few qualms about. It's one skein (usually) that makes a complete project; since it's created as sock yarn, you have a built-in purpose for it. I fell victim to this skein- it was named Zauberball (a great name!). The colors were/are awesome. It fell into the no-guilt-easy-project category. It seemed like a win-win.

I mean, I'm not totally dissatisfied with the results...they're just strange. If you're the sort of person who can embrace all-out randomness, this yarn is for you! Like, if you don't organize your sock drawer into pairs, or if you like to wear mismatched socks intentionally, this yarn was MADE for you. It was not made for me.

Anyway, the yarn itself was okay. I think it's sold mostly for the novelty and for buyers like me who snatch up sock yarn impulsively. The quality was okay, but the yarn is two-ply, and one of the plys (plies? whatever) changes while the other stays the same. I ran into several knots in the process of knitting the socks, which was distinctly displeasing...not only does it create more ends, but it disrupts whatever hint of organic transformation this yarn displays. How's that alliteration? Distinctly displeasing disruption of the display. There were also some odd fuzzy sections of yarn.

Bottom line: Zauberball has a cool name, neat colors, and was made to freak out OCD knitters.

i'm never to keen to leave this place

A few weeks ago I allowed myself to go yarn shopping, something I had denied myself for quite a while. I mean, it's kind of ridiculous to go shopping for MORE yarn when you have a whole closet full...but my intentions had been innocent. I had run out of yarn for a sweater I'm working on, and it's not my fault that they didn't have any more and I had to use my money on something else, right?

So this is what I ended up with! I couldn't resist the colors since they would be equally good for men's or women's socks. The yarn is made by Schoppel Wolle (a German company) and is called Zauberball. Isn't that a great name?! This is the thicker weight (closer to DK than traditional fingering/sock weight) but I'm still knitting it on size 1 needles. I like how it's knitting up, but as my mother observed "it's prettier in the ball than it is knitted." The color runs are pretty long, so you end up with kind of wonky looking stripe patterns. Oh well, it's still fun to work with!

I'm currently stalled on this project (knitting group tonight will help me get through this)- I'm afraid that I won't have enough yarn to do a complete pair and should (ha, ha, who does what they should?) knit contrasting heels and toes. Meh, I don't feel like going out to look for a contrast yarn (I'm usually disappointed with my choices, I'm too picky) so I'm just going to continue this ill-advised sock and you can read the frustrated "I-ran-out-of-yarn-oh-no!" posts later. Lucky you! (Kidding. (Just about the lucky you part.))