The Silk Road Socks book by Hunter Hammersen is totally addicting. I’m about to go cast on for another pair (Sennehs this time).

The first pair I finished from the book are the Joshagans or Joshaqans. This was my first time to use shibui sock yarn and I found it to be a little stretchier than expected. The color I used did not seem to have a name, which I found somewhat lame. I’d call it mullberry, so not sure if the link goes to it.

One of my socks turned out a slightly different size than the other or wait, my feet are slightly different, so the socks fit better one way than the other. I left a tiny tail on the left one so I’ll always know.

The first pics I took inside had the socks looking two different colors, so I headed out into the heat to take better photos. Don’t worry, I stayed in the shade, I haven’t totally lost my mind…yet.

I really enjoyed the play and saturation of color in this yarn, so I’ll definitely use it again.

And yes, I’m aware that my legs are white enough for me to be a Twilight extra which is shocking considering it is almost July in Texas, but I have always worn jeans all the time, even in the summer. On the upside, if sun exposure is really what causes aging, my legs will look young forever!

This past Sunday, some friends and I gathered to wish one of us a very Happy Birthday. And we did this in a very unique way. We gathered at Gauge Knits in Austin and took a yarn dyeing class from White Bear Fibers. It was a ton of fun and we were all pleased with our creations.


Kerry went first and chose a beautiful light sage green concoction. In true Kerry fashion, she was very efficient and was finished in a few minutes. Gorgeous!

Bonita dyed 3-tone hanks (lime green, daisy yellow, and persimmon). She was inspired by tulips and they came out gloriously.

Michelle handpainted a green and blue striped pattern that I will call Lochness. It was very deep. I can’t wait to see what it becomes.

Don dyed eggplant and taupe. It looked sophisticated and masculine.

Meghan dipped an oxblood and chocolate hank that was really rich. I think she should call it My Wedding since it is the colors from her wedding. She also handpainted a two-tone red and then green skein that she said looked like apples. Granny Smith and Red Delicious!

Lisa dyed a 3-tone aqua skein that we were all fans of and there might have even been some envy. She also worked with WBF to get just the right UT orange. She used the highlighting technique to give it some brown and it really did look burnt. Perfect!

I dyed a pink (magenta, I think) and cream (undyed) and green (chartreuse) hank I was really pleased with. Perhaps I’ll call it froggy lips, but it reminded everyone of various flowers. I really enjoyed saying chartreuse. I kept accidently calling colors chartreuse which was pretty confusing. Perhaps chartreuse will be my new curse word. What the chartreuse is going on?!?


The other hank I’d like to use to make “A Roll in the Hay” socks, so I used the highlighting technique to create a color I’ll call Dominican Amber because it is mostly “transparent” and even has a few inclusions! The inclusions were created by accidently getting a tiny bit chocolate colored dye on the hank while highlighting. oops!


Then the whole group painted a grafitti skein together! Overall, everyone’s yarn was unbelievably lovely and pretty and I cannot wait to see how all of our stuff knits up!

Thank you everyone so much for coming to celebrate Meghan! Special thanks to Karli of Gauge and Doug of White Bear Fibers and his helper, Kim! We’ll treasure the memories forever and ya’ll were super welcoming, helpful, patient and nice!

Happy Birthday, Meghan!

Last Sunday, I went to a babies shower for a dear college friend who is having twins with her very nice hubby. I’m thrilled for them. The shower was a ton of fun and luckily, there was a monsoon which cooled things off and then passed so we could continue the party outside.

I completed the first of two blankets in time for the shower.


The day before, I had the joy of going to the beach with my family (sans mom because she had a foot/ankle issue). Galveston is sometimes a trashy beach, but since we’re in the middle of a crazy drought, I’m thrilled by any water. I even had a thought while we were there, that there was a lot of trash, but I still love the beach. And as a beachcomber, trash is sometimes good. Here is the crew before we left (lovely job taking the photo by my 13 year old nephew).

My little brother drove us to and from the beach, which I really appreciated because I got a lot done on the Mermaid Lagoon socks. We spent the first 45 minutes trying to put up the awning, but after we finally got it up, it fell on my SIL 20 mins. later while she was beach-napping. At that point, we agreed that my dad was getting an awning for Father’s Day…..Happy Father’s Day, Dad – You’re THE BEST! Thanks for teaching me to enjoy beachcombing and always having a great sense of humor! LOVE YOU!