I *heart* the mailman

The new STR Rockin' Sock Club shipment arrived at my house safe and sound this afternoon (huge relief after the mail theft problems I'd been having). I may or may not have spent the day compulsively checking the KAL for pics of other people's kits, counting the number of days it took past shipments to arrive, and running to the door to stare out of the peephole at the slightest sound.

I am ecstatic about the red skein (click to big-ify). I love, love, love red and have been wondering all along when it would show its yummy primary goodness. As for the Rare Gem, I'm still not convinced, and find myself wavering between loving it and HoHum-ing it. I suppose I won't be able to tell until it becomes socks. Perhaps it will become a pair of these depending on what happens during swatching.

I tried to get a good picture of the finished sock on the pattern but it was not meant to be (if you supersize the photo and squint you can almost see part of it). For those of you who are dying to know, it is a stunning beaded cable-rib pattern by Sivia Harding who designed these. The pattern itself reminds me of a simpler/easier, non-knee sock version, of these in that there is a fancy design at the top, that morphs into a simple cable to the heel, and then becomes pretty heel and front ankle detailing.

The good news is that it's here and I can focus on more urgent matters (like that pesky 100% final tomorrow). For now it's back to studying. I promise more regular postings with actual knitting content after it's done. Methinks a trip to the bead store is in order tomorrow, on the way home from the beastie!