Sock Madness excitement!

Well, round 6 of SockMadness 2008 is winding down.  The 4 Finalists have earned their slots for the final round, probably beginning the end of this week, and other knitters are proceeding at a more leisurely pace.  I have had such joy reading the kind and encouraging words they have written about my pattern and pattern-writing style.  [BTW, if you haven't read Jo's Celtic Memory blog before, let me have the pleasure of introducing you!]

During all this excitement, I decided to work on something quick and easy:  another “28-Hour Cap” (like the Choco-Cherry cap from this past autumn).  I have several interesting colorways of TLC Essentials Multi yarn, and they all knit up into “stripes” in child-sized hats.  Today, I measured the yarn-length for one full cycle of colors in 3 of the colorways. 

These 3 have very similar lengths-before-repeating: the outer ones repeat after about 70″, the inner after about 73″.

Here’s a 70″-repeat yarn in a 68-stitch hat (left) and a 73″-repeat yarn in a 72-stitch hat (right).

  

Quite similar rhythm, eh?  But one warm and one cool.

DD enjoyed trying the new one on. 

Meanwhile, spring continues to spring up here on the mountain.  The aspen volunteer outside my bedroom window has finally begun to leaf. 

[Why "volunteer"?  Because aspens are clonal; new trees sprout up from runner-roots of older trees.  They just "pop up".]  The winter birds, mostly Dark-eyed Juncos, have gone, the sparrows and finches have stayed, but the hummingbirds have not yet arrived.  New this year:  a pair of doves!   They must like millet.

Heartfelt thanks again to the Sock Madness coordinators, Hillary and Carole, and predecessor-designer Tricia, and all the 2008 SM knitters, whose words have brought such sweetness to my soul in the past few days.  After all the nerves of waiting, y’all have made this a delight!