KAL for a cure

I have a whole lotta stuff I want to post about, like my new knitting bag which I love just as much as I thought I would, and what a cow says, and all sorts of knitting stuff, and how Spartacus is apparently determined to kick his way out (which is good, because it means he's already behaving like his sister). But today I want to focus on the KAL my friend Ramona has started.

See, Ramona is participating in the Walk for the Cure this fall in Toronto. And for those of you who don't know what that's all about, basically you commit to walk some visciously long distance over a 3 day period with a bunch of other people, and people sponsor you and it's a really great fundraiser for breast cancer research. Ramona has thrown a little twist in by starting a KAL with her original sock pattern. Here's the twist: to get the pattern, you have to sponsor her. The pattern is gorgeous, and the cause is definitely a good one. How can you go wrong?

She's even having spiffy contest with yarn giveaways and such! The first one is posting a link to the KAL and talking about which yarn we're using. As usual, there is a saga to go with my yarn choice.

See, I just finished photographing my stash for Ravelry (love you, Ravelry!) so I'm pretty familiar with what's in there. There were two pinks (one soft, one hot), Violet's Pink Ribbon, and a deep pink and forest green that's really much prettier than it sounds that all fit the bill. Well, VPR is certainly the most appropriate, since it's the colorway Lisa Souza designed as a fundraiser for Miss V. when she found her lump last year. So I swatched. Wrong gauge -- well, no, that's not exactly right. I got gauge, but I didn't like the feel of the fabric. Plus it's all stripey which just won't work well with this pattern.

So I went back and looked at the other pink choices. The two plain-ish pinks were definitely havy enough that I was not getting gauge -- I didn't even bother trying. The pink/green will, I think, have too much variegation for the pattern. Which makes me a little sad because I'm pretty sure I'd get gauge and plus it's Merino/Tencel which I lurv. I thought about it for a bit and decided that the socks didn't have to be pink. I dug deep into the closet o' stash and come up with a bright red semi-solid, a dark red semi-solid, and two purple semi-solids. The reds and one of the purples I decided would obscure the pattern, so the purple that was left over was definitely It. STR mediumweight in Tanzanite. Ball band claims 8st/in on US 2s. Perfect.

Not perfect. 7st/in on US 2s, and I love the fabric, so I don't want to knit it any tighter. Pooh. Despite my recent yarn diet resolve (more on this tomorrow, but let me note here and now that it's called a "diet" not a "fast"), I decided I would have to hit me some yarn stores. First I stopped at The Loopy Ewe, because Sherry is da bomb, but while she had many lovely hand-dyed yarns, none were just what I was looking for. So I ranged further afield, and while I was waiting for something to load I decided to add some more stash info to Ravelry. I needed to check Etsy for the specifics and decided while I was there to just see what some of my favorites had going on. I bought this.

It's heathered, so not so busy it will obscure the beautiful lace, and there's a little hint of pink, but not so much that I won't wear the regularly, and it's called Miracle. What could be better? It should be here any day now, and I better get gauge with it, or I'm gonna have to hurt someone.

posted by Laura Y. @ 6:05 PM