SOCKS!!! (again)

Okay, I know what you're thinking: "How many pictures of socks can she possibly post on this blog?"  Am I right?  Anyway, here is the latest finished pair, hot off the needles.  

I know they look like boring old charcoal grey* socks but they're actually more exciting than the others I've made because they have a 3 by 1 ribbing (knit 3, purl 1, lather, rinse, repeat) which was a pain at first but I did eventually find my groove and kind of ended up enjoying it by the end.  Also, while I'm spouting off knitting jargon, I might as well mention that, for the first time ever, I used size 1 needles (or 2.25mm for all you swell folks who know how to speak metric).  These needles felt a little bit like spaghetti noodles compared to the size 2 noodles...er, needles I usually use and the resulting stitches are noticeably smaller, giving these socks a nice dense look.

Finishing this pair makes me want to attempt some socks with more exciting patterns- rather than relying on self-striping yarn to make them look fun.  I guess that's what makes knitting (or yarn crafting in general) a life long journey...there's always another skill to master, countless techniques to attempt, and a nearly infinite amount of new projects to tackle.

*Well, mostly grey.  The very tip of the toe on the top sock is actually blue because, due to poor planning, I managed to run out of yarn about fifteen rows from the end.  I didn't want to go out and buy another ball of charcoal grey yarn just to complete fifteen rows so I dug out some scrap yarn that I remembered had a really long section of charcoal grey in the color repeat.  It was about thirty-two stitches short of being enough grey but I decided to just keep going  with the strand so I didn't have to deal with another break in the yarn.  I was a little annoyed  by the whole situation at first but the blue toe is starting to grow on me-  hmmm, maybe I should have that checked out by a doctor.

Yet Another Pair of Socks

One more pair of socks to check off the list!

Single Sock Seeks Sole Mate

Question:  How many socks are in this picture?

Answer: Two and a half.

Bonus Question:  How many pairs of socks are in the above picture?

Bonus Answer: Zero, zip, zilch, null, nada, none.

Where are the mates to those socks?  Um, well, I haven't bothered to knit them yet.  There is a well-documented phenomenon among sock knitters called Second Sock Syndrome.  Usually SSS prevents the knitter from producing a matched pair of socks because said knitter either found the knitting of the first sock to be a big pain in the you-know-where or it wasn't challenging enough and now the thought of doing it a second time bores them to tears.

As far as I know, I am not actually suffering from SSS for these reasons.  My problem seems to stem from the fact that I still cannot turn a heel from memory.  I have no good excuse for this but I do fear that by adding anything new to my brain, I would be pushing something else out causing me to start forgetting things like how to drive or tie my shoes.  That said, I often knit in public without my instructions handy so if I have a sock on my needles that is at the critical "heel turning stage," and I don't have time to actually perform the steps necessary to complete the "heel turning stage" before I know I will be knitting in public again, I transfer the sock from my primary needles to my project holding needles and start a new sock that I know I will be able to mindlessly knit away on wherever I might be (in line at the bank, at Disneyland, waiting for a movie to start, watching a movie, etc.).

I know all of this probably sounds like terribly fractured logic but it somehow seems to make sense when I'm in the midst of putting a sock on hold.  I am hoping that my 40 day mission to complete old projects before starting anything new will help to alleviate my SSS.  There is a possibility that I will attempt to memorize how to turn a sock heel so just as a precaution, if you see me behind the wheel of a car with a puzzled look on my face or walking through a public place with my shoelaces untied watch out, I just might be trying to remember something.

Again With the Socks!

Here's some more nifty stripey socks! As soon as I started knitting them, I knew they were going to be a birthday present for my good friend, Susanne (sometimes you just know- ya know?). Now that I've finally given them to her, I can unveil them here.


This was my first time using Lion Brand's Sock-Ease yarn. I picked up a ball of it because I loved the colors and I wanted to see if one ball was indeed enough to complete a pair of socks. It was, and then some (I've been able to make two wine dribble stoppers out of the leftover yarn and I'm pretty sure there's enough for one more). This yarn is not as soft as some of the other sock yarns I've been finding out there but I'm hoping that after a few washings it will loosen up a bit. Again, the most attractive thing about the Sock-Ease line is the colors. Also, they all have candy-inspired names, which makes knitting with them that much more delicious.


There are also seven solid colors called Marshmallow (off-white), Rootbeer (medium brown), Circus Peanut (red-orange), Grape Soda (royal purple), Lollipop (bubblegum pink), Green Apple (olive green), and Snow Cone (teal blue). So many possibilities, so little knitting time.

Kilt Hose (Work in Progress)

Post 16 of ? in the series, "Why I Haven't Blogged in Over Six Months"



This project sort of fits into the "plaid" category since kilt hose are traditionally worn with a kilt and kilts are traditionally plaid. The cuffs on these scared me at first because they looked super complicated but once I got going on the pattern it wasn't bad at all. I'm not completely happy with how the back looks (which is partly why I have been putting off finishing the second one). I think next time I make a pair of these I'll figure out a better way to make the decreases flow with the ribbing. Otherwise, this is a nice pattern (if you want to try it, you can find it here). Someday when I'm more comfortable with cabling I would love to attempt these babies...


...but right now the pattern still makes me want to cry and then stab my eyeballs with DPNs. Knitting is such a delicate balance of successes and challenges- but so are most things in life, right?

Socks!

Post 9 of ? in the series, "Why I Haven't Blogged in Over Six Months"



I never thought in a million years that I would even want to make an attempt at knitting socks but the miracle of science that is self-striping sock yarn appealed to me in a way I can't quite explain and simply lured me in. I actually finished the pair you see in the pictures back in September and since then I have managed to finish four other pairs with another one on my needles as we speak. I feel like I have graduated into a bigger world of knitting. I'm no longer just a casual knitter (well, was I really ever just a casual knitter?), I'm a sock knitter!