Supersize Surprise

Last night when I dutifully picked up Tropical Treat, I realized that the needles were NOT my US9's. I could tell, because the US9 circs are Hiya, while whatever is in Tropical Treat are INOX. So where were the Hiya? I dove into the circ needle drawer and pulled out a likely pair, but they did not fit into the US9 hole on my needle sizer. I was 99% sure I was holding the Hiya's, so I took a straight US9 needle and checked its size. Aha! It did not fit into the US9 hole, either. Admittedly, my needle sizer is old, possibly my mother's, but still.



The result of all this needle juggling was I worked on Sun Ray instead of Tropical Treat, completing one cycle of chart 2. Tropical Treat is still reserved for the RNC, though, as it is all garter, all the time. It's only drawback is yarn wrangling four different colors.



I also started a new pair of socks, to serve as my portable project. The pattern is from Knitter's Review and accompanies a how-to article by Jane Cochran. At least, the pattern is found under the how-to articles, but I'm not sure what the how-to is telling us, other than solid colors give better stitch definition, so be careful when using semi-solids.



I had singled out this pattern a while ago, when still relatively new to sock knitting, and bought some semi-solid yarns from Yarn Daze for the expressed purpose of trying them with this pattern.



After two pairs of socks in Cherry Tree Hill, I am ready for something new. Because the skeins are a generous 4 oz., I'm enlarging the pattern by six stitches (one pattern repeat) and plan on making the leg 8" instead of 6", to see if I can achieve a better fit. That's one of the advantages of hand knits - a custom fit.



Both cuffs are done.