Just a little bit longer

Pictures of the formly unfeltable hedgehog will have to wait just a little bit longer. I have decided to try one last thing to see if I can’t felt it just a bit more (my goal is significantly less stitch definition). After this try, however, that’s it. Whatever stage of felting (or semi-felting) he’s at, that’s it!

In the meantime, however, the sock needles have been flying. The Opal Rainforest Flamingo socks are finished, and I have already churned out one Opal Rainforest Zebra sock, with the other to be cast on later tonight (probably while watching Heroes, which has become one of our very favorite new shows). My goal was to get the Flamingos, the Zebras and the Tigers done before the end of the month, just to see if I can manage it (along with everything else), because I am really trying to make a serious dent in my yarn stash – especially my sock yarn stash, and so working my way through three skeins of Opal sock yarn will definitely make some much-needed room in the sock yarn bins (the reason I need the extra room will be obvious later on).

In between flying sock needles, I’ve also been hard at work on a sample piece for Knitters’s Playground – a child’s pineapple hat (the Fiber Trends pattern). This is a deceptively complicated little project, since it requires three separate sizes of needles, and has far more little parts to it than you might think a hat should have. But it’s turning out very cute, and even though this is the sort of pattern that is really keeping me on my toes, I’m having a lot of fun with it.

In other news, a bag arrived today from Knit Picks, with three skeins of their Bare Worsted Weight Merino feltable wool. There are two nephews and a niece who are going to get to help me ‘make’ their Christmas presents – Kool-aid dyed, felt-to-fit slippers, and I needed to make sure I had some dyable, feltable wool in hand before I see them at Thanksgiving.

As for the reason I’m trying to make room in my sock yarn stash? Well, Knit Picks does offer free shipping but only if you have a minimum of $40 in your order, and I’ve been wanting to get my hands on some solid color yarn to try some stitch patterns, and Richard really liked some of the colors, so this is all to explain why sock yarn stash suddenly grew by enough yarn to make two more pairs for him and one more pair for me. Or rather, it didn’t grow, if we’re going to be completely technical about this, because the three pairs of socks I’m determined to finish before the end of the month have simply been replaced by three more pairs worth of yarn, so as long as it all works out to no net increase, it’s all good.