all gussied up and ready to blog

I'm back from spring break and I managed to wash all the NYC dirt off myself. Yes people, I even SHAVED MY LEGS for this blog post. Trust me, I was overdo for getting shorn (ha HAAA GET IT! SHORN. Like a sheep. And I KNIT!). That's how much I love my reader(s). I'll even shave my legs for you, as if this is a date. And I'm going to put out.

So while I was in NY I finished the first in a pair of Grumperina's Jaywalkers for Ali, the world's best composer/music theorist/spinner of yarn. They're Blue Moon Fiber Arts Sock Candy, in Lemongrass, knit magic loop-style on a 40" US1 Addi Turbo. I'm going to have to have some words with those needles, though. Mainly because I HATE THEM. The stumpy tips drive me insane, the cord is too $*$(&^#@ long even for magic loop, and I BENT THEM. Apparently I have fingers of steel, because these suckers are severely warped. I'd say at their worst they were bent at about a 30 degree angle. I kept trying to bend them back, but that's HARD and it hurt me. I started the second sock on the plane on the way back from NYC, but I think I'm still going to order new needles from Knit Picks (does anyone make bamboo needles in a US1 I suppose? Or would I just snap those like twigs?!!) before I stab something out of anger.

Oh wait, you couldn't even stab a bowl of mashed potatoes with these needles they're so fucking stumpy.

Anyway, the yarn is great - I can't say enough nice things about it. The socks feel so amazing and sproingy! And being cotton and all they won't roast poor Ali's feet in Eugene, the land where wool socks aren't really necessary...


My main modification to the pattern was that I knit these socks toe-up. I used these tutorials on toe-up sock knitting as rough guides and mostly followed my instincts, which, as it turns out, is a good way to go. I used the provisional cast-on as described on knittinghelp.com (here - scroll down - I love these videos. SO. helpful.), a short-row toe and heel, using this tutorial on Misocrafty so as to avoid holes. (By the way - Misocrafty?!?! That's the best craft blog name EVER. I so wish I had thought of that.)

Well, I'm through cursing like a sailor about socks. Here are some more pictures of my finished sock:


And another:


Agh, is it me or do these photos look better in flickr than on my blog? Why IS that?!?!!

And, because it's SO HARD to blog without including a dog photo of some kind, here's me wearing my sock and Cato wearing his socks, so daintily:

a *successful* blog entry

I hope. I typed that subject heading first, actually... So who knows. But with no further ado - MY NEW SOCKS!


Why yes, I wear socks and tights together with torn denim skirts on a regular basis, thank you! Don't worry, I put some very tasteful cowboy boots over them when the time came to leave the house!

And a close-up of the stitch pattern:



Photos courtesy of MY MOM. Who had very little patience for me bossing her around about how exactly the pictures should look. Go figure. Doesn't her camera take way sexier pictures than mine, though? That's because it's fancy and new!

Here's the specs:

These are the Embossed Leaves Socks, by Mona Schmidt, from the Winter 2005 issue of Interweave Knits. I started out on 2 US2 circulars by INOX, but switched it up to magic loop for the last portion of the second sock just for fun. (Woooo knitting fun!) The yarn is Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock (wool & nylon) in the Sherbet colorway.

I used a super-loose regular old cable cast-on instead of the funky one described in the pattern. I think I wasn't understanding it as written right off the bat and got antsy. Needless to say, even super-loose, my cast-on is pretty damn tight. Also, I had to block the bejesus out of these to get them to be long enough for my feet. I should have just come to terms with my huge feet and added a little length...

Next FO post: white cashmere headband! I'm also due for an update of some works-in-progress. But first, to update my sidebar...

what kind of blog is this, anyway?

...because I appear to have very little focus. I'd say it's a knitting-food-school-other things leo does hybrid. So here's some knitting!

This is something I've been working on, and they're SO SO CLOSE to being done! Tomorrow, maybe, I will finish them, because I have the whole day to clean up the house and do my laundry before heading to Oregon for Christmas ... so yeah, there will be some knitting breaks involved. Then I can take them home, completed, and show my mom, who I mentioned before reprimanded me recently for working on millions of things at once and told me that I must finish, I think it was three of my current ongoing projects before starting anything else.

(OH, and tomorrow I'll have to think about what knitting project to bring home. OH THE AGONY!)

With no further ado, I give you the socks:


I'll have you know I cut my toenails just for this photo shoot. Ohhh pretty.

So the colors: it's damn dark out in Chicago today. Really ugly weather. So there's no sunlight AT ALL in my apartment. I'd say the most accurate representation of the color of that yarn is on my left foot there, the sock in progress.

Here's the specs: these are the embossed leaves socks from some old Interweave Knits. (I'll be more thorough when posting them as a finished object, I swear...) I'm using Inox US2. I started out using 2 circs, but just switched to magic loop, you know, for the hell of it. I like it. Less just hanging around my hands while I'm knitting. So now that sock in progress is on on 29" US2. The yarn is Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock (80% superwash wool, 20% nylon) in the color "Sherbet." (surprise surprise, I'm knitting something bright pink!) I started a second skein shortly after the heel on that second sock, so I'll probably end up with about 2/3 of a skein left there... maybe I'll make some bright pink ankle socks!

My thoughts on the pattern so far - what's with the cast-on this pattern calls for? I'm not sure I understand it. Also, although the fancy decreases in the toe that coincide with the lace pattern are neat, I have big-ole feet and I think I could have standed to knit these a little longer. We live and learn, I suppose, and I am learning how to make socks that fit better... Also, I can already tell that the decreases underneath my toes are going to piss me off. But DAMN those are some cute socks.