The Crafty Bits: Denmark Socks (F)

When we were in Rochester last September there wasn't a lot to be happy about at the time. Being stuck in a town with medical problems and waiting for surgery sucks the happy factor out of just about any excursion. But with a few days to kill and nothing better to do we plastered on some happy faces and set about discovering the city and surrounding area.

There were a lot of nice quilty-yarny-bookish places that we stopped in at but my personal favorite was Kristen's Knits, a cheerful and yarn packed shop along one of Rochester's main streets. The yarn that left with me was Araucania Itata Multi sock yarn. It was green and blue and shimmery and made me think of dragon scales or the jeweled greens of a tropical bird.




Apparently the yarn felt the same way, because no matter what pattern I tried none would cooperate. Nothing fit the coloration, weight or feel of the yarn. The textures were wrong or the yarn didn't have enough body or any number of other things...that yarn and I fought every step of the way and if I told you I didn't just about toss that hank out the nearest window on at least three separate occasions I would be flat out lying. But eventually it all came together and it became clear...I needed to let the yarn's inner dragon out.

I'm sure Nancy Bush (Have we heard that name before??) would argue about her Denmark pattern resembling any type of scale; reptile, amphibian, dragon or other. But to me, there is a definite scale like texture to the repeating single stitch cable. The way the pattern nestles into itself, overlapping and fitting together reminds me of the tail of a chameleon or the feathers on a bird's breast. Which goes to prove, next time I just need to listen to the yarn first.



About these Socks:

Yarn: Araucania Itata Multy
Color: 1013 (A rather uninspired designation...I like to think of it as Dragon Green...which is also rather uninspired)
Pattern: Denmark
Source: Nancy Bush's Knitting on the Road: Sock Patterns for the Traveling Knitter