So Much for Soon

I've taken my time getting this project finished, and then there was the usual trouble catching one of las hermanitas in a picture taking mood while the light was still decent. But! I have finished my Latvian socks, and I rawther adore them.

Specs!
Pattern: Latvian Socks, by the venerable Nancy Bush.
Yarn: Rio de la Plata sock yarn, *just* under one skein in Seaweed
Needles: Size 0, which are not so hard to work with once you get the hang of them.
Latvian Socks on Ravelry

I really enjoyed knitting these socks. They took me forever because of the way I worked on it--pick it up, put it down, pick it up, rip out a mistake, put it down--but the pattern is not difficult to read or knit. Bush is brilliant, and all of her patterns are awesome, so the only modification I made was to work on 5 needles instead of 4--this gave me one pattern repeat per needle.

These were a perfect travel project: I carried them around everywhere in my purse or backpack, and all the needles survived the ride. However, I did manage to go through all but one of a replacement package of needles either snapping them in my hands (I have a very firm grip, Petunia!) or by leaning over on a seat and snapping them under my elbow. Oops.

It's hard for me to work up a lot of hyperactivity about finishing these socks because I've been carrying them around, showing off Sock the First to curious onlookers since February. To everyone who asked me, "So how long will it take you to finish them?", here's the answer: Eons when I potter along, finishing other projects in between, less than 3 weeks a sock when I sit my derrière down and just *knit*. But they are really awesome socks, worth all the time I spent on them.

Here's the final mark of a good project: after I finished these socks, I was so sad not to have a pair of socks riding along in my purse with me, I cast on for another pair. A drawer full of handknitted socks? It's a good thing.

Divigation While I Finish My Final Project

Not a whole lot of knitting is going on here. Most of my creative energy (not to mention time) is going towards the final project for my Preservation class:



bookbinding!

Never you fear--the socks I have been working on forever are in the home stretch, and a post just for them will come soon. In the meantime, how about a little media roundup?

I have become mildly obsessed with The Postal Service's album--Give Up of late, particularly Sleeping In.

Ever since getting back from Tucson, I have also become an avid movie viewer (avoidance issues? not at all). My favorite so far is one of Monita's picks, Everything is Illuminated. I don't like Elijah Wood (So as not to offend Lord of the Rings fans, I will not go into my feelings about his performance as Frodo), but this was an absolutely incredible, funny film. I will not muddle the story with a synopsis--just watch it.

Back with knitting-related content soon!

The Sock 2

The sock is back on track! (Wouldn't it make a very nice mitt, too? Just throw in a space for the thumb to come out...)



And here is the little beginning of a heel flap. I'm so excited to be getting to the exciting part of the sock. Not that I don't love the meditative nature of the leg and the foot, but working the heel and the gusset is always the part that I love to see working up for its sheer mathy cleverness. I've never designed a sock heel myself, but being able to work one always makes me feel very ingenious.

I'm hoping it all goes smoothly--there are so many other socks I want to make!

I Find Wisdom on the Inside of a Juice Bottle

It was a really. Long. Week. Tucson was absolutely awesome, my class was awesome, most of the people *in* the class were awesome, but ye gods. Eight hours of information a day for seven days straight is a *lot*. So long that when I tipped back a rawther nasty juice I bought on impulse at the campus convenience mart, I thought putting a quote on the inside of the label was so terribly clever and insightful that I had to have a picture. In retrospect, I find it random, but the quote still holds.

I've been home a week, but it's taken this long to get myself organized again, so let's take a quick recap.

The construction workers made a really nice hole under my window by the end of the week.



Mum's Swallowtail Shawl is done, and she loves it. Evelyn Clark, you rock.



I learned Tucson is not the only city in the U.S. that paints their fire hydrants silver. (Quick poll: what color does your city paint its fire hydrants?)

And the second sock hit a snag.



It didn't occur to me to try the thing on until I was nearly done with the leg, and at that point a) I discovered it was not just a titch smaller than the first, but considerably smaller than the first and b) I broke one of my needles trying said too-small sock on. Augh.

I'm pretty put out with myself for having done both things. However, stubborn perfectionist that I am, that's given me the determination to get that sock started right back up again. (That, and I have a million and one things to be doing besides knitting socks)

Update!

I hate falling behind on blogging. I always feel like then I have to write something sparkling with interest to make up. Unfortunately, nothing that happened over the past three weeks strikes me as sparkling. The closest I can get is offering photos labeled in exclamations points.

The Palo Verdes bloomed!



My Pinwheel Blanket, aka the Fireball Shawl, is speeding along!


I should be committed to Easter giftlets! That's the latest in the long list of distractions-that-have-been-keeping-me-from-blogging. I thought that I'd whip out a few little stashbusters to tuck among the paper grass and jellybeans, something quick and fun. Ha. I've Ravelled giftlet the first, but not giftlet the second because giftlet the second is two partial skeins in the depths of my stash. Giftlet the first is a monster in more ways than one, a little monster that has sucked up hours of my knitting time over the past two days. Today alone I have worked on it for over two hours, and my progress can be measured in under an inch.

Don't get me wrong--the pattern is great, and it will look cute as a button tucked among brightly wrapped candies. But ye gods, this project epitomizes the warning: little ≠ quick to knit!

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) 45º 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.

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....