Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi

daily for the last week or so:
Castlemaine Post Office person: Oh God no, here she comes again. It's your turn - I'm taking my break now [ mass exodus ensues ]
Me: Is it here yet ?
receives answer in the negative
exits sadly

today:
and the cause of all the excitement?

the generous and wonderful and marvelous Irene at Jolly Jumbuck decided to do a little RAOK* with the last set of her Aussie Olympic hand dyed sock yarn and I got it!!!!
It's on Handmaiden Casbah which seems to be just the most wonderful machine washable merino/cashmere blend and something I'm dying to knit with.
It's just as well it took a few days to get here, because I've been in a quandary with what to cast on. Obviously it has to be something worthy of the beautiful yarn
... Hat? mmm maybe ... but ...
no
... jumper for grandson? It's a wonderful bright colourway that would marvelous on a fair, blue eyed blonde and I love him to pieces but ...
NOPE, not enough for him to get my cashmere
...fingerless gloves ? for once, no, I think not
... okay socks. It is sock yarn after all... but WHICH ? so many great patterns.

small rest while my brain cools down from the internet sock pattern overload

criteria:
- nothing too fancy. Lace socks look better in solids or very subtle variegations, which this self- evidently ain't!!
I'm thinking about Broadripple or Wise Hilda's Basic Ribbed Sock. Opinions? or other suggestions? but quickly please 'cos I'm not sure how long I can wait to cast on :]

Don't forget to leave a comment on the birthday giveaway post here - you have until the end of the month

*RAOK - Random Act of Kindness

7 comments:

Rose Red said...

oh very patriotic! and how kind - love the RAOK!

I think you are right - a fairly basic pattern is best for such varigation - will it stripe? If it stripes I'd be tempted just to do plain stocking stich - or rib if st stitch bores you silly!

catsmum said...

judging from the pic on her blog I'd say it IS going to stripe - the WiseHilda basic sock is a 3 x 1 rib

Kate/Massachusetts said...

I have trouble choosing sock patterns and always seem to fallback on my old standby. You could use the WiseHilda basic sock for guidance but try my "standby" stitch pattern:
Row 1 K3, P3
Row 2 K1, P1
Repeat rows 1&2 for the pattern. It makes a stretchy, beaded rib sock. Good luck! Lovely yarn, lucky you!

Irene said...

It's definitely going to stripe!!! A bit of a sad first attempt at doing self-striping more than one skein at a time -- I got myself into a right old mess.

So sorry to make you wait so long Susan! Enjoy :)

Anonymous said...

I'll vote for the "Wise Hilda" as they are very similar to what I think of as my basic "dad" sock - ribbed, unassuming, effective :)

What a lovely thing to find in one's mailbox!

Sheepish Annie said...

Merino/Cashmere is more than worth getting a bit of a negative reputation at the post office. I see no problem with daily visits whatsoever. In fact, I'd probably camp out there.

They aren't really all that wild about me at my own post office either...

Lynne said...

I nearly always knit plain stocking stitch socks with patterned yarns - I think it shows the pattern off best. And stocking stitch is so fast - just knt, knit, knit!