Knitting the Stitches

I've been amassing too much stash and with a new year comes a new Stitches Midwest and more yarn temptation.  We haven't booked anything or scheduled any classes yet, but at least Xandermommy and I are still planning to attend.

Most of my Stitches Midwest 2009 stash

But months ago, when we started talking about it again, I made the rule that I wasn't allowed to go back this year unless I knit some of the yarn I bought there last year.  I did start my Nonpariel sweater back in February and made a lot of good progress on it, but it's been stalled for a few weeks since it reached the seaming stage.  I am trying to make myself finish it by setting a goal for the end of the month, though.

In the meantime, I felt the need for a simpler project that was easier to travel with and had an easily memorized pattern.  Since my stash is almost entirely sock yarn, socks were an obvious answer.

Miss Babs Yummy in Wisteria and Yummy Toes in Bruin

I temporarily resisted the siren call of my first Wollmeise socks and started another project with Stitches Midwest yarn, my modified version of Froot Loop:

They really don't do justice to the pattern itself, but I do like how the texture of the pattern works with this yarn.  I debated continuing the pattern down the top of the foot, but since you can't really see it and I wanted something mindless anyway, I switched the foot to plain stockinette.  And while I do enjoy pooling, I really didn't want these particular socks to pool, so I'm happy they behaved so well in both the pattern stitch and stockinette.

But now, having made it through most of the leg of the second sock, these are sadly in serious danger of languishing on the needles for a few more weeks.  I really wanted to participate in the last month of the Sock Innovation Knit-Along, so I cast on for Devon last night in some new Wollmeise 80/20 Twin in an electric shade of purple.  I could jump back and forth between the two, but I need to finish my Devon pair by the end of the month to qualify for the knit-along.

It looks like I need to find some serious speed-knitting skills for the rest of May!