More socks

I just finished editing a few more pictures of my brother's work socks. They're all up on Ravelry (subtropicalkatie), but I thought I'd share them here too.














Halloween place mat sock blocker

A tale of two socks

My patient brother was the only member of my family not to get a handmade gift for Christmas last year, so I told him he could choose any item he wanted, and I would make it first thing in 2008. He chose socks -- specifically Nancy Bush's Gentleman's Half Hose in Ringwood Pattern from her book "Knitting Vintage Socks." I had never made finished a pair of socks before. So I wasn't quite prepared for what was in store: millions of tiny, tiny stitches in the same pattern for rows and rows and rows. And then you have to repeat the same thing all over again for the second one. So here it is nearly 10 months to the day from my promise, and I'm finally delivering the goods. To my credit, 2008 has been a crazy year with two moves, a new job, an impromptu trip to Paris, among other things. But the real reason for the delay is that I really don't like making socks -- perhaps more specifically, I really don't like making second socks. The first one was finished before I moved away from New Orleans in February. And I've been "working" on the second one ever since. So Hunter, I hope you like these socks because they are more than likely the only *pair* I will ever make.

Without further ado, a pictorial essay of Hunter's work socks:

I knitted so much that I snapped a needle. (Or maybe I just got so frustrated when I realized I had dropped two stitches...)




Poor broken needle. Luckily these suckers come in sets of five.


Finally finished!! Trying them on for size. Way too big for me...


More sampling. Koigu is really soft and lovely. Those Canadians know what they're doing. These socks, however, are not at all flattering on my legs. Here's hoping they look better on Hunter.


Sock blocking.


Drying on the "veranda" (aka my sketchy fire escape).


More dryage. I made my sock blocker (singular) out of a Halloween place mat from Target. Unfortunately one place mat was not big enough to make two blockers, so these suckers took extra long to dry.


And now, all the stitches are set, they're boxed and ready. Keep an eye out for the postman, Hunter, cause your socks are finally on their way!

Happy VD

As a Valentine's Day present to you, dear reader, I'm inundating your Bloglines or Google Reader with lots of posts (OK, just two). In this post, I wanted to showcase a recently finished object and the progress being made on a couple of WIPs.

First up: the Little Gems Mitts. I finished these while traveling to visit my friend, Kate, in St. Louis a few weekends ago. These were my sixth pair of fingerless mitts to knit, according to Ravelry, but they are the seventh pair to be a part of my life. I bought my very first pair of fingerless mitts during a school trip to St. Louis many moons ago. In honor of that seemingly life-changing event, Kate and I took a drive-by pilgrimage to Union Station, location of the historic sale. Here's the camera-phone picture to prove it. But while that original pair are buried deep in a closet at my parents' house, my new Little Gems Mitts are out and about in full force. We've even had a couple of unseasonably cool days here in Nola, so I've been enjoying them.


I used the Jamieson's Shetland Spindrift called for in the pattern and really loved it. I'm glad I have so many lovely shades of green left over to make something else.


The first WIP is my brother's work sock. I've finished the first one and have started the second one. Here's a couple of shots of the first one. I'm using Nancy Bush's "Gentleman's Half Hose" pattern from the Knitting Vintage Socks book and Koigu Premium Merino in brown.




Finally, I've been plodding along on the Turkish cape. Stranding five colors while purling is definitely a challenge but not as difficult as I originally anticipated. I'm actually coming along pretty quickly with this knit—but maybe that's also because I love the pattern and the bright, bold colors.

La buona sorella

So I made it a week before I broke my resolution. But it's not entirely my fault. I had grand plans of posting this weekend, but when I went to upload new photos to flickr, I got this message:

"flickr is having a massage."

Go figure.

Anyhow, I haven't started the Turkish cape yet because of a small mishap with needle sizes. But after some begging and pleading at my LYS for an exchange, that's all taken care of. I should be casting on sometime soon. In the meantime, I've been working on a present I promised my brother. He was the only one in my family who didn't get a true handmade item for Christmas, so I told him he could choose his own present for an after-Christmas treat. He decided he wanted some socks he could wear with his work shoes (read: business cas...) So I went to my LYS, and after begging and pleading to exchange my Turkish cape needles, I purchased my first Koigu. Four hanks of Premium Merino—these are going to be some expensive socks!



They're coming along fine so far. These pictures were taken last Friday when I had just barely started, and flickr was "having a massage," but I've turned the first heel (not nearly as stressful as anticipated), and am well into the foot now. The first one should be finished in the next day or so. Then I hope I can keep myself motivated to finish the second one sometime before next Christmas! (The pattern is Nancy Bush's "Gentleman's Half Hose in Ringwood Pattern" from Knitting Vintage Socks.)