The deep end of the pool

I have been remiss in not thanking everyone who left such nice comments about the Pomatomus and Aran Braid socks. Y'all made my day!

About the Aran Braid socks, Jodi asked what yarn I would use if I were to knit them again. I think cabled patterns generally look best in a solid or almost solid color yarn. The big tweedy bits in the yarn I used for mine obscured the cable pattern more than I would have liked. Some variegated yarns could work well too, a statement I never would have made before seeing these socks.

The Gendarme socks were a bit of an adventure, especially considering they're just plain stockinette. Things started out well enough.

Lovely, no? Then the pooling started. (Or is it flashing? Puddling? I can never remember.)

I actually ripped back the first sock when this happened, thinking I could beat the yarn into submission. Unfortunately, this is what the yarn wanted to do when knit up to fit my foot, no matter what needle size or stitch count I used. (If my feet were a little larger, things might have worked out better.) At that point I realized that I really didn't want to start cutting yarn every time the color pattern did odd things. That would probably be a lot of cutting. Since I don't believe in forcing people to be something they're not, I figured I should adopt the same attitude with yarn. So I let the yarn do its thing (knowing that not doing so can end in heartache).

I feel like I've grown as a human being. The overall effect is not displeasing, although one sock is noticeably darker than the other. I even used short row heels in an attempt to disturb the striping as little as possible. As a confirmed heel flap devotee, this was a big step. I have done short row heels before, but I've never been particularly happy with them. Mine look a little messy, but that simply may be due to lack of practice. I've been using the wrap method (as described by Wendy), so I might need to try doing yarnover or Japanese short rows to see if my results are any better.

Hey, look what the nice UPS man brought me on Friday.

A new blocking board! (Love those 50% off coupons.) My dad gave me some money for my birthday, and every time I talk to him, he asks me what I've bought with it. Strange guy that he is, he gets upset when I tell him I haven't bought anything with it yet. He must be the only dad on the planet who doesn't want his children to save their money. He'll be happy now, and I even have photographic evidence of my purchase.

And what's this? Enough yarn for a sweater? Interesting.