Baby Sherlock

I posted here a little while ago, when I finished my Sign of the Four cashmere socks. I loved them so much and had so much yarn left over, I decided to make a pair for the little guy. I'm almost finished with those, and can't wait to show them off:



They might look kind of big for a baby, but his feet are only 5 inches long and mine are only about 8.5 inches long so they just look big by comparison. He really is just a little squish!

These socks (his, not mine) are going to have suede moccasin bottoms on them, so that he can wear them around the house to keep his feet warm now that he's toddling - or even at friends' houses. He really motors when he has a goal in view!

I just can't describe how incredibly soft this yarn is once it's blocked! The cashmere really makes a big difference - they're divine on the feet! The yarn is Zen Yarn Garden Serenity Sock. I want to find more of this in my favorite colours - greens and blues. I only have it from kits: one had a bright gold/yellow and this one with the nice reddish brown (called Hound of the Baskervilles). I do love the brown, but would be crazy about about a blue-green.



My goal this weekend is to finish up some projects that are almost done, so I can start some new projects. I have two Pickles sweaters on the needles for the little guy, and of course the Miss Marple Shawl. But I'd love to make many more pairs of baby socks!

Sherlock at Home

I finished my Sherlock Holmes "Sign of the Four" socks tonight and couldn't wait to show them!



They are so incredibly soft and got even softer when they were blocked because of the cashmere yarn. And the yarn, which looked like a shaded solid in the skein turned out to have just enough subtle variegation to make a tweedy fabric...

Yarn: Serenity Sock from Zen Yarn Garden, colourway: Hound of the Baskervilles
Size: Small (foot 6.5)
Needles: Signature Needle Arts DPNs size 1.5 (2.5 mm)
Pattern: The Sign of the Four by Anne Hanson

Love Love love! I think I'll have to make a matching pair for the little guy!

The diamond pattern:

Sherlock Sighs... SPOILERS below

This post contains SPOILERS for the Victorian Writers Knitting Club. Don't scroll down if you don't want your surprise spoiled!

In a few short weeks I am going to be here:



(Excited, excited!)

This is a city I've never visited before, so it holds a special interest for me. I love travel. And I most love exploring new cities. The purpose of my visit is to present on work stuff and to hear others' presentations, but I've arranged some free time and I was so, so happy to find out that this shop, The Lamb Shoppe, was open until 9 PM on the nights I'll be there!

Oh, Lamb Shoppe, please be full of beautiful local yarns and don't be too alarmed if I bring them all home with me!

In other news, I am a member of the Victorian Writer's Knitting Club. This month, our focus is Sherlock Holmes and our kit contained a beautiful yarn called Hound of the Baskervilles from Zen Yarn Garden. This is Serenity Sock, and contains 10% cashmere. It is a distinct pleasure to hold and to knit, and the result is a super soft pair of socks that would make even the discriminating Holmes sigh with delight.



The pattern by Anne Hanson is a tweedy sock with a subtle diamond design, called The Sign of the Four. I'm enjoying this knit so, so much. The pattern sequence is only 8 rows but the embossed diamonds are just so subtle and pretty!

The kit also contained several other special gifts, including a little box which I have filled with my happy colourful stitch-markers:



A very satisfying package all around.

Next month, our kit will be themed around Little Women - one of my favorite vintage books! All movie versions of this story included such intriguing period knits, too. This is a very fun club! I listen to the free LibriVox versions of the books while knitting, after reading the free download copies on my Kindle. :) So many books! So much knitting! I need at least 3 lifetimes for this.