FOs: Monkeying and melon-ing around...

Hey, hey, we're the monkeys...

Big Top Monkeys
Pattern: Monkey from Knitty.com
Yarn: Claudia Hand Painted Fingering in Circus Dancer
Needles: US 1 circ
Modifications: Knitted all stitches; picot cast-on; flap-heel instead of short-row

I am, indeed, a monkey. This Chinese astrology site says, "The spunky Monkey is the original party animal!" Ah, if only this were so. Sigh. I'm afraid I'd rather be watching a movie and knitting.

I love these socks. I love them. They are squishy. They are warm. They are pretty. They are fun. I think I am beginning to have a problem with Claudia. Every time I see the yarn, I can only describe my reaction as somewhat...predatory. I love it more than all other sock yarns. But I suppose since I've only managed to knit two complete pairs of socks, I should hold off on this judgment until I've tried some of the other sock yarns out there.

As I knitted these, I kept thinking of Seurat's The Circus:

I saw this at the Musee d'Orsay in Paris four years ago and I stood with my nose nearly pressed up against it, marveling at the dots he used to create blends of colors. For New Yorkers, his "Sideshow" is more easily accessible:

It's in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and I'm going to have to duck in there pretty soon to refresh my memory. My monkeys like it quite a lot.

I really had so much fun knitting these and one of the best parts was the connection with Water for Elephants, which I finished and highly recommend. There's a bit of everything in there. Murder, mayhem, sex and romance. It makes me wish for the days when things like circuses were still charmingly bohemian and going to see them was such novel entertainment.

Next, we have the Melon Shawl. I can't think up a wittier name that does not also denigrate part of women's anatomy. I believe I shall refrain.

Melon Shawl
Pattern: Melon Shawl from Victorian Lace Today
Yarn: Louet Sales Kidlin Pixie in Grasshopper
Needles: US7 for melon pattern; US6 for border

As I neared the end of this shawl, tragedy struck. I ran out of yarn with only eight border repeats left to go. I sadly plunked down more cash in order to complete Melon and ruefully wished I had ended the body pattern a few repeats earlier. Greedy, yarn-guzzling Melon is happy, however, and here she is, modeling herself on the sunny deck of my parents' house.

A close-up of the border:

A pool of crisp green:

Lounging in the sun:

I swear, if Melon were a cat, she would have been positively purring with pleasure. I can't wait to start showing her off around town, if only this nasty muggy spell would go away.

And since I finished up the Monkeys, I started another pair of socks also inspired by the elephant book. They're the Flutter-By socks by Librarygirl. The charcoal and pink yarn started me thinking of Rosie, the elephant in the book, and Marlena, the pink sequin-covered star of the circus.

I'm calling them my Marlena & Rosie socks. And the "Flutter-bys" make me think of elephant ears. Maybe I'm just elephant crazy.