Orphan Skein

Dovetail is on its final rounds, so the other day I was trying to decide on a new knitting project.  This is one of my favorite tasks, but sometimes the job can be overwhelming.  I start looking at patterns and want to cast on everything from a baby hat to a man's sweater. But this time I was focused.  It had to be small, and I was in the mood for a sock.  Half the work was already done for me.

Then I started looking for yarn and stumbled across this.

An orphan skein.  Last fall in the midst of a dyeing whirlwind this skein came out of one of the dye pots - a misfit from the mill.  There was nothing wrong with the yarn, but the barber pole meant that I couldn't sell it with my regular inventory.  I tucked it away for later.  Of course I forgot all about it, but when I uncovered it in my sock yarn search, I decided I would use it.  It doesn't really matter if my socks are a little wonky.

I was hoping the barber pole section would be somewhere in the middle of the skein.  That would make it more likely that some of the crazy would be in both socks.

But when I wound the skein, I found that it was just on one end.  I don't want to mix and match this skein, so these socks are destined to be fraternal.

I still have quite a bit of barber pole yarn to knit.  I'm curious to see how far down the leg it will go.

Treppenviertel.  Ribbing with a twist.

My color inspiration this week comes from the world of snow and ice.

Lace border.