new sock yarn

I was in Steveston on Saturday for a birthday party. On the way there, I stopped in at Wool & Wicker. They've expanded into the shop next door which more than doubles their original floor space. The new area isn't quite set up yet but I was allowed to wander around. It was nice to see that the yarn is organized by brand. In the old part of the store, the yarn's still organized by colour - i.e. all the greens are displayed together regardless of brand/weight/fiber. I squeezed a lot of sock yarn (Araucania Ranco, Mirasol Hacho, and Trekking Hand Art to name a few). I didn't leave empty handed - I bought a skein of Berroco's Comfort Sock.


It's 50% nylon and 50% acrylic - perfect for my Mom who is sensitive to wool. I cast on right away. It's a little splitty and you can barely see the colour changes. It is incredibly soft. The yarn has no stretch so the resulting sock only stretches a little widthwise but doesn't stretch at all lengthwise. I am a little worried that the sock won't fit if I do a short row heel.

I cast on the second Valentine's sock.


It's not seeing much action because I'm so interested in the Comfort Sock.

It's been sunny the last few days and I've been puttering around in the garden. I cleaned out 4 flower beds yesterday and helped hubby prune the holly (he moved the pruner and I pulled on the rope to cut). I filled 4 garbage cans with yard waste. It's sunny again today so I'll be heading out to tackle the 5 remaining flower beds.

On days like today, it feels like spring is finally here. My tulips are sticking out of the ground and I can see little buds on my cut-leaf Japanese maple.