Socks and Scarves

Dad's first sock is finished. It turns out that I wasn't so much in the knitter's black hole as I was amazed by how much longer it takes to knit a sock for my dad's size twelve men's foot than for my size eight women's. But it is finished. I'm a bit concerned about the leg fitting, but am extremely confident about the foot being the right size. Why? Last time I saw my parents, I measured their feet for just such a purpose. Still, I was worried. Socks react differently on a foot. They stretch. I did ask some friends to try the sock on, but I don't think they thought I was serious. So I made this to help me.

A cardboard replica of my dad's foot, based on measurements. Obviously, it's not exact. My dad's feet aren't that flat, that brown, or that cardboard-y. But it should be close enough and it makes me feel better.

Having finished the first sock, I did not immediately cast on the second. I managed to justify this to myself: I needed something that I could knit on without thinking, and the toes of socks are fiddly. Plus, the yarn for the second sock has already tried to be a sock, and having failed, it is sitting in the living room with a toe attached to the ball, and needs to be rewound. So I started this instead:

Scarf of modified seed stitch (idea from Crazy Aunt Purl). More on this later.

Note: This post was actually written a couple of days ago. Problems with blogger, then my computer, then me... and it's here now. But the scarf is about halfway done, and more yarn will be procured at some point to finish it.

Black Hole of Knitting

I kind of skipped out on Christmas presents last year. I was on my own for the first time, far away from my family, and feeling sorry for myself, and did not get anything for my parents. (My friends were taken care of by my husband, who enjoyed his employee discount and picked up a lot of weird things that our friends would like.) I don't think I even sent them a card. This year will be different. I have plans, oh yes I do, and I am determined that this year, my parents will have presents hand-knit by me as an example of how much I love and appreciate them.

To avoid the road to hell (paved with good intentions, you know), I not only have a plan, but I have started working on it. Dad will be getting socks. Hopefully, two pairs, one plain and boring, one fancier and brighter.

The boring one is currently on the needles. Black, 3x1 ribbing. For my dad's big feet. (That's not entirely fair. I'm pretty sure his feet are an average size for a man, but I'm used to knitting for my average-for-a-woman size, so they seem huge. These socks currently measure 8 inches long. They need to be 9.75 inches long before I can start the heel. They have measured 8 inches long since I put them down last night and all through my knitting this morning. It's the black hole of knitting, made worse because these socks actually are a black hole. At any rate, they're black and the middle of the sock is a hole. Work with me here.

Were these socks for myself, they would already be past the heel and partway up the foot.

Mom's Shawl

Obviously, I had been knitting on Eunny Jang's Print o' the Wave Stole for a while. It had always been intended for my mom, although the day that I planned on giving it to her had been pushed back a couple of times. Finally, I decided to give it to her for her birthday, last Friday. I had finished the knitting a while ago, but put off blocking it, since I had intended to get blocking wires that would make that easier. I never did get those wires, so Sunday, I broke out my pins, cleared off the bed, and blocked.

It came out... a little bigger than intended. We have a full size bed, and the shawl covered half of that width-wise, and the entire length. It was so big, I could not get a picture of the entire thing blocking. I tried, y'all. I was standing on the inch and a half wide foot board, bracing myself on the ceiling, leaning back as far as I could, and I still could not get all of it.

This was mailed out yesterday, and should be in my mom's hands by Saturday.

Stats: Eunny Jang's Print of the Wave Stole.

Knit on size 4 needles out of Zephyr 50% wool, 50% silk laceweight in the Juniper color, a gift from my dad (very pretty). Finished measurements: unknown.

I kinda want one for myself now.

Magic Socks!

I debated giving up on the whole blogging thing for a while. Then I decided I still wanted to do it, but the motivation for actually sitting down and writing a post was hard to find. But my latest FO deserves a blog post. For these simple, unassuming socks, I believe, are lucky, possibly even possessing magical powers.

BEHOLD:

I realize, there is nothing in their appearance that belies their magical status, but listen: I finished these socks on Wednesday. Today I wore them for the first time... and class was cancelled. Meaning that today, I have nothing to do but drink coffee and knit.

Even as I was knitting them, before I knew of the luckiness that would unfold in my life, I appreciated these socks. Most socks, I knit complex patterns. I wanted my socks lacier! textury-er! Complicated-er! These socks are just a 2x2 rib, reminding me that I do enjoy simplicity.

Stats: Size 1 needles, Socketta Fortisima sock yarn (given to me by my dad), 68 sts, knitted toe up, k2p2 ribbing. No pattern to speak of.

These socks only took one ball of the yarn. The other was given to a friend in need of something to knit while over at my apartment. I need to give her the heads up on the potential magicy-ness of her own socks.

I also must take care with these socks, and use their powers only for good.

Socks. Frickin' stripey socks.

Y'all may remember, not too long ago, I finished a sock and, good little knitter that I am, I pulled out the second ball of yarn and started knitting away at it's mate. So I'm knitting happily away, past the toe, and on to the foot, when, for once, I stop to think. "This doesn't look right. The stripes aren't supposed to be this wide." I run to the next room, grab the first sock, and compare.

Yeah. That's not right. Plus, not only are the stripes different, but so is the gauge. The finished sock has a nice hand to it, very comfy on the the feet. The other one is pretty much bullet proof. And since I don't foresee anyone taking pot shots at my toes, that's not a good thing.

Right now, I'm thinking I'll rip back a bit on the finished sock, and use the rest of that ball to make anklets (I'm pretty sure I have enough yarn. Almost positive, in fact.) As for the other ball... well, this is also the yarn with about six different trouble spots, so I may just ... lose it. You know, in the couch or the trash can. Someplace like that.

KIP-ing

I tried. Yesterday, I tried.

Bradly and I went with a friend to a little film festival of shorts at a local movie theater. Knowing that these were independent films, probably of varying quality, it made sense to bring some knitting along. Stockinette, so I could do it it the dark. Lucky for me, I have a sock that needs a mate.

The observant among you may recognize this yarn from a former incarnation as a sock for my dad. However, that sock was too short, and I have reclaimed the yarn for myself.

Anyway, I'm at the theater, knitting, and about halfway through the first film, Bradly leans over. "What are you doing?" Well, obviously I'm knitting. "Why's it making that noise?"

Apparently, my bamboo needles and yarn were too noisy for him. I put my knitting away.

Final note: While some of the films were very enjoyable, some would have been infinitely better with my knitting.

I really need to start posting semi-regularly.

The Pea Pod Sweater is almost done. I have one sleeve to sew on, buttons to find and attach, and a bunch of ends to weave in (reason number 127 why I prefer wool: You can felt the ends together and eliminate a bunch of finishing). Knitting this was quite enjoyable, to the point I'm eying the leftover yarn and wondering if I have enough to make another one for another baby.

Things I learned for this project: Well, I think this was my first time actually doing mattress stitching correctly. Usually I just eyeball it, picking up however many running stitches I feel like, instead of going two by two. It really does look better when done properly. Who knew? My attaching rows to stitches still needs work though. Hopefully, this will even out with blocking.

Knitting this did make me think about why I knit for other people. Usually, it's something I want to knit, and is gifted to a friend that I want to make happy. This time, well, I don't really know the baby. He was drooling entirely too much for me to hold him. I'm not a big fan of his father, my brother in law, and I cannot stand his mom. I suppose that, ultimately, this was knit for Bradly. He has a nephew that he loves and a wife who knits. Therefore the nephew should have something knitted.

I realize that most of that makes me sound like a terrible person, what with not holding a baby and disliking people that I'm now related to, but I just had to think through why I was knitting for this baby. And it was for Bradly.