Status Report: Olive Baby Ull Socks

Sometimes I forget how much I love the Dale Baby Ull. Then I pick it up again to knit with it, and fall in love all over again. It's springy, round, soft, and durable. The colors are marvelous and stitch definition is fantastic. I swear, I could knit a whole wardrobe out of this stuff. Including underpants.

I don't think we'll need to talk about politics any more. I watched both conventions, did my due diligence on the candidates, and made my decision. I will watch the debates, but barring any huge revelations of importance in the next two months, I won't be changing my mind.

The new Knitter's magazine arrived at Nana's today while I was there for the Catherine Parr/ knit-your-own KAL. (That's the KAL that started off as a Catherine Parr KAL, but quickly expanded when some folks wanted to knit other Starmores, other sweaters, other items.) I thought this was the best issue we've seen in a long time. Too long. There were several decent, knittable patterns. Yes, there was still the insane moment when they started doing something for no better reason than someone figured out that it was possible -- the "party trick" knitting that is all flash and no substance -- "OMG, you guys, look what happens when you knit upside down and backwards!"

This month's party trick was knitting intarsia using two balls of the same yarn. Ooooookay. There was also a cowl/yoked/tank/heftybag thing that could be worn right side up or upside down, a most excellent choice for drunk chicks trying to scramble away from their one night stands. Dude, who cares if it's inside out. Just get dressed and get a cab. Fast.

But I'm glad to say that for those of us interested in actual knitting, there were several good patterns in this issue. Dare we hope that this represents a rebirth of Knitters? The cover sweater is good. At least two other sweaters had me thinking about which yarn I might use. All in all, a marked improvement, and one which I am glad to see.