May 26, 2006

Socks and Snakes

The majority of my stash is sock yarn. The rest is wool. I have a bit of lace here or there, a few balls of mohair, a bit of cotton and, of course, the acrylic that stays mostly hidden in a huge tub in the garage.

The problem with this is… well… I’ve only ever finished 1 pair of socks. Then I felted them.

I’ve got 2 socks on the needles right now, and they’ve been that way for… months. Ok, we’ve confirmed that the Slytherin colored sock is evil by nature and will never let itself be completed, but the other sock is just… well it’s a disaster.

I tried toe up socks and all was going well until I got to the heel. I may have fudged a little on the gusset, but that’s ok because it fit. The instructions for the heel were, well… special. Telling me to do all this math, then knit a flap, then pick up stitches, then knit this and that and well I ended up with a lopsided, very stumpy heel. Were I one of the wicked step sisters from Cinderella, specifically the one who cut off a piece of her heel to fit into the glass slipper, I’d be good. But I’m not, and I haven’t, so I’m not.

It’s now sitting sadly in a basket next to my spiffy new papasan chair, occupying needles that I wanted this morning when I grabbed something to do while Anna, Casey and I are, inevitably, waiting in a long line to see X-Men 3.

I’d like to try a short row heel, but every set of directions I’ve found for those are the same. Lots of figuring of percentages and scary math. People… if I wanted to be doing math I’d be doing Sudoku instead of knitting!

Perhaps I was not meant to be a sock knitter. I don’t use 2 circulars, I go for the good ole fashioned DPNs and enjoy the process. Unfortunately, I never seem to get to an actual product. Perhaps it’s just the pattern I use. Plain ribbing, stockenette the rest of the way. I’ve never even done Jaywalkers. *dramatic sigh*

In other news, this Saturday Kari and I are heading up to the mall, then to the bar for pizza and drinks, then back to my place for a sleepover. She’s excited because she’ll get to go out, do some shopping and spend time with her favorite (and only) sister. My parents are excited because they’ll have an entire Saturday alone, with means they can go on a long, guilt free motorcycle ride without worrying about Kari going insane from boredom and I’m excited because there’s a reptile zoo inside the mall (and an ice skating rink, it’s crazy huge) and Kari is going to have her picture taken while she’s holding a big old snake. We’ll post it as soon as we get back to the house. She keeps saying there’s no way she’ll do it but trust me… she’ll do it.

I want to go home! Everyone is leaving early today and I’m stuck working overtime! ARGH! Is it 5 yet?

Now?

How about now?

5 comments:

Chris said...

I have faith that you can do socks. You just need to find the right pattern. I have links to a toe-up cast on and the sock pattern I use in my sidebar - it's the first and only sock pattern I've ever used. :)

Have fun tomorrow!

Krysia said...

I commend you for getting one pair of socks done. That's one more than I have done. I think you should keep at it. It seems like you have an affinity for sock knitting.

Have a great weekend!

mrspao said...

You can do it! If I've managed it - you certainly can. I'm going to put a copy of the simple sock pattern that I've been using in your package.

Have a nice day with Kari tomorrow!

chittavrtti said...

Nancy Bush has great instructions in, I think, all of her books for short row heels. No calculating just counting like you do all the time.

I love DPNs too! A family gave me this really cute card by a german artist of a a girl (7?)knitting with 5 Dpns, carrying a basket...she looked like goldilocks :)***CV

Debi said...

Get yourself a copy of Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch...it's will change your life! It give you all the #'s for any sock, toe up, top down, flap heels, short rows...and you can plug in different heels, toes and patterns based on YOUR gauge, not the patterns!! It will change your socknitting life, I promise! :)