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1, 2, 3 Socks—I'm Out

Done! The final sock toe was grafted during the 10th inning. Yeah! I'm glad the sock-session is over at the same time as the playoffs. I had said I wouldn't be showing these socks to you, but hey! they are so cute I just gotta post a photo.

These are Regia Mini-Ringel Color, #5342, on US size 1 needles for a soon-to-be-13 nephew, and the background color is actually a deep purple. I like them.

As the festival of sock finishing mercifully draws to a close, I am ready to return to my Morning Glory Vest by Alice Starmore. When last we looked at it on 7 October, it was ready for arm steeks—do you remember? No? Here's a photo from way back then:

Pups

The pups went to visit their new vet today, so there was much nervous dachshund energy, which included restless milling about between my ankles in the examing room and a general tangling of leashes and some random growling. Here they are, trying to be invisible dachshunds.

I'm glad we have a nice new vet; there seem to be periodic dachshund emergencies, and so it's good to be prepared. The pups are very dear to me, in case you hadn't guessed by now :-) Knowing that their records and shots and dispositions are all introduced to new vet techs and vets now is a worry I can cross off my worry-list.

But why worry? Mikey says It's Friday!! So Share the Love and Pass the Cookies!

Have a great weekend! I'm going to meet the Austin Guild knitters and crocheters on Saturday, and I'm most pleased! Virginia, have a wonderful weekend at Rhinebeck; I miss you and wish I was going too.

Socktivity

My enforced sockknitting is nearly over; last night during the Cubs game I worked down to the gusset on the final sock-on-deadline; I'm three days ahead of my scheduled delivery and two and a half pairs of socks up, so I feel like I'll make it. Oh, what a sad ballgame. Let's not speak of it again, shall we?

Textile News:

Last weekend, Sister and I went to the South Austin Street Fair, held in the parking lot of the Horseshoe Lounge (pop-ups), and I completely forgot to tell you about the textiles we rescued. They were sitting in a basket and it was going to rain at any moment; there was nothing to do but fork over our combined limited cash! I must say Sister was very gracious about it, and so was the careless vendor, who let us have the pieces for the contents of our wallets, 16 bucks. They are vintage embroidery pieces, but I'm not familiar with the format. They are canvases that are handpainted, but the background is all millions of stitches, presented in a painterly way. Then the details are filled in with hand-stitching. I'm going to ask Brent (whose birthday it was yesterday) if he's seen anything like them. Here they are; have you seen anything like them?

And you can see a bit of the back of the Fujisan canvas here, too.

Cool, eh? And just sitting there, waiting to come home.

Pups

Little Jack says Welcome to Thursday.

Della advises you to Pounce on the Good Stuff!

Mikey sends his woofy love, but doesn't want to pose. Have a great day; we'll be waiting for you on Friday!

Approaching Maximum Sockosity

Thank you, Teresa, for putting up that scary counter! I'm down to the last sock of the three pairs I needed to finish, and it feels good! Ribbing is complete! No photo today, because this pair is for a special someone who sometimes reads this bloggity. For a photo of some ultra-cool knitting, I recommend you rush right over to Amber's blog entry of 5 October.

Not a lot of knitting or other news from me today, as yesterday was A Visit From Mother Day, and that tends to tire me out. However, it's a new day, with knitting time allotted, Mother Is Back Home, and so I aim to get nearly finished with the sole sock that stands between me and my regularly scheduled knitting!

Jack says WOOF it up, 'cause it's Wednesday! Have a very good one!

Sock-cess

We continue to successfully crank out those pesky socks that are missing mates, so scroll down to the cute pup photo if you're bored with my socks. I certainly am. Only one sock left to do, because I finished the acid-green Opals. I'd like to be able to tell you what color number they are, but there isn't a designation on the label--really!

Little Jack calls your attention to the blue blobby-bits that nearly match from sock to sock around the gusset area. The self-patterning definitely broke, but at nearly the same place. Who knows why this yarn works this way? It's too mysterious for words. But I like it.

A pup-less view:

Sweet! Nearly day-glow, and done. All that's left is the toe of the Regia and its mate to clear out my sock basket and finish my sock-knitting deadlines. Closer yet to my reunion with the Morning Glory Vest by Alice Starmore. Oh! Ginny asked how I avoided the sock ladder syndrome while working with two circular needles...I think it's because I automatically snug the yarn up to the working needle as I go. However, I'm sure there are other excellent methods, and they can probably all be found in the Tips section of the Socknitters site.

Smart Clothes

Intelligent textiles and garments fascinate me. Are you also interested? If so, check the Wear Me Exhibition page for the latest in tech-clothes. I love the idea of the shirt that sheds its own wrinkles through body heat. I'd like one of those, please. Why can't I have a smart sock that knits itself, I wonder? Or at least a doppelganger who liked to do nothing but knit up my sock stash? Surely an evil twin would come in handy sometime.

Pups

Della is curious: is that powdered donut sugar on your chin?

Happy Tuesday! Work it, knitters, and we'll meet again tomorrow.

Socked Up

By dint of sheer socking willpower, I finished the odious birthday-request socks this weekend. Not many people get to demand socks from me, but the recipient is a special case. Knitting on demand is difficult for me! So I'm glad the socks are done, and I hope they will be worn in excellent health. I'm equally pleased that I can now officially stop whining about them.

Here's a picky:

These are knit from Strapaz Wolle, the Norweger Ringel kind, in colorway #002. I think they would have matched had I started both skeins from the correct end, but instead, I started one from the center-pull, and one from without. Here they are, ready for presentation:

Cool packaging, right? A festive take-out container, acquired from The Container Store, and embellished with a little shiny doo-dad. Last night I finished up the gusset decreases on the Opal green sock, so I'm feeling perked up at the thought of being able to return quickly to the Morning Glory Vest with a free conscience. If I finish them today, I'll only have one pair of socks missing a mate, so Fair Isle, get ready, 'cause I'm a-coming.

Pups

Della says It's Monday! Get to Work!

Hope your day is easy-breezy-beautiful! See you tomorrow.