what i am knitting now

for january's challenge on SKA, one of the options is to use the technique of slip stitches or mosaic knitting. i chose the slip stitches, as i've been admiring this pattern "cranberry biscotti" for awhile. though my colors are not very bright, i am liking the combination very much.


i'm using some stash yarns, some as far back as 2005. when knitpicks first introduced the palette line, they offered to sell ALL the colors in a box as a sampler. back then, that was all 30 colors.

i did get the box, and i used it here and there for little projects, like bugs.


and i liked the yarn very much. over the years, they have expanded the yarn, and it now comes in 100 colors, including heathered shades.

the white and green here are from my original purchase in 2005, and the gray is one of the heathered shades introduced later. i had purchased a few balls of the gray to knit a shawl for a friend.



(that's a close up of swallowtail with beading)

and i do have enough colors that maybe this will be the year to knit a vest in fairisle?

but, back to the socks.


the technique allows to only knit with one color at a time, but it's a bit slower on this pattern because when you're slipping the stitch, you're slipping it with the yarn infront (so, for me, it's about as slow as knitting 1x1 ribbing).

i'm thinking this pair will also be my "test" to see if i want to ever knit socks in this yarn again. it's 100% wool, a simple 2 ply, and doesn't have a very tight twist. i know they will be handwash, but i'll be curious to see how well they hold up in general. i'll try to keep a "sock diary" in my project page over on ravelry, each time i wear them once finished.