In which I discuss socks, how I failed the Ravelympics, and school uniforms...

I have not posted in a while! (not that anybody really reads my blog anyway... if you are out there, please leave a comment, even if it's just "Hi!"! If you're not posting advertisements or obsceneties, I don't mind if it's spammy.) Hmm... Probably a few more exclamation points than I really need. Anyway, I've been meaning to post my wheel of socks for a while now, but never got around to it:


Starting at the right with the white pair, and going clockwise:

• Simple anklets with spot lace motif on instep. Patons Grace, Snow. Finished in November 2005.
• Elongated Corded Rib from Sensational Knitted Socks. (oh, thank you, Ravelry!) KnitPicks Dancing in Swing (discontinued). Circa summer 2006
• Ribbed Lace, again from SKS. KnitPicks Parade in Daffodil (this yarn had an error on an insert about a gauge error on the lable, calling it "parade following yarn"!) (discontinued) Circa summer to fall 2006.
• Welt Fantastic, SKS. KnitPicks Simple Stripes in Sweet Tarts (discontinued). Circa summer to fall 2006 (hmm... I thought it took me longer than that, but then I don't generally have socks on the needles that long.)
• Simple rib with Dutch Heel. The heel is from Folk Socks. ModaDea Sassy Stripes (A yarn I don't love-squeaky acrylic) in Storm. Winter 2006
• Braid Cable with Garter ridge from SKS. KnitPicks Essential Ash. Circa summer 2006 to January/February 2007. This, Welt Fantastic, and Ribbed Lace were all started at about the same time, but this took the longest time to finish, due to size 0 needles. Also, should you ever see a close up of this sock, I knitted it following the mistaken chart which erroneously inserted too many rows.
• Laburnum from SKS. Patons Grace in Lavender. The yarn doesn't wear that well. Winter to spring 2007.
• Little Shell Rib from SKS. KnitPicks Palette in Apricot. Spring to Summer, possibly into fall 2007.
• Basketweave Rib from SKS. KnitPicks Parade in Gumdrop. Finished circa fall 2007(?).
• Volare-my own version of a stitch dictionary pattern imposed on the Chevron stitches for self-striping yarn structure from SKS. KnitPicks Felici in Hummingbird. Fall 2007.
  
• Meida's Socks from Favorite Socks. KnitPicks Risata in Dusk. Fall into winter 2007
• Mocassin Socks as detailed in the November chapter of Knitter's Almanac. Patons Classic Merino in Paprika and some brown color. I don't remember when I started these, probably fall of '07. They were finished in February of this year--much of the second sock was knitted while watching The Two Towers movie, which I mentioned in a February entry.
• Crossover Rib Socks, SKS. KnitPicks Dancing in Tap. Started but frogged in September or October of '07 and knitted on while stranded in stand still traffic on the way back from a field trip to Frankfort, KY. Restarted winter '07/'08, finished around April or May of '08.
• "The-Socks-Not-To-Be-Named" or so I've been calling them. I originally called them Thrascia's socks or a title based on her name, but as Thrascia is my own character from a fanfiction that hasn't been published, no one knows who she is! They're my own stitch pattern imposed on the cable chapter skeleton from SKS. Knit in KnitPicks Essential Tweed Marina(color discontinued). Started in summer '07, finished probably in May '08.

Not shown:

• My very first pair of socks in a very basic pattern. Bernat Sox (the old sort) in Jazz Hot. December '04-May '06 or so(?) Because: They're my mom's, and I didn't bother to get them for photography.
• Purled Ladder, SKS. KnitPicks Palette in Nutmeg. (I think both colors of Palette I've used here are discontinued). Sept./Oct. '06 into January '07. Because: They're my dad's (supposed to be a Christmas gift...) and again I didn't bother to get them for photography.
• Austrian Socks from Favorite Socks. KnitPicks Palette in Rainforest Heather. Sept '07 to June '08. Because: Not finished on May 10, when this photo was taken.
• Entrelac Socks from Interweave Knits Spring '07. KnitPicks Palette in Ivy and Brindle Heather. January-July 2008. Because: Not finished by date of photo.

I do have in progress photos of the latter two, but no finished photos:


To the left/first photo: first Austrian sock, up in the air.
To the right/second photo: first Entrelac sock, again up in the air.

And now, to break up the monotony, we present:
(drumroll)
Reason #4,375 why Estonian lace and knitting group are not a good combination:

[imagine dramatic photo of mangled shawl here. Cry, weep, and optionally tear at clothing]

Okay, so I'm being over dramatic. In any case, I haven't made any progress on Laminaria (alias Aearlinnod) since early July due to this, with the dubitable excuse that I was going to take a photo. While at my knitting group, I was knitting on Laminaria... and forgot one of the 3-into-9 stars. I didn't notice this rather large error (the sort a non knitter would notice if they looked at all closely at the shawl; it also messes up the pattern) until I had purled the wrong side row (we're talking around 200 stitches or more) and knitted across to the error. My standard method of fixing things is to drop stitches down. Isn't gonna work. There is most certainly not enough slack in the yarn to make nine stitches when only three were knitted. I'm also not about to frog the thing. Hello? I'm into the blossom pattern now. So: tink, tink, tink, tink, tink, tink, tink, tink, tink until about to defenestrate knitting, and tink some more.

(Note to self: This is a minor problem. You can do this, and with minor complaint, too. Settle down with some inspiring but non-distracting music and tink.)

How to fail the Ravelympics, in twelve steps:

Step 1: Be sure to overcommit yourself.

Step 2: Don't train.

Step 3: Don't have yarn and needles and pattern ready and waiting to start.

Step 4: Cast on laceweight while tired.

Step 5: Try to read and re-read Discworld books while not knitting.

Step 6: Introduce self to Discworld MUD. Play for hours on end. Repeat.

Step 7: Fail to utilize lots of free time as knitting time.

Step 8: Find out that you are not supposed to knit in the car when your paternal parent is within.

Step 9: Divide time between three pairs of socks.

Step 10: Need to recalculate rib pattern for sole of one sock.

Step 11: Worry about school; detracts from knitting time.

Step 12: Realize that you might just be finished if you had not decided to knit projects on size 0 and 00 needles.


And here's some pictures of my Ravelympics projects:

Or no... I don't have time to get the pictures up!