Wise and True Words

A few days ago I made a new Ravelry Friend who has the most astute “About Me” on her profile that I’ve ever seen.

I quote: A non-breeder knitting for the baby explosion surrounding me.

Yup. That says it all pretty well.

And we had a blizzard about 3 months ago.  Suddenly, I have a lot of friends who find themselves in need of baby socks.

One pair of teeny tiny socks down (these are for a lovely co-worker), so many more pairs of teeny tiny socks to go. I don’t mind. My mission is to keep all the adorable baby feet warm.

If you know someone awesome, make them these equally awesome socks.

Do you have a sister? You do? You’re lucky! Is she awesome?  My sister is awesome, just so you know. If you’ve got an awesome sister like mine, you might want to knit her some equally awesome socks. May I suggest these, which I made for my sister?

These are “Grün ist die Hoffnung” although mine are not Grün, they are Kürbis. I knit mine waaaay off the recommended gauge, but it worked just fine. I used US 3 needles instead of US 1, and used Knit Picks Stroll.  I wanted the medallion to be the main component of the design, with less stockinette  all around (because bor-ing.)  For a pair of ankle socks it took just one skein. I also didn’t really “follow the instructions” of the pattern beyond the chart. I “loosely interpreted the instructions” would be a better way to say it.

All that aside, this is my new favorite way to knit sicks. You start with a minimal cast on and work the top flat, then turn the whole thing at the toe like you would a heel, knit it up like a pocket, turn the heel for realsies, and then finish like you would any other toe-up sock. Easy-peasy and pretty quick. Also, a nice break from the standard method.

Usually when I knit a pair of socks, I’m all like: See you in hell, pattern! and never want to work that particular pattern again. Not these–I could knit like TEN of these before I got bored. I won’t, but I will knit at least two, because I already started a pair for me.

My Ravelympics Fail

I failed at the 2010 Ravlympics 1000x before they even started, beginning with forgetting to register with any teams. Probably better that I didn’t since I ended up being a giant fail.

For lack of being on a team, I thought I’d be start my own team (Team Awesome) do a pair of Skew Socks for the Sock Dancing event and a Chocolate Square Neck Top for…I dunno…some event.

Then life happens and sometimes it’s not nice and I found myself knitting and sewing chemo caps and scarves for someone who is an honorary member of Team Awesome. By the way, cancer is stupid and I want to punch it in the junk. So Ravelympics slipped down a couple notches on the list of priorities. I did get one Skew sock complete and I did cast on for a second one. I also got through about ½ of the Square Neck top by the closing ceremonies. The top is now complete and the second Skew is cast on, but working on Team Awesome scarves and caps is still my #1 priority.

Here’s the Skew Sock. You might say, “Wow, Sophie. You knit a plain stockinette sock. Whoop-di-freaking-do!” But no, wait, look closer. The socks are knit diagonally, which only really become apparent with the variegated yarn, and the heel is knit sideways and closed in that the designer calls the “origami” moment. The ankle/cuff are knit in short rows. It was a little tough. Not too bad.  Too much math. Grrr, math. I hatez the math. Good results, though, and I’m looking forward to finishing the second one. I have about 3 inches done so far.

And here’s the top. I’m modded the pattern, however, due to my volcanic hatred of seaming. I never knit anything flat if I can knit it in the round, so that’s what I did for the top. I had to split it when I got to the armhole shaping, though, but that still reduced my seaming from “the whole thing” to “a few inches at the shoulders.”  I also raised the back neckline and lengthened the torso by about 5 inches. Also I think I’m going to add sleeves at some point. For funsies.

Also, I’m laughing in the picture because my cat tripped over her own tail and looked incredibley surprised to have done so.

And here’s an in-progress shot from the closing ceremonies, when I conceded defeat.

And now let’s talk about the yarn for a sec. The yummy, yummy yarn.

For the Skew socks, I decided to use this skein of Sheep Feet Knits that I’d been saving. I’m an unrepentant Lost Nerd  (as well as a Regular Nerd) so when I saw that they had a line of Lost themed-yarns, I snatched me up some Polar Bear In The Jungle on All Your Base. It’s a super cooshy, warm, soft yarn and I love how it’s coming up as I knit. I generally stick to solid colors and rarely do variegated yarns, but the pattern here really calls for it. No knots, splinters or rough spots in the whole skein.

For the Square Neck top, I dug up some Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool. I love all of her yarns, but this is by far my favorite.

So when are the next Winter Olympics? 2014? Four years to get my act together? eeeeehhhh….that’s a longshot. Mr. Begonia has expressed interest in attending the 2018 Winter Olympics if they are in Germany or France, so that might be a more reasonable goal and rational motivator for me. I also fully expect Mr. Begonia to make the 2018 USA Olympic Men’s Curling team. (No pressure, sweetie. No pressure at all).

WTF November?

So what the hell, October? Where’d you go? I was all, WOO-HOO! SOCKTOBERFEST! with crazy plans to knit like 40 pairs of socks in one month. But then, that just didn’t happen and it was November. And I don’t have all that much to show for it.

Except for one thing. These socks. Which I made for my mom’s birthday. My mom deserved handmade socks because she is awesome. Her pancakes are the best in the universe and she will fly half-way across the country to make me a grilled cheese sandwich. So she gets special Mama socks.These look a little stretched out on my feet because I have giant clown feet, whereas my mom’s are normal person sized (she’s 3 whole sizes smaller than me).

I will post the pattern after the next round of test-knitting.This pair is done in Knit Picks Palette in Tumeric on size US 2.5 needles.

Actually, I actually have been knitting a LOT. But I can’t talk about it. Nope. Nuh-uh. Can’t say anything until after Christmakuh.

Baby feet!

Fact: the only feet that are adorable are the feet you find on babies. And these MUST be kept warm.

Nervous Energy/Insomnia

Nervous Energy is on the left; Insomnia is on the right.