All shall be revealed...

...once my camera is ready to take pictures again, since it chose - as ever in the most inopportune moment - to run out of juice and I only figured it out just now.

But, do not fear. There is something to tell: y'all have been knitting the "Barcelona Sock", inspired by one of my favourite architects, Antoni Gaudí.

The intensity of his structures, the intricacy of the details, sometimes the seemingly wacky construction - all this is a wonderful basis to built a sock on, isn't it?

Look closely and you'll find the inspiration of each design element of the sock in one of the pictures. I don't believe in translating elements one-to-one, but rather take the general idea and run with it.

My own sample sock is knit with a quite utilitarian chocolate brown yarn - chosen with the recipient in mind. Looking at the explosion of colour used by all the knitters out there who made the sock might be a way better idea. 

I am very happy to have had the opportunity of doing a mystery sock - maybe I'll do so again since most knitters seem to like the outcome. Thanks to every participant, I hope you enjoyed it! 

No more mystery after this...

The fourth and last clue to the Mystery Sock can be found here.

Yes, it is possible.

Happy Thanksgiving south of the border!

I knew I needed a wheel

Free-Wheeling Visionary

I'm not sure if I like this.

Link borrowed from Deawn

You spin me right round, Baby, right round...

It's addictive. But it has gotten to the point where my left pinky finger hurts all the time now, and my brain tells me to stop spinning, whereas my gut tells me to spin more so I can knit something with my handspun. I am not even sure if that would be remedied by a wheel, since it would be faster - less time drafting?, that's where the pain comes from - but I would make up for it by spinning longer, so same time drafting. More yarn in the end, though.

I have not much (in quantity, that is) to show off, but here's some of the stuff I have produced:



The Merino Silk all done - 36 grams.





Some Corriedale top, very nice and shiny. One thing I cannot get over is the way the roving looks, and then how it comes out when all spun up. Can't get enough of it. It's only 26 grams so far, but I have 15 oz. left.




A sample of BBF Merino roving, 21 grams.



And this is what I am spinning now:



BBF Corriedale roving. It's quite soft and nice, but there's a Blue faced Leicester roving waiting that's even softer...

Third time's the charm?

This should be an easy one. Here's the 3rd clue for the "November Mystery Sock".

In the meantime I'll be sulking away. Sulking mingled with being sad because it is Thursday and I won't be having the usual Thursday lunch date with my friend Nadine. She is on a big roadtrip to San Francisco, together with her other half Oscar and her husband, too. (Oscar is the knitting companion, of course.) And, should you wonder, no, no more Thursday lunches EVER. She's moving there, and the trip back and forth is just a tad too far to undertake every week. So sulking it is.

You might want to check out what she does for a living. Every single piece she creates is fabulous, and her skill in wire knitting is fantastic. (I've tried. It's damn hard.)

Nada Net, nix geht

My internet connection at home is shot. Nothing works as it is supposed to. Which grates on my nerves because I likes the nets, I wants the nets.

Not to mention the third clue for the "November Mystery Sock Tour" that I have to post tomorrow. No fears, I am going to do it, but it will be a bit later than the others before.

In the meantime have a picture of what I knit on the weekend:


Fingerless Latvian Mitts from "Knitting Classic Style".

I used yarn from my stash, Harris Tweed and Jamieson's shetland 4 ply. I wish the contrast between the burgundy and the red was a bit more pronounced, otherwise I am very pleased.

8 p.m.: I am very pleased to announce that our internet connection seems to work flawless once again.

I made yarn!

136 grams of it. (60% Alpaca, 40% silk)


You can't really see the subtle variegation in the yarn - there's green, turquoise, periwinkle...the roving changed colour gradually, it looks great when plied.



This is a 4 mm needle - just so you get an idea of the weight.

Ze Update of ze PDF

I had a couple of minutes today where I was telling myself I should hide in a hole and not come out for quite some time. But where would be the fun in that, really.

So here are the corrected charts, including the instructions in written form, which might help some of you who don't think that charts are the knitter's best friend.

I sincerely hope that this time around I don't screw it up anymore than I already did.

UPDATE

Size M chart correction

I can't update the pdf right now. I will let you know once I do.


Excuse me while I go hide and not come out for a while. *sigh*

I know you're waiting for it

Find the 2nd clue here.


Thank you for your comments, they helped. Let's see what you think now...


Edited to add:

No, it doesn't hurt to shorten the leg, but it should be shortened by a whole repeat, otherwise the pattern doesn't work out.

Apparently I have put 17 rows into the S/L repeat chart for the sock, though the repeat is only 16 rows high. Sorry about that.

Soon

Two more days and I am going to post the next clue for the November Mystery Sock. I am really happy that people seem to like the design so far, and also incredibly worried if participants are going to like the upcoming part of the sock. (I hadn't realized that there is a certain amount of pressure building up in the week between clues.)

Someone please tell me "everything is going to be alright". Thanks.


By special request: That would be now.

Piece o'cake!!

Knitting the Baby Cable Vest from the Vittadini Book No 30 was a piece of cake. I finished quite a while ago, but took the pictures only today.

I used Artful Yarn "Jazz" from my stash instead of the recommended yarn, so I had to fudge the numbers a bit.


Lara complained that it is too big on her, but I convinced her anyhow to pose with it.


Preparing this was not easy as pie. It took quite some time, but I did in honour of Rolf's birthday which was yesterday.


Frankfurter Kranz - his favourite.

And now we're going to have a piece of it with a nice cup of coffee, just like all Germans do on a Saturday afternoon. (Kaffee und Kuchen is a big thing, believe me.)

"Go!"

Thus starts the "November Mystery Sock Tour".

Get your first clue here.

Happy Knitting!