Gold Medal!

We all stepped onto the podium today (world's biggest podium, to accommodate a few thousand knitters) for our gold medal ceremony...


Ain't it purdy??

Crossing the Finish Line!

They're done they're done they're done they're done!!!! And none too soon! Woot woot woot WOOT!

Now I can sleep...oy...that tink/off-course bit really stole some time...but they're DONE DONE DONE!!!

Overconfidence = falling on the Lutz

Gyaaaaaaaaaaaagh!

I sprinted with overconfidence on Pomatomus #2 and it took 6 rounds before I realized I left out a CRUCIAL yarnover and instead of 36 stitches on the instep, I had about 28...was thinking "Wow, I've really got the hang of this, this is going so much faster!" until I actually examined the pattern more closely and realized I wasn't doing the stitches tagged onto the Chart B left side (you have to see the chart to understand). So, I was totally off course, and had to backtrack (just like that Nordic Skier who went off course...no way to cut across) and struggle to the finish line...

Overconfidence...that'll teach me...

Olympic Progress - 1 1/2 down, 1/2 to go

Have forgotten to update the progress...finished Pomatomus #1 on Monday (thanks to the lovely presidential holiday) and cast on #2 on Tuesday...

And done (horrid pic taken from the snazzy cam built into my spanking brand new dual processor iMac wooot (sorry...but, well, it's hot...it's schweet...it's dandy!)

Now, the designer of the Pomatomii says these are very stretchy...hope so...from other blogs, seemed like using US2s made them too big, so I went down to US1s and I think they'll have to be for someone with skinny ankles...ain't gonna fit cankles like mine.

Almost done with the leg of #2 which is the horridest part to slug through...the foot goes much faster since half is stockinette (YAY HOORAH BOOYAH!) but I still think I'll be skidding over the finish line just in the nick of time...

Finally, the torch is lit...

A few days late (had to finish the Valentines Socks), but off to a good start...the Pomatomus socks from Knitty.com...

This is just one wade-through the pattern repeat...ack...have to do it twice more before I can have the relief of a heel...

Oh...and the yarn...haven't worked with this before but OH it's yummy...Mountain Colors Bearfoot, colorway Mountain Tango...pooling interestingly but I kinda like it...

Happy Valentine's Day!

Finished the Valentine's Socks just in time for V-day...they're being raffled off for fun at my office...


Now, finally, I can cast on my Knitting Olympics socks (going to do the Pomatomus socks from knitty.com). Still waffling between 2 yarns though...might need to take a little time to decide...

Valentine's Socks

I haven't cast on my Knitting Olympics socks (knitty.com Pomatomus socks) due to needing to finish (ack) the Feather and Fan lace socks from Socks Socks Socks that I'm doing for a raffle at my office:

Gotta say, this pair has been a breath of fresh air before finishing the 2nd Leaf & Tendril (and yes that's been cast on and about 1/3 done so shaddap!)

It's DONE, it's DONE!!

Finally finished the first of the damned horrible lovely Leaf & Tendril socks

The Neverending Sock

No matter how much I do on this sock, it never ends...it just keeps going and going and going and I have no idea how I'm ever gonna manage another one...

So if you're looking for a completely insane sock project, I recommend this...Cat Bordhi's Leaf & Tendril sock, aka The Neverending Sock...

I surely hope I have enough yarn...

Christmas Chloseups

For my nephew (biiiig Mets fan), Go Team Go (Six Socks Knitalong on yahoogroups.com)

For mum, Unst socks (Nancy Bush's Knitting on the Road) out of a hand-dyed merino

My niece got Denmark socks (also Knitting on the Road) out of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport Bittersweet

Dad, in the tradition of Princeton alumns everywhere, got Princeton colors in a basic sock (Opal Rodeo)

Sis-in-Law got Cat Bordhi's Columbine Peak socks in Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock Denim

And my SIL's sister got my first attempt at short row heels (poor thing) in Opal Lollipop...thankfully her feet are as weird as the socks, so they fit perfectly...completely by accident

It's probably serendipity that I never took a picture of my brother's sock (was an unfinished pair, ran out of time) because it was too tight so am making him a completely different pair, much nicer I think...

Socks on the Small

So, there I was...not quite satisfied with knitting human socks...I had to try miniaturizing them for dolls. Now, that's my other nuttiness...I collect dolls. Fashion dolls, such as Tonner's 16" Tyler Wentworth line and 22" American Model line, Integrity's Fashion Royalty by Jason Wu and Asian Ball Joint resin dolls (BJDs). They all needed socks. They all screamed for socks.

First, I made socks that fit either 17" Matt O'Neill (male accessory to Tyler) or the 22" Grawp, err, American Models...

Somehow, I got it into my head that cables would be a good idea *sigh*:

It's actually a relief to let my brain bleed a bit on the Leaf & Tendrils...at least they're human sized...

Down the Rabbit Hole

These days, I only knit socks. I learned to knit when I was 3, so have been knitting for about 35 years now and never really accomplished much with it...until I discovered sock knitting about 4 months ago. There is a wake of abandoned projects over the years because I, well, just got bored with whatever I had started or just went off knitting for a while in general. But then came socks.

It took a good book to turn me onto sock knitting, specifically, A Good Yarn by Debbie Macomber which revolves around a sock knitting class, using the socks on 2 circular needles technique. Now, the most likely reason I never considered socks before reading this book was that I always loathed working with double pointed needles. I just can't knit fast enough with them and was always losing one thus rendering the set useless and the project abandoned.

I'm not a patient person. Nor do I have a particularly good attention span for projects.

Socks are a small, very portable project. And there's no endless expanse of mind-numbing knitting before you get to the next fun part. By the time you're ready to chew walls with the ribbing of the cuff, you get to start the leg...by the time that gets dreary, whee, there's a heel to create and all the interesting stages of that process, then, by the time you're tired of thinking about the heel, you have a nice easy stretch of foot and by the time you get bored with that again, voila! a toe to shape.
The only downside is that once you finish the first sock of a pair, you have to do it all over again unless you're one of those who knits 2 socks simultaneously on circulars. I haven't tried this yet as I've not suffered too badly from "second sock syndrome" but may give it a whirl to shake things up at some point.

Since mid-October, I've knit a grand total of 18 human socks and 4 pairs of miniature/doll socks...I knit 6 pairs of varying complexity as Christmas gifts for my family (they were a huge hit).



Currently on the needles are Cat Bordhi's Leaf and Tendril socks. These have made my brain and fingers hurt, but I think they'll be nice in the long run...working them in Opal Uni 1264 (Teal).