I Love Chocolate

Usually when the Yarn Harlot talks about something on her blog, there’s a stampede of knitters scrambling to obtain the exact pattern or yarn that she’s working with. Don’t get me wrong, I adore the Harlot; I think she’s a wonderful writer and has some brilliant insights into this world of knitting that we’re a part of. She is a fabulous ambassador for our craft, and I’m appreciative of the fact that her influence will help keep yarn stores across the country in business for a long time. But for example, recently the Harlot knit the Must-Have Cardigan and the Ravelry forums were ablaze with ISO posts – the pattern was sold out everywhere, nowhere to be found (although patient knitters could have just ordered it – it wasn’t even out of print). Zarah and I were talking about this phenomenon – we were like, yeah, it’s a nice sweater, but it’s just a cabled cardigan – there are zillions of cabled cardigan patterns out there. But because the Harlot knit it, it became in high demand.
I wasn’t interested in the Must-Have Cardi because 1) the pattern wasn’t written for my size and I didn’t want to rewrite it, and 2) I’m not really a bulky cardigan kind of girl. But something else happened. I succumbed to the Harlot’s influence on something else. Way back when, she posted about the Duet Sock Yarn in the Chocolate Crunch colorway. Now, I am not a pink person at all, but there’s something about the combination of pink and brown that I am unable to resist. It’s like Kryptonite – or as Darth Vader would say, “resistance is futile.” Normally I try to buy my all my sock yarn at The Loopy Ewe, but they didn’t have the color. Big surprise – things sell out fast. Plus, because the dyer is an indie, chances were that we’d never see that colorway again (this is why I don’t feel bad about having a decent sized stash – you never want to regret not having bought something that spoke to you.). But I took a chance and e-mailed Angela of A Swell Yarn Shop, inquiring if we’d see that colorway again. She said she didn’t usually repeat colorways, but said she’d make an exception for this one. I signed up for her e-mail newsletter, found out when she was restocking, and quietly purchased my Chocolate Crunch.
It lived in my stash for while, playing nicely with the other non-pinkish colors, till finally it told me it wanted to be a pair of Basket-Weave Rib Socks. I’ve knit this pattern before, for my sister’s Christmas socks, and enjoyed it, so I said, “sure, why not?” After a minor gauge issue (which sent me back to my size 0′s again), we are getting along just fine, even in spite of the pink. I think these are going to be a favorite pair once they’re finished. Thank you, Stephanie, for the suggestion.