Necessity one…procrastination zero

Well, after several weeks of absenteeism, much razzing from Stephanie and Sarah, as well as my neighbor, it was necessity that finally caused me to actually get back on the horse and post something. I think part of my problem was much like Sarah’s. I wanted my next post to include a picture of my sock pal’s socks. The problem however was that they were not going very well and I was distracted by gardening, my birthday and a virus on my computer.

My birthday is over, my garden looks good, and I actually was able to get the virus removed form my computer, and most importantly I’m actually on a roll with my socks. After ripping them out four times in an attempt to get the size right. I think I’ve got it now, or at least I hope I do.

The issue however, and I hope to get some insight on this from someone, is now that I am turning the heel I’m not too sure I understand the directions. The socks I’m working on (in case you don’t recognize them) are Monkey, by Cookie A. The directions indicate that from row 2 until row 14 (under Turn the Heel) you should slip the first 11 stitches then knit/purl…blah, blah, blah. That does not seem to make sense to me. I have done plenty of socks before and never turned a heel like that. So my question is, has anyone done it that way? I would think by slipping 11 stitches in a row you would end up with a long piece of yarn on the inside of the sock…no?

Any input would be most helpful…

Edited By Author - 7/2/07
I guess the old adage measure twice cut once should also apply to knitting as well. Translation...read pattern twice and knit once. When I got to work this morning Stephanie and I were talking around the water cooler about my heel issue and how strange the pattern was. For some reason Stephanie suggested we take a look on the Knitty site to see if there were any edits to the pattern. I was embarrassed to discover that in fact the pattern read Sl 1 not S 11. I guess when I spilled water on the pattern the ink ran causing the "l" to look like a "1". I guess on a positive note, at least I caught my idiotness first. SO, lesion learned... If a knitting pattern does not seem to make sense, read it again, out load, preferably to someone who knits.

On the bright side at least my blond moment got me to post something.

leave your drama in the driveway

so i am happy to report that after all the drama of frogging and such, i decided to put my anastasia socks on stitch holders and snag my number 2's for my sockpal and guess what?

perfect socks.



oh and i am so lucky that i printed out my sockpal's info, so when i grabbed it to use as scrap paper and jot down the name of a book i want to be sure and get from the library, i reread my pal's measurements. Oy, here i was operating under the assumption that she was a size 9 - not the case! i have NO idea where i got that notion from, but thankfully i looked. her foot is only 1/2 inch longer than mine, so these were whipped out pretty quickly.

i absolutely love them! (and secretly want to keep them).

The Honeymoon Phase

The deciduous forests of New York's Allegheny Mountains, late afternoon. The sun peeks through the dense leaves of the trees, leaving twinkling, jagged shaped disco lights on the huge glacial deposited rocks covered in soft green moss.
The woods are silent as a handsome man, early 30s, speeds to a stop on his mountain bike.
(Pause)
A woman speeds to a stop beside him. They are both silent for a moment.

Man: The woods are beautiful today.
Woman: Yes. It reminds me of my [Socakapalooza] sock.
Man: *sigh* Yeah, me too. *rolls eyes, speeds away*

I've been thinking about you all the time, baby. All I need to do is snap some pictures so I can share you with the world.


(side note: I'm not a hack- its just that great minds think alike)

Knitting in Denial: A Play in Two Acts

by stephanie

Act One
Scene One

Curtain rises on a lone yarn cake, spotlight slowly reveals a beautiful hank of Cherry Tree Hill, color slate.

Enter the knitter. Working diligently on her socks. Light upbeat music faintly in background.

Knitter: The plan, knit a gorgeous pair of hand knit socks. The pattern, hedera

Knitter: Oh cth how I love the way you slide effortlessly across my needles.

Stage lights dim. Low, foreboding music begins to rise.

Knitter: How about we try you on, you've been a bit snug, but I know that your beautiful lace will expand. Let's just play it safe, you know my pal's feet are a little bigger than mine.

Music crescendos. Lights dim lower. Knitter slumps further into the overstuffed couch.

Knitter: Hmmm...where did that sweater I was working on go?

Act One
Scene Two

Knitter sits happily on overstuffed couch, legs crossed, ipod playing.

Knitter: Oh ivy, how soft and fluffy you are. You set my mind at ease. Even though your gauge is off, my expert knitty math keeps me confident that you will become a wonderful work-appropriate knit cardigan.

Stage lights dim, low foreboding music begins to rise.

Knitter: Hmmm...something doesn't feel right.


Knitter: (sniffling) You have GOT to be kidding me. Goddamn Goldilocks...sock to small, sleeve to big. Argh.

Act Two
Scene One

Curtain rises on the knitter, cross-legged on the overstuffed couch, knitting in hand.

Knitter: (taking deep breath) Alrighty then...goodbye beautiful.

Knitter begins to not-so-carefully rip out the sock.


Knitter: Alrighty, a fresh start. Let's add in an extra repeat, that should give us almost an inch to the sock and plenty of room for my pal's well deserving foot.

Knitter: Well, since we don't want a repeat of last week, lets give her a try on and see.

Stage lights dim, low foreboding music begins to rise.

Knitter: F*@#, f*@#, f*@#.


End scene.

Inertia

I've been meaning to post. Really I have.
It's just that procrastination has its own inertia. Once you stop posting, its damned hard to start again.

I'm nearly finished with my Sockapalooza socks. I was planning to post about them, but I really wanted to include pictures. You know how that goes...I cast on and I wanted to wait until there was enough of the leg to see the stitch pattern. Then I thought I might as well wait until I turn the heel, and then i might as well wait until I finishe the first sock. Well, here I am near the toe of the second sock, so I might as well finish them and do glamour shots of the suckers. I really love them, but I'll save the story and the details for the F.O. post.

Come to think of it, the sock knitting had inertia too. The first sock went fairly slowly, but with this second one, the further I got, the more I wanted to knit, the more progress I saw, the more I kept going. Did I mention that I love them?

quickie...

so i haven't ripped the sock yet, but at knitting last night a wise knitter, who always dispenses the most sage advice and has to be the most encouraging knitbuddy (just ask chris about his intarsia project), advised me to put the sock on stitch holders and begin a new sock from the outside of the ball (since it was from one big hank) with the extra repeat and see how i like it before i rip.

sigh...

it really is the best plan, and please, it's not like i've never had to rip anything out before, apparently though i am easily derailed and then just start new things...a little knitting ADD initiated by frustration.

oh, and thank you to the person who left the idea of starting the second sock before commencing the ripping in the comments, thats what originally sparked the thought.

the sweater sleeve is progressing nicely, no pics tonite, maybe by the weekend.

i guess size does matter...

i love the yarn.

i love the pattern.

i love the sock.


the sock however does not love my leg...in fact it wants to strangle my leg (i'm not sure what offense my leg committed, but the sock is not happy). the sock is just too tight. i was really hoping that it would loosen once washed and blocked, but i think i need to rip it.

so...my options.

1. reknit sock on larger needle. i'm a little apprehensive about this as i love the way the yarn knits up on the current needle.

2. rework pattern to add width. i can add in another repeat (this will add about an inch).

oy.