Purple Socks!

My socks are here! They were knit by Nutsue, who used a lovely  embossed leaves pattern.



I have to show you a close up, this is a very pretty pattern indeed.



The socks themselves are wonderful, but she also sent me a few goodies, including a postcard from Paris, a Monet fridge magnet, two pens and some Fortissima Socka yarn with beautiful tweed colors.



All in all, a wonderful Spring package. I hope  mine arrives soon to its destiny too. I never took the time to post a picture of the finished socks, but here they are:



I also tackled the task of culturing some S.  marcescens and figuring out how to use the pink pigment from the bacteria to dye some yarn. It wasn't easy! The bacteria produced very little pigment when grown in a liquid culture, and also the pigment has low solubility in water. I did get a skein to absorb some color:



But that pale pink is very different from what  I was hoping for. I am thinking of giving this skein a second dye bath. Should I?