KNIT SOCKS!

As you all know, I was crazy trying to find something to knit after Ariann. It was killing me – ask G. I was in a surly mood, flitting from needle to needle, book to book, trying to get my monkey mind onto something, ANYTHING to calm me down. I seem to be having a bout of AFTER anxiety. Know what I mean? You get through the awful thing and you’re in survival mode and then, when everything calms down, you’re like WTF?! Now it’s safe to get all anxious and crap and I needed something to knit.

calf shaping

heel detail

If I told you how many times I went through every knit magazine/book I own – every stitch dictionary, every leaflet – how I scoured the internet for patterns – it would make your eyes bleed and honestly you’d never want to knit again. There was even an early morning Saturday (two days before CHRISTMAS) run into the city for yarn. An impulse buy like I haven’t done in ages. More to come on that because I still need to block the humongous swatch I knit for a sweater I will probably never make out of yarn I’m not sure I even like. THAT’S how desperate I had become.

It wasn’t until I spent a couple of hours trying to figure out Am Kamin (I couldn’t even figure out how to start the freaking SWATCH) that I had an epiphany! There, sitting on the couch next to me, patient, non-judgemental, dare I say it…EASY, were the legs of my NOLA Knee Highs. Quietly, without whining, without begging, without hurt feelings for having left them shamelessly to knit other things, they whispered knit me. Knit me. Knit me. So I did.

Stockinette knee highs, knit using this pattern. Koigu, P852 (variegated) and 2340 (semi-solid). I used two separate skeins for each leg, then split a skein for the feet. There’s a bit left over of each skein. One skein of the semi-solid and there’s probably a little less than half a skein left over from that. So over all I dipped into four skeins of Koigu. Knit on Addi Turbos US#1s. Two circulars, as I knit all my socks. I bought this yarn in New Orleans, so they’re my NOLA knee highs and I love them.

I hope everyone had a good Christmas. It was pretty low key around here which is what we like best. Not too much gift giving (that’s reserved for birthdays) but Georgie scored BIG TIME!

Dr Pepper? FOR CHRISTMAS!? Don’t feel bad for good ol’ Georgie because this isn’t your ordinary run of the mill supermarket Dr Pepper. This Dr Pepper is SPECIAL!

This Dr Pepper is CAFFEINE FREE!!! WHOO HOO!!!! As someone (me, well, and Georgie too) who can’t, won’t, absolutely doesn’t drink caffeine, but LOVES Dr Pepper this is a Christmas BONANZA! The mythical Caffeine Free Dr Pepper DOES EXIST! I haven’t had caffeine deliberately (okay – a sip here and there of G’s Dr Pepper because I love me some spicy cherry) for almost 20 years. I found out the hard way that it makes me feel like I’m having an anxiety attack and when you sort of ARE having an anxiety attack why add to it? Caffeine makes me sick. Nuff said. (For those interested, I purchased my caffeine free Dr Pepper from the source, The Dublin Dr Pepper Bottling Company. I also got a case of the original made with pure cane sugar. G likes the caffeine every now and again and I figured we had to taste if it’s different.)

I’m a Pepper! He’s a Pepper! Wouldn’t you like to be a Pepper too?

PS – Tune in tomorrow for an extra special EXCLUSIVE birthday giveaway only available at JanuaryOne!

In case you hadn’t heard, I broke out of my comfort zone and totally ROCKED the knee high on Saturday. (Evidence here and here and here.) There is at least one other pair coming out of me. That would make five total (when I get them all done) and that seems like a goodly number.

I’m just about to the heel on the second knee high and due to pattern tweaking I’ve got a few more rows to go to the heel on the first knee high. There’s a definite possibility I COULD have a finished pair by Halloween. Could. Maybe. Finish. I just have to decide to do it. But really – two heels and two feet isn’t all that much in the world of sock knitting. I’ve got five days. And a job just dropped out for the weekend.

Koigu. The green is 2340 and the variegated is P852. Knee High pattern here. Because someone always asks. 😉

Thanks for all the blogiversary good wishes! It’d be nothing without you. Have a fantastic weekend!
L, C

School’s in session. And while some people have clearly got a thing for wood shop (what?! Is the teacher a cute Alan Alda type or something?), I’ve joined the tennis team.

I’ve said it a million times on this here blog that my darling boy is an ATHLETE. He was on the tennis team and basketball team in high school and college and once was recruited to play bball in Greece. Sadly, he’s given up basketball these last few years and concentrates mainly on tennis – bad hips and all. His hips are back to being really really bad lately so he can’t play the tennis he’s used to. Want to know how hurt he is? He’s begun playing with ME.

Back in the day, a long long long time ago, when G and I were dating, I used to travel out to Jersey (I was living in NYC at the time – still in school) on the weekends to the park where G played tennis. I would lay out in my little bikini while he played (oh my god I was so very young) and then we’d hang out after he was finished. One day, he asked if I wanted to hit a tennis ball with a bat. I said okay because I was madly in love and would’ve said yes to anything (well, almost anything – nah – really anything.) He got out the bat and the ball (because he has a sporting goods store in the trunk of the car) and started throwing the ball to me. It literally took me 20 MINUTES to make any kind of contact at all. AT ALL. The slightest of foul tips. I think on the next bat I got lucky and hit a nice line drive but by that time the damage was pretty much done. I could see the disappointment on his face growing deeper and deeper. He confessed to me later that he honestly considered whether or not to continue the relationship given my lack of hand eye coordination.

Lucky for him, I’m MUCH better at tennis.

So we’ve been playing a bunch and every time we go out I get better and better. I’m hitting harder and deeper and yet I’m still in control of the ball. Especially when I keep my eyes on it. Seriously. Who knew that when they tell you to watch the ball it actually works!!?! I think he’s been enjoying himself – watching me get better and put his lessons into action. But last night, well last night I’ve never seen my husband prouder. I was in the zone – working my low to high swing, watching the ball, grunting through the swing (he’s been trying to get me to grunt more), hustling to catch that ball no matter where he put it on the court. I chased down a hard forehand, and ripped it cross court landing it way in the back corner pinning G to the baseline. IN! And then I promptly turned my ankle and fell hard on my ass. G was so excited I think he would’ve jumped the net if it wouldn’t have landed him in the hospital afterward. He’s cheering at me that was my best shot yet! Way to hustle! The torsion knocked me on my ass! AWESOME!!!

Dude! I so need a pedicure!

Today, as much as I’d like to play, I think I’ll stick to more knitterly pursuits.

The Koigu knee high. From the stash! The solid color at the ribbing (which will also be used for the heel and toe) is color 1160 and the first sock yarn I ever bought. I was out with Cassie one day last year and she insisted that I could knit socks, so I bought this rather dark and tame Koigu. I got about this far and gave up. It was the dpns.

The handpainted Koigu in the delicious purple is colorway P214. I don’t remember when I bought it but I really like the purply goodness. It’s been in the stash for a bit and every now and again I take it out and play with it and wonder what it will become. When I decided I needed another pair of knee highs I remembered the original yarn. I thought, huh. These two might look really good together.

HEJ was here when I started them (actually the second pair I started while she was here – the first pair did NOT work out) and she agreed that the colors worked well, so off I went. I LOVE THEM. LOVE THEM. I added an extra five rows of ribbing because I was a tad concerned as to how much yarn I had with the purple (I have three skeins for two socks – and a bunch of the dark color) but I really shouldn’t have been worried. I’ve got plenty of the first purple skein left and I’m done the decreases. I’ve got about fifteen rounds to go and then I start the heel. No problem. I’ll probably have to just break into the third skein for a bit on the foot. Beautious!!

STASH SALE TOMORROW! 8AM EDT! 1PM EDT!!!!
BE THERE OR BE SQUARE!!!

You know. What happens in Lawn Guyland, stays in Lawn Guyland. Not really, but I only took out the camera when there was work to be done (yes, it was a semi-working holiday) and everything’s more entertaining with pictures, don’t you think? I will say this: there was lots of discussion about tomatoes in season, Vicki’s pin-up choices, Jim Croce and The Lady in the Water. Fun times, as always.

Oh yeah. And right before I was leaving for the long trek home, I finished these:

Want to see the other side?

I love them.

DETAILS: Knit on Size #1 Addi Turbo circulars, I used this knee high pattern to figure out the increasing and decreasing. Eventually I made it down to my standard 64 stitch sock. The yarn is Socks That Rock, Jewel of the Nile colorway, two 325 yd skeins. I had 5/8ths of an oz remaining for each sock. Straight stockinette socks. I’m not sure what else there is to tell but ask in the comments if you think of something. [ETA: The shoes are Naot Sea. Very comfortable.]

This is how I would have envisioned wearing my fabulously fantastic new knee highs, if I was, say, ten years younger.

Alas, this is how I will probably be seen wearing the knee highs. (Well, only really seen by my husband and any unlucky neighbors that happen to catch me on the balcony checking the weather. Or peeping through the windows. Ew. Gross. Stop that!)

And, of course, no sock post is complete without the patent pending Sock Shot®. Everyone’s doing it.

(Just so you know, I flipped the picture. Liked it better this way.)

Alrighty. I’m off to finish the little bit of plying I have left and then I don’t know – I might try to do a toe-up cast on again because I’m really itching to try this toe up heel flap sock. I want to start knitting through my STR stash and I have a lot of 325 yd skeins so I don’t want to waste a single stitch. Or I could clean up my house. Decisions, decisions.

Yesterday, while at the beach, happily knitting away on my knee high sock while listening to Leonard Lopate on my Creative (I think I found my podcast of choice, by the way), I WAS ATTACKED!

Well, really, I was walking back from the water where I had gotten my feet wet. We were looking for our stuff and had just located it when I shifted my eyes to the right a little bit. I was attracted to a bright pink standing out against the sand. Something in a seagull’s beak…. MY KNITTING!!!!! THE FREAKING BIRD STOLE MY KNITTING!!!!!

I grabbed my boobs and ran as fast as I could in the hot sand screaming like a banshee (are we allowed to say banshee? Or is that not politically correct?) The bird sort of waddled away from me nonplussed and I scooped up my ziploc bag with the very edge of my fingernails. GROSS!!!!!

The people closest to us were laughing at me. They asked if there was food in the bag and I said no YARN! They mumbled something about the bird grabbing the bag a few times and I wanted to say to them WHY DIDN’T YOU GET OFF YOUR FAT ASS AND SCARE IT AWAY INSTEAD OF LAUGHING? There’s a hearty dose of respect for you.

Lest you think I left the bag out in the open, I didn’t. It was closed up tight IN MY BEACH BAG. And lest you think I had food in my bag, I didn’t. THERE WAS NO FOOD IN MY BAG. Not even food for thought, unless you count two issues of the New Yorker, Barbara Walker’s Knitting from the Top and three Soap Opera magazines.

Oh my god I was so pissed. The seagull that perpetrated this horrible attack was as big as a house. G said it was no wonder – that bird would eat anything.

Forget bears, I should’ve added birds to my list.

All’s well now and I’ve gotten over it sort of – I still hate birds – but the socks survived without any apparent trauma.

The pooling is pretty similar on both socks, but the new sock is a bit lighter than the first sock – the first sock had some really dark color running through it and the new sock doesn’t have any of that. I think they look good. I hope to have the second sock finished this weekend. I’ve done about nine decreases – so only eight more to go before I get to the regular sock part.

I’m off to spend the day with my newbie knitter. She’s an old old friend I used to work with and we recently reconnected over our knitting. She’s moving away from scarves and onto felted bags. I prefer felted bags as a newbie project because they can get the time in on the knitting and they don’t have to really worry about the stitches. It’s all going to disappear anyway. AND they have a beautiful functional piece. I’m not really a scarf person either. We’re going to knit a bag together – or we’re going to each knit a bag at the same time. So I’ll have some new stuff to report come Monday. I think I’m going to make the Elizabeth Bag from Black Sheep. In red Donegal Tweed. Nice.

Have a great weekend all!