Camp Within A Camp

I am in love.

It's as simple as that.

Let me start at the beginning.

My sock-knitting partner in crime, Shelda, is enjoying her very own summer camp this year by spending three months working on toe-up socks. (I might have - ahem - stolen the idea of a crafty summer camp from her.....) For her, this is a new technique and one that promises plenty of opportunity to learn. It also fits in quite well with the ideology behind our crazy year of socks...which is basically to push us outside of our comfort boxes.

I spent last month catching up, and then was supposed to start on something new at the first of the month. What I WANTED to do where the fabulous Sheep Run socks, but I didn't have the yarn required. Two and a half weeks later I was still fussing about it....not satisfied with any of the other socks in my queue. (It is important to note that part of the project is to use what we have...those yarns which have been driving us crazy by the mere fact that we bought them because we loved them, and then promptly never did anything with them.)

I wanted to knit Sheepy socks.

Finally, I pulled three troublesome skeins of Koigu (obtained in a Ravelry swap, loved, but with no plan for use and that troublesome low yardage) out of the stash and just cast on. My sheepy meadows wouldn't be happy daytime meadows, they would be meadows at twilight.

Less than a week later, the first sock is almost finished and I am hopelessly in love.

It's not just the sheep...or the yarn....or the colors....or the clever pattern.

No, I am in love with colorwork.

And so, for my camp within a summer camp....we'll call it the rest period portion....I am going to work on colorwork socks all summer long. I have the yarn for at least two more pair, and that makes me deliriously happy.

As with all good summer camp activities - rest period or no - I will be learning something. I've always loved colorwork, and have done several great pieces, but I've been reliant on the slow pick up/put down method of swapping the colors. With my sheep sock I've graduated to holding them both in one hand and using the index and middle fingers to switch back and forth. On my next pair I am going to go all out and try to hold one yarn in each hand. (There may have to be some sort of practice continental knitting first....and let's not get into the debate about which is faster. I'm an extremely fast knitter with my right hand, and I don't want to hear it!)

And if it goes the way I think it will....that Fair Isle sweater I've always wanted might happen sooner rather than later!