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.

My happy place

I do most of my knitting on the couch in front of the TV. It sounds almost shameful to me- plopped on the couch in front of the idiot box, the boob toob. It works for me because I can focus on the knitting, but I enjoy the TV in the background. I'd probably like listening to pod casts or audio books just as much, but I'm a bit of a technophobe- sadly iPod-less.


Sometimes I knit in the car on longer trips. This is a pretty good compromise for the multitasker in me. The only hang up is juggling all of my stuff in the car- especially the pattern and notes.


Of course, I knit at knit group. this is very fun knitting to be sure, but rarely the most productive. There's always the talking and eating and not so much with the the reading complicated charts of watching what I'm doing.


But in summer my very favorite place to knit is right here.

This is the deck on the pond at my in-laws' cabin. This is the only place where I knit with absolute, undivided attention. This is where complicated problems are solved, where lace charts are deciphered. The only sounds are the crickets and frogs and the dogs barking on the other side of the valley.

I'm near finished with Sockapalooza sock #1 after out visit to the cabin last weekend. I'll post a pic and details when I finish the toe.

socks, interrupted

ok, so i haven't started my pal's socks yet...for those who asked i'm making hedera here's why i haven't cast on...

see...i kinda started a sweater.



pretty, isn't it? wanna see a close-up. ok, here you go...



it's the beginning of ivy . i'm actually using the yarn called for, peruvian quechua (i love elann). its super soft and has great drape. i'm not getting gauge so i've gone up a size, lets hope this works.

i've also finally stared my second anastasia sock. i made them into knee highs and i LOVE them!


ok i swear i'll cast on this week! don't worry sockpal, your socks are on their way!