Life, Knitting and the Pursuit of Roller Coasters

Better that attempt #2, but not as good as #1, this attempt is getting frogged too.

I will conquer this yarn. I will conquer this yarn. I will conquer this yarn.

Broadripple as suggested by Jeanne and Ashley is going to be the next attempt.

It’s a season of possibilities and of dreams.

 This week has been a break from the knitting. I’ve added a couple rows here and there to the Pomotomus sock, but mostly I’ve been letting my hands rest since that last pair of Sock Madness socks were a little taxing. So, with the break, I’ve allowed myself to be overwhelmed with the possibilities of free time, usually while sitting in front of the TV or the computer or both, but still. I’m a dreamer.

 I need to get back to the place I was at where laundry and dishes were caught up and I was eating food prepared by me in my own kitchen again. Instead of the chaotic nightmare of dressing out of the dryer and picking up dinner on the way home that I’ve relapsed to in the last few weeks.

I did take a step in the right direction this afternoon, though. I joined a CSA. Talk about incentive to get back into my kitchen, a steady supply of fresh just-picked produce seems like great motivation to get back in there and play again to me.

I’m also gearing up to go see The Harlot in Ann Arbor this Sunday.

Sock Madness Round 2.

Here’s where I was when I crashed for the night Thursday night.Â

I kitchnered the first toe at 2:30 Saturday morning.

After sleeping in until noon on Saturday, I cast on sock # 2. It’s toe got seamed up at about 1:45 Sunday morning.Â

Four calendar days start to finish, but a total of about 25 hours of work.

My hands hurt and I’m tired, but they’re done, and I think I’m through to the next round. I can’t imagine I’ll last too much longer in the competition though, I’m not the last to finish qualifying in my bracket, but I’m among the last.

Loved the pattern this round though, even if all the passed over stitches were especially hard on my hands. The resulting socks in sport-weight yarn (I used Lornas Laces in Daffodil) are warm and fit wonderfully. And the colors are so springy.

Oh, and if you’re a knitter, it would really be in your best interest to comment on my blogiversary post for the prize… Lets just say that your odds are really really really good, and it would be a shame for me to have to keep the yarn for myself.

I’ve been debating just what to write about today since it’s supposed to be momentous or something.

I’ve mostly used the last year to prove to myself that I’m willing to post somewhat regularly and I won’t be dropping knitting or blogging any time soon. Once I was sure that the habit was good and  established, I’ve been  gradually branching out and letting myself get a little more involved with the community at large I think. Thats also why I waited til now to buy the domain. It doesn’t feel like it’s a waste of money now that I’ve proven that it’ll actually get some use.

This hobby actually goes surprisingly well with that coaster habit I have too. I’m still trying to figure out the easiest way to carry my knitting around the parks with me (I travel light inside the gates), but it’s great for the long road trips and flights that I find myself on frequently. You won’t be seeing me knitting on a roller coaster ever, but I’m not adverse to knitting on the midways or while waiting in line.

I’m starting to comment more on other blogs I read now, where I wasn’t doing that very often before. I might even meet a few of the local-to-my-state knitbloggers when I drag my best friend over to Ann Arbor in another week for the Harlot’s visit.

I’ve definitely expanded my knitting skills in the last year. That’s real easy to do the first year of a hobby though. At this point last year, I think I’d finished a couple scarves and a dishcloth. But I’d definitely qualify myself as somewhere between adventurous beginner and intermediate now even though I haven’t yet tackled the tasks of a sweater or a shawl.

I’m not really sure what drove me into blogging last spring. I was a brand new knitter, I think I’d just started reading blogs around the knitting Olympics. But my timing seems strange too. We were right in the middle of a major family crisis this time last year. I was in the middle of an emotional mess having almost lost my mom 2 weeks before to a fall that resulted in internal bleeding and emergency brain surgery. That’s pretty heavy stuff to deal with. And yet in the midst of all of that I sought refuge by carving out my own little corner of cyberspace with a primary focus that seemed frivolous in comparison.

So, I can’t say for sure what was going through my head at the time. But I’m glad that I set my stake in the ground and have spent the last year establishing the habit of writing something down on a regular basis. So, I’m not going anywhere, and I’m grateful for the slowly budding friendships that this blog has provided me with. I have a knack for finding great communities online and I know that the knitting community online is one of the best. I’m glad to be a part of it.

Ok, enough sappy reminiscent drivel, you all are really just waiting for me to host my first giveaway, right? That’s what I thought. So, comment on this post before April 1st and I’ll select someone who is a knitter and someone who isn’t a knitter (gotta get some of my non-knitting friends to comment here sometime). Make sure to distinguish which group you’re a part of in the comments.

For the knitter, I have a KimiK Sock*tastic Wool Yarn Color Kit in blues and purples. Definitely check out her yarns, the green socks that I made last year were with one of her merino sock yarns. The sock kit is 3 skeins, 2 solids and a coordinating variegate, that total a crazy 525 yards. I’ll probably throw in some other local treats as well.

For the non-knitter, I’ll figure something out, probably something cool from etsy as well as some of those local treats.

So, here’s to another year in blogland! Salut!

Remember this beauty?

Loved the way the colors laid themselves out all stripey like that, almost toned down the loudness of all the bright colors in the sock. But it got sent to the frog pond for being way too tight.

 Well, Sunday night I tried the larger jaywalker size with this yarn. Lets just say that that one got frogged a lot faster than this one did. The colors were attrocious. It pained me to look at it. It would have fit, but just the addition of those 8 stitched made it pool in a really odd funky stripey bad way. It took this great sock yarn and made it look like someone puked up colored easter eggs.

So, this yarn is refusing to let me make it into jaywalkers, but I love it at the 76 stitches and I’m certain that in a straight stockinette sock, that would be too wide.

I’m now on a quest, scouring patterns for one that will be fairly simple to show off the colors, work well over 76 stitches on size 1s, pull in enough that the socks don’t fall off, but is loose enough that I can actually put them on without cutting off ciculation to my toes. I suspect I’ll resort to fiddling and making up my own variation on the jaywalker theme.

In the meantime, I’ve got my fingers limbered up and ready to start round 2 of sock madness on Thursday. I’m even trying to be responsible and get caught up on the laundry before then.

I’ve moved to my own domain from blogger, still getting settled in and shuffling things around. Feel free to poke around, and let me know if anything looks out of place. I’ve got placeholder pages up at the home page for now. This should hopefully flesh out into a true site over time. If you happen to have me linked or read me in a blog catcher (bloglines, etc.), please update your links to point to the new domain, as the blogger blog will not be updated anymore.

and it’s name is Sock Madness….

I finished the first pair of sock madness socks in record time (for me) today. I got a late start because of the whole Cali trip (which was awesome) and didn’t cast on sock #1 until Sunday afternoon. A Lazy day on Monday saw the first sock finished. I cast on and knit the cuff of sock #2 on the redeye flight home Monday night, turned the heel on the bus ride from the airport and finished up the foot Tuesday afternoon and evening closing up the toe after my bedtime around 12:30. Even with my late start, I still managed to complete early enough to make it into the next round so I’m gearing up for round 2’s head to head soon.

In addition to knitting an entire pair of socks in three days (as if that weren’t enough)… I finished up the first Baudelaire early in the trip and turned the heel on the first Pomotomous on the trip out too. So, sock madness still extends beyond the insanity of the competition. The Pomo in 100% merino is squishy and amazing but slow going, the Baud is in Sundara sock yarn, and I’m absolutely adoring knitting with it and the color (denim over purple) is amazing and incredibly rich looking in this pattern. The photos don’t do it justice. Plus, it’s my first time doing a toe-up sock and I’m enjoying that process as well. However, because the first Pomo is on the needles, I won’t be starting the second Baud right away so I can keep a set of size 2’s open for future Sock Madness. I have my priorities…