First of two

I finished the first of a pair of socks I started over break.



The pattern is "Hermione's Everyday Socks," which the other day had the top ranking for "popular" sock patterns on Ravelry. In this case, I think it's deserved: it's a free pattern (which helps it be popular), but also it looks good, knits up well, works with variegated yarn, but isn't a plain-old stockinette sock. (There's a very subtle purl-dot pattern there).

The yarn is a Phydeaux Designs yarn, one of their sockyarns (I forget which one, there are several. I think this is the basic merino one) in a special colorway called "Corazon" which was available for a short while, then made briefly available again. (I had wanted it after the first run so I ordered it when the second run became available).

Here's a close up of the purl-dot pattern on the leg:



I also started a new thing (spoiler alert: YET ANOTHER PONY) this weekend:



Yes, blue-bodied pony. No, not Rainbow Dash (though now I'm thinking, I could use the leftovers of this skein and get one of those crazy variegated-rainbow Red Heart yarns that's out there for mane and tail). Not Trixie either (There is much fan love, perhaps mostly male-fan love, for Trixie. I don't totally get it because she reminds me of every Mean Girl I knew who didn't really have the back-up of her claims to intelligence, popularity, or fashionability). No, it's going to be Colgate, officially named Minuette - a blue unicorn with darker blue and white/grey/offwhite hair. (I'm using offwhite even though some of the online pictures look pale grey).

Colgate comes as a nickname because someone somewhere thought her mane looked like striped toothpaste. (Really, her nickname probably should be Aquafresh, but that's a lot less cute). I don't know that I've seen her given as much of a fanon personality as either Derpy or Lyra (who are also both background ponies), but Minuette is just kind of cute, so I guess I'll have to come up with my own headcanon backstory for her. On the card that comes with the minifig of her, it says something like "Is on time for everything" (hence her hourglass cutie mark). I can get behind a pony whose special skill is punctuality. But surely there's more to her....

I also still have the Maud Pie yarn (and fabric, for dress) on hand. And I bought some more yarn for yet ANOTHER another pony...this time a so-called OC (OC, for Original Character, meaning not an actual character on the show but one a fan makes up). This one is going to be a gray pegasus with loopy coral-colored hair. She's a book-loving (perhaps bookstore owning, I've not decided yet) pony named Pageturner. (I think there's already someone else's Pageturner pony out there but meh, all the other book-related names I tried - Endpaper, Bookmarker, even Quarto or Folio - didn't quite work for me.) I bought a skein of "Heartland," which is an acrylic yarn but is softer and shinier than most acrylics. And it's a subtly variegated grey.

At some point I'm going to start the ginormous project of Queen Chrysalis, which looks quite challenging (the pattern comes complete with Swiss-cheese holes worked into the legs - like in the cartoon). But right now I feel like doing simpler things.