Something in the air?

I regularly check out certain blogs. You can see the list of them over there on the right. So, did one of them mention something about a Jaywalker Knit Along? I don't think so. It seems that I have stumbled onto the latest knitting fad all on my own.

What you see here is a Jaywalker sock in progress with Socks that Rock in the Red Rock Canyon colorway. I swear I had no idea that there was a HUGE knit along for Jaywalker, and that knitting Jaywalker -- especially in Socks that Rock yarn -- seems to be the current fad in the knitting world.

Really, I had no idea. Seriously. Honestly. I didn't know.

Could it be a subliminal thing? Could I now be so attuned to the knitterly vibes of the universe that I was influenced to start this pattern and to use the STR yarn?

Here's the story as I see it:

I was a good girl and finished knitting Mark's felted slippers Thursday night. I seamed the slippers on Friday during a conference call where I only had to be in listen mode. So, by Friday night I thought I deserved a reward for being so concientious and finishing up a project. (True, I still have to felt the slippers, but when I felt I sit in a chair near the washing machine and knit away on another project while the machine is doing it's work.)

As previously posted, I've been craving sock knitting. (That just sounds so weird...most people crave things like chocolate, ice cream, or potato chips. Me, I crave sock knitting.) And ever since I saw the Jaywalker sock pattern, I've been wanting to try it. (I can see from the date stamp on the paper that I actually printed out the instructions on October 28, 2005. I was ahead of the curve at that point, but I was apparently side-tracked.) So, last night I decided to cast on for Jaywalker. I just had to decide which yarn to use.

By now, I have lots of sock yarn options in my stash: a few skeins of Lion Brand Magic Stripes (not my fave, but OK for general use); 2 small skeins of Elann's brand of sock yarn; 2 large hanks of Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn that I picked up during vacation (from Knit Happens in Alexandria, VA); 2 small hanks of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock (from Loopy Yarns here in my hometown of Chicago); one large hank of Schaefer Anne (picked up at Close Knit in Evanston, IL); a large skein of Trekking XXL; and...several large hanks of Socks that Rock purchased from The Fold in November and December.

I piled up all the these yarns on the guest bed. I gazed at them. I fondled them. Then, I decided "what the hell" and grabbed a hank of Socks that Rock. I wound it up and I cast on last night. I knit the ribbing and a couple of the pattern rows, and then I went to bed.

Today, I had a bit of running around to do, but I brought my knitting just in case. In the course of having a coffee while waiting for a shop to open and later getting a flat tire replaced, I carved out another hour and a half of knitting time. You can see the result in the photo above. (You can also see how the colors seem to be pooling. Hmmm...I've wondered exactly what pooling is. Now I'm experiencing it for myself and I think I get it. Oh, well.)

I was so eager to start knitting socks that I didn't bother to do a gauge swatch. (I rarely have a problem with gauge on socks, though. Somehow, they usually work out for me.) I was a bit concerned that I would run low on STR. (I agree with Yarn Harlot that pattern writers should specifiy how much yarn they actually used, not just the total yardage of the number of units needed.) So, this afternoon I Googled "jaywalker socks that rock" thinking I may luck out and find that someone had posted on a blog a friendly tip on how much STR I'd need. Wow, was I surprised with what came up.

Check out the KAL link at the top. If you're diligent and read through it a bit, you'll see that there is a random drawing for several skeins of STR if you join the KAL and complete a pair of socks before February 14. I can do that.

I think I'm about to join my first Knit Along.