Gift Socks

Until now, my mom and sister-in-law have been the only people on my regular sock recipient list because I know that they'll both wear my socks. Too often, I've given away socks to people who think handknit socks are either too warm or too pretty to actually wear. These people are decidedly off my list. When we were in Boston, my aunt and cousin said they'd wear my socks so I promised each a pair. At least a pair, maybe more if I get them done. Here is the finished pair of Cable Twist socks for my aunt.



I started a pair of Jaywalkers for my cousin. Blogland, I am the only knitting blogger who has yet to make a pair of these. OK, well that's a bit of a stretch but it seems like it could be true. I'm using Regia Canadian Fashion Color in #4732 (Toronto). The pattern is easy and I like watching the self-striping turn out but I'm not totally in love with the Jaywalker like some people. It's a good pattern for this type of yarn but that's about all I can say about it.

Cable Twist Socks v. 2.0

Well, it certainly is nice to be able to answer all of you! I'm so glad I switched to Haloscan! I've also added a new header banner (thanks to French Roast Design) with a few more new design elements coming soon.

Here are a few progress pictures on the Cable Twist socks. I hope to finish them this week! Johanna asked how many balls of Swish you need for a pair. I'm using 3 balls for women's size 8 socks with a 6" leg. I'm knitting them up on US 2s with 56 sts around. My other pair of Swish socks will probably take 4 balls, as I used a longer leg.

One class session down, 573842758345894302 more to go. So far, so good. I'm pretty excited about this particular professor. He uses CHALK. No joke. No whipping through PowerPoint slides at breakneck pace. PowerPoint for very detailed material is just worthless, in my opinion. Organic chemistry? Lots of details. There is hope.

Ack! Where did my comments go?

Yes, that's right, I think I deleted all the comments from my blog when I moved to Haloscan comments. Sorry, folks! But at least now, I'll be able to WRITE YOU BACK when you leave me a note!!! I really dislike Blogger's comment system and I finally got around to changing so you'll all hear more from me in the future!! I've also just upgraded my Blogger template so if things look funky to you, please let me know, OK?

OK, so lots of you like how the stripes look in ribbing. I'm glad I'm in the minority. I really do like how Regia's Canadian Fashion colors look. I have a ball of Toronto too that I'll be knitting up soon. I might try using several inches of ribbing and a stockinette sock. Just for kicks. All because you people say it really works. If they don't stay up, I'll gift them to someone with more cooperative legs. How about that?

Some great packages arrived at my doorstep this week. First, a Knit Picks order with some Telemark for colorwork,
some grey Swish Superwash for some muted socks,
and 32" circular needles in sizes 0 and 1.
Next, a care package containing some sock yarn, a great pair of wristwarmers, a Magic Loop booklet and a running diary!!!! Thanks, SP! You rock!
All will come in handy, I suspect. I'm really stoked about getting back to logging runs.

Yesterday, I tried out the jogging stroller again and miraculously enough, Beatrix fell asleep and I ran/walked for 90 minutes. I think it was at least five miles. Rock on. Unfortunately, I'm exhausted today. Maybe I was a little too excited. I started out intending to walk around the block but I wore exercise clothes just in case B fell asleep. When I was out, I started planning out how I could do this every afternoon and it would be a great way to kill time and get back to running shape. I will not get ahead of myself. I have no expectations. If she lets me run during the day, great. If not, I'll stick to my evening routine.

So, where were we? Oh yeah, packages that came... One last one: an order of Bum Genius cloth diapers. I'm a new convert. We've been using diapers I made, cotton prefolds with Bummis covers and a few handmade pocket diapers. Let me tell you, these diapers are so much better. They allegedly fit babies 8-35 lbs. There's this ingenious snap system that allows you to shorten or lengthen the diaper to fit and then the tabs are stretchy. Brilliant. I'm not giving up prefolds, however. Those poofy prefold diapers are versatile and, frankly, much cheaper than the Bum Genius diapers. We'll use the BG diapers when we leave the house, I think.

Finally, a progress report on my Cable Twist socks. I'm still working on #1 but the end is in sight.
I hope to finish this one this weekend and maybe start #2. I start back to school on Monday so we'll see how much knitting I get done next week. I'm really nervous about going back to school. I had to drop down lots of hours last semester because I had a 2 week old baby. I know that there is a huge difference between 2 weeks and 5 months in terms of how much B needs me but I'm still really nervous about it. It will be fine, I'm sure.

Regia Montreal Socks

Another FO!! Well, I've been working on these for the last two weeks so it's not as if I turned these babies out in the last day or two.

I love the feet but I really hate the ribbing. Ugh. It's a good thing my pant legs will cover that up! Stacey noted that the reason the Jaywalker pattern took off was because good patterns for self-striping yarn are so hard to find. I totally agree. Ribbing and self-striping do not work well together, as you can see below.
This brings me to another issue. For those of you that knit socks without a ribbed leg, how do your socks stay up??? I have to have a ribbed leg or a pattern that functions the way ribbing does in order to keep my socks up. ESPECIALLY with sock yarn. Heavier yarn helps stand the sock up. What do you sock experts say? Is there a secret? I see knitters knitting stockinette socks with a few inches of ribbing and I just wonder if those socks are worn bunched around the ankles.

Speaking of socks, there is a new pair on my needles. Another pair of Cable Twist Socks because I liked knitting the first pair so much! I think I'll send these to my aunt. The yarn is Knit Picks Swish Superwash in Baby Blue from my latest stash expansion. I've been wearing the white pair a lot these days because of the extremely cold days we've had and I *love* them. I need pairs in all colors!!

Winter Sunrise Pattern

I'm back! We had a wonderful time in Boston, visiting my family and dropping by the boarding school I attended to see all of the changes. One of the reasons for the trip was that my cousin Ida was home from Stockholm so it was a chance for us to see her! Go visit her - she blogs about life as a "love immigrant" in Sweden. I'm trying to convince her that she needs a knitting addiction now that she's in the land of knitters!

Thanks for all of your comments about my new hat. I am totally in love with it. Unfortunately, I've just realized that it looks pretty bad with my bright blue down coat. I guess most people make their winter knits match their winter coats. Maybe I need to buy a new coat to match my hat! That would be a new low, I think, don't you?

Here are some more hat pictures. I'm quite smitten with it, particularly the colors. And the crown 'X'. I've posted the pattern in the sidebar, if you're interested in it.

In other knitting news, I broke into one of those self-striping skeins of Regia (Canadian Fashion Color #4730, "Montreal") on the way to Boston. I'm halfway into the second sock.
I picked a generic 2x2 rib because we were on our way out the door and I did not have any time to find a pattern that would show off the stripes. I definitely dislike how the stripes look in the rib but the rest of the sock is OK. I think I'll make a pair of Jaywalkers with the second skein of Regia wool. I'm going to send Ida some socks - maybe the Jaywalkers will be just the thing.

Finished Winter Sunrise

Thank you so much for all of your well wishes for Aaron's grandmother. She's had good days and bad days but we're hoping that with better pain management, she'll be on the road to recovery.

This is going to be a quick post because we're off to Boston tomorrow to see my family. I've been meaning to blog all week but we've been too busy preparing to leave. Nevertheless, I thought I'd post a picture of my latest FO. I'll post better pictures and the pattern when I get back next week. For now, I give you Winter Sunrise:

Happy New Year!