Green

Did you know that of the 7000+ colors the human eye can see over 3000 of them are greens? We can see more shades and tones of green than any other color because the wavelengths of greens are in the middle of the “visible” spectrum. I put the visible in quotes, because many insects and birds would find our color spectrum pretty wimpy.

I love greens, especially the bright, fresh greens of Spring, which in this part of northern California is almost over! John Muir described the California Central Valley as having two seasons: summer and spring. Spring starts in November with the rains, when the indigenous grasses start to grow and the world greens up. Those grasses have already put their seed heads out, and so by mid-May will have turned golden brown (creating the golden hills of California). However, the field of winter wheat next to our place, isn’t quite so far along, but it is beautiful.

By mid-June, this wheat will be harvested and the field will be left as bare dirt until November. So, I really appreciate these few months of verdant green. I can see it out of our bedroom window, and in mid-January that vividness is about the only thing that gets me out of bed (and M’s homemade lattes).

This love of green can explain why I had to have a skein of Dream in Color Smooshy in Happy Forest. Didn’t it make a happy looking pair of socks?

The stitch pattern is Ringwood from Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush. She used them in a pattern for gentleman’s socks, but these babies are for me!

I used 60 stitches for the leg, and then toward the heel I did two rounds of “ankle-shaping” decreases to get me to 56 st. I also used a garter-edged eye-of-partridge heel flap, as I am addicted to that combo.

I probably won’t want to wear these wool beauties while the field is so desolate of green, as that would be when the daily average temperature is over 90 degrees, but they’ll be a happy addition to my sock drawer.