Monthly Archives: April 2006

On the Internet, no one can hear how frustrated you are.

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Things I have said over the last two weeks:

“Wow, two sock legs at once takes a long time.”
“I am so looking forward to short row heels – the Dream Socks pattern is genius.”
“Hey, I can do the backwards yarnover now.”
“The first half of these heels is going pretty well.”
“Do you think when Priscilla Gibson-Roberts knits three together, it looks this crappy?”
“This can’t be right.”
“Oops – $)#_*$, I dropped a stitch.”
“I’m not ripping back – I’m fixing instead.”
“Aaaagh! I ripped it back.”
“Maybe I should try the Sherman heel.”

two heels, coming at youYou know, at this point, it’s little comfort to me that a. I may have mastered the short-row heel. b. I have knitted something on the order of three socks worth of knitting for my pal (something like six leg swatches from different patterns, 3/4 of a Crusoe, two Dream Socks legs), because I don’t think I’m going to be done on time with the two socks I am currently knitting. Maybe. Maybe not.

For reasons that are a mystery even to me, I persist with the “try new techniques even under a deadline” plan – I did not want to do a flap heel, so I knitted the first half of Priscilla’s Dream Sock heel, oh, four or five times before I had to admit that the k3tog (and even the substitute for k3tog suggested by Sally Melville here) on the second half was not up to my “must look good for the sock pal” standards. So I took the good advice Janine offered with sock pattern featureing the Sherman heel above. “If you’re not sure you understand it, why not experiement with a swatch?” So I did. Looks weird, huh?

I tried the Sherman, and I tried the PGR. I’m sorry Priscilla, it’s not you, it’s me – I liked the Sherman heel better. Even in Bernat CottonTots, it looked neater and there were no holes. So now I knew what my preference was without having to rip back, adjust or reknit for what felt like the 10,000th time. I think the extra work was worth it.

look closely - it's a heel

Two really are better than one.

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Resistance to knitting is futile. Proof my husband has joined the knitting collective? He sends me, unbidden, an online ad for Kangol hats:

Subject: Read the text in this link:

To be an expert knitter is as complex and hard to achieve as being as good at Kung Fu as Bruce Lee. In fact Bruce Lee once applied for a job at Kangol. At the interview we gave him two knitting needles and said “show us your stuff”. He immediately chopped one in half with the side of his hand. Then ripped off his tee shirt and destroyed the other one by breaking it against his bare rippling chest.”That’s all very impressive, Mr. Lee but that is not going to get many hats made is it?” We said. Fortunately the next interviewee had devised this clever venting Knit while studying the 36 chambers of the Shaolin Temple. Guess who got the job?

With no patience for knitting needles, Bruce Lee would probably crush any knitting project he came to hate: “You frustrate me? I set you on fire!”

Two really are better than one. Far from hating my sockpal dream socks, I am working away on the second sock leg; I was close to turning the heel on sock #1 and I just had the urge to keep ribbing, so I cast on for #2. Sharon asked “Does it go faster if you’re doing two socks at once?” I would like to say “yes,” but two legs at once just feels like one really long leg. I think I’ll only be able to feel the speed after I turn both heels one right after the other. That will be faster.

I think there is an 87.9 percent chance these socks will be done by May 1, in part due to the unusually high amount of transit knitting time available to me this month. These socks will see New York (upstate and city, two trips), Boston, the Amtrak Acela between New York and Boston, two airplanes and the New York State Thruway. Eagle-eyed blog readers will know that the appearance of the New York State Thruway on this blog means that we are visiting The Yarn Shop of Geneva my brother- and sister-in-law for Easter; there may be some browsing involved, but I am not telling the socks that I might see other yarn.

For the record, it is also a complete coincidence that my work event on New York’s Upper West Side happens to be a block and a half from Knitty City. Really, I swear.

Once again, with feeling.

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Dream Socks, indeed There’s nothing like ribbing to take the edge off, you know? Just interesting enough to keep you knitting, not so complicated that you can’t carry on a conversation while you do it. I cast on for Priscilla’s Dream Socks Tuesday after realizing that the Pomatomus socks featured in my last post were going slowly enough that I would finish them after May 1 – I may or may not have been ready to commission a fellow knitter at my Stitch ‘n Bitch to make them for me. Yikes! That’s when I knew I had to step back and take a deep breath.

What you see here is six days of knitting, here and there, and I’m an inch or two away from the heel. So, sockpal, you may not be getting lace, but you will be getting my first successful short row heels. Mwah! My little gift to you – plus a bonus gift so fabulous that I can’t even mention it here, but I’ll give you a hint. It sounds like “rusted lemonade rock walkers.” Can you figure it out? I’m pretty excited, and now I’m off to turn the heel.

Yarn Voyeurs, Step this Way

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flashyourstash.jpg Without further ado, I present my stash in four acts, er, bins: Sock and Lace Yarns, Skeins and Small Projects, Sweaters I’m Hoping to Finish, and Sweaters I’d Like to Finish before the Decade is Over. The photos give lots of juicy detail about what’s in each bin, so why not click on the photo below and take a look at the whole thing?

I don’t feel like my stash is too large, but spreading it all out and taking pictures was a reminder that I have a lot, including yarn for several sweaters that may or may not be the right style for me. Surprise! I fear I am too short for Salt Peanuts or The Very Thought of Him, but I’m planning to make them anyway. [Man, looking at Stephanie's version of that ribby sweater again makes me want to go cast on right now. Now. - ed] I think the moral of the story is “don’t buy yarn for sweaters you won’t get to making for years because you might learn enough about making sweaters to figure out your preferred style – which is not the sweater you originally chose” but if it’s fun, who cares, you know?

Here’s another surprise: without meaning to, I don’t think I’ve bought any yarn since November – the newest addition is yarn for the Pop Up Paws mittens; I’ve bought a set of DPNs and Knitting Vintage Socks, but that’s it. I know, I can’t believe it either, sonsidering that I spend my days dreaming of the perfect yarn for Ene’s Scarf and hoping that a couple of bags of Noro will turn up on my doorstep for Mavis or Lizzy.

I wonder if I could empty any one of these bins this year?

Sock and Lace Yarns