Better Sea Wool Monkeys

Ah, that's much better. I should give up on indoor photography or work on my photoshopping skills. The lighting was ideal on the front porch yesterday. I took these socks outside, a bunch of new yarn, and my new completed shawl. This is a much, much better photo of the origin Sea Wool. I didn't get a good shot of the shawl. I need to hang up a lighter backdrop than the woods. The shawl got lost in those photos and it didn't do any better on the porch. Speaking of new yarn, here are some of my latest favorites.

The left is Lorna's Laces Shepard sock in Sassy Stripes. This is my first time using Lorna's and I like it so far. It's as thin as opal yarn, but softer and squishier. I've started a pair of socks for myself. I'm calling them my happy socks. Why? Because you can't help but feel happy when looking at colors that loud. The middle is Fleece Artist merino sock yarn in Tiger. I've knit with Fleece Artist sock yarn before. It was my first indulgent sock yarn that I bought when I started knitting socks. Those have held up well and I wanted another pair. The right is Fleece Artist Sea Wool in Renaissance. I really like the colors in this one. These yarns are in the immediate I-want-to-use yarn stash.

This is something I made rather quickly for E. The pattern is from the May 07 issue of Creative Knitting and it's called Diamonds on the Cuff. I used some left over cherry tree hill glitz sock yarn and some beads that I had on hand. E likes it a lot and D wanted one too. I did make one for him, but it turned out a bit too snug for his wrist. I also made one out of the leftover cherry tree hill cascade silk laceweight yarn. I like how that one turned out size-wise, but silk is not really up to the wear and tear that my two kids put it through. haha! I'll have to try a more durable lace weight.

Details of the cuff:
Pattern:Diamonds on the Cuff from Creative Knitting (May 2007)
Yarn: Leftover cherry tree hill glitz in tropical storm
Needles: Size 1 dpns
Beads: 84 6/0 beads in rootbeer from Firemountain Gems
Changes: I only did three of the beaded diamonds for E's 6 year old wrist. It's quite fitted, but another diamond would have made it a bracelet and more likely to fall off of her.