Cat Mountain Finished - Finally!!

Doesn't December just do in the best laid plans? Knitting goes awry, work goes nuts (at least in my line of work) and then there are the holidays and friends and family. There's never enough time and way too much ambition.

Nevertheless, my December sock yarn of the month is complete.



I really liked the dye job on this yarn - the colours didn't stripe, (barber pole or otherwise), didn't pool and there was just enough yellow to give it spark, without the sock becoming a yellow sock.

The summary:

Yarn: Cat Mountain Fiber Arts Sock
Colourway: Sunrise on the Sangre de Cristos
Needles: 2.25 mm
Gauge 8.5 sts per inch

This is a nice firm sock - I wouldn't change the needle size for how I knit. There were no knots in the yarn, no loose plies or slubby bits. (I believe that "slubby bit" is a technical term - I confess to not being bothered by them, but I know that many are bothered.) I would use this yarn again.

I ordered it around the time of Sock Summit (thank you Ravelry for introducing us to so many tood indie dyers through the Dye for Glory contest.) The service was very good. There aren't many skeins of her yarn on Ravelry and if it was up to me there would be more!!

The other sock I finished was for the Ravelry group Sockknitters Anonymous. The challenge for November was to use slipped stitches, so I did two with the Double Brick Stitch. This is one version - with Trekking Maxima for the main yarn and some Phildar Preface for the black.



Now on to January and a New Year of knitting socks. (And yes, I'm one of those people who thinks the decade actually ends at the end of 2010, but I'm not such a weenie that I would waste my breath arguing about it. )

Cat Mountain - first sock finished

First sock finished. Ta da!!



The yarn doesn't barber pole, doesn't pool, doesn't stripe. It really is a mottled sock, with flashes here and there of yellow and red. I really like this colourway and I like the way the yarn knitted up.

On 2.25 needles and my standard Toffee Sock, I have 9 stitches to the inch, for a firm sock.

Now, must knit second sock. Must knit second sock. Preferably before Christmas.

Thoughts about stuff

Sometimes I hear something and for some reason, it stays in my brain, rattling around until I can figure out how I will use it in my life.

One of those things is this: "cluttering up the path to God with stuff". Thanks to Dean Robin, this has been niggling at me since Sunday.

How much stuff do I have? Serious stuff. (For stuff, read "stash"). I have a stash of quilting fabric, a stash of yarn. My yarn stash is older, my quilt stash larger. I could add to it every day if I could afford it, and work to make sure I don't.

Why do we need stuff? Is it to prove we're here? Is it so some little piece of me will be left to the grandchildren I don't have so that when I'm just a memory, they will have something to remember me by? I have only a few things from my Amma, who I loved dearly and thought was absolutely the best Amma in the world. I have one little china dog with pups and a box made from Christmas cards. Not a lot, but every time I look at them (and I can see them every day if I want to), I can see Amma and her house.

Is it because we make our homes into singular museums, so that wherever we look there is a story?

I am sure that God does not care about stuff. He cares about us, and he wants us to care about Him and do his work. My question is: how do I make sure the stuff doesn't get in the way.

Cat Mountain - up the leg

Up the leg and I've not changed my opinion about whether I like this yarn - I do, and I think I should.



This yarn is a true short repeat mosaic dye. It doesn't stripe, doesn't pool. It's variegated and the colours are regularly placed. I'm a yellow fan, so all that yellow is just fine with me. So far, no splits, no knots. So far, so good.

Cat Mountain - on the needles

Cat Mountain is on the needles. What do I know so far?

18 wpi - this is more than I expected. The yarn feels a little thicker than that. However, I cast on my standard Toffee Sock and so far it is knitting well. The loose twist is not a factor. Now, that may be because I keep my tension fairly tight in my left hand, and try not to let it relax. I find that otherwise, my sock gauge is too loose and my socks will wear too quickly.

The colour is lovely. It varies between a red and a bright orangy - yellow with small flecks occasionally that I find add to the look. I have to admit I like yellow, so a fair bit of yellow is very acceptable, and I warn, if you don't like yellow, you won't like this colourway. (A quilter friend of mine always says that if a quilt has 10% yellow, it becomes a yellow quilt. I agree. Yellow is one of those colours that screams "Look at me!!" - it's the three-year old of colours.

Christmas knitting to do as well - we've just had our first snow, but it's definitely winter. We went from wearing our suit jackets outside in November to minus 10 - all in one week. We have snow, we have cold, we have mitts and snowboots. Bring it on!!

December Sock Yarn - Cat Mountain Fingering

December's sock yarn review is Cat Mountain Fiber Arts' Superwash Merino. The colourway is Sunrise on the Sangre de Cristos - an interesting mix of reds and yellows.

The yarn content is 100% superwash merino. It appears to be a fairly loose twist.



Now, on to the needles!!