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May 31, 2007
and after the spanking...
Okay, I only bought a *little* bit of yarn. Some of this is stash.
The yellow is (duh) Artyarns Ultramerino 4, which I bought today, the orange is STR, and the blue is the other skein of
May 30, 2007
Monkey Toe
Okay, I admit it. I Neuharthed Socks That Rock. It was just that everybody and their brother is in the club except me, who discovered it too late. I was super sick of reading about how great it is. SNORE.
What can I say? I'm weak.
Behold the Monkey sock! The pattern is well-written and super easy, and the sock is fabulous. I followed a good piece of advice and switched to size 1 needles after the second pattern repeat. Next time I make these, I'll also change the heel flap to be slip-stitched. I'm tough on heels.
Don't make me rave about the yarn. You've heard about it elsewhere. It really is fabulous, though. The only tiny beef I have about it is that this skein seems to have a little more twist than it ought to have. Also, I was really hoping that the color was going to be yellow, but it's more of a creamsicle. At any rate, it's a glorious shade and I dig it.
I'll take one in every color, please.
May 24, 2007
i (heart) my toesies
Boy, do I love these socks.
They're Mountain Colors Bearfoot, in the Ruby River colorway (and I can't say enough good things about this yarn), with the toe-up pattern in the newest IK. The short-row heels are somewhat kludgy, but they fit me PERFECTLY. I would be wearing them right now, but it's a little hot. Also, I DID have them on earlier and I promptly slipped on the wood floors and nearly cracked my skull open. I think I was channeling Paula.
Next up, MONKEYS!
Posted by Kate at 4:19 PM | Comments (2)May 20, 2007
the first step...
..is admitting that you have a drinking problem. My particular problem is that I keep spilling beverages ON MY HEAD. I spilled beer on my head at Faire TWICE this weekend.
Once was my own darned fault, because I was walking around with my (full) tankard on top of my head to try to prevent my hat from flying off. (Dude, Carson City is so freakin' windy.) The other time was today when I was jauntily raising said tankard to Lady Swindon and a gust of aforementioned wind came along and ripped my hat and my cap off and I swooped up to catch them and beer spilled all over my head.
That was pretty funny, but not as funny as Martin throwing the dregs of his beer over his shoulder and all over the nice lady behind him in line. THAT was pure comedy.
It was a darned good Faire, despite the wind and the wayward beer. It's (no offense to the producers or participants) a little provincial out there in Carson City, but it's nice to be able to see a whole Faire and never feel you don't know where you are. And the people were sure great. I'm glad we went, and I'm glad the boys let me sing with them! *smooooch*
May 17, 2007
late-night randomness
I have a confession to make. I spilled coffee on my head this morning. ON MY HEAD. I've spilled coffee on many things before, but never on my face. My first (okay, fifth) thought when I did it was to blog about it, but it was too humiliating. Now that I've had some distance (and/or wine), the tale is tell-able.
Nathan brought me my coffee this morning as he usually does, with me half asleep and a shot of espresso and slug of cream in my big pink teacup. Usually I drink some or all of it while Nathan's showering. This morning I apparently fell asleep somewhere between "some" and "all", as I awoke to reasonably hot espresso pouring over my face, through my hair, and all over my expensive mattress.
Hilarity ensued.
Posted by Kate at 10:56 PM | Comments (5)as cool as ellen
Okay, okay, I've been tagged with this meme twice this week. I guess it's a sign.
7 random facts:
1. I enjoy alphabetizing things. No, really. It's sort of scary how much I like putting things in order. This seems weird because...
2. Dude, I'm a total slob. I loathe housework, but I do it anyway because I hate an untidy house.
3. I tend to pick projects up and work on them feverishly and then abandon them. I'm trying really hard to break myself of that habit.
4. When I was a kid, I used to eat asparagus raw out of the ground.
5. My favorite kind of cat is the stripey orange kind. I am powerless to resist their gingery charms.
6. I'm currently addicted to Kingdom of Loathing. Go! Play! You know you want to! Come be in my clan!
7. There are only about four people in the world with whom I'll willingly be on the phone for more than about five minutes. Face-to-face, no prob - phone calls, yuck.
I think everybody in the world has done this meme. I'll make Nathan do it, though, just because I'm a stinker.
Posted by Kate at 4:47 PM | Comments (5)May 9, 2007
one sock down
One to go. I dig the way this sock turned out. It fits me better than any sock I've ever made - I went up a needle size for the cuff (and used the sewn bind-off the pattern called for) and finally I have a sock that doesn't strangle my pudgy ankles.
The first couple of rounds of the toe with the nasty make ones were a bitch, and the heel was troublesome, but I'd make this sock again with some modifications. (I mean, besides the mate, which I've already cast on for.) I'd start with a toe that's 6 or 8 stitches across, not four. I do not have pointy feet. And I'd make the sock that's ribbed all the way from the toe to the ankle. (Reading is fundamental, kids.)
Because I'm not IK, here's a picture of the bound-off edge. It's the nicest, stretchiest edge ever.
Yay! Sock! Just in time for summer!
p.s. I have not stopped working on the pink dustbunny shawl, honest.
May 8, 2007
Sock & Order
My socks are developing an unhealthy relationship with Jack McCoy.
But seriously, here's a close-up of the craptastic short-row heel. It sort of looks like a bucket of boiled ass (due, almost certainly, to my lack of mad skilz), but if it had been done better, it might have looked like the heel on a commercial sock. One thing I'll say for it is that it fits great and it feels awesome on. (And I'm not ripping it out again, so it'll just have to be craptastic. Sometimes the bad guys fool the jury.)
Posted by Kate at 2:32 PM
| Comments (3)
May 7, 2007
take two (and call me in the morning)
Here's the toe of my first attempt at a toe-up sock (and the second attempt in general at a sock with this yarn). It's not too bad. I'm using the recipe in the new Interweave Knits. Lemme tell you, the Eastern cast-on SUCKED. I've done a figure-9 cast-on before, but this was a lot trickier. It does, however, have the benefit of having a nice tight toe with no gappy parts. (I do have a beef with the pattern, though. The pictures accompanying the article clearly show two pairs of attractively ribbed socks. The pattern is for a plain stockinette sock. I could have figured out how to rib the sock with not a whole lot of effort, but it still irks me that the photo is misleading.)
I will spare you any photos that may or may not exist of Nathan being amused by the shape of this fledgling toe.
Since I took this picture yesterday, I've gotten to the heel. I've never done a short-row heel, and there was a bit of a learning curve. The heel has now been ripped out twice, but I think this third time is going to be okay. I hope.
[edited later: DUH, there is a pattern for the ribbed socks on the next page. But STILL, they should a picture of the knitted item on the page with the pattern for it!]
Posted by Kate at 1:44 PM | Comments (3)May 5, 2007
socks that make you go "hmmmm"
This is *so* not right. I can't believe that Nancy Bush would write a bad pattern, and Carrie just made this and liked it, so there must be something wrong with my knitting. The pattern is for women's sizes 8-9, and I'm a 7 1/2, so I was prepared for it to be a little big. I tried it on Nathan, however (his feet are small for a guy), and the heel is all baggy-n-stuff on him, too.
(this is my foot in the photo - please disregard the un-pedicured-ness of it)
See? It's all bunchy at the heel. I have nobody to blame but myself for the holes near the gussets, but I can't understand why the rest of the heel looks so crappy. I'm thinking I might abandon this whole pattern. I really don't like the "seam" down the heel, and I really do prefer a heel that's slip-stitched all the way across the whole thing. Maybe a nice plain toe-up sock?
(The yarn, by the way, is fabulous. It's a teensy bit splitty, but otherwise I love it, especially the super-saturated color.)
May 4, 2007
all around my sock
Hey, I finished those Jaywalkers. They are fabulous. Of course, they don't fit me, but my mom sure was happy to get 'em.
Next up: Madder Rib socks from Knitting Vintage Socks, using Mountain Colors' Bearfoot. It's pretty fab. In other sock news, I've washed those socks I made with Brooks Farm Acero several times now. Boy, that yarn wears nicely. It's not pilling at all, and it's just getting softer. Too bad they don't make it in pink.
Posted by Kate at 12:32 PM | Comments (3)