Gidget Casts On

Senility Encroacheth

So there I was last night, sitting upstairs in a lovely little midtown Italian restaurant, waiting for my sister and parents to show up.  As I'm usually the last to arrive ANYwhere, I was somewhat surprised that I was the only one at the table.  But I had my Trekking XXL sock...

...and there were short rows to be done (for the third time - I'm still getting the hang of this, but it's definitely getting easier.  I just need to use markers at every turn, or I start forgetting where to pick up stitches.  And no, I don't know why this sock HAS to have a short row heel, but it's insisting on it.  Won't listen to a thing I say about the beauty of the flap/gusset combination.  Bossy little nit.)  Anyway, I'm sitting there quite happily, drinking a glass of some Tuscan white wine and vaguely wondering where everyone is, and I think to check my voicemail.  There are two messages from my sister.  I dial her cell.

"Where are you, already?"
"We're HERE.  At the restaurant.  Where are you?"
"Well, I'm here too.  They told me our table was upstairs."
"Upstairs?  I don't think there's an upstairs.  You must be in the wrong place."
"Wait a sec, let me check..."

I look at the wine list for the restaurant name, and go back to the cell.

"Geez, you're right.  I'm in some place called Vino."

Note to self: vino=wine. Though at the time it seemed like a perfectly plausible name for an Italian restaurant, especially if you'd had the kind of day I had yesterday.

Little Feetsies

FINALLY, something handknit that the Martian will wear.  He hates sweaters.  Hates hats.  Nothing personal, I know, he doesn't like ANY of those nasty things, not just the ones I make.  But I noticed that he was very, very interested in the striped socks I was knitting for myself.  I bought this colorful stuff on Elann last year, and a few nights ago I pulled it out to show him.  "Hey Martian," I asks him, "Would you like some really, really colorful socks?"  And he just beamed at me.  I couldn't finish them fast enough, and he wore them to sleep last night.

He's already picked out the yarn for his next pair.  Yup, he's hooked, all right.  I done good.

Stripes!

Yarn: Schoeller Stahl's Missoni Sock Yarn, color 3003 (so much information on that dang label - what's the OFFICIAL name here?  Anybody?)
Pattern:  My own (56 stitches cast on, 2 inches 2x2 rib cuff, 6.5 inches leg, no-wrap short-row heel)
Needles: Size 3 32" Addis (Magic Loop)

After Much Trial and Error...

(and ripping and swearing and several bottles of Sam Adams Holiday Porter)...

I ended up going with the no-wrap short-row heel from Oz Yarn's Easy Sock.  It seemed to come out neater than the wrapped versions, though not quite as neat as I'd like.  Maybe I'm just not used to how it looks, or maybe the striping yarn makes it more noticable, or maybe I just need to get a little better at knitting it.

I worked the heel on 50% of the stitches rather than the recommended 60% - which gave me an oddly extended heel that I can't imagine being useful for anyone, unless you like your heels with a cute little receptacle tip.

My grandmother's Chanukah socks stalled a little, but since she's in California for the next couple of months, I'm giving myself until then to finish 'em.  The first one was ready in time for the holidays, at least.

I'm definitely putting the pattern up here because I LOVE how this texture turned out, and I know that if I don't write it up for posting I'll just misplace the series of index cards with my notes, and it'll be lost forever.  And that would be a shame, because that texture is NOT the pattern I took from Barbara Walker's Second Treasury after all.  No, somewhere between finding the pattern and knitting it I changed it.  Didn't realize until I started the second sock and went looking for the pattern in the book, and saw that it was...different.  Not much, but still, enough for me to have something new on my hands.  And on my sock.

Ain't it neat when things work out that way?

 

Bumming

Hot Lava, she is not working.  I'm too depressed to go through the motions of photographing where she went wrong - suffice to say that she's much too big, and it's hard to say if I might have been able to modify along the way, as it's a difficult pattern to try on as you go.  Before I rip this one into oblivion, I'll make careful notes about how I'll need to customize the next time around - less length in the sleeves, not so wide across the back, and not nearly as much around the top and sides, so I get more of a neat little rolling collar and less of a head-swallowing cowl.  It's a fast enough knit that I don't feel too badly about the redo, but I wish I'd paid closer attention to the pattern and final measurements the first time around.  I do love the way it looks on the site, so I'm not giving up on it just yet.

And forward I go, drowning my sorrows in a new pair of socks.

Schoeller Stahl's Fortissima Colori Socka Color, bought at The Point a couple of months ago when I was beyond stressed out at work and needed COLOR.  I'm still feeling a little delicate from the HL debacle, so I'm not doing anything too complicated.  But right around the heel I started thinking, "Well, I COULD do my usual heel flap, but I've been meaning to try that short-row heel thingy, and Jenn's looked so nice on my gift socks, and...hell, it's the new year.  New technique for '06!"  I found a workable cuff-down version in Sensational Knitted Socks, and forged ahead. 

I give you the Frankensock.

I'm already in love with the idea of the short-row heel; the technique, however, may need a little more time.
 

Do Your Thing

Busy busy busy with the work, so not much happening post-wise lately. Soon coming; one finished Hot Lava Cardi (I won't know how this fits until it's off the needles, so there might be some royally amusing pictures.) Nothing much else to say for myself. Hope everyone had a safe and happy Eve.

For now, check the Martian's new favorite dance tune. OK, yes, mine too. Bang!