The winter is not over...

It's been snowing here for the last two days, and I have to say that I've had just about enough of that stuff... but it's been a good excuse to dig out the heavier knits again. My favorite is a Clapotis out of Malabrigo -so soft and so big, so comforting! I haven't shown it here in the blog, because I made it before I started blogging. BTW, have you noticed, did Malabrigo change their yarns? Where is the alpaca??

Over Easter weekend, I didn't get much knitting done. The socks? -not done yet. The sweater? -not done. I was just completely overwhelmed by the beauty of these:

Three Japanese craft books that are so cram packed full of pretty patterns that I want to make almost every one of them and don't know where to start! Well, this is of course a good problem to have, I'm not complaining, but it's slowing me down.



I will definitely make a couple of these sweaters:but also the accessories are just unbearably pretty:


I almost can't take it!! And I feel like I have to start knitting every one of these things right away!But that of course won't happen... that's ok, though. I'm just happy that I have a ton of really nice patterns waiting when I'm looking for something to knit for next winter. Because these are mostly winter knits, and I don't think I'll be starting a scarf (except for lace) or a pair of gloves any time soon.

I did start a swatch from the "300 Stitch Patterns":
This is pattern numbre 071, in case anybody is interested. I used a leftover ball of Elann Peruvian Alpaca and 3.5 mm needles. I made it 20 x 20 cm, so I can use it as an Afghan square later. This is a very fun pattern and looks nice on both sides, so I might even use it for an Afghan project myself. I have a bunch of some chunky weight wool somewhere that would be suitable for that.

I also found the time to do some dyeing, since I promised Pat I'd send her some hand dyed sock yarn. I had enough undyed yarn left for three pairs of socks, and decided to dye it all at once. This is the colorway I dyed with Pat in mind:
Pat gave me free hands and didn't have any special wishes about the color, so I looked around in the blog to see what kind of colors she usually picks. Bright, clean colors, nothing too muted. Am I right, Pat? :) So I dyed this with thoughts of fruits and flowers in mind, watermelons, poppies and sunflowers. A color that would make you think of warm sunny summer days, when you wear the socks. I decided to name the color "Tutti Frutti". I hope you'll like it, Pat, I'll be sending it your way soon! (I know you're on a trip right now, so I'll wait a few days before putting it in the mail.)

The colors I dyed for myself were a sea blue with lighter greens that remind me of sea glass:
You can only see a little bit of the lighter colors here, but they are in there, trust me. ;) I made it with wide stripes, and after I had started, I realized that a smart person would have divided the yarn into two 50 g skeins before starting, instead of dyeing it all in one. Now I'll either have two unmatching socks, or a lot of ends to weave in. Oh, well, I guess I learned something there... Anyhow, I'm calling the color "Sea glass".


The last one is "Pomegranate", a somewhat muted dark pink:


And here are all three: