Be Patient....

In reference to the sock photos I've been posting lately....

Last weekend my Favorite Sister called me. And I could barely hear what she was saying because she was laughing so hard. She was absolutely hysterical. Completely unglued. I got off the phone and thought, Wow, she is really drunk. All she told me was that she had something really funny to send me. And she was right. They had been out for Chinese food, and I guess she got my fortune in her fortune cookie.




There's this big joke in my family, because once I was complaining to my grandmother about how I was the only that inherited the Hook Nose that she and my mother have. She replied, "Well, you got your thick calves from your other grandmother." Touché.

Late to the party

In case you're wondering, Mrs. O guilt tripped me and got me back on the blogging bandwagon. And since we're talking about socks, lets just keep at it. I finished these Jaywalkers in June. They were my moving socks. I started knitting them when I was packing (I hate packing, hate it more than almost anything. It's almost paralyzing, and I can't get much done.), and they did help me procrastinate, I'll admit. So the first was knit during packing. The second was knit on the train from Minneapolis to Portland. Why on earth would one take the train, you might ask? Well, it was only $125, and they let me take 6 boxes. And once you get through NoDak, which is no easy feat I'll admit, the scenery is gorgeous: Glacier National Park and the Columbia Gorge. And you definitely get to mix with an interesting cross-section of humanity. The Amish and I got a lot of good crafting done on this trip. I was also exhausted from packing and got to sleep a lot.

This is still in Iowa City, with some of my stuff as backdrop:

Progress Shot

I didn't want to forget what yarn I used:

Le Ball Band

I love how the heel stripes turned out on these:

Heel

Some finished shots, west of the Great Divide:

the foots


Full frontal


My feet look happy

I am totally fine with fraternal socks, and when I knit with variegated yarns I don't really care if they match at all. Same colorway is good enough. But since these were self-striping, I figured it would be easy enough to match them, but I wasn't about to go to any extraordinary measures, like cutting out segments to get the stripes to match. Fortunately, it worked out great on its own!

Matching Stripes! WTF!!!

Specs:
Pattern: Jaywalkers, by Grumperina. I was totally late to the party, because these were a viscious craze a little while ago, and I can see why.
Yarn: Lane Cervinia Forever Jacquard, one 50 g ball per sock was the perfect amount with a bit left over for repairs, etc. 75% superwash wool, 25% polyamide. Color 210. Purchased really cheap from Elann a long time ago when those self-patterning yarns were big. I never knitted them, obviously, but then when I saw people making these socks in this yarn I got excited about it again. In the pattern, Grumperina says that self-striping yarns may obscure the zig zag, but I think it accentuates it, and that it makes self-striping yarns look really cool. The yarn itself is a little scratchy in the ball, but it softens up when washed and holds up to machine washing really well. Very durable. The colors I used are totally obnoxious, but all the better for my current work wardrobe.
Needles: Addis #2.
Thoughts: I love this pattern, and will very likely knit it again, probably to use up the self-patterning yarn in my stash. I love the finished product. Very comfortable. The zig zag makes them hug your ankles nicely, while allowing stretch for your calves (more on that later).

September Socks

I am now officially participating in Sock-a-month 2! I was "participating" before, but didn't get my "August" socks done until September. It was close, but close doesn't count.

I finally knit Elfine's Socks (.pdf), and I finally used the really, really pretty Cherry Tree Hill Supersock yarn I bought ages ago from Little Knits. Here's a whole mess of shots of these very comfy and vibrant socks.


Halfway








Love the yarn, love the colorway


The stitch pattern










Specs:
Pattern: Elfine's socks. A very enjoyable and pretty pattern. It's a little obscured by the variegated colorway, but that doesn't really bother me. It's a leafy pattern, and a leafy color, and that works for me. I really like the garter stitch cuff. I wasn't sure what to think of it beforehand, but I'm glad I just went ahead and followed the instructions. It works really nicely with a patterned sock. I'm looking forward to trying some of Anna's other sock patterns, they're all quite lovely.
Yarn: Cherry Tree Hill Supersock: 100% luxury merino fingering weight 420 yds/4 oz hank. I love this yarn. Its delightful to knit with, and feels so soft and lovely on the feet. The colors are just incredible. I've heard they fade. I handwashed these the first time, and there was no bleeding of the colors into the water. We'll see with time, I guess. For now I plan to knit with it again.I have a good bit leftover. I just added it to my pile of sock yarn endings, planning to make the Stashbuster Spirals someday.
Needles: Addi US #2, because that's what I always use for socks. If I knit these again, I might try #1s to tighten the gauge a little. They're very very comfortable in the gauge I knit them in, but they might wear a little better if a bit tighter?
Thoughts: Now that I'm wearing scrubs all the time, I love to have nice, very colorful and comfy socks. This pattern was great, the yarn was great. And I've completed my September socks!

In other news, I had a great weekend. In short, good food, great weather, and the company wasn't half bad either (moustachio notwithstanding).




I live in Portland!