late to the party

Hello, I'm Morgen. How stoked am I to join a knitalong in honor of Elizabeth Zimmermann! Truly, I never would have ventured into fancy things like aran patterns or two-color knitting (let alone designing) if she didn't gleefully make it look so damn easy, and I know more than a few of you are in the same boat. To date (relevant to EZ) I've done some two-color hats and twisted stitch patterns, and am in the midst of a cable-pattern cardigan of my own design which will feature steeked armholes and fronts (see my brand-new knitting blog.)

But today, in the spirit of fall weather and trying new things, I will be starting my very first pair of socks. Inspiration:



The pattern is from Newsletter #18, reprinted in The Opinionated Knitter.
I have been eyeballing these stockings for some time. Originally I planned to go with one of EZ's vertical two-color charts, but at the last minute I realized this would be a great utilization of a pseudo-argyle-plaid pattern (maybe you know the proper name for it?) that I snatched from some mid-80's Rowan design.

Swatched in the round and cut up the side:



It's Nature Spun sportweight in plumberry and ash on US 4 dpns, at about 7 sts 8 rows/inch. Tons o fun!

For now, back to the knitting cave to measure and plot. Till you hear from me again I will be, as EZ quips, "stocking up on stockings." xo