Flying fingers

I have no idea how it happened but a pair of socks is virtually flying off of my needles.* Late Friday evening, I started on a pair of Austermann Step (Whiskey colorway) that I got while in Austria.

I worked on the toe-up socks a little during the day on Saturday while I was at the Franklin Park Conservatory. (I <3 Dale Chihuly.) That night, a family friend invited us to a bluegrass festival up at Denison. Apparently, bluegrass is a perfect music for knitting. When the music sped up, my fingers kept pace. When it slowed down, I did, too. I was already working on the gusset increases by the end of the evening.

Sunday, I was able to put in a little bit of knitting time before going to work and during my break. By the end of the night, I had turned both heels and started working on the legs.

I am thinking that, by the time I go to bed tonight, I will have at least 2 maybe three inches worked on the legs. I am planning to make them however long it takes to use up the yarn.

This is unbelievable! It has never taken me this little time to make a pair of socks. NEVER. Even when I was travelling and on planes and trains all day, nothing like this has ever happened! Maybe it is the combination of the yarn (LOVE IT) and the Addis. Who knows!

A little about the Austermann Step yarn. It is some of the nicest feeling yarn with which I have ever worked. It has aloe vera oil and jojoba oil infused in it. These oils mean that the tips of my fingers are soooooo soft where they come in contact with the yarn. I can only imagine what the socks will feel like on my feet! According to various websites, the oils should last through 40 washings (hand-washed, of course!) The only thing that I don't like about the yarn is that it has a tendency to be splitty. That is definitely not a good thing when your fingers are flying along with a banjo player's! Most of the time I can catch the splits but that slows me down.

Another "bad" thing about the yarn is that it is not Project Spectrum colors :) I meant to work on a pair of blue, grey and white socks (perfect colorway for Feb/Mar) this weekend but the Austermann Step took over! I had already made a pair of socks using the blue, grey and white yarn but frogged them because the sizing was all off. Not sure what I was on when I made that pair. Whatever it was, it wasn't a good thing! I think I made that pair when I was first starting socks and didn't have any idea how to customize them. This time around, the result will be much better.

* I like working toe-up socks two at a time on two circular needles.