The first of the 2023 yarn clubs has gone (well UK clubs have gone, everyone else is waiting for Royal Mail to get on top of the ransomware attack which means that overseas orders can’t be posted).
January Inspiration
The 2023 yarn club is inspired by books – and the January club takes its colours from a real favourite. I’ve had my copy of Candy is Dandy for more than 20 years. It’s a collection of the best of Odgen Nash, and it’s the most perfect thing to dip into on a gloomy day.
The cover illustration is by Ronald Searle, and I love the contrast between the grey human and all of the colours. It’s not just grey though – there’s a tint of green in there, and that became the inspiration for the January semi solid colourway.
January yarn club colours
Greys with just a hint of colour are one of my favourite things. They go with everything, but that little bit of green offers extra contrast against warm colours.
The greenish grey was also the background for the splodge yarn, making a perfect background for lots of pops of colour. I went for more of a colour wash as I didn’t want to dull down ll the pops of colour.
The multicolour and self striping sock yarns have almost the same colours – there’s some white in the self striping, then both have a riot of colour.
I haven’t knitted swatches with all of the yarns, but I couldn’t resist a quick swatch of the self striping sock yarn. This is worked in the round on 2mm needles and 64 stitches.
A bit of Ogden Nash
There’s a lovely Odgen Nash poem about socks. Maybe superwash wool wasn’t a thing.
The Shrinking Song
Woollen socks, woollen socks!
Full of colour, full of clocks!
Plain and fancy, yellow, blue,
From the counter beam at you.
O golden fleece, O magic flocks!
O irresistible woollen socks!
O happy haberdasher’s clerk
Amid that galaxy to work!
And now it festers, now it rankles
Not to have them round your ankles;
Now with your conscience do you spar;
They look expensive, and they are;
Now conscience whispers, You ought not to,
And human nature roars, You’ve got to!
Woollen socks, woollen socks!
First you buy them in a box.
You buy them several sizes large,
Fit for Hercules, or a barge.
You buy them thus because you think
These lovely woollen socks may shrink.
At home you don your socks with ease,
You find the heels contain your knees;
You realise with saddened heart
Their toes and yours are far apart.
You take them off and mutter Bosh,
You up and send them to the wash.
Too soon, too soon the socks return,
Too soon the horrid truth you learn;
Your woollen socks can not be worn
Unless a midget child is born;
And either sockless you must go,
Or buy a sock for every toe,
Woollen socks, woollen socks!
Infuriating paradox!
Hosiery wonderful and terrible,
Heaven to wear, and yet unwearable.
The man enmeshed in such a quandary
Can only hie him to the laundry,
And while his socks are hung to dry,
Wear them once as they’re shrinking by.
If you’d like a March club parcel you can find all of the details here.
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