ooops, i haven’t meant to be absent for most of this week—actually, i have a bit of a technical snafu that is my own fault. in our rush to leave albany on time sunday, i left my camera’s battery charger with the spare battery in my mom’s guest room wall socket. and the battery that was in the camera was, of course, nearly out of juice.
we discovered this state of affairs yesterday when david needed the camera; he quickly got online and ordered a new set (since my mom is out of town for ten days and won’t even be able to mail the charger for some time). it should be here any day, but until then, we are relying on the iPhone camera for blogging.
in a way, it’s a good thing, since my spare battery was barely able to hold a charge and i’ve been meaning to order a new one. i’m just glad that the good battery made it home with me—losing that for any length of time would be sad.
anyway, this week has been zooming by, what with trying to catch up on rest and reorganizing my work for the month ahead. i will (blessedly) be home all through the month of march and am hoping to get a lot of work squared away. already this week, i have gotten two patterns for big projects (cable henley sweater and pine and ivy shawl) off to the test knitters. now that those are in good hands, i can concentrate on some other things.
oh, speaking of the henley, you really MUST go take a look at jocelyn’s finished sweater—she scored a total olympic gold by doing the preliminary test knit of this piece and look how sexy it is on her. she didn’t just finish in time—she finished with style; now that’s something to be proud of.
the last of my secret knitting is also complete now, which leaves my evenings free to work on my handspun pine and ivy shawl. it’s been languishing since before my trip; i packed it because i so thought i would work on it while i was away, but instead, my sock projects proved more do-able while moving around so much.
so here we are, back home and not a stitch longer than before i left. but i’m ready to dive in and get going on it now. it shouldn’t be long before you’ll see measurable results.
i also have an embarrassing pile of single socks laying around the house that need mates (especially with all that olympic sock knitting i did). the count is at:
two longjohn socks needed (not yet begun)—one for each of us—to match these
these socks make excellent take-a-long knitting, so they may not get done super-fast while i’m home. however, i have another round of trips in april and if they’re not done by the time i leave again, they will go in my bag.
one flaming desire to finish
i started this second sock way back in november, as soon as i finished the first one. then i got sidetracked. it sat and sat, a mere four or five inches long, through the holidays, through january and then february, while i traveled and knit other socks. now it is time to finish it. in just two nights i have it past the heel and onto the foot; i think i could possibly finish it off by the weekend. aMAZing how fast they go when i actually knit on them . . .
and one french quarter sock to knit as well. i got the cuff knit this afternoon during a phone call with cookie and i think that once the flaming desire is finished, this one will be queued right up after it.
now, i also have a couple of really old sock projects that lack mates and these are the ones that are most embarrassing. remember these?
because i already knit two of them, i was a little over this design when i finished (and working on several new and enticing ones for sock summit). however, that leaves me with two socks that, at the same time, match and don’t match. i have this problem sometimes when i commit to knitting the same sock in two colors; i am “done” with them before they are technically done.
i still don’t feel especially enthusiastic about knitting the mates, but i realize that these would be excellent gifts if i did have two of each. alternatively, i could keep them and wear them as a “pair” (cookie does it . . . so that makes it ok, right?).
what would you do?
because of a lack of new photos this week, i’ve been trying to get david to write his washington post—he took loads of photos on his trip into the capitol last weekend, but hasn’t written anything about it yet. maybe you can push him . . .
i also have a special treat for you tomorrow that doesn’t involve new photos—be sure to stop back and see.
27 thoughts on “dust settling”
Jocelyn’s Henley is WONDERFUL! I’ve already told her so, but it is so beautiful it needs to be repeated 🙂
Now, about those lone socks without a match, I think it’s fun if you wear one of each color, but you could also give the loners away. i could have used a single sock a couple of months ago when my foot was broken.
So glad you’re back and telling us what’s going on in your world. You have been missed.
Yay! A post! I would wear those socks mismatched and work on their mates–that’s a GREAT design. I wear mismatched socks often-not because I can’t find a pair that matches…sigh. Love the henley…darn you! That’s going to end up on a lot of queues because it’s just a perfect weekend sweater.
If I was ‘done’ knitting a particular pattern, then I would definitely wear cousin socks that match either in color or in pattern. A little serendipity is kinda fun.
So is the pine and ivy shawl that gorgeous little pink number you had at the trunk show? I have the yarn and recipient in mind for that project! Waiting not so patiently!
if cookie does it, it must be okay =)
Beautiful work as always. Quick question for you – when you start a new sock – do you swatch? Or do expert sock knitters just reach for the size of needles they know works for them with sock yarn???
I’m fairly new to sock knitting and am loathe to swatch for socks so I have had a hard time getting into it.
I’ve done your lovely shawl patters though and never get tired of those.
Thanks
Karen
I don’t know in your country, but here in Quebec (Canada), it’s quite “cool” to wear different socks when you are a teenager!! So you see, let’s pretend that you’re still a teenager! ha ha ha!!!
I would send the socks to a bloggy reader (wink). Maybe “she” would be willing to knit the mates!
I think it’s great when i see people with mis-matched socks, but I havn’t brought myself to wear them yet-my daughter does it all the time!! I can’t wait to read the special treat tomorrow!!
I love those long john socks, and the henley is gorgeous.
Send them to Cookie A. She gets a gift and you don’t have to do knitting you don’t want to!
Love the flaming desire. I’m going to have to make those sometime soon.
I have the same problem with single socks ever since I started designing socks. It’s a great idea to wear the singles as a pair – same design in different colors. You may be starting a new fashion trend.
I’m definitely not as cool as Cookie! I like to make fraternal twins with the same yarn in a different pattern — but there is no way I can do it the other way around. I’m not sure what’s up with that. Love, love, love the longjohn socks.
Ooooh, surprises!
And I wouldn’t fret about delays . . . I’m knitting my Irtfa’a as I read this, and it’s only just into the small feather pattern. So much for the Olympics!
Mmm that flaming desire is sooo gorgeous. Another pattern I’m dying to make…
Go! David! Go! I want to read about his trip and I bet he has some amazing photos – can he be bribed? Chocolate?? Coffee?? A glass(or two) of good California wine????
Whew – glad you’re back! Its hard to wait for your fantastic blogupdates. Just so you know.
I got to see Jocelyn’s Henley in person today, and it really is amazing–the colours are fantastic, and I don’t know that another pattern could have shown them off as well.
How can you knit so fast?? I’m still working on the foot of my very first sock…EVER and that foot seems interminable!! So much for gold at the Olympics. Oh well. I did figure out not one, but TWO oppses in the basic sock recipe I was following, so I guess I’m catching on. The first thing I had to learn was how to juggle all the DPNs without impaling myself or knitting with the wrong needle. Who said knitting socks was easy must knit different ones than I am doing!
I almost forgot! I think it would be fun to wear mismatching socks…great conversation opener if someone notices. *smile*
Oh, oh. I can’t type! I meant “oopses” instead of “oppses.” Maybe that’s what happened to the copy editor of my sock pattern book!
first, that is wicked to entice me to the computer when one won’t be available.
second, socks. wow. you have knit so many!!! and they all need buddies. yeah, i think just leave them singles and mix and match. see who notices. could be fun.
third, i have missed reading your blog. so am i glad to see you have a camera alternative to keep you going!
Jocelyn’s sweater is gorgeous! I have a figure similar to hers and that was all the enticement I needed to queue that sweater! Yowza, but you create some lovely fabric with fiber, Annne! And your sock work has me eager to cast on the Fishbone Gansey this weekend. Happy weekend to you!
I say wear them as a fraternal set. Why not? They will be just as comfy and you can create your own fashion statement 🙂
Love them!
Just send them to Sheri and she can add them to her single sock display at TLE!
loved seeing all the photos of the amazing snow-wonderland back east 🙂
It sounds as if your trip was fabulous! And all those new socks look so comfy.
I think Cookie has the right idea now and then ! hah!
I really love the look of your socks! Is there any possibility that you might publish a book/booklet of them? I would be one of the first to line up to purchase it!
Hmmm, I’ve never really fallen prey to second sock syndrome (until recently). Maybe set up some kind of incentive program, where you get to work on something REALLY yummy after having finished one of these older socks?
Comments are closed.