knit project: amelia raitte - elfine
difficulty (1-5): 1.7
size: one size (24 stitches, toe up turkish method)
yarn: handspun bluefaced leicester by pesky mac (400 yd)
knitting specs: US 1 magic loop

the year starts off with a finished project completely enabled by knit bloggers, an adorable community that i became a part of; world wide knitters whom have enriched my life and most importantly, my knitting.

elfine, my new socks. a beautiful design by anna in london, an even more precious handspun yarn gifted to me by mac in philadephia. the colors are beautiful, soft against my feet, radiant under the sun.

i tried to capture the first morning ray of 2006, beneath the pile of woods i found my cat whom stealthily had tried to be in (or avoid) the picture. she was totally spooked by last night's fireworks. today, she is trying to find a comfort place in her favorite spot. so cute.

elfine fits wonderfully, i used turkish cast on (best method for toe up socks), yarn over short row heels and cast off very loosely. they probably will not stay on but the sloughy look of elfine is just as pretty.

have a wonderful year, my beloved knitting friends. i have many aspirations for my knitting and life, which i shall share in the coming days. also, it has been almost one year since the inception of whispering pine. soon, you will find out the story behind the name of this knitting blog.

Posted by blossom at 12:53 PM | Comments (32)

so i have knitted more than a dozen socks for others, only now i have an open spot to knit one for myself, and have been thinking about what my first pair would be like for a while now. unfortunately it has not happened as my indecisive nature was particularly prominent for this project. i wanted the first pair to be somewhat special but had trapped in this thought too much that nothing seemed special. weird.

elfine's leaves

finally, i picked mac's handspun yarn to knit anna's elfine socks. it is a project completely enabled by knitbloggers, which qualifies as a special pair of socks.

conwy beginning. beautiful yarn with not so suitable pattern

actually, i started off wanting to knit conwy, but somehow the twining cabled pattern just did not show through this particular yarn. moreover, this coral color blue face leicester yarn reminds me of the foliage i never saw this year, elfine's leaf motifs seems to be a better choice than conwy. so far, i like how it looks. the handspun yarn is thick and thin, it is also twisted with a lighter shade of peach. the effect of such nature is really surprising as waves of colors come into life with progress.

searching for yarns and patterns can be blinding and it is hard to look beyond your realm of familiarity. and knitting being a creative hobby, i think it is important to break through this obstacle. how? have others shop for you. give them a criteria of what you are looking for, then see how others interpret such concept. look at other people's work for ideas (like, knitting blogs!), do not let the models on the magazines be your only guidelines to judge a project.

luckily, i have a secret pal who inspires me with gifts of her choices and tastes. thank you, laurie, for being a wonderful better pal.

variegated sock yarn among other knitterly delights

Posted by blossom at 11:20 AM | Comments (13)