Ugly yarn part 2!

I almost posted this to another blog, thank god there was an error on the page, so I could realize where I was. Maybe the dye pot fumes went straight to my head?

Well, it looks like this yarn has got the better of me, because it will not even try to please me. I think I should have left it alone, but who could have known, that it would turn out even uglier than before?

I punished it by throwing it into the hot water of my dye pot. I thought we'll start with a little lavender, which did nothing, such a subtle change, just made it uglier. Now I pulled out the color vermilion, which I really don't like, but it came with a kit. To my surprise it did not change the yarn, it just wasn't as vibrant as in the beginning. Now I pulled out a strong color, not even caring anymore: sapphire blue. That did the trick, to further punish it, I left it in the pot for an hour. It sure is blue now, right?! But even after that long soak, it did not cover it evenly.

In the following pictures you'll see three things:

1. Maggie's yarn for a shawl

2. Hannah's Mermaid socks

3. Obstinate ugly yarn

1. Maggie's yarn for a shawl: Maggie asked me, if I would like to knit a shawl with her yarn for Knitters Frolic. I of course, said yes, I would. I threatened to design my own shawl. Well, I have some time, I can always knit one from my books, if it turns out to be a disaster. I've been swatching, and ripping, and pulling my hair, but it's fun, really!

2. Hannah's Mermaid socks: They are called "Mermaid socks" because the colorway is mermaid. The yarn is Lucy Neatby's Celestial Merino sock yarn. It's such a pleasure to work with it, not sure about how they will hold up to wear. It's 2-ply sock yarn, the yarn is soft. I was sceptical about the color, when I first saw it, but knit up I think it's wonderful. I like the color combination, and it kind of striped, not quite pooling, which makes me happy. If I hadn't promised these socks to Hannah (she gave me the yarn for Christmas, and I thought since she picked it, she must like the color), and I cast on only 56 stitches, I would have kept them for myself. Than again, I'm hard on my socks, so they would not last very long with me.
I knit them toe-up, which I haven't done in a while. I tried to do Judy's magic cast on, but it was more like a figure 8 cast on, since I could not remember how to do it. I was too lazy to search for the instructions, buried somewhere in a pile of print out paper. It worked , if not as well as I remembered. Same thing with the jojo heel. Haven't done it in so long. I guess, if you don't use it, you loose it. I was too stubborn to go look that up also. In the end it worked, it came back to me, as I was doing it. The second heel turned out much better, since I did a few things differently, so there would not be those holes. And, after finishing the first sock, I suddenly knew how to do Judy's magic cast on, like I just had it done yesterday. Funny thing, memory.

yarn: Celestial Merino, 2-ply, 100g/310yds, colorway: mermaid, I had left over
cast on: 56 sts
needles: 2.5mm, 5-DP, the label said to use 3mm needles, but I could have used 2.25mm and it would have been quite alright.
start-finish: March 17-19 - I was kind of in a rush, since there was already Maggie's shawl in my head.

3. Ugly yarn: I'm now quite intrigued, and would like to know how it looks all knit up. I think this will be punished even further, by being knit up rather sooner than later. Ha, and after that I'll put it away, to never see the light of day again. (Evil laughter.)

If you celebrate, I wish you Happy Easter, otherwise, welcome Spring!