Eye Candy Friday

the skies are gray, the air is still a bit chilly, and the trees are still bare, but the snow has melted (for now, it's still only march) and earlier this week i came across the first sign of spring.

i believe this is witch hazel and it almost matches my socks!

these are nutkin socks that i knit with sundara sock yarn in orange zest (i've had this yarn in the stash for awhile so i don't know if you can get this color anymore).   i don't do short row heels (well i can do them, i just don't like to wear them) so i made a heel flap and a traditional kitchenered toe (the original pattern has a short row toe).  i also was afraid i'd run out of yarn, so i made a shorter cuff (a too short cuff as it so happens).  these socks were fun to knit and deceptively easy.  and with the orange and red in there, they're project spectrum worthy too.  i raveled the details here.

so that's all i've got.  happy friday!

ETA:  a couple of people have asked if my socks twist any.  there's just a little bit of twisting that i was able to straighten out for the photos.  i did not block the socks.  apparently other knitters of the nutkins have noticed a major biasing of the sock.  i'm thinking that maybe my socks are less twisty because the leg of my sock isn't so long or because i knit different heels.  who knows?

Comments

[Felicia]

Wow! Eye candy everywhere in this post :)

[=Tamar]

My guess is that you are right about the heel structure making a difference. It interrupts the twist from the foot, anyway. Lovely socks!

[Lucia]

Love the witch hazel! And the socks are beautiful -- does the cabling go in the same direction all the way around? If so I would think they would definitely twist, especially if they were longer.

[flwrhead]

I saw the first cardinal yesterday - spring is definitely here! The socks look great!

[Beth S.]

So that's what that is!... I've seen that plant and had no idea what it was. I learn so much from the blogosphere. :-)

Love the orange socks, but that should not come as any great surprise.

[Carrie]

OMG, you had me cracking up this morning! I stumbled across your site via notmartha.com, and started giggling. (Much to my husband's dislike since he is still sleeping.) Thanks for the laughs. You're bookmarked now! I gotta go pull out my knitting needles now.

[Kirsten]

That is indeed Witch Hazel! It is one of the first things to bloom in this area.

Love those orange socks!

[Katy]

Um, that should say 'Our snow isn't gone yet'.

[Katy]

Our snow is completely gone yet, but after 36 hours of rain it is greatly diminished- even the *huge* plowed piles from last weekend's blizzard are more 'normal' sized now. Unfortunatly, now we have to worry about flooding...

[JessaLu]

Yay for signs of Spring!

Love the socks. :o)

[Stacey]

aw, Spring, nice. The socks are awesome - love the colorway and your modifications!

[Norma]

Spring has reached you! That means it's only a matter of (a long?) time before it reaches ME! Hee. Great socks. I love the witch hazel. It must not be hardy enough for up here, because we don't have that here.... Hm..I never knew!

[Sara]

Those socks are really cute. I might try and knit those!!!

[lucette]

It makes me so happy to see the blossoms of witch hazel and the coming promise of spring. Your socks are lovely and cheery too.

[Adam]

Spring, woo! Although, those flowers do look a bit like alien brain sucking creatures to me... ;)

And love the socks, that color is perfect. But what else would you expect from Sundara?

[Mintyfresh]

great pairing of the witch hazel and those socks.

[Manise]

Yes, you correctly identified the first sign of Spring as Witch Hazel in your photo. Your Nutkins look great. I have the same question as Danielle- are they behaving? She may be onto something regarding the shorter cuff/ leg eliminating the biased twisting others have experienced. If that's the case I'll definitely try them. Love the colors of yours!

[Temperance]

How Pretty! both the tree and the socks :)

[heather]

Spring? What's that?!? Love the socks - they look great.

[Macoco]

Your picture of the Emerald Necklace is beautiful. It looks like something from a fairy tale.
yay for zest socks!

[Amy]

Ooh, those are beautiful! They remind me of sunflowers. Nice to see spring making first overtures, too.

[Zarah]

Gorgeous socks! I am loving all this Project Spectrum red and orange in such a dreary month.

[Danielle]

I've seen some Nutkins where the leg biases terribly. Did you block yours, or are they just behaving better? I was thinking that the shorter cuff might have prevented some of the twisting.

[Tracey]

Adore the socks. Hmmm, so that's what witch hazel looks like. I always wondered, excellent toner and great for sun burned skin.

[rita]

What great photos! And beautiful socks.

[Kathode Ray Tube]

Thanks for that brightness in an otherwise gray time of year! The socks are great.

[Kathy]

Pretty socks! Did you have any problems with the pattern -- I seem to recall another knitter had an issue.

[Chris]

Happy sunny socks! We have witch hazel here, but I haven't seen that before - maybe I just haven't been looking at the right time.

[Carole]

It's wonderful to see some color in the landscape! One more week til the official start of spring. Hooray!