all chocolate cables all the time.

Hi there, my lovelies! Can I just say how happy it made me that y'all showered me with so many wonderful compliments on my finished Wide Collar cardigan? It really was a painstaking knit, so it's great to know that it was worth all of the tribulations. And, well, it *did* turn out awesomely, didn't it? So, thank you and thank you for all of your comments. And with the Wide Collar cardigan off the needles, I hurriedly cast on for something new... something chocolaty... and something cabley...


The beginnings of Femi from the Debbie Bliss Luxury Collection. I'm not usually a fan of Debbie Bliss patterns, but this particular pattern book is chock full of fall-sweater-goodness and I actually highly recommend this book. I'm knitting Femi in Jaeger extra fine merino aran, a yarn I also highly recommend and which was recently discontinued so is available right now on super-duper sale around the internets. This is my first heavily cabled project--I've allowed myself to be unduly intimidated by cabled sweaters, after attempting and failing miserably at knitting Demi from Rowan Vintage Knits. But, turns out that not all cabley sweaters are entirely impossible, and some patterns with multiple charts are *not*, in fact, very difficult at all. And I am quite enjoying this new project of mine. I've only made it through one pattern repeat, but now that I have the rhythm down, progress is sure to pick up and move along.


Speaking of chocolaty, cabley goodness, I just finished one I Love Gansey sock. And can I just say that I am in complete love with this sock? Because I am. I love this pattern, and while it looks semi-complicated, it really isn't very difficult. And I initially didn't like how the Rowan 4 ply soft knit up as a sock, but that feeling vanished quickly--the 4 ply soft makes a dreamy fabric for the foot! It's no accident that the word "soft" is in the name of this yarn! Dreamy, I say.


I did make one modification to the pattern: I replaced the heart gansey motif in the central front and back panels with a diamond motif. Because I have never been one to endorse the hearts on my garments. Diamonds, though, I can get behind the diamonds.


And just look at that sexy heel and gusset! Such fine detailing.


As much as I adore this sock, it is being packed up for a friend who will knit the mate for themselves. It will be sent off to its new owner November 1, tucked away in a Schrodinger Original cube project bag with a second ball of Rowan 4 ply soft for the second sock. Oh, how I will miss it, though. I will surely be making a pair for myself!

Now, back to feverishly studying, teaching, grading, and doing all I can to survive the mid-semester ickles...