Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Hey, look! Knitting!


It's The Ugly Sock. Knit on 72 stitches at 8.5 stitches to the inch with size one needles and my Peruvian-not-superwash yarn. The color scheme, in case you don't remember, was done by pouring the day's leftover dyes all over it. There's a bit of pooling, mostly blue-green colors on the sole of the foot. The length doesn't go up much underneath the cuff of my jeans - it's a sport sock. I did an inch or so of ribbing and a few plain rounds and then started the heel flap. I find that the heel is a bit baggy, but I guess I'm not surprised when I think about it; I had really narrow feet before that previously mentioned Hawaiian Foot Spread set in. Heels probably don't spread much, regardless of what happens to the rest of the foot, or even weight gain. Otherwise it's quite comfy and I suspect I will become quickly addicted to hand-knit socks. I sure hope I can produce enough by next winter.

It appears there may be enough yarn in one of these skeins to get four average-sized women's sport socks out of it. I'll report on that for sure once I finish them all. (I divided the skein in half and did a dip-dye in aqua on the other half.)


The Baby has figured out that if she climbs on the dining room chairs, she can reach EVERYTHING on the kitchen table. Especially the scissors, which she seems to be fascinated by.

That's last weekend's Daytona 500 race on, in the background. Is it just me, or should anyone crossing the finish line upside down and on fire get style points added for the season?


Let's have a book review, shall we?

"Socks for Sandals and Clogs" by Anna Zilboorg. This was one of my 'what the heck' purchases from Schoolhouse Press while buying the lace books already reviews. (The pink sock on the left side of the cover made me go 'ooh'.) I figured since I wear Birkenstocks or clogs nearly all the time I'd probably find something I liked in it, not to mention I've loved anything I've ever seen by Anna Zilboorg. It's a good book, spiral-bound for easy knitting-and-pattern-reading. There are toe-up and top-down patterns and a variety of different styles - cables, color patterns, twisted stitch patterns. There's also a re-footable sock, like the one EZ developed years ago (but different), where you can strip off a sole with holes in it and knit on a new one. (The EZ version is available in "Knitter's Almanac".) At $19 USD, it comes out to about $1.35 per pattern (there are fourteen patterns) so I'd say it's worth the money.


A polite reminder to anyone who ordered anything over the weekend (not just from me); yesterday was a federal holiday so everything goes in the mail today. Won't the post-office be fun?

10 comments:

Sheepish Annie said...

Actually, I don't think that's an ugly sock. But even if it was, the ugliest of socks will keep the feet warm during these winter months. And I'm needing the warmth right now!!!!! They keep telling me that things will warm up this week, but I've yet to see it. Liars...

debsnm said...

LOVE the socks! That color would totally sell. And, I agree with you on the upside-down finish thing. We watched the replay over and over - and I thought that finish was by far the best of the race!

Regenia said...

It looks as though you may have used a heel flap and heel? I find that short-row heels are snugger on me, or if that's too snug you could try a strong heel.

Bells said...

I so don't think that's ugly. I really like it! And I just found out that doing the K1/SL1 (and P1/SL1) heel gives a much more snug fit. I'll be using that always from now on.

Love the sound of that book. I wear birkenstocks too, mainly in winter, so I might just have to add that book to my wish list!

NeedleTart said...

I am still arguing with PayPal about whether I have an account or not. I would be glad to send you a check or my first born or whatever. Shall I try PayPal once more? (e=mail me a schwartz141 at verizon dot net).

Catie said...

It was a holiday up here in Alberta Canada. None of the rest of the country seems to celebrate it but here in Alberta it was "family day".

Anonymous said...

I agree with reginia, the short rows make for a snug heel, which I adore.

Dude, we were so bummed that Mark Martin didn't win. I agree the fire and upside down car should have gotten style points. I did tell the child (who races) he's not allowed to cross the finish line upside down, or on fire. He has won a race backwards, though. A sort of Ricky Bobby finish.

Trish

Amy Lane said...

not an ugly sock at all...I've noticed that a lot ofsock yarn comes in harsher colors...probably so as not to make big, bare, unpedicured feet such as mine not look quite so icky.

MrsFife said...

I was just trying to remember whether I had seen a sock on your blog (in your blog?). Partly because I am trying to knit one for the second time. The first was toe-up and too big. This one is top-down and er, too big.
Oh and the word verification said taxnqeke. I like qeke, but not tax.

Brewgal said...

I agree- if you cross the line upside down, on fire and you can get out of the car with cool aplomb you get extra points just for style.