Scored big time

My Sockapalooza 4 socks arrived in the mail yesterday. The socks were impeccably knit and blocked, soft and clean and smelling sweet as a bunny after a bubble bath...For a few seconds there after opening the box I completely forgot how to knit and couldn't believe someone could make something so exquisite with their own two hands.

Knit by: Sara, formerly of knitwerk.com
Pattern: Loksins! I had never seen this pattern before.
Yarn: Sundara Sock Yarn. The red is actually more wine than true red. It's beautiful.
Bonus materials: French soap, cat treats, stationery and semi-solid Koigu! SCORE!

Now I know why my sister-in-law always gives me funny looks when I tell her knitting is really not that hard. It certainly looks hard, doesn't it?

A perfect fit. Swoon.

Comments [34]
Filed Under: Socks | Sockapalooza

Oh, hi!

Where has this month gone? Unfortunately I've been getting used to not blogging.

Dottie soaks up some Provencal sun in the medieval town of Les Arcs, southern France

It's been a real busy month or so, between the moving and the trip (planned MUCH MORE in advance than the move) and work. I've hardly knit, and I wasn't going to blog until my Sockapalooza socks arrived, so at least I'd have something to blog about...They're not here yet though, but I've been assured they're on their way.

Enjoying the flower market in Aix

In the meantime, my sock pal, Faith, has received her Twisted Flowers Socks. The whole package took a little detour before getting to its final destination: my departure date coincided with the deadline, so I decided I'd be all efficient and swing by the post office on the way to the airport. Unfortunately the post office had moved 2 blocks further down, which isn't a big deal but with 100 degree weather and a haul of luggage it might as well have been 2 miles away. So into my carry-on it went for a little joyride to Europe and back. So much for efficiency and finishing early. The funny thing is up until recently Faith was based in Germany (she's in NY for now), and when she goes back the socks in its short life will have traveled across the Atlantic three times.

It's a miracle I didn't lose them. I brought my Drunken Bees with me - very nicely did they keep my toes toasty on the plane - and now I have no idea where they are. :-(

Maybe they escaped and are hiding here with all the other drunken bees.

Comments [14]
Filed Under: Postcards from Dottie | Sockapalooza | Travel

Packed and ready to go

Sockapalooza 4 socks - and some extras - are ready for their sendoff tomorrow! I'm sending them on the early side because they are going overseas...

And so are we. There will be sun, sea, olives, drunken bees in lavender ready for harvesting, lots of wine and good good food. And family. Ah yes it's been a tough lifestyle we've been living these past few weeks I tell you. ;)

(Though I have to say, boy am I tired.)

Catch you in a coupla weeks...

Comments [12]
Filed Under: Socks | Sockapalooza | Twisted Flower

This time they're really done

Pattern: Twisted Flower Socks by Ms. Cookie A. As if I had to remind anyone.
Yarn: Cherry Tree Hill Supersock in Burgundy, one skein
Needles: US1
For: My Sockapalooza pal xoxoxo
Modifications: I have a favorite toe thanks to knitting Meida's Socks by Nancy Bush - decrease at each side of the foot every other row until you have a total of 32 stitches (or 8 sts on 4 needles), then decrease every row until there are a total of 8 stitches (or 2 sts on 4 needles), then cut the yarn, take a tapestry needle, thread the yarn through and tighten the hole. I find this makes for a very natural fit that curves nicely over the toes, much better than the straight edge produced when grafting.

So after posting about these last week I immediately ripped the first sock up past the heel so they would match what I did with the second sock, which was to follow the lovely heel pattern as written and extend the foot by another leaf pattern repeat.

We match now.

If you were to take a peek at this pattern, at the heel and foot chart, every single row of them meticulously laid out from bottom to top, all those twisted cables, traveling in a precise direction, where the tiniest of missteps would derail the whole effect, you'd probably want to rip your eyes out before having to start over again.

But it really didn't pain me to do this. I was so zen. It had to be done. I hardly demand perfection for myself; in fact I practically revel in my own knitting disheveledness. But for Sock Pal, for someone whom I will probably not meet in person? My socks will be my proxy. They will be my Goodwill Ambassadors. And like Angelina J0lie they will have to be perfect.

(Maybe I will name my socks Angelina J0lies. They are beautiful, they are complicated, and Br@dPitt would want a piece if he met them.)

And in any case, I just really enjoyed knitting these socks. No second sock syndrome in the slightest. They went by so quickly, despite all the slow-downs of cabling and having to refer to the chart. I'm not normally this patient, but I think having that entire chart for the foot written out that you could tick off, row by row as you finished, kept me focused and paced so that I wasn't constantly badgering myself with Are we there yet? How much longer? Can we go now?

I'm really glad I picked to do these socks. Sock Pal definitely made things easy for me by specifying semisolid to solid colored yarns. Picking the right yarn out of a whole universe of lovely yarns would overload my processes, but when you can disregard the variegateds (ie the hardest ones to resist), the patterns to choose from for strictly solids become obvious. Twisted Flower was obvious. And not only did I have a great time knitting, I was able to do it in confidence, without worrying whether or not my Sock Pal will like them.

Unless of course she thinks Angelina J0lie is ugly.

The only problem I have is to not mail these off right now. I hope I don't misplace them in the moving shuffle!

Comments [44]
Filed Under: Completed Projects | Socks | Sockapalooza | Twisted Flower

Twisted Flowers

Ah, if only these were truly finished. I used an eye of the partridge heel instead of following the pattern for the first sock, then decided while knitting the second sock that I should have just used the pattern as written afterall (much prettier), and also while I was at it with all the inconsistent knitting, I went ahead and made the foot longer. If I were to keep these myself I would consider these done and call it a day, but I don't think my Sockapoolza pal would appreciate my mismatched/lazy aesthetics...

Duck and I are still here in Rhode Island until this evening. Kitty and her crew left yesterday. Man I just hate to be the last to leave.

Newport, RI

Comments [29]
Filed Under: Socks | Sockapalooza | Twisted Flower | Travel

Want to shoot self

Sockapalooza 4 is barely underway and I've already revealed myself to my sock pal.

I left a comment on her blog, signed with an alias, left the url and email fields blank (blank! I tell you I left them blank!), hit publish...and voila. There's my blog url for all to see.

!@#$!? cookies.

That was an amateur move. I feel like I'm not wearing any pants.

Goddamnit.

Hi Sock Pal. Hi.

Comments [18]
Filed Under: Sockapalooza

I get involved

Everyone, be proud of my unsocial, ungathery self, for I have done the previously unthinkable and joined a knit-along. Sockapalooza 4, everybody, Sockapalooza 4 and I are BFF's!! In fact I was so excited to get my pal's information last night that I immediately casted on and finished a sock!

Tada! Isn't it a beauty???

OK not really. I mean the part about having started the sock last night. It is definitely, without question, very beautiful, so much so that I will buy for my lovely little sock a little sparkly tiara and build her a little runway so that she may sashay her pretty self around the house for all to admire. You can thank CookieA for this brilliant pattern, called the Twisted Flower Sock.

I started it several weeks ago and have been knitting it very off and on. Through the first round of pattern I had a sneaking suspicion that it was going to be too big for me. I kept chugging along though, one because the pattern is, well, so drop-dead gorgeous, and so fun to do, and second, I was hoping that perhaps I would be assigned to someone who might specifically mention liking 
- sock yarns with that tight beady twist (as Cherry Tree Hill Supersock has)
- solid colored yarns (this one's in Burgundy)
- and had a slightly bigger foot than me, maybe half an inch or so longer and wider...

If all applied I would be able to just go ahead and knit this for my pal.

And wouldn't you know it: Check, check, and check on all three counts!

I didn't follow the pattern through to the heel, fearing it would too loose.

But I might very well change my mind. It is only May (May!?!) afterall...

*****

So speaking of swaps, I'd like to take this final opportunity to thank everyone who participated in the Knitterly Letter Swap. I hope everyone enjoyed writing and receiving their letters. I did. There was a period where I had a letter waiting for me in the mailbox for 4 consecutive days. It was better than Christmas! I owe several replies...Anyway, there were a few snafus with lost letters, returned letters, etc. and I tried my best to follow up with people, but of course it's impossible to police and to make sure every letter gets to where it needs to go. Last week I paired up all letterless folks who contacted me with a "savior," and they sent their letters out to you almost immediately (thank you saviors! and those who volunteered but didn't get used). So I really hope all of you who joined have received at least one letter, and that you've got your letter-writing juices flowing enough to continue writing more!

Comments [32]
Filed Under: Letter-writing | Socks | Sockapalooza | Twisted Flower