A Worthy Opponent

My Sock Wars target sent me photos of the actual moment of her Sock Death and I just wanted to share them here.
Thanks for being such a good sport, Emmy, and I really hope you enjoy your Socks of Doom...

Suggestions Needed

I got this amazingly gorgeous Fleece Artist Sock Yarn from The Loopy Ewe, and I need YOUR help to find a pattern for it.

I'm thinking simple cables or perhaps a nice lace. Leave me your suggestions, please!

Also, OKC knitters, I'll be int own on the 3rd and 4th next month for the Oklahoma Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Superconference, so if anyone would like to take me yarn shopping one of those evenings, email me!

Socks of Doom

My Socks of Doom are complete, kitchenered, and ready to be posted to the UK. Sorry Emmy!

They are a bit oranger than this in real life, and unwashed and unblocked. Such niceties tend to fall by the wayside in times of war!

Waiting...

I thought I'd do a post while waiting for Sock Wars to begin. The pattern and dossier on our targets are supposed to be emailed out sometime today, so I am anxiously awaiting the information so I can get started. I just don't want to be "killed" right off the bat.

I had to go up to Chanute, Kansas, (my birthplace!) yesterday to take care of some things involving my grandparents' estate.

It's about a two-hour drive from Tulsa on a mostly two-lane highway and you always get stuck behind a farmer on a tractor going really slow.

It was rainy and chilly out yesterday, and I drove the whole way through intermittant rainshowers and sprinkles. I love that kind of weather, but only when I'm cozy at home. While driving, it just makes me sleepy.

I know that western Kansas is flatter than this part of the state (and, if you have Google Earth, take a look at western Kansas. What is with all the circles? If anyone knows, please tell me!), but, having grown up in Kentucky, it still amazes me how very flat is it out there. I do find this landscape very intriguing though, and it was beautiful yesterday under gray skies, and just the slightest tinge of fall colors.

The Curse of the Black Purl, or, Arrrgghhh! The Horror!

Thanks for all your kind comments and knitterly concern regarding my treatment at the hands of the local LYS. Thanks also for the encouragement on the We Call Them Pirates hat.

As I stated in my earlier post, I started the hat on Friday, September8th, and finished it on the following Sunday. Yes, two days. Very fast knit.

Anyway, the whole project started badly with the black Telemark yarn I ordered from Knitpicks. After I placed my order, I got an email saying that particular batch of black Telemark was recalled because of a failure to perform a final rinse of the yarn, which could result in bleeding colors. Well, we don't want that! So I waited another week for a replacement to be sent.

I have to add here that I absolutely hated the Telemark yarn. Both the black and the white were very splitty and scratchy. Even though I was using the supposed bleed-free black, my hands still ended up stained black every time I put the hat down. And the area mauled by my dog turned a dark gray from the black bleeding onto the white.

But I am getting ahead of myself!

I finished the hat, and, despite my best efforts at a swatch gauge before starting, the hat was too small for its intended recipient, my husband. A cursed project, indeed.

On Tuesday, right before I left to go to Knit Night at the library, I discovered that my dog, Annie, had been proceeding under the misconception that the hat was a chew toy. Seriously. The culprit's photo is at right. Note the evil glow in her eyes.

Now I have a gash in the rim of the hat that looks utterly unfixable to my eye.

Luckily, there's Knit Night, so I took the injured hat with me, but no one there was able to offer any suggestions other than, "Just do the best you can with it." (But I appreciated the sympathies and commiserations!)

So that's what I did.

Repair site, inside:

Repair site: outside:

I did the best I could with it, as advised.

Since it's too small for my husband, I decided to give it to my nephew, the only other pirate devotee I know:

This experience has not dampened my enthusiasm for the pattern though. I have already ordered enough yarn to make TWO more hats, including a pink and green version for myself. No Telemark this time though!

Lazy Sunday

Today was a slow day, just bumming around, knitting, watching a movie, then the really fun stuff like cleaning the bathroom and the kitchen.


Once football started, I made myself a cup of Constant Comment and sat down with the We Call Them Pirates hat. Funnest project evah! I just started this thing on Friday evening, and it has sped by, probably because the pattern is so fun to see emerge that it's hard to stop working on it.

I was in the LYS on Friday asking for help with a provisional cast-on and the store owner told me she thought this pattern was going to be too difficult for me. What the hell?!? I had never even met this woman before. And, of course, this is the same store I complained about before. So why do I keep going back? Because it's close by and I'm an idiot.

One thing I have learned to be when it comes to knitting is fearless, and her discouraging comments only increased my determination. Plus, the stupid woman didn't even know how to do a provisional cast-on. She had to get out her reference book and showed me something involving a crochet hook.

Anyway, my husband saw a photo of this hat online and decided he wanted one. So this one's for him. The project is so very entertaining though that I might make myself one too. I was thinking of doing it in pink and green, just for fun.


Speaking of the husband, here he is with Elly "watching" football. Doesn't he know schnauzers prefer soccer?

The worst part is I know that if I stole the remote and changed channels, he would instantly wake up and I'd be busted. Bleh. Football sucks.

Socks Finished, Socks Begun

I finally finished the Koigu jaywalkers. They look great, I think, with the picot edge. However, even though Koigu costs $11 freaking dollars a skein, they still can't seem to get the dye lots to match. So one of my socks is a slightly more washed-out version. Ah, well.

So when I finished the socks last night, I decided to work on some more MDK warshcloths, just because they are so fun. No sooner did I get settled back in my chair with my dishcloth cotton did my husband say he wanted me to make him some socks now.

Ok, fine. I got out the Heritage Handspun Jae sent me a couple of months ago and cast on for the Gentleman's Plain Winter Sock from Knitting Vintage Socks. This should be a nice realxing knit. The yarn is gorgeous, by the way, 75% wool, 25% mohair. It's very lustrous.

Also, I forgot to mention when I got my One Skein Secret Pal final package, although I did thank my pal via email. She sent some mint hot chocolate, scented candles, and a lovely crocheted scarf in a great shade of blue. I love the scarf--I think it's very pretty and has a vintage-y feel to it. Thanks, Melinda!

ETA: My deckhand photo made it into Yarnival! That's pretty exciting, thanks, Eve.