Dipping My Toes Back In…

I guess it’s not a secret that I’ve been in a slump. It would be easy to say that I’ve been extra busy at work, not sleeping well so exhausted, and extra busy with the kids. All of these things are very true. But, when I look at the sum total of my knitting that has taken place over the last month (or rather, what hasn’t taken place), it’s probably more safe to say that I have slumped below slump. I’ve knit maybe half a dozen rows on the body of a small toy, and crept along on a simple hat until I dropped some stitches three weeks ago and haven’t touched it since.

Is it enough to say that I’m bored? Nah. But that would be true, too. Nevermind that I’ve got at least half a dozen active UFOs, and a practically uncountable pile of stagnant ones. How can I possibly be bored? Sigh… I don’t know… but, I am.

So, to do something completely different, I am going to make socks. Yes, that’s right, I said socks. I’ve never done more than a pair of baggy worsted weight socks for practice, just so I could see how they’re made. But I have a bin full of sock yarn crying out to have something done with it. My excuse was that I don’t wear socks. I wear a brace on my legs that is very form fitting and I had always assumed that I could not wear socks with them. So, I’ve worn nothing but hose for the last 13 years. But a few weeks ago I got some new braces, and guess what? They’re actually more comfortable with socks. Who knew? Now I get to share the joy of sock knitting, if I ever get to truly experience it, AND wear the fruits of my labor.

So I found a hank of Lisa Souza Sock! Merino in the Berry Poppins colorway. It’s a yummy, pinky-purple that I think if I had to choose, is the best choice for my first pair of actual socks.

Now, of course, comes the hard part: choosing a pattern. I want to do toe-up, and it needs to be something with a relatively short stitch repeat so I can adjust to my odd foot size easily enough. (I love the Monkey Socks pattern, for example, but with a 16-stitch repeat it’s either too large or too small for me.) The pattern has to be easy enough for a novice like me, but not too boring, because we all know what happens when I get bored. Someone has suggested Leyburn Socks (link to free pattern pdf file) and others have endorsed anything by WendyKnits (Yes, I agree that her patterns are totally awesome.). With so many patterns to choose from, I’m going to take a couple days to decide. It’s going to take me that long to ball up Lisa Souza’s yarn anyway; as pretty as her hanks are, and oh, I love them so much that I have a lot of them), I have not mastered a method of placing her hanks on my swift in such a way that at some point they don’t just end up a knotted mess as the strands get pulled off. It’s yarn barf, every time, but worth it in the end.

The other thing I’m doing to help myself get over the blues? Some long overdue knitting time with my knit buddy Rhoda. She’s coming on Saturday, and I’m already mulling over some possible movie choices for us. I’m looking so forward to it! Hopefully all this will give me some renewed energy for knitting. Goodness knows that I’m generally happier when I knit regularly, so I just need to keep reminding myself of that. Knitting=happiness. It should be as simple as that.

Knitting slump? Over. Starting now.

Socks!

Ok, seriously? It’s like, after midnight here and I really should be in bed, but… LOOK! My first socks are DONE! Can you believe it? I know I can’t!

Ok, so they’re a little big, and pretty ugly, but you know what? Now I know how socks are made! I have the power! Ok, I’m punchy. Did I mention it’s after midnight?

I haven’t knit much or been on the internet over the last couple of days. Bad storms knocked out our power, and took out the cable for even longer. I’m fine with my knitting, but after dark when the power’s out, I really feel my age. There was a time when I could have knit by flashlight, but I guess those days are a thing of the past. So it took me the last two days to do a half a row on the second sock and then the sewn bind off.

The pattern for the socks was Two Toe-Up Socks on One Circular Needle, by Kristin Bellehumeur, a.k.a., “Silver”. Only I did one sock at a time, knowing that it’s hard to manage two balls of yarn when most of my knitting takes place in the car and the yarn ball is in my purse at my feet. I pretty much followed the pattern as written (except for the two socks part!) and did 36 rounds for the foot and 25 rounds for the ribbing. They’re for the daughter, but because they’re big, they actually fit the husband as well, who has requested a pair with a longer, tighter cuff. Oh, and machine washable. That’s a biggie. So I’ll be making him some “sleeping socks” out of worsted weight superwash wool in the near future. He’ll be getting some for Christmas, I think. The guy is even wearing his sleeping socks to bed right now, and it was 90 degrees today. (TMI? Ok but I’m just sayin’. The guy likes his socks!)

My next socks will be muuuuuuuuuch smaller. I plan to spend most of the summer focusing on baby things. Oh, and there’s that brown ripple afghan on the sofa that needs to be finished. Wish me luck!

Sock, the Second

I cast on for the second sock one day about two weeks ago. Yikes, has it been that long? I hadn’t thought about that until now. But oh well, I have said it over and over, I am the slowest knitter in the world.

I’m nearly done with the foot and am about to start the short row heel. I would like to say that I’m not going to make it look as funny as the first one I did, but you never know. I don’t actually know what I’m doing yet with this whole sock knitting business.

I want to get this second sock done. I am anxious to knit a real sock, with my Socks that Rock yarn that I got at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. I even joined the Summer of Socks, 2008 (hey, that chick uses the Mandigo theme, too!), as I think I am going to be knitting lots of socks by the pool this summer. They’re really quite portable. I’m finding after doing a couple of blankets in a row, that portability, is, indeed, a good quality.

Speaking of blankets, I’m having a bit of blanket guilt over a certain brown ripple afghan. More on that project this weekend, K?

Ciao for now.

Small Group Today

Today was our post-Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival knitting meetup. It was small; Jo was there, and then I showed up a bit late. We had fun chatting and knitting. I was working on my second-ever sock, and Jo was knitting a sock from her own handspun yarn. It was lovely!
Jo mentioned that her spinning wheel is really quite portable and I think she’s going to bring it next time! I’ve always wanted to observe spinning up close so this will be a real treat for me. Our next meetup will be the first Saturday in June.
In one of those “small world” moments, we discovered that Jo’s husband Pete went to high school and graduated with my husband, John. What’s more, they’re both obsessed with model building! (And, we wives know, REALLY into model kit collecting! So not much need to complain about our stashes, eh?) Turns out that Jo’s hubby is into military models, and mine is into all things car-related, but still… it’s a similar passion.
Four o’clock came too quickly for me and I am already looking forward to next month, when I can see Jo again and her spinning wheel. Hmmm. Spinning yarn whilst spinning yarns. Now there’s a pun I’m sure no one has said before!

Stash Enhancement

I finally got this yarn in the mail on Tuesday! It’s Regia Nation Colors #5399. I got it from a shop called Web of Wool, and I’m not sure about the exchange rate but I think I got it for a good price. It took nearly a month to get from them to me, but I don’t do much overseas shopping so I don’t know how long it’s supposed to take. The Yarn Harlot featured a pair of socks made from this yarn on the date that I appeared as a member of the First Sock Brigade (see April 8, 2008, post entitled, “Two for One”), and I knew immediately that I must have this yarn. It took me a few days to figure out what it was and then find it. (Several stores I had checked with were sold out–they say once a yarn’s been “Harlotted” there’s usually a run on it. Ok, so does that make me a follower?)

Truth is, regular readers already know I’m a bit of a rainbow fanatic. So, I could not get just enough to make one pair, because I know as soon as I do knit with it? A couple other folks in my world will see it and want some rainbow socks, too. So, I have six balls, just for insurance. Even that might not be enough.

This weekend I plan to go through my last tub of acrylic yarn. The art teacher at DD’s school teaches knitting and weaving, and she said she can always use some more yarn. So I’m gonna bite the big one and get rid of it. I’ve got plenty of other new yarn around here to keep me busy!