Crosswalkers and new dye job

I finished the Crosswalker socks for FL - hooray!

A late birthday present, these were due in June!

OnLine Supersocke 100 Sport Color (again!) on size 2.25mm needles. I broke another two Brittany birches in the process. This seems to be my favourite needle size, so I am going to have to invest in some stronger dpns. The bias stitch pattern makes them quite err... snug to pull on, but they fit really well once they are on and FL hasn’t stopped chuckling since. They are definitely fun socks for a man! The chevron is quite subtle on the leg – more obvious on the foot. I love the colours in this yarn – midnight blue, bitter chocolate and a dash of metrosexual brights for sartorial flair!

My Fyberspates self-striping sock club yarn arrived that same day. There was no question of burying it in the stash. I started winding the ball straightaway. The colour is called “Flower Garden” and varies from deep foxglove pinky purple through to a zinging lime leaf green, on a BFL base. My second-ever socks were knit in Fyberspates’ “Foxglove” and comparing that to this yarn I can really see the evolution of Jen’s dye-ing. I love my Foxglove Jaywalkers, but this colourway is so much more subtle, rich and glowing – mmmm!

And what have I been reading?! So many blog acquaintances have been talking about this book, that I had to give it a go. It is part one of a series of 4. I spent the first 300 or so pages being simultaneously irritated and intrigued. I honestly thought the main female must be about 14, but as she drives a truck I suppose she must be a bit older. 300 suffocating pages describe her obsessive love for the icily beautiful male. Then we have a Quidditch scene (no, not really) and an episode of "Buffy" (yes, really) and we are set up for the sequel. Which I will probably reserve from the library. Sigh. Sucked in.

I much preferred the audio-book of Northanger Abbey! Now that was a real eye-opener! I loved Ms Austen's pastiche of the Gothic Novel (the laundry inventory - fabulous!) and there was an astonishingly modern-sounding quote about how everyone lives their lives in the public eye "nowadays", the newspapers know everything, and that dark secrets are impossible to keep. I can see the A-level literature paper now: "Discuss"!