Saturday, April 29, 2006

Knitting for Sanity


As I was blog surfing earlier, I discovered this:

It was created by SilverRose in response to a post by Mamacate.

I, too, knit socks for sanity. Last summer when my mother-in-law was suddenly hospitalized I found myself in the emergency room desperately knitting the sock that I always carry along with me. The attending physician even commented that I would get a lot done on it. The next day, nearing the end of the sock and pair in progress, I found myself at work for an hour. Under my desk was a large bag of sock yarn intended for my knitting club. Hey, I was desperate and under extreme stress. I figured I could take a skein and replace it later (I am good that way). Stressed out as I was I could not decide on which skein to take so ... I took the whole bag. Well, it was the end of the school year, no one would need it until September so I would just store it at home for the summer. Yeah, right.

Later that day I grabbed a pink striped Opal ball and cast on the pair that I am wearing right now. Over the next few days as I kept Mike company in the waiting room of MICU, I bounced from project to project but the socks were always with me. I knit them while attending the kids' end of year parties and while stopped at traffic lights. After mom's passing, I knit incessently while out and about, even while walking the kids to camp. Always socks while on the move. I took a second ball from the school stash (I still had not gotten to a store to purchase any) and knit a pair of socks for my brother-in-law. (Steve, if you are reading this then keep reading to understand why you never got them.) I was so tense while knitting them that the 72 stitches that used to work for Mike's feet wound up far too tight. If you know anyone with a size 12, narrow foot, let me know, I have a great pair of socks for them. That was the pair that I was working on in the corn maze. It was also that pair that was knit so fast that I found myself calling home to make sure that Mike grabbed the heel yarn so that I could turn the heel during the kids' gymnastics show (not while they were performing). (I was on the road and did not think I would get up the foot quite as fast as I did.)

Finally I found myself at Labidie Looms in Pennsylvania and picked up a beautiful skein of soft purple hand-dyed sock yarn and knit the Angel's Rest sock. I do not think I realized the significance of the pattern name until right now. Now, I continue to knit socks but a little less intensly. They helped me get through a difficult summer and for that I am grateful.

Today I cast on a new pair for my darling daughter after she fell and gained two boo boos. Just a plain pair but the act of casting on made me feel better and brought a small smile to her face through the tears.

Tomorrow ... a tale of a mother's pride in both of her children.

Friday, April 28, 2006

Yarn!


O.k., this isn't yarn but I liked the look of this pile of petals and new grass that I passed on my way to the post office to pick up this:


On top, some Knitpicks undyed yarn for Dye-o-rama and some of their Dancing sock yarn in the Rhomba colorway. This will become socks for the Female Child. Below is the entire Palatte collection purchased in order to push the order over the $40 minimum for free shipping. Yeah, right. I am thinking that this pile is all I need for our trip to Kentucky and Indiana this summer. Think of the socks and mittens I can knit! How many different variations on a squid theme do you think I can get?


Female child is practicing her yarn defending skills ... Mine!

And today we end with a simple Poem since today was Poem-in-Your-Pocket day at my school. (The adults appreciated this but my students did not grasp the subtlty.)

Elephants, by Male Child

Elephants
Land
With
A
Thud!

For some poetry written by my Female child, click here.

Still Swatching


Last night was all about swatching. I am on my third version of woven and figure on attempting one more version before making a decision. So far we have, from bottom to top, the basic pattern but using the ??? yarn for the main vertical elements and the Jacob is knit in garter stitch resulting in raised horizontal bars for it. The middle piece has those two reversed -- the ??? is worked in garter and is now the horizontal element. The top piece is worked in stockinette and the color choices are the same as for the bottom.

I know, I need at least one more pattern repeat on the top swatch to see if I like the flatish effect -- there will be some 3-D because of the puckering caused by the mosaic stitch which is what I want. The fourth piece will be also in stockinette but with the colors reversed.

So far I am favoring the bottom coloration and have not decided on the flat vs garter effect. I may try another variation in all garter but I think the mosaic will look wonky. My goal (HA!) is to finish the swatch tonight and give it a nice bath and gentle blocking to see if I like ANY of them. The idea is a basic sweater for jeans -- a house sweater -- so simple is good.

(Now that I have looked at the photo I think I like the first swatch the best so far -- the garter bars of the darker Jacob seem to make the color differences more distinct -- the flatter version on top looks more washed out.)

And now, for your viewing pleasure, a cute (to me) picture of two of our 3 turtles. On the left is Gym and on the right is Natasha (both male). Natasha is a border turtle, his owner (Boris) is in Sweden working on his Masters degree. Apparently it was too difficult to take Natasha so we are turtle sitting for a few years. Our third turtle, Sparky, is in Female child's room. We keep her segregated from the male turtles, not really wanting little turtles.
If anyone knows what kind of turtle Natasha is, could you please let me know? We really can't figure it out -- he might be a snake-neck. Gym is a red-eared slider.

Wednesday, April 26, 2006

Reality

Reality has set in and I now understand that no amount of prayer will provide me with the amount of yarn needed to complete my mitered sweater at the size I am aiming for. I could order more roving for it but then I would have to immediately spin it and that is too far removed for me right now. Instead, I will wait until October and purchase the necessary rovings at the New York Sheep and Wool Festival. In the meanwhile, I am swatching this:
The yarns are handspun Jacob (the darker) and ???. The Jacob was spindle spun on my walnut Emily mostly while riding the stationary bike and doing laundry (not at the same time). The ??? was purchased last year at the Connecticut Sheep and Wool festival and spun at a low ratio on my minstrel. Both yarns were triple plied on my Journey Wheel. There is about 1200 yards of the Jacob and an undetermined amount of the mystery -- it has 4 skeins so far and 2 almost full bobbins with a third about to be started, still in progress.

I have spent much time looking for a pattern for the Jacob and finally settled on Woven Weekenders from Knitter's Winter '99. I like the way the two yarns are working together and think that this will be a keeper in whatever the gauge winds up being on these needles. I will adapt the pattern if necessary because I like the fabric.

Meanwhile, I have added "Parking Lot Manager" to my list of duties at work and today figured out how to free a blocked car without actually moving the car doing the blocking. I guess all those hours of playing games of a similar nature finally paid off. So, now we have in my job description: Squirrel Catcher, Construction liaison, Parking Lot Manager, Lock Picker / Lock Clipper, Elevator Operator ... (We will ignore the more mundane titles that actually occupy 90% of my time. Only the funny ones count.)

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Oops!

Obviously the "Back to work" post that I referenced was not referring to winter break but rather to the post that disappeared in to the ether on Sunday night when Blogger went down. Sorry about that!

Back to Work

Gee, I titled another post with this -- probably right after mid-winter break -- oh well, I think it is o.k. to reuse blog titles. After all, the title is the hardest part. Right?

Please remind me to stay in bed on the Monday after a school break. Inevitably I walk in to ... you really do not want to know what. From now on I will not even pretend to do anything other then collect "what the contractors did this weekend" data on a Monday. This will apply for the next 2 years. Blah. (FYI, my school building is undergoing MAJOR renovations and I am the point person for all complaints from the staff regarding the contractors and visa versa hence the throwaway comments about contractors and such. At least until the renovations on my apartment start in July. Anyone want to adopt me?) For the record ... Things are much better then I initially feared ... so far.

Here is the first Pomatomous sock and the next plain sock. Much progress was made on the plain sock during a lovely clarinet and piano concert that I attended on Saturday.My foot is mostly better -- still a bit achy in work shoes but fine in sneakers / hiking shoes. I am grateful for small things like this. While sitting with ice on the injured limb, I did much web shopping and am now waiting for a too large shipment from Knitpicks. The Palette sampler box caught my eye and then my credit card. I am knitting as fast as I can in anticipation of soon being overwhelmed with LOTS of yarn.

Happy knitting!

Monday, April 24, 2006

Back to Work

What did I accomplish over the last week and a half?
Did I write the Guide to Character socks? Nope
Did I use up massive amounts of yarn? Nope
Did I spend lots of quality time with my family? Yup.

We went hiking / geocaching and found 4 more caches. We did the tourist thing with family from out of town. We spent sunny days in the playground and rainy days cleaning the apartment. Female child and I did a proper Tea.

We are all moving slowly this morning as we attempt to get back in to the swing of things. By the time next week rolls around we should be ready to tackle the "worst-two-weeks-of-my-year.*" I already have a knot in my stomach but this, too, will pass as it always does.

No pictures today but trust me when I say that I finished the first Pomatomous sock and am ready to turn the heel on the next plain sock. I also added a square or two to my sweater(?) and am contemplating how to insert armholes given that I went with an odd number of mitered squares instead of an even one. I also think I have found a pattern or two to go with my Jacob yarn.

Have a happy Monday.

(*Defined as: the period of time in which Devorah supervises the administration of the Advanced Placement exams in her school and follows all of the rules and regulations and keeps the staff and students relatively happy without losing her mind.)

Back to Work

What did I accomplish over the last week and a half?
Did I write the Guide to Character socks? Nope
Did I use up massive amounts of yarn? Nope
Did I spend lots of quality time with my family? Yup.

We went hiking / geocaching and found 4 more caches. We did the tourist thing with family from out of town. We spent sunny days in the playground and rainy days cleaning the apartment. Female child and I did a proper Tea.

We are all moving slowly this morning as we attempt to get back in to the swing of things. By the time next week rolls around we should be ready to tackle the "worst-two-weeks-of-my-year.*" I already have a knot in my stomach but this, too, will pass as it always does.

No pictures today but trust me when I say that I finished the first Pomatomous sock and am ready to turn the heel on the next plain sock. I also added a square or two to my sweater(?) and am contemplating how to insert armholes given that I went with an odd number of mitered squares instead of an even one. I also think I have found a pattern or two to go with my Jacob yarn.

Have a happy Monday.

(*Defined as: the period of time in which Devorah supervises the administration of the Advanced Placement exams in her school and follows all of the rules and regulations and keeps the staff and students relatively happy without losing her mind.)

Friday, April 21, 2006

I joined!


I have decided to become a dye-o-rama lemming! On order, 4 skeins of Knitpicks dye-your-own sock yarn. This, of course, led to me ordering far more yarn in order to meet the $40 minimum for free shipping. Also on order ... 2 balls of Dancing and the Palette Sampler (with 2 patterns to use it with).

Yesterday started out great (and actually did not end so crummy). We all trooped up to our favorite museum and then left Male child there with a friend and the friend's mom while the rest of us headed in to the park to do some geocaching.

Just as we completed crossing the street ... Ouch! All 3 of us stumbled on a piece of uneven sidewalk (imagine a sudden drop of over an inch). My foot twisted under, leaving me in considerable pain. Since the initial ache did abate after a few minutes of sitting -- while Mike figured out why the GPS was not working (I was paying more attention to the GPS then the sidewalk when this happened) -- we continued with our adventure. We headed in to the park, with me limping somewhat, and found the two caches we were after. I then decided that sitting at home with my foot up and on ice was probably the smartest move and so home we went.

Mike and Female child were very solicitous and after making sure I was o.k., they headed out on a bike ride and brought back this:from Jacques Torres Chocolate Haven. YUM!

I spent the day in my easy chair with my foot up -- alternating ice and no ice -- knitting baby socks and more mini-socks for our geocaching. The big socks in the picture are the finished plain socks. They will go to my sister-in-law in Kentucky who is expecting. If the baby is a girl, then she will get the matching baby socks. If the baby is a boy ... Then someone else will get the baby socks. The mini-socks will go in to geocaches so they do not have to be anywhere near the same size. Female child complained about the size of the small one so I made the next one a bit larger.Today, Female Child and I are heading to the T Salon to have a girls lunch / tea out. I am trying to persuade her that this is the way to go for her birthday gathering.

Meanwhile, I will just sit here with my feet up and knit while I read blogs.

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

What does a Peacock say?

Meow! No, really! These guys:
were meowing up a storm at the Bronx Zoo today. Mating call, maybe?

Then there were these guys -- the felonious horses.(I really love that picture -- tough to tell where the tail-ends are.)

And, lots and lots of butterflies!(O.k., I'm only putting up two pictures of them, take my word -- there were LOTS of butterflies.)


Here is the current plain sock in front of the bug Carosel. It was an absolutely fabulous day to be at the zoo but the crowds were, well ... zooey. Wednesday is the free day and given the wonderful weather, the crowds were out in force. We usually pass on Wednesdays but we were spending quality time with family from out of town. A good time was had by all and we seem to have avoided sunburn. (Thank you Coppertone!)

On other subjects, I'm jumping in to Kat's contest feet first.

Name 5 places other than your house or a knitting store where you have knit...

1. In a corn-maze while actually walking the maze. I turned a heel!

2. In the Statue of Liberty (her pedestal, actually) (see yesterday's post).

3. In Carnegie Hall (during intermission and before the concert).

4. In quite a few of the art galleries here in Chelsea.

5. While walking the streets of Manhattan.

And, as seems to be the norm, in doctors offices, the post office, on the subway, in a car, in the playground ... and so on.

Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness

Yes, I am someone who goes to Liberty Island and takes a picture of Lady Liberty's tush. It's artistic.

Yesterday was spent in pursuit of our American Heritage as we toured Ellis and Liberty Islands. The kids and I joined up with my Aunt, Uncle, Cousin and cousin's family in Jersey City and took the ferry from Liberty State Park. Guys -- if you ever want to visit these places, THIS is the way to do it. Avoid Castle Clinton (the Manhattan ferry landing) and traipse to Jersey. I've done it both ways and Jersey is simply more civilized. (Gasp!) And, for out of towners, parking is MUCH less expensive. ($5 versus at least $35) And ... If you do the islands quickly (we did not) you can play in Liberty State Park.

We have been to Ellis Island a few times and never bothered with Liberty Island. I admit it, we are line snobs. I HATE standing on line and since you cannot climb all the way to her crown I have had no desire to venture inside since they reopened the Lady. I am content with the view from afar. Eventually, however, one must go and yesterday was the day. The line to get in to the pedestal was quite slow due to the bomb sniffing machines that everyone has to pass through. That was an interesting experience and before we got to them we were briefly evacuated. My public view is that we encountered a drill. My private view ... I wanted to get off the Island. I live far to close to Ground Zero to be comfortable with an evacuation from a National Monument.

This is why I knit, the plain sock now has a heel (see below) and is a few stripes up the cuff.

I expect to make one more trip to Ellis Island in the next year or so after Male Child finishes his immigration unit and wants to see it more in depth. Female child was able to act as a tour guide, having been there 3 times before (twice with us and once with school).

Overall it was a lovely day. The family came back into Manhattan and we fed them Indian food and then chowed down on Ben and Jerry's. Today -- the Bronx Zoo!

And now for those of you that need your fiber content ... The Mitered Sweater

And the plain sock (the second sock).

Monday, April 17, 2006

Spring Break Day 5 ...

is not much different from Day 3. Progress has been made on all knitting fronts and some spinning has been accomplished. The Daisies and Tomatoes are still alive (yes, this is something to celebrate) and my cold is starting to abate.

Yesterday we ventured in to New Jersey and did some geocaching in the Tenafly Nature Center. We had a nice easy hike and Mike found the caches pretty quickly. An al fresco meal of yogurt and matzah filled Female child's need for a picnic. The day wrapped up with some quality playground time during which I almost finished the first Pomatomous gusset. The kids and I played catch and I am happy to report that Male child can now throw and catch a ball at an acceptable level. (Yes, this was an issue.)

(Male child holding the second cache of the day.)

Today was supposed to involve a bike ride but Female child and I are still wiped out from our colds so a walk to the shoe store is more up our alley. Later we have the thrill of the kids' annual physicals followed by a trip to Chelsea Market for some fresh fish for dinner. Yum!

Saturday, April 15, 2006

Spring Break Day 3

Accomplished so far this break:

Finished 1 plain sock and started mate.

Completed leg of first Pomatomous sock.

Planted Daisies. (Gerbera)

O.k., maybe the fog muted light was not the best way to photograph the socks. My kids thought I was a bit odd for putting them on the plants. Wait until the tomatoes get bigger!



Started playing with Mitered Squares. I think this will be a sweater or a vest. It all depends on when I run out of yarn. This is using the rest of the handspun coopsworth. The inspiration is from Ginger Luter's Module Magic.









Planted Tomatoes. (Sunsugar on the right and Husk Cherries on the left.)








Stayed up most of the night with a stuffy nose and spent all of today handcuffed to a box of Kleenex and a garbage bag for the used ones. I am hoping to be dry enough tomorrow to persuade Mike to go hiking / geocaching out in Jersey. This, by the way, was my view of New Jersey this morning:
Yup, it was so foggy that we could not even see our side of the river. Now, we have a view clear across to Hoboken. (O.k., I'm not really sure what city is directly across from us so don't quote me on that.)


Friday, April 14, 2006

Spring Break!

In the interests of full disclosure, the last two nights have looked something like this:

This is from the first night of Pesach (Passover) at our place. (The second night looked somewhat similar but for more people and at my parents' apartment in Queens.) Yes, there is a small amount of wine on the table. Please be assured that it was replenished frequently over the course of the evening. In the decanter is Manshevitz Concord Grape as practically required by tradition. A second decanter of grape juice joined the wine for the kids. The good wine was imbibed by Mike and my brothers-in-law. An amusing time was had by all at both seders and we are now in recovery mode.

On the way to Queens for the second seder, we got caught in icky traffic and I got much work done on the plain sock (some variety of Trekking XXL).


On the left is Pomatomous which received many loving stitches while in the playground earlier in the day. I show them on a lifeless window box in hopes of showing them again in the next day or so on a filled window box. I have the daisies, I just need to refresh the soil and plant them.

I like to have plant life on my terrace and even try to grow food out there -- tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers. Usually I wind up losing most of the plants by early August due to some sort of insect infestation. My plans were to totally replace all of my planting supplies this year and start with fresh, clean stuff in hopes of avoiding the annual plague (very Passover-like) but I have to keep my garden small this year since the terrace will be used for storage for much of July due to construction in the apartment. (We are knocking down a wall and doing major closet demo.) So, instead, I will have my daisies and maybe a tomato plant or two. These daisies seemed insect resistant last year and the tomatoes always do fine so maybe I will have an insect-free summer (at least on my terrace).

This is the view from my terrace facing northwestish:

That is the Hudson River and New Jersey on the far side. Next time I will show you the less enticing southwestish view and the new tower blocking Mike's sky. (It doesn't bother me, I just look north.)

Wednesday, April 12, 2006

Holiday Time!

Wishing everyone a good Holiday and a Happy Spring. For those of you spending quality time with your kids for the next week or so I wish a modicum of sanity and a plethora of Hugs. Please remember to enjoy your time with the younger ones -- they grow up far too fast.

We will be doing a Seder here with Mike's sister and family tonight and tomorrow will be at my folks with most of my siblings. The only knitting occurring will happen while driving out to the folks (I get to be a passenger) so don't expect great things of me until the weekend.

Our plans for the break are simple -- relax, relax, get Camp physicals (kids), visit with my Aunt and Cousin (and families) and relax some more. If the weather cooperates I would like to drag the kids with our bikes and get some milage in on the Hudson River and maybe find a few geocaches.

I have a little work to do but I will try to do it early and get it out of the way. I might even try to accomplish it today (at work (gasp!)) but I suspect that I just jinxed any available time by putting this in writing.

Enjoy your Holidays, enjoy your Families, enjoy Spring!

Monday, April 10, 2006

Stop the Day, I want to get off!

This was the saddest sight of my day. The poor flower was detached from its parent plant last night while some one (s) vandalized my school. I think it says it all.

(Actually, there was a sadder sight, but I didn't stop to photograph my son as he suffered through the nastiest migraine he has had in a while. Poor kid.)

Other things went wrong today but ultimately no one died and no blood was spilled so it was actually a good day. Male child is feeling fine now and Mike surprised me with a Bluetooth headset that will work with both the phone and audio players in my Treo. This means that I no longer have to worry about the stupid dongle switch breaking again! Woo Hoo!!!

Now to work on Pomatomous! (I hope I spelled that correctly.)

Sunday, April 09, 2006

Gloucester!

(O.k., this is not the greatest picture -- I see that one of the buttons is trying to play hide-and-seek -- but at least my facial expression is decent. I have a slightly better photo of the sweater but my face looks like I ate something nasty.)

Finished! I finally confronted my fears and finished Gloucester. Thursday and Friday evenings were spent recrocheting the first rounds that I had to rip out and finishing the edging. Saturday lost over an hour to washing and carefully, tape measure in hand, blocking it out on my bed. Please note that Saturday was a damp, icy, icky day here in NYC and NOT the best conditions for a sweater to dry in before bed time. Keeping this in mind, I shifted Gloucester to my side of the bed before leaving the house to take Male Child to a birthday party. (He saw Ice Age 2 in which the word Squid is used often!)

When I returned, five hours later, Gloucester was still not dry despite the overhead fan going full force. Gee, who would have guessed! (please note sarcasm there) While my side of the comforter was icky damp, the sheets were dry so I was able to use another blanket without having to remake the bed. Phew!

Gloucester, meanwhile was gently folded in its damp towel and set aside for the night.

This morning I lay it out again while I did the laundry and then, being able to wait no longer, tried it on. IT FITS!!! It flares a little at the bottom and ultimately needed 4 fewer buttons but IT FITS!!! Gloucester will make its public debut tomorrow at work and then again on Thursday for the second Seder.

Project notes:

Pattern: Gloucester from Jean Frost's Jackets

Yarn: Cascade 220 4.5 skeins used in main color and .5 used of each of the contrast colors

Changes made: 4 stitches fewer then called for were cast on and ultimately used in the back. It did not make a difference as the back flares a bit anyway. This was a mistake that I decided not to fix.

Like factor: It is nice but I think I may not be a Chanel type of gal. I think it is a bit too blocky looking once on. I will wear it and it will be a part of my regular work wardrobe and will not be relegated to the "never wear" pile. However, I will look for a different style next time.

On other fronts I also managed to skein up and wash four skeins of the Jacob and will skein up the remaining four this evening. I think I have the pattern for it (Boylston, also from Jean Frost's Jackets)but it first requires a trip to Knitty City for contrast yarn. I am going to try to hold off on this until Friday and use up some other yarns before I bring something new in to the house.

Friday, April 07, 2006

Another Proud Mommy Moment

Leave quickly unless you wish to be assaulted by a mother's bragging. (And scroll down two posts for the Futurama Socks.)

This is another "Proud Mommy" post. At the start of 4th grade, my daughter's cohort was told that they could choose band or chorus. If they went for band then they would have to give up one recess a week for extra instruction. Since both children already play an instrument (violin) I figured that Female child would choose to sing instead of play.

Nope, she chose band and started a path to maturity that I could not have imagined. First, after being told that she would be learning the trumpet -- her third choice, and that we would have to obtain one on our own, she exercised a new-found confidence and told her teacher that she could get a clarinet (second choice) from her violin teacher (free) and would much
rather play that then the trumpet. She did this in lieu of handing over the note from mom that said "call me." Said teacher was lovely and let her use the clarinet. (Her violin teacher has now said that Female child can keep the clarinet for good -- it is apparently a good clarinet so this is not a frivolous gift.)

Then, she showed an aptitude for her new instrument that had her figuring out songs on her own much as she had already done on both the violin and piano.

Fast forward to two weeks ago when she was selected, with 5 other students, to take additional, afterschool lessons which would lead to a featured spot in the Spring concert and ... Playing at graduation. Yesterday the 5th graders treated their families to a lovely Spring Concert and when Female Child stood up for the featured passage, I cried.

It is both wonderful and sad to see your child grow up and I am so proud of her for pursuing her passions that it overwhelms me. If you have a child, go to them and hug them hard. They are young for so short a time.

Wednesday, April 05, 2006

To Share or Not to Share ...

*** Scroll down to the previous post if you are looking for the Futurama socks. ***

A few people have suggested that I make my patterns available to the public. As much as I am flattered by the suggestion I cannot do so. The last two pairs of socks represent copyright protected characters and while I am reasonably certain that I am on a safe legal footing making them for my husband, (and yes, I have studied this section of the copyright law), it would absolutely be illegal for me to publish the patterns. What I am thinking of doing, however, is creating a guide to making cartoon socks. This guide would cover the basic principles and techniques that I employ when designing something of this nature for personal use. The examples I would use would be of my own creation. (This idea now has my mind churning as to new Squid sock ideas!)

Keep your eyes out for future postings which will describe either the full process or how the explanation can be obtained. I have a week-and-a-half spring break coming up when I can devote some time to making a proper product.

Meanwhile, for those of you who appreciate Elizabeth Zimmerman-style "pithy" directions:

Figure out your gauge in desired yarn.

Take a good look at the subject to be copied. You might want to start with creatures with simple features such as Squid.

Either: print the picture on top of knitting graph paper, sized to fit the number of stitches you have or ...

Keep the picture nearby to consult as you wing it. (I went with the second option). Knit. Place features where they belong. Finish sock. Knit second sock using same or similar methods.

To work the intarsia areas I knit flat for those sections and then sewed up the hole on the side of the eye / mouth afterwards.

Embroider any accents such as pupils and teeth.

Knit I-cord for tentacles -- keep sock at hand so that you can compare how it will look as the i-cord grows.

Sew on appendages and hide all ends.

Wear and enjoy! Be sure to photograph and email me so I can see!

Monday, April 03, 2006

New Socks!

I was going to show you this:

It was an excuse for not having anything finished to show you. (Tangled mess = obvious reason not to finish socks.)

Then, however, I spent several hours in the playground and can now show you this:

and this:

and, as a pair, these:They are, the Futurama socks. The Grey guy is Bender and the Red guy is Dr. Zoidberg. Futurama was an animated program on FOX that went off the air and in to syndication several years ago. There is no official website and hence, no link. I will not link to fan sites since I have found some offensive (to me) material on some of them. According to Slashdot there will be new episodes coming soon.

Dr. Z. was the original inspiration for these socks since, as you can see, he is somewhat Squid like. (Let us forget for a moment that he is also rather Crab-like.)

The socks are knit out of Cascade 220 superwash and fit Mike's size 11 feet. Dr. Z's tentacles are I-cord as is Bender's visor. Yes, Bender really has 3 rows of teeth.

*****

It turns out that I have a bit of an avoidance issue with Gloucester. Right now it is a bit too small and is fitting snuggly. I blocked my swatch using shawl techniques (LOTS of pins, stretched to its absolute limit) and think that it will block out just fine. Keep your fingers crossed and do not even think of looking for a picture of the finished object before Sunday. I need to allow a full day for it to dry while severely pinned to my bed. Obviously I cannot do this in the evening and I do not dare risk doing it in the early morning when I do not have a full set of wits about me.
I might do some crocheting on it tonight or I might instead work on Pomatomus. I admit it, I have jumped on the pomatomus bandwagon with some wonderful merino purchased for another, aborted, project. I do not usually jump on pattern bandwagons but after seeing them on another blog I realized that this is what this yarn was calling out to be -- and so it will.
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