shorty socks

And more socks.

They look more or less like the other socks that I’ve already finished. I did the longer cuffed socks first, now I’m just trying to squeeze out a few pairs of the shorties out of the skein ends.

There is something innately satisfying about looking over and seeing a flock of socks form on the corner of my desk.

I haven’t exactly been very definite lately.

Me? A sock knitter?

I seem to work best in bursts. After a stint of yarnlessness (it was really not pretty) I went through a bit of a knitting related dry spell.

Actually, if I hadn’t been for the knitting this week I would have probably gone off the deep end.

It’s been a rough week for me. Not to sound cynical, but I learned (for the umpteen-thousandth time) that people who have a track record of flaking off will not randomly metamorphose into reliable and trustworthy butterflies. It’s one of those lessons that I think I’ve fully integrated, then I relapse and start with the whole irrational belief that people are generally benevolent.

So, with this kind of frustration I figure it’s best to put yarn on my knitting needles before I succumb to the temptation to violently stab them into human flesh. Because that sort of thing is generally frowned upon in polite company.

I think if I were to reknit this I’d add at least 3 more inches in length. Maybe just a squidge more.

The finishing was super easy, I snipped a small hole in the top to let the lid button through, and sliced holes to let through the spout and handle.

I’m going to mount googly eyes on it and make it my friend.

Where it is now.

Hopefully when it’s out of the washing machine, it’ll be suitably felted and appropriately sized to my Amsterdam teapot, then I’ll slice a openings for the handle and the spout.

I cross my fingers.

I’ve finished one light blue Garden plot square and started on the second one.

The squares are coming out nicely, but I have to work considerably less on them because the cotton has no give and makes my wrists ache.

Honest.

The yarn is my handspun merino-bamboo blend “Fire Opal” hand-painted by the talented Moonlightbaker.

The blogging plan went awry though. I couldn’t sleep, my brains felt like they were going to explode and there’s nothing more soothing to painful brains than a knitting project that doesn’t require too much deep thought.

Once I decide on a tried and true thing it’s very hard for me to change brands, or even styles within a brand. I debated for days, then weeks, and then timidly added harmony interchangable needles and cables to my shopping cart. I must have read the description at least a hundred times before completing the order (that’s the thing with monomania, it is an OCD and not a terribly fun one at that.) I ordered a set of size 4 and a set of size 6, along with 24″ and 32″ cables.

They are beautiful. The joins to the cable are smooth and the tips are perfectly pointylicous.

Lexi’s baby doll provided the perfect opportunity to try out the size 4 needles. The green and white sweater was done on size 0 bamboo needles, yarn is 2-ply Falkland sock yarn that I spun up last year or the year before last. The purple and blue yarn is 2 ply merino sportweight that I dyed and spun around the same nonspecific time frame. I knit that one using my new needles, I love my new needles.

Love love love!

Like making a pair of undies for Lexi’s baby in a gender neutral acrylic yarn. No embiggening needed for this picture, I think this is about all the hideousness of acrylic, crochet and mustard yellow that one can take (even from a distance) without having some kind of allergic reaction.

There are plans in the works to make baby a durable and moderately less horrible wardrobe of booties, shirts, gowns, and hats. Is there a particular reason that doll clothes never seem to stay with a doll once it is in a little girls possession?

Please note, I would never do this to a real human child. This is plastic child, so plastic yarn is perfectly appropriate.

My friend Opal sent me some delicious handpainted fiber in a care package which enabled my latest knitting project.

Can you tell what it is?

It’s a spiralling scarf. Constructed like a flat doily, the only difference is that I didn’t stop making sections when it reached a circle, I just kept knitting the segments until I ran out of yarn.

The last bit of embellishment needs to wait but the plan is to put beads and coins on the outer segment corners.

Oh, and the heels are very very pointy.

I still have no clue as to why I bought that yarn in the first place. None.

At least they went quickly enough.