A Good Omen

What better way is there to start a long holiday weekend than by finishing socks?


They are still only distantly related, but I love them anyway. The chevron pattern pulls in more than I expected, and unlike ribbing? Does not stretch out again. These were 78 stitches on No. 1 needles- if I do this pattern again, I'll need to try and get a few more stitches in. (Chevron pattern from Charlene Schurch's Sensational Knitted Socks, only I did them toe up.)

I used the afterthought heel, on the theory that it wouldn't interfere with the striping (ha!), and wound up ripping out my first one and adding a couple more stitches at the beginning to loosen it up around the ankle.

Next up! More socks:


I brainlessly neglected to check the weight on the yarn when I bought it (Is it possible that Cascade 220 superwash comes in both sock and worsted weight? I could have sworn that the yarn I used for socks last fall was lighter in weight.) But, this is New Hampshire, and heavy wool socks have their uses. So I cast on, and started the toe- checked gauge. Got what seemed like a reasonable number of stitches- 68, about what I recall doing last year. Okay, so far, so good.

Got through all the increases. These socks were humongous. Bigfoot, professional basketball team humongous. So I checked all the numbers- which said that they ought to be the right size. But measuring it on my foot clearly showed that this sock was going to be huge. I considered whether my feet might have shrunk overnight. Discarded that hypothesis on the grounds that my shoes still fit.

So I ripped back to the increases, and started knitting again. Still too big. Ripped back again. Now they were finally getting close. In a lighter weight yarn, I'd have just changed to a ribbing pattern to suck up the extra width, but I didn't want to do that in a heavy yarn. And this is superwash- I'm expecting that if anything, it will stretch when washed. I reduced stitches again- this time to 48. (Unheard of in my sock knitting career to date- my family runs to large feet.) But. They finally seem to be fitting. Or at least until I get half the foot done and discover they're too small! But if I actually make the socks on this number of stitches? These are going to fly!

So, that takes care of my knitting for the Memorial Day barbecue with friends tomorrow. But for Monday, I'll have to take some other project- because both the socks and the gray merino sweater are surprise gifts for people I'll be seeing. I suspect it will be yet another pair of socks, since I'm on an airplane later in the week, and therefore will need to have something I can knit on my specifically-procured-for-air-travel bamboo sock needles.

Will the Violets Never End?

Sadly, yes, but I'm enjoying them like anything while they're here:





And, lurking around the back of the house, the Mystery Bush is at it again. Anyone recognize these? I love the flower, but have flipped through a number of books and not managed to identify them. The Bush is a bit less than waist high, and shows no inclination to get bigger, thought that could have something to do with its shady location.

(Edit: Karen and another friend have both identified this as a flowering almond. Mystery solved! Thanks, guys!)

Anyway, they certainly make a nice change from the beige front that's been passing through this blog lately. For example, I am still adoring the Chevron Socks:


But the discerning eye will note that there is a certain amount of beige in the colorway. Alas the new sweater, being gray, will not liven things up much. It's quite possible that there will have to be more socks before that really gets going. Bright, cheery socks.

The fact that I'm totally not getting gauge on swatch number five for the new sweater? Doesn't help.

Sock Love

So, last week, Alison suggested that if I was bored with the sweater, I should try something new. And I explained to her in email that I had done that- (two pairs of socks, a hat, two pairs of mitts and a bunch of stockinette blocks), and what it was inspiring me to do was more short fun projects. My plan was to knit through my road trip to Albany this past weekend and try to make serious progress, given that I've got a deadline starting to make that familiar whooshy noise up ahead for the cardigan.

And I did- my lovely spouse did all the driving, I knit through NH, Vermont and NY, I knit through much of the house party and I finished a whole sleeve.

But I underestimated Alison's superpowers of enabling, because somehow that ball of sock yarn also fell into my bag. (With the pattern and appropriately-sized needles. I'm telling you, she's good.)



Have I mentioned lately how much I adore socks? They tend to go fast, because I stick them in a ziplock and tuck them in my coat pocket when I go to a restaurant or the bank or the grocery store. Even standing in line becomes knitting time- I just pull the needles out and knit standing up, with the yarn still in the pocket.

And this yarn is lovely- look at the stripes, and the variegation. The dark stripe is really a very dark green, making these kind of foresty beige/tan/dark green socks. These are sedate enough not to raise eyebrows at the office (I'm already the weird one...it doesn't take much in my industry), and yet super-fun to knit. I'm mesmerized by the cute little chevron-angles of the strips. The pattern is very simple- two row repeat. I'm loving these socks.

Yeah. That Alison. Totally superpowers.