August 2, 2006
Too Hot
Right now its really hot here in Chicago. It was 100 degrees when I was out running some errands around lunch time and it only dropped to about 97 degrees at around 8 pm. According to my constantly updating weather ticker (courtesy of my Google desktop) it's cooler in Houston, Texas right now. And we even had a brief power outage this afternoon -- probably because of all the air conditioner use on the grid right now. And when you go out, you don't see many people. That's a strange and eerie thing in a big urban environment. But clearly people would rather be indoors with whatever climate conrol they have access to. Yeah, baby, it's warm outside.
Which is a very long lead in to me telling you I haven't been knitting much. I have been knitting some. I'm about 50 rows further along on Dad's vest. Only another 36 to go before the armhole shaping. No photos, because I don't suspect that it would look significantly different than the last picture. I've also turned the heel and finished the gusset for my second Broadripple sock. Second dark blue sock partway done? Boring picture, I decided.
So you get sock yarn and some more spinning commentary instead. The STR is the real yarn that will flesh out that pattern idea I gave you a glimpse of a short time back. Because the pattern and my idea have some "directionality" and because the directionality does change the interpretation I'm considering doing this pattern in both a top down and toe up version.
The Crown Mountain Farms Sock Hop yarn, colorway "Say a Little Prayer" came to me as a result of a marvelously lucky break. When I got to the website after the new yarn was announced, I got there late (I hate it when a business meeting gets in the way of yarn purchasing, but sometimes there's no help for it) and the shopping system would only let me put one skein in my cart. So I just left a little note that I really did want two skeins and I'd be happy to wait until there was more available (if you go to Teyan's blog you'll see that she invited people to pre-order/place a custom order if they were willing to wait a few months, which I was, since I have plently of sock yarn to keep me busy). Apparently I lucked out, because when I placed my order, there were actually two skeins of Say a Little Prayer left in stock and they winged their way to my door step on Saturday (I have to make a side comment here to say that Teyani and her husband must have some special connection to the post office, because the yarn shipped on Thursday and I had it on Saturday. From Washington. And it's come equally fast when I ordered the Corriedale pencil roving and the Sloopy superwash merino).
I've been asked in a couple of comments how my hand spun Sloopy sock yarn (made with the same startin fiber that Sock Hop is made from) compares to the Sock Hop yarn. Since I didn't have any yarn to compare it to at the time, I really couldn't tell you. Now I can provide a side-to-side comparison.
This picture makes me think of orange and lime sherbert....one of those things I used to love as a kid, when I judged the quality of a frozen confection by the brightness of the dyes used to color it.
Overall, the yarns are very similar. They are both very soft but still relatively tightly spun and plied. My yarn, however, is a bit thicker in diameter than the Sock Hop. Both yarns have the delightful variability that tell you that it was someone's hands and not a machine, that brought this yarn to life. Makes you realize that sometimes perfection does not have to mean complete uniformity.
Mmmm...orange sherbet. I love going to Japanese restaurants where they serve you the sherbet in a whole orange peel.
I had a similar experience with Crown Mountain - I got there to find Teyani's post saying they were already sold out, so I thought, "Well, okay, I'll put in a back order, at least" because your Sloopy yarn was just too yummy-looking. I had to have some!
Well, somehow I lucked out, because my two skeins of Sloopy arrived on Monday. I've been pausing to hold them and admire them ever since. Yummy! (Thanks for flashing your pics, I would probably have resisted otherwise... grin!)
YUM! That yarn is cooling me of, T! The one on the Left is a cremsicle and the one on the right, ahh, margerita?!
Stay cool, m'lady...
My sock hop yarn hasn't come yet :( Teyani said to expect it in August as it still needs to be spun. I'm waiting anxiously and looking for patterns. Your sloopy and green look wonderful together, definitely summer colors.
They look very similar to me - except I like yours even better!
Wow, they do look very close -- that's a great comparison!
Between seeing your spun Sock Hop yarn, Cara + Sundara's finished Sock Hop socks ... I really really really want to spin up some of the sock hop roving I have! I think I need to clear off some bobbins though...
yeah um, how bout that heat? It hit NY yesterday and today is worse by a few more degrees. We WOKE UP and our house was 86 degrees (no AC)
We're toughing it out though, as the way our home is shaded by the trees, AC is only useful on days like this, which come maybe 5-7 days total all summer long. Unless that is, the global warming trend is starting (read an interesting but VERY SCARY article a few nights ago about the rainforest drought and overall global warming. Indeed frightening)
Anyway, lovely yarns Theresa. I'm always too late to the party for yarns too. This is probably why I have so little these days.
The heat is okay in small doses. It is the humidity that is the killer here in Maryland. I spend last Thursday, Friday, and Saturday in Baltimore and it was hot downtown. I was happy to drive home every day. And it is already almost 100 here today (actual temperature.) Staying inside helps. I have found that using my ceiling fans helps since I have set my thermostat up some. Sock knitting is the way to go in this heat. But you are now an enabler since I need to order some more sock yarn since you linked me to a new sock yarn. Stay cool!!!!
Lovely post - it has finally cooled down here, back to the 70's. May this cooling now head your way as well!
Your yarn looks very very much like ours - great comparison shot! and fabulous spinning:-)
Can't wait to see your new pattern - I got my dragon scales one and am now pondering which yarn to knit it with. yay.
Aren't you proud to see that your spinning looks very much like the control model?
You spinning looks so great! I ordered some "Wild Thing" roving -- I need to refine my spinning a bit more before I delve into it.
Dare I say it?... your spinning looks more even and consistent than the Official Retail Model.
I live in Alaska now, where we are having a colder-than-usual summer (which probably means a cold winter too) but I used to live in NC, and I worked in a restaurant kitchen, where it was typically well above 100 degrees. We used to take sodium tablets for the heat (very important overall, but doesn't do much for how crappy you feel) We would also put sopping wet hand-towels / washcloths in the freezer by the dozen - take one (or three) of them out when they're solid and put them on the back of your neck and/or the pulse points on your wrists; it cools down your whole system.
Just a suggestion; unfashionable as it is, it really helps, and I feel terrible for all y'all down there...