What I should be knitting.

What I should be knitting:

My Sleeping Dragon socks. All I have to do is sit down and crank out the leg, and they'll be done. I think they're a bit further along than they are in this picture; I haven't taken them out of the knitting bag to work on them in a couple of weeks. Really, I just need to finish them before Summer of Socks starts. Mostly so I can have the needles free.

The Airy wrap cardi. It's still in more or less the same state that it was when this picture was taken. I think I picked up the stitches for the second wrap. So much for wearing this to the wedding reception on Friday...

Dad sock #2. The first one is finished. Amber was kind enough to kitchener the toe closed for me, but she told me to weave in my own damn ends. I've been meaning to cast on for the second sock all weekend, but I got very distracted.

What I'm knitting instead:

Sizzle, by Wendy of Knit and Tonic. I'm using four skeins of South West Trading Co. Pure, in color Blue Depths, and a US 7 circ. This stuff has a fantastic hand, and it's so soft and drapey I just want to sit here and pet what I've already got knitted up. I started this Saturday and am already cruising past the armholes. (It's knit flat.) I have done little else this weekend, considering Saturday night was a bachelorette party (no good stories to share; I was DD) and I spent considerable stretches of time 1. napping and 2. shopping.

There's also this:

This has become my purse sock; it's another toe-up heel flap sock in ArtYarns Supermerino on US 2.5 DPNs. The gusset is a little floppy on these, but I've ripped the gusset and heel out four times, so I'm not knitting it again. If they bother me, I'll send them to my mama.

Lots of pictures today. I am really a fickle knitter.

One down, one to go.

Now taking applications from knitters who want to kitchener the toe of Dad Sock #1.

I had to attach a new ball of yarn right as I started the toe, which means more ends to weave in. Bummer. But on the bright side, I got almost a whole sock out of one skein of the Shelridge Farms Ultra Soft — pretty good, considering these are THE HUGEST SOCKS EVER. (Note to Teri: I know, these are not the hugest socks ever. You are a far more patient knitter than I.)

In other news, new yarn? What new yarn? I have no idea what you're talking about.

Handmaiden Casbah in Daffodil. YUM. 80% superwash merino, 10% nylon, 10% CASHMERE. Did I mention YUM?

Horrible realization.

So on Ravelry, you can download your stash as an Excel file, with everything ordered by brand, weight, type, fiber, yardage, whatever.

There is also a function of Excel that allows you to add up all the numbers in a given column.

This morning, I realized that I have just less than 25 MILES of yarn in my stash on Ravelry. That's just what I have in Ravelry. There's not much that isn't in my Rav stash, but there's some, and that would probably put me over the 25-mile mark.

Not to mention the order I just placed with Simply Socks Yarn Co.

I think I need an intervention.

Big feet...

DSC01912
Originally uploaded by knitjoknit

... big socks.

My daddy has large feet, even by US men's standards (a US 12) so I am knitting and knitting (and knitting and knitting!) and not seeming to make any progress on these socks!

I am still enjoying the pattern. If you don't like ribbing, it's definitely not for you. It's a basic staggered 2x2 rib, and I really like the way it's turning out. It's VERY stretchy (which is why it fits both my leg and foot and the Other Jo's ski feet.) The fabric may be a bit firm on the foot (8 sts/inch in a heavy fingering weight) but I like it, and that means it will probably hold up well.

On the other hand, tighter gauge means more rows of knitting. What do you think? Should I knit a pair of socks that will hold up forever, or put myself through the misery of having to knit a SECOND PAIR of men's size 12 socks?

Ass backwards.

Dudes, I just learned how to knit backwards, and it's the coolest thing EVER.

I used this video to learn:



It's a little slow-going at first, but I think I will eventually be able to do this faster than I purl. And it doesn't require turning the work, so it is actually faster, once you get the hang of it. I'm testing it out on the heel flap of a toe-up sock (because I have no concept of project monogamy) and I'm quite pleased. It doesn't even seem to be screwing up my gauge!

From the Wild West

My parents (bless them) finally got around to taking a picture of my mom in her sweater.

I'm so glad it fits! And let's give my mom a round of applause for humoring me by putting on long sleeves and a sweater when it was 100 degrees (!) there yesterday.

I saw Prince Caspian. I liked it, but it was nothing like the book. Also, Edmund is exactly the sort of boy I would have been in love with when I was in high school. Such a cutie.

Sign #37

You may be knitting too many socks when:

You realize that you are doing the long-tail cast on backward; in other words, correctly for Judy's magic cast-on (it's MAGIC!) but not correctly for the MOST BASIC CAST-ON IN KNITTING.