In Which Socks Experience Great Loss, and then Rebirth
There was a time I believed that love could conquer all. I believed I could set aside my love of bright colors and kooky designs for the man who raised me and taught me to blog. I believed that I could successfully complete two plain, masculine socks for my father’s large Man Feet.
The socks, before tragedy struck
It turns out there is something that can prevent me from finishing my quest, called:
I Lost One of The Socks! Right before the other one was finished! Oh cruel and random universe!
As the throes of frustration washed over me, I murmured the iconic mantra of Kerouac to myself:
“Accept loss completely. Accept loss completely. Accept loss completely. Don’t think about how long that sock took to make… don’t think about how gigantic it was and how happy you were to finally make something for your dad.. I mean, come on, 90 stitches is a lot for a sock, it was like a sock and half… Ahem! Accept Loss Completely.”
I decided to cut my losses and unravel the remaining sock. The remaining yarn should be enough for a pair of socks for a tiny-footed person.
So I’m knitting the exquisite Cable Net socks from Knitty. My first foray into the extra-spicy category…. And spicy they are. The cables are deliciously intricate and look fantastic. They are also very easy to mess up. I spent a lot of time fretting over a mis-crossed cable until I realized that non-knitters would ever notice since:
1. they do not know the Traditions of Alternating Cable Crossings. (Muggles)
2. the whole sock is covered in squiggley cables that makes it impossible to focus
ace of wands: new ideas, new beginnings. Tragically appropriate.
Here’s a close-up of the heel:
and an older picture in better light that shows the stitch texture:
Tiny cables! So tiny! So absorbing and hypnotic to knit! We’ll see if this incarnation of the red socks goes better than the last.
Finished Product: Beautiful Peacock V-Junkie Socks
For my darling little sister: some socks in a local handpainted superwash wool. The pattern is V-Junkie from Alice Yu. I got tons of compliments on the yarn and pattern while I was knitting these.
Bonus feature: I always knit socks in my classes, and this was the PERFECT in-class knit. More interesting than stockinette, but easy enough to knit by feel.
Alice Yu is a sock hero. This may be my favorite pair I’ve ever knit… so far.
Finished Project: Hooded Figures
What the hell is that thing?
Oh, just my latest masterpiece.
Well, in accordance with the general holiday spirit, I knitted myself what looks like a woollen foreskin for my head.
It’s actually a cowl, I guess. Made of bulky wool, knit up on some size 10 bamboo needles. So blissfully easy after a semester of pokey metal sock needles.
I was inspired by a tight tube scarf I saw at the mall. Bolstered by the rush of ecstacy from the feeling of “I could knit that!!!!,” I cast on 100+ stitches without any forethought, planning, or swatching. Predictably, this did not go well. Still, I ripped and repeated the process about four times before I settled on the final product.
In the end: Knit flat, cable braid rib, sewn up into a tube. Bing bang boom.
This works as a scarf, or a weird head-tube thing, but it can’t cover both my neck and head at once. For my next head covering, I’m eyeing the Riverbanks hood from knitty. Yesss, soooo elfen.
image © 2009 Isabelle Boutin
A Tale of Two Kitties (Cat/Yarn Interactions, Part 1: A Photoessay)
That’s life ’round here. Bonus picture of pretty kitty Minerva (the calm big one) with yarn before it was accosted and thrown from her tower:
The yarn is Red Heart Boutique Unforgettable in Dragonfly. I used to be a big snob about Red Heart. Those horrible 600 yard bales of scratchy yuck yarn… ugh. But when I revisited Michael’s a few days ago, the selection was much more appealing than I remembered! It’s 100% acrylic, but with a fuzzy/shiny look that would make a dashing cap to wear under my bike helmet.
Plus, it matches my hair. What can I say… I have some color habits.
Hazy Lavender Winter
It’s grey skies over grey winter sidewalks here. The world feels secretive, muted. I got a single ball of lavender and silver yarn, Berroco Captiva in Orchid.
here pictured broodingly against my window
It’s primary purpose was as a string for this silver bird skull bead.
pictures with the Wild Unknown tarot card for Death
A little gloomy, maybe, but this is the early December. The bare bones of the world are showing: dead grass and hibernating tree. There’s no fluffy snow, just windchill.
a little tableau of purple and silver
The festive atmosphere will set in with the snow, I’m sure. But for now, things feel mysterious and muted and grey. It has its own beauty.
The most seasonal sock
A shot of a work-in-progress, also starting the last flare of Bloomington autumn leaves. I have been working on these for much longer than the average pair of socks due to the common but vexing Big Ol’ Dad Feet. The yarn is a really soft hand-dyed local product in purple/burgundy, which makes the project pleasurable despite its longevity. I’m made up an extreme textured pattern that should stretch reliably for aforementioned Big Dad Feet.
It actually effing snowed a few days ago, so it’s high time for these socks. I have taken the mantle of keeping my family’s feet warm upon myself. You are welcome, nuclear family. You are welcome.
PIP KNITS 