I finished my Kai-Mei socks last night.  Hours in front of the TV helped, because when what you’re watching is emotional, like the 9-11 memorials yesterday were, knitting is a comfort.

Part of it’s the rhythm, which is simple and timeless.  But part is the material.  I confess it.  I’m a fiber snob.  I mean, I understand the value of acrylics when it comes to some baby things, and certainly the cost can’t be beat.  But if life is about the process, I want natural and fine.  I want soft, not scratchy.  I want organic.  Wool, alpaca, cotton, silk – any of those will do – but if a yarn has even a whiff of cashmere, I’m in love.

My Kai-Meis have cashmere.

Kai-Mei is a Cookie A pattern that I started last November, then put aside to do Christmas hats for the nieces.  I kept procrastinating about picking up these socks again – complicated pattern, too much concentration, required, yadda yadda – but I dug them out the Friday before Labor Day, determined.  Like so many other dreaded things, the reality of picking up where I left off wasn’t so bad.  And I had an incentive to finish, i.e., my monthly knitting group, which meets tonight.

The Kai-Meis are gorgeous.  Take a look.

The yarn is a blend of merino, cashmire, and nylon, hand-dyed by Debbie Smith, who owns Iron Horse, my LYS. Now all we need is cool weather so I can wear them.