Finally, some knitting

At last, the purple stripe (aka Penelope) socks are finished. These are toe-up socks with short row toe and heel. I don't know why they gave me so much trouble. They're my fourth pair of socks, though they are the first pair made from sock yarn.

Here's a close up of the short row heel, which fits very well.



The toe turned out to be a bit too loose though. I'll need to adjust that for the next pair.



Now I can work on a long-neglected project -- the elegant gauntlets from Sally Melville's The Purl Stitch. You know you've been working on socks too long when #2 needles feel huge.

Now with 100% more pictures!

You know the first photo on this blog had to be my cat.

All Hail the Harlot

Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (the Yarn Harlot) has done it again. Stephanie Pearl-McPhee Casts Off is a must-have travel guide to the land of knitters and knitting. This isn't the book to give to the uninitiated if your intention is to convince them that those of us who are into "this string thing" aren't a tad bit odd. But your favorite knitter will thank you profusely. Then he or she will ask you to read aloud to them so they can keep knitting while enjoying the book.

Prominent in the Health Warnings chapter is a section on the dreaded "Second Sock Syndrome," with a very enlightening discussion of the symptoms, treatment, and prognosis for the Viral, Bacterial, and Malignant strains of this affliction. With the author's help, I have diagnosed myself with a recurring Viral SSS infection, rather like this cold I can't quite shake off. Second socks do eventually get knit, but I have been known to give one sock for Christmas and its mate for Mother's Day.

I can't wait to read the Knitting Sports chapter. At last, I might find a sport I can appreciate.

Penelope Day

Actually the last several days have been Penelope days – those days when you rip out more than you knit. I started out the weekend with one complete sock, one sock nearly ready for its heel, and a few inches done on the spring scarf. I ended the weekend with two socks still waiting (or waiting again) for their heels and no spring scarf at all. Why rip out half of the completed sock? After measuring and re-measuring the sock in progress, I finally had to admit that the first sock was too long in the foot. I could:

a) make the second sock equally over-long,

b) make the second sock fit but not match, or

c) rip the first sock back to the turning of the heel.

I’m compulsive. I chose “c”. But the heels did not want to be knit this weekend. They thwarted each of several attempts. After much ripping back, I set the socks aside and turned to the spring scarf. Such a nice, soothing lace pattern. So easy to knit. So pretty in the pattern book. So not right for this yarn. Rip.