Thursday, March 19, 2009

Eureka!

I found the project I wanted to knit. It wasn't a new one, like the washcloth in Fibra Natura's Cottonwood banged out in two days, or the Pinwheel Blanket started the other night. It's the Latvian Sock.



Who'd have thought? Certainly not me. But the only thing that progresses slower than this sock is the city bus system, and after several rides to and from work, not to mention the time spent *waiting* for said buses to arrive, I worked down the leg, through the heel flap and heel, and past the gusset. Now I'm sailing down the foot. Woohoo!

This, I believe, is the thing of it. When I'm doing the leg of a first sock, it seems like there's so much to go. The heel area is always fun, because of the little tricks employed to make the tube twist so the top and bottom halves meet at a (roughly) 45ยบ angle. I always feel very clever at this point, even though I am only following the instructions that someone has written out for me. Once I hit the foot, I feel like I'm in the home stretch, and it's a race to see how fast I can get to the end.

An aside: socks are incredibly hard to photograph at this stage. They won't lay flat.



The second sock has a separate set of issues for me, i.e., can I make the second one the same size as the first, and how much can it be off before the difference becomes noticeable? This is always fraught with anxiety. But for now, I've got my perfect project, and am happy as a clam watching my Latvian sock go round and round, closer and closer to the toe.

Friday, March 13, 2009

Better with a Story

My thumb's all better, and my mood, too! I'm giving credit for the latter to a quirky book I found at work--The Elegance of the Hedgehog.

Hermanita's gift is done--on time!--and now I'm casting about for the perfect new project. (I didn't have time to block the lavender demon, so the reveal will have to wait.)

While I was waiting for my thumb to feel better, I banged out a floppy potholder/trivet with some ancient yarn recently reclaimed from a shawl.



The pattern comes from Weekend Knits, via an old copy of Interweave Knits. I adjusted the pattern a bit to accomodate a bulky yarn, and it was a good instant gratification project, but not exactly what I was looking for.

Now I'm trying a pair of Latvian Socks, from my all-time favorite sock book, Folk Socks. Erm. I guess I should've expected this with fingering weight yarn and size 0 needles, but they're going a bit slow.

The search for the perfect project (as of now) continues....

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Not Smiling



I've gotten myself into a funk. Above is my thumb, unhappily bandaged. I went to open the window on the bus home Tuesday and it came down faster than I expected (little neumatic hinges), shoving back my nail. There was blood.

This little incident is tied into my being in a funk, in several ways.

--That's my left thumb, and I'm a lefty

--I am less coordinated with my right hand than previously thought

--The whole reason I was opening the bus window was because spring has arrived. Curse ye heavens.

--With spring comes Hermanita's birthday. This is what I'm making her, and right about now, I want to throw it at the wall. Hard. (Nothing personal, Hermanita) I'm in dire need of a project that does *not* need to come out a specific size or be finished by a specific date

Some days there's nothing to be done but play "Imitation of Life" at the highest volume possible.