Sock Madness is upon us, which means my knitting productivity goes back up. Last night I finished the first round pattern, Dicey.

Each sock’s cable placement was determined by rolling dice. On the leg of the second sock, I rolled a lot of cables. It nearly prevented me from finishing within the time frame allotted us. And the stress of that possibility definitely made me tense, which, in turn, means that second leg is a bit more tight-fitting than the first. But I can get both of them on, which is what’s important.

The yarn, which is in a color called Spring Green, made socks perfect for wearing around Mitchell Park on a temperate St. Patrick’s Day.

I like them better on way better than I did while knitting them.

Emily, over at Yarn Miracle, is a pattern designer and stuffed toy maker. And recently she has added crack dealer to her titles.

Okay, well, maybe that’s a slight exaggeration. But it’s not far from the truth, if by crack one means squee-worthy yarn.

But she has started writing a monthly series of blog posts entitled Mindful Fiber featuring small, sustainable yarn makers with pictures and quotes from the farmers and, most excitingly, a giveaway. And I won the prize for February.

The package was waiting for me when I returned home from errands on Saturday afternoon and I have been petting the yarn included in it nonstop since then.

It is Shadyside Farm Studio‘s Homespun Bunny, an exquisite worsted weight yarn that’s 25% angora combined with lambswool. This colorway is Rose Pink.

There is more than enough yarn to knit the Like Sleeves pattern from Yumiko Sakurai, which came as part of the prize, although now that I’ve met the yarn, I may find it difficult to give it away. (I’ll definitely knit both the yarn and the pattern; they just not be knit together.) And Emily (who many years ago knit me socks and gave me a personalized knitting bag as part of the Blooming Feet sock swap) tucked in a bunny clip and some chocolates.

There is still time to enter the March Mindful Fiber Giveaway to win an angora bunny kit in time for your spring toy knitting. You’ve got until Tuesday.

Thanks again to Emily, Yumiko, and the folks at Shadyside Farm Studio for such a lovely prize! It’s the most pettable present I’ve received in a while!

Remember when I used to finish knit objects on a somewhat regular basis, take pictures of them, and share them here?

No, me neither.

However, I did finish a pair of socks last week and they are so darn cheerful it’s nearly impossible to prevent myself from showing them off to everyone I see.

I’m calling these my Starburst Socks.

The colorway is really called Strawberry Banana, and the yarn is Sunshine Yarns’ merino sock. But I don’t like banana, even when mixed with strawberry, so a new name was needed. The skein came from the very first yarn swap I ever did (organized by Amanda, way back when).

The pattern is Crystalline Socks, designed by Cailyn Meyer. It combines slipped stitches and cables. (I added four extra stitches to the original pattern when my first version wouldn’t fit. In retrospect, the pattern probably would have fit as written, except that the wraps around the slipped stitches weren’t loose enough.)

I began them on September 29 last year and finished last Saturday.

I think the wraps make darling little flower/star shapes, and Corey agrees. He likes when I offer him claw holds in my clothing.

Speaking of which, I already had the perfect pair of shoes to wear with my socks — hot pink sneakers!

I mentioned in yesterday’s list and in my earlier fall/winter knitting goals that I wanted to make a new sweater.

I wear my Everyday Cardigan all the time, but it’s not really a flattering sweater. It’s functional and warm and a good all-around item, but it’s not … girly. And I’d really like a girly cardigan.

When we were in Iceland, we stopped in a supermarket so I could buy yarn. Yes, this shot is in one of their grocery stores. It’s probably the size of a large suburban Stop & Shop or Giant in the U.S. It was not as big as a supersized Target or the Fred Meyer in Salt Lake (which I think might not be called Fred Meyer anymore). But it did sell dry goods such as basic clothing and toys. And a whole wall of yarn.

I ended up bringing home several discs of unspun Icelandic wool — Plotulopi (which I remember by thinking of it as Plutolopi). That’s it along the bottom shelf.

I had done some research once I sussed out which yarns were available and local in Iceland, and this one was something I hadn’t ever seen back home (semi-regular access to Webs can spoil a girl). Checking in on Ravelry suggested several patterns that were specifically designed with Plotulopi in mind. I hemmed and hawed over a couple of them, but, really the choice came down to two — and I made the final decision last night.

My upcoming sweater (to be cast on later this month after I get back from Salt Lake) will be Haust.

Now I just have to hope I bought the right amount of yarn — or figure out how to get back to Selfoss if I need a few more meters.

This is what happens when you ask a cat which yarn you should use to make mittens:

Three years ago, Sarah and I went to the Shenandoah Fiber Festival, which was a lot of fun because it was significantly smaller than Maryland Sheep and Wool and, therefore, far less crowded and overwhelming. Unfortunately, the organizers of the festival decided they’d do better by moving the festival to September and have scheduled it to overlap with the National Book Festival. While I like knitting a lot, reading is a lifelong passion and no amount of soft yarn is going to usurp its place in my heart.

I was reminded recently, however, that that is not the only woolly game in town and that the Fall Fiber Festival and Montpelier Sheep Dog Trials were this weekend.

This was another homey regional fiber festival set in the heart of Civil War battlegrounds. I would recommend it to anyone in D.C., Maryland, Virginia, or West Virginia who likes yarn or the animals that produce it. There were few lines for anything, and you had plenty of opportunities to talk to the people who make the yarn and/or roving. And this festival has the added benefit of offering a sheep dog competition, rather than just an exhibition of skills. It was really enjoyable to watch the dogs do their work.

I offer you here some of the sights of the festival:

(Note in the above photo whom the sheep are paying attention to. It is not the woman about to smack them with a stick. Instincts are hard to overcome.)

(The other dogs in the competition are loitering around the edges of the pasture. They are not doing so lazily, but in the eager anticipation of when they can get out there and boss sheep around.)

(One of the blue ribbon winners of the wearable knitting competition. This coat is made of mitered squares. Really impressive.)

Please note that not seen are the cider doughnut folks, Carpe Donut. Yum.