More Linen Stitch?

I've recently become enamored with the linen stitch. I think I feel almost the same about the linen stitch as I feel about twined knitting. The fabric is so dense and thick that it makes me feel good. There's something really sturdy and masculine about it.

I've been working on these ankle socks with this variegated yarn. Julie from Team Knit commented that she didn't really like variegated yarn. I'm sort of in agreement. The pooling of the colors is totally random and can be really unattractive. Look at the top of the sock:

It's okay. (I'm shrugging here.) Nothing to write home about. I've actually been pretty fortunate with the pooling. It's not bad, but it's just some variegation and a yarn that looks really soft when it's photographed. But now look at the bottom of the sock, where the linen stitch is:

I'm totally crazy about this. I especially like these little dots of gray surrounded by the white. It's completely random. Fred asked me if I was planning it, which got me thinking about how those dots happen. I'm not going to go nuts with it, but I did a little experimentation last night while we were watching American Gangster. (Almost three straight hours of knitting time, so I recommend it.)

I picked three small balls that are not even the same weight (and they look like something out of the early Seventies), but I just wanted some color contrast. I did two rows of each and then four rows of each and then I did a big swatch of orange with two rows of that creamy color and then another big swatch of orange with four rows of the cream color.


I just really like the look and now I'm experimenting with some tweedy yarn because I have a sweater's worth. The problem is that the stitch definition here is really nice. With the tweed, it all blends in and you can't see it. And I won't be doing much striping on the sweater, just a random stripe here and there with a color that isn't really that contrasting.

The linen stitch is sort of labor intensive because you don't make as much progress since you're slipping every other stitch on every row. This may not be the answer, but I'm taking a break from those socks (which I'm enjoying).

My BFF, Patty, said she sort of gets lost on knitting-related posts. So I don't generally do a lot of knitting-intensive posts, but I'm diggin' the linen stitch.