Sunday, October 14, 2007



I finished the first sock in my strikke-along pair. It fits well, almost a little big but it's wool and may shrink a little when it's washed. I didn't do all the pattern repeats because the foot was getting really long and I hadn't gotten to the toe. I slipped it on and halfway through the last repeat, the sock already came to the base of my toes. I stopped the pattern and started the toe. Now, this was not a particularly difficult pattern and I didn't have to rip out too many stitches along the way. I even enjoyed knitting it most of the time. However, the toe, the plain stockinette, single color toe had to be ripped out and restarted 4 times. For some reason, I had a terrible time with the decreases. I am not sure I like them as they are written and may rip it out for a 5th time and do them differently. Overall, I am proud and pleased with the sock. It is thick and warm and since I always have cold feet in the winter, it will come in handy. It stretches enough but not too much and fits well.

Last night was the first time I took knitting out on a date with my husband where we were going to meet some friends. I had never met the girlfriend and was not sure what she would think of me sitting there knitting while I talked. She is 20 yrs younger and I wondered if she would think I was an old lady. I decided to chance it and was calmly working on a monkey sock when she came into the bar. She asked about it and admitted she had tried to learn to knit but hadn't had much success. I offered to help her the next time we get together but I don't think she'll take me up on it. I also discovered I can't converse easily while knitting. I talk with my hands and found that I was often putting the knitting down so I could contribute to the conversation. Needless to say, not much knitting progress was made but a good time was had by all.

The laundry is finally all folded and put away and the ironing is all done. I did the grocery shopping earlier and now it is time for some "me" time in which I will tackle the second snowflake sock. Otherwise my feet will have to fight over the one sock all winter!

14 comments:

Rose Red said...

Oh that looks fabulous! Great job!Isn't it funny (weird) how the "harder" bits of a pattern can be no trouble, but things you've done heaps of times can sometimes be annoyingly hard!
Are you going to do the second sock the same, or swap the colours?

Sheepish Annie said...

Wow! That is an amazing sock! Nice work. I love the pattern, the color and think that they will make some super warm foot coverings this winter!

Taphophile said...

Love the sock -you've done a great job. Bit of a bugger about the toe, though.

Judging KIP with new people can be hard. Sometimes it's great because it gives us something to talk about. I can see how talking with your hands could be a problem for knitting and also a potential danger with dpns!;)

Denise said...

What a wonderful and impressive sock! Bugger about the toe needing so much reknitting... I'm sure your feet will thank you this winter :D

Glad you took your knitting out with you - I generally take something mindless so I can knit and talk, and not have to unravel all my progress later on ;)

Em said...

Yay for knitting in public! It's a great way to spread the word, or at least make people realize it's not all old ladies knitting.

The socks are spectacular, I can't wait to see how the other one will turn out. I'm in favor of changing the toe decreases, I don't much like the look of them, either.

Bezzie said...

Oh wow, that sock is amazing! No way would I have had that kind of patience!

Dianne said...

Wow, it looks great! Better on the large side than too small. Can you imagine all that work, and then not being able to get the thing on your foot? It gives me chills just thinking about it!

MadMad said...

The sock looks great! Wow. I was laughing about your story in the bar with the knitting because I was debating the other day whether I could take mine out with me to a restaurant without getting funny looks... today I knit in the vet's office, which got a little awkward every time the dog lunged at someone, but really, I think it may have shortened my wait time a bit...

Bells said...

It's gorgeous! Just lovely. I want to make some too!

Monkey socks, although fairly easy, still don't make great conversation enablers. I'd take plain stockinette with me.

Michele said...

looks so warm and pretty!

TinkingBell said...

Lovely sock- aren't you clever - I tend to take boring no-brain type of knitting out with me (stocking stitch socks, feather and fan scarves) - that way I can still contreibute to the conversation - I found the monkeys needed concentration!

roxie said...

The sock is sooo pretty. If your two feet start fighting over it before the next sock is done, I would pay money to watch. I've never seen feet fight. Trying to imagine it just makes me smile.

Alwen said...

I do love the snowflake pattern, and it came out gorgeous on your sock!

Amy Lane said...

That came out SOOOOOO well... I'm so impressed with how quickly you did it, too!!! (Young kids are always impressed with how much us 'old ladies' know...I think that she probably thought you were uber-cool:-)

Happy Sunday!  I am sitting here working on my sweater made with the cashmere yarn my husband gave me for my birthday last year. I’m further...