Five!

I'm so very happy to be able to blog again. And here to help me celebrate is sock number five for the SOS07 challenge. I love this sock, love the way it turned out, love everything about it -- pattern, yarn, color, everything. It's just a happy squooshy sock.




















The pattern, corded rib, was taken from Charlene Schurch's SKS. I love how the texture changes when you wear it. Look at those eyelets that suddenly appear. Very nice. Me likee this pattern, and it couldn't be easier to knit.


















I also set out the back of the Silver Creek cabled cardigan to block. Before I pinned it out, I would have sworn that it would never in a million years stretch to the proper dimensions. But it did, and now I'm less worried about knitting the fronts.

I don't know why I can't get the Silver Creek to photograph properly. No matter what I do, the color is off. And not just off by a little, either. The actual color of this yarn is midway between a royal blue and a dark turquoise. It's very bright and vivid, but it always photographs as a charcoal or navy. I messed around with the photo editor to get it closer to the true color, but the photos still disappoint me. The yarn is too beautiful to be misrepresented like this!

The Hole Truth

I don't know wtf I did this time. I was blissfully knitting along, mostly knitting by feel that second Mountain Colors flathead cherry sock while I watched Clinton and Stacy shred the ego of yet another unsuspecting fashion victim. There's a WNTW marathon today and I'm in a deeply snarky mood. You know what that means? Voila! Instant multitasking! I can slack off for the afternoon in two different ways at once!

Am I good or what.




















Yep. Or what. Because today, knitting by touch equals a big honkin hole in my sock leg. Do you see that? Front and center? That dark loop sticking out is a dropped stitch. Just above it is a nice large hole.

Here's a little mystery. I still have the right number of stitches on the needles. So not only did I manage to drop a stitch, but I also managed to somewhere, somehow, some time add a stitch.

My guess is that I slid the needle between stitches instead of into the stitch. I created a yarn over instead of a stitch, and then dropped the old, still live stitch.
And for an added bonus, I also managed to knit an inch past the dropped stitch before noticing it. Am I good or what? Or what.

Clearly I need to pay more attention to my knitting and less to Clinton and Stacy. Or maybe the knitting goddess is punishing me for knitting when I should be working. Or maybe it was some subliminal freudian thing, me putting a hole in my knitting while Stacy ripped some poor chanteuse for wearing an argyle sweater with holes in it. I felt bad for that little jazz diva. I mean, we all have that beloved comfy sweater we hold onto past its prime, right?

















And sometimes holes in the knitting are a good thing. The turquoise Dale Baby Ull on the right is a zigzaggy lace rib from Charlene Schurch. Very easy pattern. Every other round is regular k2, p2 resting round. Then on alternating pattern rounds, you either yo-k2tog or you ssk-yo on the knit columns, and purl the purls as usual. I've been playing with this pattern as I knit it, alternating the way I wrap the yarn, knitting and purling through the back loops, and basically just messing with it to see what kind of effects I can create. The only difference I see so far is in the size of the holes from the yarn overs. The pattern itself remains intact. That makes sense, but I still have this urge to mess with this as I'm knitting it.

The Baby Ull is knitting into super squooshy, super sproingy fabric, making it the exact opposite of the jaywalker. I turned the heel on the jaywalker and have knit about half an inch of the gusset. For now, I'm sticking to the chevron pattern, but that won't last much longer. The fabric is wickedly inflexible and a regular stockinette would be so much more comfortable on the feet. So I'm thinking I will decrease partway through the gussets in pattern and then switch to regular stockinette when the stitch count seems low enough to make the right size foot tube.

That's the sock report.

In other news, I must sent out a hearty Oh Crap! My Bad! to my SnB crew. I forgot about our alternate meeting last night. And next week I will be in Dallas for that conference, so it will be two weeks before I get to ogle all of your knitting again. ...pout... But hey, maybe by then there will be a finished snake cozy to admire, eh Missus A?

Jaywalking

I'm knitting the heel flap of the first jaywalker. Not sure what I think of the pattern or the result. On the one hand, the chevron looks cool and it's a fun and easy knit. On the other hand, the resulting fabric has some properties that might not make for the most comfy sock. It's dense, tight, and not very flexible. The ribbing and the chevron don't seem to coexist peacefully. And I'm afraid the sock may be too large.

But I'm going to keep knitting. I'm debating whether to stay in pattern for the whole foot, or knit the gussets down to a smaller number of total stitches in a more flexible stockinette fabric. Anyone have any thoughts to share on that? I'm about the last knitter on the planet to knit jaywalkers, so I imagine there's a wealth of insight out there regarding this pattern.














I also cast on these boot socks in Dale Baby Ull. Though it's barely apparent, there will be a simple pattern on these. My initial thought was to do a cable of some sort, but after swatching the yarn, I decided on one of the 4-stitch patterns from the Charlene Schurch book. These ought to be quick and fun.

The only other thing going on right now is the mad scramble leading up to RWA's annual conference. I'm trying to focus on things like clearing off my desk rather than on things like which yarn to pack. I wound off a couple of skeins over the weekend so I have ready yarn to choose from. But with all the real work I need to accomplish this week, worrying about yarn just can't be high on the to-do list. (We'll see how long that resolve sticks.)

Three!

I got over whatever was bugging me yesterday and finished the second Koigu sock. This makes three completed socks, and one official matched pair. Yes, matched, even though they look as if they are two different sizes in this picture. That's just my rush job with the camera. The socks are as close to perfectly matched in size as any that I ever knit.

So that makes:
One pair.
Three finished socks.
One sock-in-progress.
NINE days.
(Holy crap!)

I did cast on that jaywalker, and it jayworked. The slight knit-aggravation caused by trying to work that double decrease on those tiny (and oh-so-snappable) Takumi needles pulled me out of my funk. Well, that plus a stash dive and a long, long swim through my patterns.

It occurs to me that yesterday's mood will probably repeat itself. If it does, I'll be ready. I formulated a plan last night, and who knows ... it just might work. Only one way to find out. Knit on!

Two!

Two socks, zero pairs, seven and a half days. I ought to put some kind of counter on my blog to help keep track of this. It feels like it's going really fast so far. My hope at the outset was to knit six to eight pairs of socks, or twelve to sixteen total socks. This makes two, and number three (the mate for number two) is at the heel flap. Number four (the mate to number one) will be cast on later tonight or tomorrow.

I won't be able to keep up this pace for the entire three months. This week I spent some extra time reading manuscripts, and I can knit by feel while I read. But I'll have to put the needles down to do some actual editing soon. If I could figure out how to type and knit at the same time, believe me, I would do it! But short of growing another pair of hands, I don't see how that can happen.

I think after I finish these two pairs, I'll have to do something patterned to break up the endless spiral of stockinette. Maybe those jaywalkers, eh, Kris?

Uno!

Here is Sock #1 from Pair #1 for the SOS07 challenge. I started it last Thursday morning and finished it today. That's six days. Normally, I'd be pretty darn happy with that, given that I generally spend a week, maybe even eight or nine days, per sock.






















But I didn't merely knit that one Bearfoot Cherry sock. I also knit most of the leg of a Koigu sock, and the leg and heel of a second Koigu sock.

I never would have believed I could knit that much sock in six days. I haven't added knitting time to my day. In fact, I take the same number of short knitting breaks throughout the day as always. I'm just making a more concerted effort to use the spare minutes to knit a round or two. On hold with the cable company? Knit. In an endless line at the bank? Knit. Reading slush submissions? Knit while scrolling through the pages. (This can be a little tricky. I'm half-tempted to use the Harlot's method of putting the keyboard on the floor and scrolling with the toes.)




















In other news, my yarn barfed. Who said center pull balls were a good thing?

Fuzzy Math, or, My Weekend By the Numbers

Seven-One

That's the height of the man in this blurry photo. Yes, he plays basketball. Yesterday, my cousin married into his family. And though I don't talk much about it, I am a huge college basketball fan. So my experience of my cousin's wedding reception was one of furtive glances and intense dilemma. Should I walk up to him and give him a hearty "Big Ten Represents!" as a way of congratulating him on his NBA success? Or should I (more likely, thank you Madame Merlot) walk up to him to tell him how much I hated him when he played against my beloved Boilermakers? Dang, but he used to beat us up out there. The man is huge -- and hugely talented.

In the end, I remembered my manners. I asked the groom for an introduction. I never got it, but I did get to say hello briefly at the end of the night as we were passing through doors at the same time. And I didn't mutter "Boiler Up!" even once.

ps. This deeply disappoints my brother, who was really hoping I would make an ass out of myself. Maybe next time, Danno. I mean, the guy is practically family now, so the likelihood of my eventual ass-hattedness is virtually assured. And if we have a christening or something during March Madness? It's a lock.




















Eighty-Five With Three

Despite her advancing years, Granny still has the boogie in her butt. Just look at her smiling as she does the three-legged mambo! I hope I'm as full of life as she is when I hit 85, but I doubt it will happen. She outruns me now.

Also, yes, this picture is blurry. Funny thing, that. My camera seems to be just as affected by wine as I am. The more we toasted the bride and groom, the more fuzzy our view became.



















A Half Plus A Half Plus a Quarter = Zero

Zero socks completed for SOS. But I am making progress, so it's not too shameful.

I mentioned the other day that if I could knit half as fast as The Wendy, I would be doing cartwheels of ecstasy. She has knit two full socks in the time it took me to knit two half socks. I'd be doing those cartwheels right about now, except that the poor thing had to basically sprain her back and become immobilized in order to slow down enough for me to reach half her speed.

Reads like a freakin' SAT question, doesn't it? "If Knitter W knits at a rate of eleventy million stitches per minute, and Knitter K knits at a rate of 30 stitches per minute, by what percentage must Knitter W decrease her rate in order for Knitter K to knit at half her speed?"

::shudder::

::math-heebie-jeebies::

And We're Off!

This is not precisely how I planned to kick off the Summer of Socks. I thought I would cast on something plain and something patterned and have two pairs going at once. Instead, the siren's song of this delicious Mountain Colors Bearfoot lured me to cast on a plain sock to show off its incredible colors. I can't find the ballband for this one, but I think the colorway is named something like Cherry Bark or Black Cherry or Cherry Crush. Cherry something, anyway. Those little shots of fuschia-red are exactly the color of a ripe sour cherry. I bought this yarn for the heavy dose of burgundy, but I'm falling in love with the sour cherry and the occasional surprises of navy. Very, very beautiful.

This will be my carry-around sock for a while. It will be in my purse most of the time, though at the moment, it's sitting on my desk. I can't seem to put it down today, thereby giving new meaning to "carry-around socks." It's knitting at about 8 stitches to the inch on 2s.















I also started the Koigu. This yarn has been marinating in my stash for about three months, and it's a miracle I held out that long. My much-beloved purple mixed with teal a/k/a my current obsession? How perfect can it get?

I do love this yarn, too. The color changes are like little miracles. I swear they somehow manage to dye the core of the yarn one color, and the outer fuzz another, during those color changes. I only wish my camera could do it justice.

These will be knit on my favorite needles, the Crystal Palace 1.5s, which yields about 8.5 stitches to the inch.

Goals

We were asked to post goals for the Summer of Socks-along. I can't say I really have any, except to whittle down my sock yarn stash as much as possible. I did sign up for the "Most Socks" contest, but The Wendy is doing the Summer of Socks, and there's no way -- none whatsoever -- that I can hope to keep up with her. That woman knits like the wind. If I could achieve 50% of her speed, I'd be insufferable with pride.

They also have a sock design contest, which I considered briefly but rejected. Any of you who watched me tear out my hair -- and my stitches -- last fall with the disastrous toe-up-with-reinforced-heel experiment will be breathing a sigh of relief right about now. Some of us are better off leaving the designing to the designers.

So I guess my goals are, first, to be a good -alonger and post my pictures and cheer on the other -alongers. Second, I want to knit a lot of socks. Six pairs in three months would be a pretty good clip, and eight would have me celebrating. Anything more than that would be shocking, but who knows? I signed up for "Most Socks" because I wanted to push myself, and I don't really know how far I'll get.

Guess we'll just have to wait until September to find out. And until then, I plan to enjoy the ride.

On Your Mark

Summer of Socks 2007 begins one week from today. Because I have no kitchen and am getting a tetch antsy, and because "a tetch antsy" = "swamped by an OCD-like urge to organize my crap," I pulled out all my sock yarn and laid it out on the table. That's enough to make 26 pairs of socks. I seriously doubt I can knit 26 pairs of socks in 3 months. Six pairs would be more like it. Eight, if I really knit hard.

Which means I am currently engaged in the very pleasant task of shopping my stash for the lucky eight skeins and in debating sock patterns for those eight. I know I want the Dale Baby Ull (upper left corner, turquoise) to be textured, maybe with some kind of cable pattern. I know I want the black and gold Lorna's Laces (top center) knit in plain stockinette, toe up, to make tall socks to wear to football games this fall. (Black and gold are my alma mater's colors.) And, of course, the grey frogged yarn between the Dale and the black and gold LL is intended for Jaywalkers.

Other than that ... ? I'm sort of in the anything goes stage, but I thought I might at least make a couple decisions in advance of next week's official kickoff. I am leaning toward starting with the Koigu (under the L of the Dale) because it's already wound into cakes. Seems like as good a rationale as any for picking the first pair.

My only other knitting goals between now and then are to finish the striped socks (which are behaving themselves now), and the Shedir (which is not).

I did something somewhere I wasn't supposed to do on that Shedir, and now the pattern is all out of whack. There are purls where there should be knits, and knits where there should be purls, and altogether more stitches than I'm supposed to have. I'm going to have to tink back the crown shaping until what's on my needles makes sense again.

In other words, Shedir is in jail. But it can't stay in jail too long, because the woman it's intended for may not have much time left to wear it. So sometime before next Thursday, I'll tink and reknit until it's off the needles and on her head.

In Book News...

I keep forgetting to report that I finished "Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife" by Jane Berdoll. I read this book for what might seem a silly reason: I met the editor, liked her, and wanted to see something she'd edited. This book met that criteria, plus I'm something of a Jane-ophile. (Austen, not Berdoll.)

The book was good. I was initially dazzled by the author's ability to remain true to Austen's style, which couldn't have been easy. As the book dragged on, though, I started to get offended by the liberties taken with Lizzy's character. Casual fans of Pride and Prejudice -- such as those of you who have only been exposed to the story through that thoroughly irritating Keira Knightley film adaptation -- will probably not feel anything near to my irritation over Berdoll's conversion of Lizzy into a foot-stomping, pants-wearing, fiesty romance heroine. But for those of us who know and love the book, the loss of Lizzy's dignity alters the character too far.

In the end, though, the spot-on rendering of Darcy's character and the brilliant echoing of Austen's voice allowed me to like the book. I give it a qualified recommendation for those of you looking for some intelligent but fun summer reading.

After finishing that book, I reached for "Memories of My Melancholy Whores" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, a book which has been on my TBR list since before it was available in English. Well, technically, it's more a novella than a book, but it's diminished length didn't diminish my interest in reading it. As expected, it was a lyrical, beautifully written piece, light on plot and heavy on character. I enjoyed every word and feel enriched for having read it. What more could we ask from any story?