(circa 1920’s) It has been glorious to see the evolution of women’s style throughout Downton Abbey Season 5…

Impeccable: the tailoring on Lady Mary’s coats and suits…

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One of my very favorite things on the Internet is something called Throwback Thursday.

All over social media people post pictures from their histories and whether it’s baby shots or fondly remembered special events, this phenom is usually a sweet giggle and a half!

On my personal knitting timeline, one of the most favorite things that every happened to me was learning to knit socks. If I had my druthers, I’d just knit socks all the live long day – there’s just nothing that is so soothing and that trips my calm mode more than going round and round and round…

Early on, I couldn’t find a sock pattern that met my height and toe shaping requirements. So I tweaked and tweaked and finally came up with what you see on the left.

…this dilly little piece of cardboard contains all the info one needs to knit that sock. I carry it around with me at all times in my wallet. Which, in fact, is where the cardboard originally came from. HANDY!

My favorite sock has a longer than average leg length and a more elegantly shaped toe.

And in honor of Throwback Thursday, I’ve posted a cleaned up version of something that first made its appearance on the knitting blog in 2004…

Click here for a free pattern for my favorite sock, in its 2015 glory – and I love it still!

One of the early joys in my knitting timeline was discovering regional fiber fests! The first big one? The Michigan Fiber Fest, held on the Allegan Fair grounds, which is between Kalamazoo & Grand Rapids.

(from the archives)…”Although, the temptation to stray into the obvious was everywhere, I held out until the very last moment (we actually closed the fest down) and got the Cormo yarn shown to the left…imagine my delight to find out that the wonderful sheep shown by Alice Fields, of Foxhill Farm, had won the Grand Champion ribbon of the entire show with her Cormo! There were Blue ribbons galore atop a Large (~5lb) batt of sheared wool with a delightful small crimp and length of 5 inches!!!

The softness and beauty of the yarn made from this wool is almost indescribable. I wish I had Feel-Around so I could share the *Hand* of Goodness…”

Lucky for me, there is no expiration date on yarn! I’ve been carefully storing this forever and this winter, now that the rainy season has landed here in the Pacific NW with a BANG, it is the perfect yarn for a new sample I’m working on.

It is glorious:

…chewy, springy,

makes beautiful stitches and is a Treat to handle on the needles…

And then there’s the color!

The label says “black” but its more like the deepest darkest expresso you’ve ever seen –

I’m making an aran weight v-neck top-down cardigan (similar to the DK-weight Hey Girl cardigan – which I live in) – & am updating the construction, adding some new twists and turns while grading for the larger gauge.

There’s also something going on that I can’t help myself about: stockinette love! I can’t stop! It’s gotten to where I cannot sit without a project percolating in my lap, almost to that blessed point where I don’t even look at needles but just zoom along. Using a fabulous yarn like this makes it possible (and oh so enjoyable!).

…stay tuned for the developments & new design releases – subscribe to the Chic Knits Newsletter here…