Casting On A New Project: Hitchiker

Let me begin this post by saying I have knit this pattern three times. I made two shorter ones with a hank of sock yarn each that I gifted to my son's teachers last year. I always wanted to make a longer one requiring almost 600 yards of sock yarn, which I did not have in my stash. So last week, I was in Kenosha, WI visiting my in laws and decided to take a trip to my local yarn shop there Fiddlehead Yarns (http://fiddleheadyarns.com). If you ever find yourself in the Kenosha area (right over the IL.WI border), you must visit this fantastic little yarn shop. Anyways, usually I just go in, browse, and buy something that strikes my fancy. This time I went in with the mission of finishing sock yarn to knit Hitchiker ( http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/hitchhiker). Now this is a paid pattern, but it is worth it. There are free knockoffs out there, but they are nowhere as nice as this. I am knitting mine with an eyelet row in the sixth row. I have over 800 yards of gorgeous Malabrigo Sock, which is a kettle dyed merino wool. The color way I am using is Tiziano Red. The photo does not do this yarn justice, plus Malabrigo is so soft! I actually visited this shop hoping to get either some Malabrigo or Madelintosh sock yarn, which this shop carries. Sadly the Tosh color ways available were not speaking to me, but the girl working did tip me off that they are expecting a shipment in a few weeks. Yes, I will be making another trip out. So after some time, I decided on the Malabrigo and could not be happier with out this is turning out. Stay tuned for updates as I make something for myself for a change.

Every photo I have tried to take of this makes the yarn look purple, but it is not. It is a deep, rich red.