M is for March and Monkeys!

[chemicallace]

Hey Everyone!

As it's now March, we've got a new bi-monthly pick: Monkey from Winter 2006's Knitty.

What yarn will you be going for? I'm still trying to narrow down some greens...

Comments

[domtheknight]

I'm excited!

I'm using Lorna's Laces sock yarn, in "Franklin's Panopticon" which I think is discontinued, but I found some (falling apart) skeins in a local yarn store, and picked them up. Some shots here: http://lornaslaces.blogspot.com/2008/06/franklins-panopticon.html

I think it'll be really cool knit up, because the green and blue and stuff are expected to go together but the brown is surprising.

[ct]

I have a skein of what might be Knitpicks Stroll Handpainted that I'm going to swatch with to see if it obscures the lace pattern too much. The colors are all purples and greens - very pretty in the ball, but I'm not sure how busy it'll look when knit up.

[yvi]

Ohh, shiny pattern. I still need to finish my second Blackrose, but after that I think some lightly variegated blue would be nice for this one. It looks like ShibuiKnits Socks is a popular choice for this pattern, so I'll probably buy some of that.

Some Man Blue or Dragonfly

[starfish]

I totally bailed on the Blackrose, but the Sock Knitters Anonymous theme this month is lace, and Monkey is at the top of my queue, so I'm going to give it a go. I have some Tofutsies in a blue-white variegated that I think will work pretty well. I will probably do the toe-up variation because I have trouble casting on stretchy enough.

\o/

[ct]

Ooh, Tofutsies. I have some of that sitting in a bin. That might be a better option than the Knitpicks...

I also have problems with casting on too tightly. A trick that might work for you on patterns that don't have a toe-up variation is to use a provisional cast on, and then pick it out once you're done with the sock to use a stretchy bind off. I'm a fan of the sewn bind off for this purpose. If you remember to leave a few feet of yarn hanging when you start knitting, you can use that for the bind off and you don't even have an extra end to weave in.