not good enough for beth

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first a quickie update on our progress toward funds for claudia’s MS ride
knitspot readers have sent claudia over $102+++ since sunday, and my matching donation is up to $100!! YAY! the plusses are the people who gave but did not disclose the amount, so use your imagination!
deb kessler expressed a concern about you all breaking my bank with this challenge, but don’t worry about that; i’m willing to use my earnings from teaching classes this month toward the $10 challenge. (i mean ok, i can’t afford to give million, but i’m pretty sure i don’t have that many readers, either . . .).

    here is a simple rundown of the $10 challenge (which you can read more about here):

  • go to claudia’s blog and give any amount to her ride for MS by next saturday, june 24th
  • write and tell me that you gave (i do NOT need to know the amount, but if you do tell me, i’ll keep a total tally and show it off). if you gave before this week, write and tell me—you are also eligible!
  • i will send claudia $10 for each knitspot reader that gives any amount to her MS ride
  • your name will go into the knitspot hat to win some Briar Rose “Grandma’s Blessing” sock yarn, and, if you give $10 or more, into the hat for claudia’s prize patrol

how cool is that??


please excuse that public service announcement . . . now, back to our daily post

okay, so individual sock progress was not what beth had in mind—she’s looking out for mr. #1, and wants to know how his sock pile is stacking up. sigh.
as if i would neglect my main squeeze (ok, ok—so he’s my only squeeze). right. like i WANT him to go back to the sock mending

. . . oh, and nice going anne! having david read all the contest entries. the other night, when beckie and mark were over for dinner, david AND mark get talking about sock mending (i know, don’t ask; must be some weird social side effect of living with all those wool fumes . . . somehow sock mending falls into the general category of “fix it, don’t throw it out”).
anyway, david starts bandying about phrases such as afterthought heel, and did any of us know anything about that? because he just KNOWS there is a way to make replacement heels and soles for the socks. now remember, these are the socks of which he speaks:

sorry, but ain’t no afterthought heel gonna fix that! i mean. if socks just wore out in the heel— hello!—we’d be all over that afterthought jobby like white on rice. but what about the edge of the heel?? where does it end? and wool is biodegradeable—hell, even birds know how to recycle it!

i know just where all that mending is leading to, and i’m NOT having any of it. if i wanted to knit new heels onto nasty, joyless, half-felted/half-worn-out socks, i’d wear out the yarn first and THEN knit whole socks with it to get the full effect of the scratchy, hair shirt experience.

no, sorry—give me brand-new, springy, happy, fresh-colored yarn any day and i will happily knit up a new sock before you can unpick that old heel properly. david can do whatever he wants to his socks, but i don’t want any part of them once they’ve been worn and washed 50 or 60 times.

so, it is with much gladness therefore, that i turn our attention to the progress of the sweet little baby dress pattern. it is written, and i am almost done testing it with this watermelon red (you can’t tell from any of the pictures, but it is watermelon, trust me) silk classic yarn. after coffee and a little knit-time before work this morning, it looked like this

i’d gotten all the way through the lace portion and was ready to begin the long stretch of stockinette in the skirt. the perfect thing to bring to class. which i did, and i knit and knit, and by the end of my classes, i was up to the waist

woo-woo!! just that little lacy bodice to go, and i’m all set! then i can hang it in the shop, print the patterns, and move on! i know already i am not done with the fun i’ve been having doing these dresses. next, i think i’ll tackle a different motif using the apple green yarn—something larger that forms a shape on the front of the skirt, with one large motif spread across the chest. we’ll see . . .

i also worked quite a bit on the wedding shawl for my knitting world cup challenge, adding another couple of inches. soon it will be time to begin the next stitch pattern, which will form the second band; the deep edging.
and if i’m going to do any of that before bed, i really should go up and start now!

3 thoughts on “not good enough for beth

  1. Now those are some well-worn socks! At first, the sight of them was horrifying, but then I thought how great it must make you feel that he wears them so much. No better compliment! Now, throw ’em away 😉

  2. OK, now I’m satisfied….have seen all of the socks.

    Don’t forget to tell the story of the little flowered sandels…

    The dress is darling! She is so lucky to have an auntie like you!!!

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