Socks, Calcetines, Swapetines

Spring is here in Wisconsin--in fits and starts. Yesterday the temperature was 85 F and today we have rain, grey skies and chilly temperatures. Daffodils and tulip have closed their blossoms to protect themselves from the inclement weather. Only two weeks ago the snowdrops were the only flowers around!
I love these brave little flowers that look so fragile but are so very strong. They hold such promise of warm weather to come, even though they shoot their leaves through snow and like chilly temperatures.

Es la primavera aquí enWisconsin--!poco a poco! Ayer la temperatura estaba 29 C pero hoy está 15C--con lluvia, cielo gris y viento! Brrr. Los tulipanes y narcisos han cerrados sus flores para protegerles contra el tiempo. Hace dos semanas los "snowdrops" eran las unicas flores en los jardines. Me encantan estas flores, tan valientes. Parecen muy frágiles pero son muy fuertes. Tienen el espero del tiempo caliente pero sus hojas aparecen en la vieve y frío.

I have had such a good time participating in a Spanish sock exchange called "Swapetines." The exchange has brightened a very busy spring! Above are the socks in their final form, with the ceramic buttons made by Jennie the Potter. Jennie makes wonderful mugs, bowls and other items for the knitter who wants more than yarn and needles in her life! She decorates the items with cute sheep and unravelling balls of yarn. Not too cute and not too serious!

Encima son los calcetines para Penelope, mi receptora de Swapetines! Me encanta participar en Swapetines. He comprado los botones para les calcetines de Jennie la alfara. Sus tazas, tazones y más tienen ovejas y madejas de lana que se dehacen. !No demasiado mono y no demasiado serio!
The buttons were absolutely perfect! I was very happy to find yarn dyed by a local woman and buttons from a neighboring state. When I send something to another country, I try to find items that are locally made, even if they look as if they could be from anywhere!! Some of my favorite souvenirs from my travels are very ordinary, everyday useful items; only I know that they came from a location far away.

Pienso que los botones son perfectos. Estaba muy contenta de encontrar una lana teñida por una mujer de mi ciudad y botones hechos en un estado a lado del mío. Cuando envio algo al extranjero, me gusta enviar algo hecho muy cerca, aunque parece que fue hecho en qualquier parte. Unos de mis recuerdos preferidos son algo cotidiano muy utíl. Pero, yo se que vienen del extranjero.

(I know that I rotated this photo before uploading, but somehow these socks are sideways! Sorry!) I was worried that the wool socks that I made would be too warm for central Spain. So I made some short, summer socks out of Cascade's Fixation. I have made many of these for myself. I wear them with sandals, even though it's not very stylish. I continue to love them, however. For these socks, I used one strand of solid purple and one strand of variegated yarn. For the cuff, I made a hem with a picot turning row.

Me preocupaba que los calcetines de lana dieran demasiado calor en Espana. Por eso, tejé calcetines de algodón para Penelope. La lana es Fixation de Cascade--es de algodón y un poco de elástico. Hice muchos calcetines iguales para mí y los llevo con sandalias aunque sé que no son elegantes. Para estos calcetines, usé una hebra (hilo?) de un color y una hebra de multicolores. Para el puño tejé una vuelta de "picot" para doblar y formar un ribete.
I made my favorite heel, eye of partridge. When you alternate yarns every two rows the effect is quite striking.
El talón es de "eye of partridge" en vez de un talon tejido entero a vueltas acortadas.



Finally, in the package to Spain, I enclosed some postcards of my town, and a wonderful knitting magazine published right here, KnitCircus. If you have never heard of KnitCircus, click and check it out! It has knitting patterns, some recipes, book reviews and more. My next project is the Kate cardigan from issue #5, the one on the cover.

Finalmente, puse cartas postales de mi ciudad y una revista de labor de punto--publicado en mi ciudad. Mi proximo proyecto es el "cardi" de la portada. Penelope,!! espero que todo te guste!!

I hope that my sock exchange partner likes everything that I sent. I hope it all represents a little bit of the knitting here in the Midwest!!