shop swatching continues

we have been meeting with contractors, ordering stock, designing our shop layout, comparison-shopping for commercial-grade appliances, making mad-crazy lists, and generally losing our minds trying to figure out everything that needs to be done in order to open twisted by our target date of may 19. whew. but, luckily, we are opening a knitting and craft shop, so an important item that makes its way onto all of our myriad lists is actual crafting, which means on some occassions, we get to sit back, relax, and make some stuff. obviously, a major focus of twisted is knitting, my favorite craft, so shop swatching must continue, which is what i’m going to talk about today. i have been creweling, too, (what a fun craft THAT one is), but that is the subject of another post: today is a day for socks.

i have already talked trekking here. we are going to have a lot of that. but, have i mentioned some of the other sock yarns we are going to have?

for instance:

cherry tree hill…

and, farmhouse…

both very different sock yarns, each unique in her own way:

the cherry tree hill is soft, people, waaaay soft. (well, the ball band does specify as the fiber “100% luxury merino fingering weight,” after all). the ply is tight and sproingy, and the finished sock has quite a bit of drape. i used addi turbo #1s for everything except the heel and toe, on which i used #1 dpns. the colorways in this sock are ‘turquois’ and ‘champlain sunset.’ ooh, la, la.

the farmhouse is a more basic wool – it even smells wooly, in the best possible way. it isn’t as soft as the cherry tree hill, but makes a thicker, more winter-y sock. i can also imagine a felted bag or scarf in this yarn, or something with cables. check out the photos of the flock of sheep used for the yarns – it’s the mark of a great company when you can actually meet (well, virtually, anyway) the animals that produce the fiber you are knitting with. i used addi turbo #3s for this sock, with lantern moon #2 dpns for the heel and toe. the colorway used here is ‘rose garden,’ which, in the city of roses, is uber-appropriate.

time now to tackle a list emily and i put together yesterday. poor emily had an internet-break-down at her home, so is semi-unplugged for the next few days. let’s all raise a glass of prosecco in her honor today, as she struggles with a throwback to early-2000s life, when the majority of folks did NOT have easy internet access…