Kenkyo Socks

OK, once again my lack of recent blogging is due to me having to work on other stuff.  (Lately I’ve really been forced to admit there are only so many hours in a given day, or week.  And some of them are required for sleeping, or else I get even more really cranky.)  But big news today!

The "other stuff" I’ve been working on is a great new Polar Bear Pattern:  "Kenkyo Socks", which was done in conjunction with my pal Deb, who blogs over at fearlessfibers.blogspot.com.

Deb dyes yarns in lovely, scrumptious, and above all, wearable colors.  If you have a husband like mine, who won’t even think about wearing colorful socks — or if you are just tired of what I’ve seen referred to as "clown barf" colorways — take a look over at Deb’s etsy shop:  fearlessfibers.etsy.com.

I once heard Merikke Saarnit refer to these kinds of subtly changing colors as "abrash", so I finally looked it up:

abrash (noun) – any variation or change, typically striation, in the different dyes of an Oriental rug as it ages. 

Well, I’m not sure about that "aging" bit, but she used the word to describe yarns that are not so much different colors, as differing shades of the same or similar colors.  That’s what Deb does, mostly, and quite lovelily, too.  (Yes, that is a word.)

Anyway, she did a series of colorways based on the Seven Deadly Sins, and then another based on Seven Virtues.  The colorway I picked to work with was "Humility".  I did an improved rendition of the hubby’s Japanese twisted rib & cable sock, and as I researched it, I found that the concept of "humility" or "modesty" is very key in Japanese culture.

"Kenkyo" means "modesty" or "being humble", but without the concept of "humiliation".  You don’t put yourself down, but you aren’t supposed to blow your own horn, either.  Kinda like the Midwest, actually, where I grew up.  So you see, it all started coming together!

I’m very pleased with this pattern:  I think it has a lot of good things in it.  It has my new favorite short row heel, about which I promise to blog in detail in the next week or so; it has the Japanese way of doing these cables WITHOUT A CABLE NEEDLE, about which I also plan to blog a bit.

And if you’re wondering why I haven’t included a picture of it already, well — it’s because WordPress doesn’t seem to want to let me insert a picture today.  Obviously, I have at least one more thing to work on.  (OK, I got it fixed!  See picture now included, above.)

So for now, you will have to go see it at Deb’s place; please check it out if you are so inclined:  fearlessfibers.etsy.com.