little bit of crazy leaking out

First a FO . . .

the Suicide Socks

pattern: International Sock of Doom
yarn: Cascade 220 Superwash
needles: Clover Bamboo US5
cast on: October 8th  cast off: October 18th 
notes:  I really love this pattern, especially for house socks.  They didn’t really take that long to knit, they were put aside for some other knitting.  I have another ball of Cascade 220 Superwash in my stash and I think it will end up being another pair of Suicide Socks, but I will go down a needle size for a bit snugger fit.

I was also able to finish the first Fancy Sock.  See that little piece of yarn nect to the sock?  That is all that was left of the ball, less than one yard.  Eeep!  Now, on to the second one.

   

I died on October 4th with this very cozy pair of ISOD. I haven’t blogged about it because I wasn’t sure what I was going to write, but I guess truth is best. 

When I opened the envelope I laughed.  Yes, I laughed!  For probably ten full minutes.  You see, I can be a bit of a Martha.  How it seems as opposed to how it really is.  I guess it could be seen as being superficial, but I think it is an over compensation for other short comings.  You see, I’m fat.  Not the “gee I feel so fat, I should loose 5lbs” fat, but the “I need to loose another person worth of weight” fat.  I usually get judged as being lazy and stupid before I get two words out of my mouth.  Because if I was smart and would just put the fork down and get up off my fat @ss I wouldn’t be that fat.  Yeah.  So, I overcompensate.  I try show them how great I am, how giving, how funny, how self depricating, how . . . whatever would make them happy.  Pathetic, I know.  Ok, back to the socks.  I opened the envelope and here are these utterly imperfect socks. 

I was shocked!  I mean how could someone send out socks looking like this?  What would people think?!  Then it dawned on me, my assassin worked hard on these socks, she is a new sock knitter and she did her best given the pressure of Sock Wars (people were staying up all night the first night to get their socks in the mail the next day, for gosh sakes, crazy), she took the time to e-mail me several times and we had a bit of a rapport going on, considering she was trying to kill me and all.  It didn’t matter at all that they weren’t perfect, they were perfect enough.  F#ck what people think!  I put them on, and they are the coziest socks I have ever worn.  In fact, I washed them earlier today and I’m wearing them right now.

Two weeks ago I went to Sock Sorority at my LYS and started these socks.   They are for the Holiday Knitting ‘06 and will be for one of the BILs, the one who is ‘alergic’ to wool.  The pattern is Gentleman’s Fancy Socks, from Nancy Bush’s, Knitting Vintage Socks. I am using Elann Esprit (cotton/elastic), so I have had to make a couple of modifications, but nothing major.  These socks are takeing FOREVER to knit, no not socks . . . SOCK . . . one singular.  I forgot how long 2×2 rib takes to knit when it’s almost the whole sock is ribbed.

I needed to take a break, and I love my Sock Wars socks so much I decided to make myself another pair, can’t have to many warm house socks when it starts to get cold.  I grabbed a ball of Cascade 220 Superwash and away I went.  Since they are the Socks of Doom and I’m knitting them for myself, I have dubbed them the Suicide Socks.

There is so much going on in the blogsphere.

Sock Wars:  I have my target, I have my weapon and I know who is hunting me.  I have some built in lag time (time in the mail) as my assasin is in the UK, but my target is in Australia, so she has some lag time too.  I have finished the first sock without too much trouble, I only had to rip the heel and partial gusset a few times.  I know, I need to learn to read.  Can you believe some people have already put their socks in the mail, the pattern was released on Friday.  There has been one reported kill, those socks were handed off in person yesterday. 

Soctoberfest is just around the corner.  I am so excited about this one, it was so much fun last year.  I have several pairs of socks I need to knit up for the Holiday Knitting ‘06 and will try to complete them in October.

 

For me these two go together.  Dulaan Project 2007 has been officially kicked off and I will be doing much EZ knitting for Dulaan.  I was lucky(?) enough to be able to attend the Yarn Giveaway at Ryan’s and I have plenty of super bulky yarn to knit into very warm Tomten Jackets and hats.  I was impressed with the fact that the hostesses of Zimmermania! actually contacted Meg Swansen for permisson to hold the KAL, how classy is that.

I received three EZ books for my b’day last week, very cool!  I am all set for Zimmermania! now.

On the knitting front, Quinn has been set aside while I finish the Socks of Doom for Sock Wars. I am almost done with Quinn, just have a couple of rows left on the body, then on to the 16′ of 2 stitch i-cord. Sixteen feet!

I guess the third time is the charm!  The first was ripped; the second, the one with the three needle bind off, was turned into a headband; but the third is just like Mary Poppins: “Practically perfect in every way.”  OK, maybe that is an exageration, but I am pleased as punch!  I grafted the band together, in pattern even!  Thanks to those of you who told me not to give up.

I know I said I was going to leave it alone, but it was laughing at me.  Taunting me.  Thumbing it’s nose at me.  Flipping me a giant bird.  So Saturday night I cast-on again using the instructions at knithelp.com for an invisible cast-on done over the cable of a circular needle, and finished it up on Sunday while watching the pilots of Buffy and Dawson’s Creek (shut up, don’t judge).  That cast-on made all the difference.

I have been doing a bit of thinking about the Holiday Knitting.

I’m making Evelyn Clark’s Swallowtail Shawl from IK as part of the Holiday Knitting.  I need to make two shawls and I am not sure what pattern to use for the other one.  Swallowtail is a smaller shawl/scarf and I want the other one to be about the same size, but a little more comples than, say, Lace Leaf or Flower Basket.  The two patterns I am thinking of shrinking are Icarus or . . .

Lotus Blossom (with a little photo tweeking)
 

What do you think?  Any other ideas?  Please, I have been looking all over but I just haven’t been drawn in like I was with Swallow Tail.

By the way, have I told you how much I HATE spiders?  It is more than hateing them it is a full fledged phobia.  *sigh*  In spite of my phobia, I realize that spider are good things in the whole ‘circle of life’ so I try and keep my spider Karma in a good place.  I don’t kill them, I make Hubby catch them and take them outside. 

Actually, I don’t mind them outside, as long as I don’t actually walk thru a web or get one on me, that would be a whole ‘nother thing entirely.  It would involve screaming and running and crying and possibily removing clothing if I thought it had gotten into my clothes.  Not pretty.

Ok, back to the point.  I found this in my house yesterday.

Hubby caught it and took it to the guys at the bug lab (at the zoo) on his way to work and they identified it as a False Black Widow.  Which is better than the Brown Widow that it looked like . . . yuck yuck yuck!  It is now living out it’s life at the zoo, in the shrubs outside the bug lab. I won’t be going to visit.

Apparently, I am to stupid to be allowed to knit.  I am attempting to knit up Quinn; a beautiful cabled bag with wonderfully written directions, which I am unable to read.  Quinn starts out by knitting a top band then picking up stitches around and knitting down.  I have now knit the top band twice and have to rip it and knit it again, because of my own stupidity.  *sigh*

For now I am putting Quinn aside and will pick it up again later.  I need to work on something else for a while to prove that I am actually able to read directions and finish a project.  Socks, maybe I’ll work on some socks.

One is the pinwheel blanket.  I ripped it and placed the yarn back into stash.  I like the pattern, but the more I thought about finishing the blanket the more I ask myself why I was making it.  I don’t have a baby, not planning on one in the near, or far, future.  I don’t know anyone right now that is having a baby that I would want to give it to.  The more I thought about it the more I thought the yarn needed to be something else.  So, it will be.

The second is the first of the Holiday Knitting Projects.

pattern: Generic “You’re Putting Me On Socks” w/ easy toe from Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch
yarn: Opal 6-ply
needles:  Clover Bamboo US3 & 4
cast on: Sept 1st   cast off:  Sept 8th
notes: I started the Easy Toe, from Sensational Knitted Socks, using US2 Chiagoo Bamboo DPNs to give it a nice firm fabric.  I bound off using this bind-off, which I read about at brooklyntweed.  The second sock went off with out a hitch.  The first one had FOUR knots in it with chunks taken out of the pattern.  I had to pull out large section of yarn to make the pattern repeat correctly. Not fun at all.  The socks did end up matching, except on the heels and I am not sure what happened there since they match on the foot and on the leg. 

I didn’t get to go and see the Yarn Harlot, but I made quite a bit of progress on the first pair of Holiday Socks.  I am using Opal 6ply.  I don’t want to talk about ALL the knots and the sections of yarn I have had to set aside to keep the pattern even some what consistant.  Note to self: No more Opal 6ply self patterning yarn!

I used the chart in the “You’re Putting Me On Socks” pattern for starting the gusset and they look to be just right.  Hubby’s size 10.5 foot is modeling them and I think they will be just right for the size 11 feet they are going to.