Socks! And not slow!

I'm knitting some basic socks for my son in some really cute self-striping Regia yarn (scroll down to "Paris" and imagine if the stripes were deeper). Self-striping is still such a treat for me: "Ooh! What's coming next? A blue stripe!" Yes, it doesn't take much, and I wasn't even liquored up at the time. (or is that correctly spelled 'likkered'?)

I started them, hm, Thursday? And finished the first sock in like 2 days. Turned the heel on the 2nd one this morning. Whee! It is so nice to have the end neatly in sight.

This is not to say that I haven't knitted on other projects or started still others. I cast on for a hot pad mitt for Mom in some gorgeous Taos in the Mesa colorway. Simple garter-stitch rectangle on size 11 Daisy needles, which are so light and plasticky that it thrills me in a very non-serious way. "Look! I'm knitting garter stitch on huge clunky light-blue needles!"

Not a lot of progress on other fronts. It did take me a while to realize that the felted clogs I've started take a lot of concentration in the "Don't TALK to me; I'm counting" sort of way. I guess I haven't knit something like that in a while. I've finally taken to blocking off everything but the line I'm on (or the first half of it) with post-its. I do love the yarn still, though. Yummy. (Color 9926: deep red with black. Kind of hellish. Fabulous.)

Hm, I think that's it. Am hoping to finish the socks today. G has insisted that he will not wear the first sock until the second one is done, because he would hate to lose it. He is so funny. This will be my first complete pair of sock for him. I'm really glad he is so excited about them.

Almost as glad as I am that they are so freakin' quick to knit.

Gratifying

I knit my sister a Palindrome scarf for Christmas, out of very soft "superfine merino" di.Ve' Zenith wool in a soft lime green color. She opened it up, put it on, and didn't take it off till bedtime (if then--I didn't check). *Wow*.

Made my mom a pair of socks out of my hand-dyed yarn. She said all the right things and tried them on then and there. The toes are clearly too long, but after offering to pull them out and re-do them three times, I gave up.

Made my dad a reversible hat in Cal colors. He didn't mention it, so I don't know if he'll wear it. If he does, I think it'll be very warm, which is good, because it gets pretty cold out where they are.

And for my stepmother, stranded mittens, extra long for her long fingers. She hasn't received them yet, as my sister will wrap them and bring them along for their late Christmas with the kids, Sunday, I think. I said to my sister to tell my stepmom that if she won't wear them, feel free to pass them on to someone who will--that I'd rather they get worn than not. She was shocked--"I'll take them! Or you should take them back!" (shrug) They were fun to make and at this point, I'm OK with someone outside the family getting them, if she will wear them.

In any case, it was so gratifying to see my sister ("Don't make me anything; I don't like handmade stuff") really like her scarf. And then she saw some of my handmade cards and liked them so much, she wants a tag punch box like I have... wow!

I'm still reeling a bit from this, but it is nice to have these things recognized. I really do enjoy the artistic outlet in the knitting and the cardmaking.

(But I do have to fight not to say I told you so. Or something.)

What am I, the anti-Grumperina?

A while ago, Grumperina declared, in front of God 'n' everybody, that she was no. longer. interested. in knitting sweaters. They displeased her in many ways, and despite being a capable and creative knitter, she is done with them. She will stick to socks and scarves and shawls, I believe she declared.

I have recently realized that I am just not very good at knitting socks. Or I have bad luck. Or something. In any case, I can knit sweaters, scarves, shawls, and stoles, but socks stymie me just way too damned often.

Not that I'm giving up, mind you. But I do feel rather severe declaring to the world that I Am Not A Good Sock Knitter.

Fortunately, this sentiment is outweighed by my yearning for a drawer full of handknit socks.

Maybe I can get my sister hooked on knitting socks...

Anemoi Mitts are DONE.

I'll likely post a finished pic at some point, but for now, I'm just heaving a sigh of relief. From my notes, I had the new cuff ready to be grafted on about Nov 7. As I finished last night, that shows how much I was dreading it. And it was a PITA... ripping upward, and picking stitches up when the row was a K1sl1 row, is unbelievably frustrating. I finally decided to go for it, even though I had stitches that actually crossed each other (shaking head). It ended up looking odd, but you know what? I'm done. And she may never notice the extraneous purl-looking rows just above the start of the cuff (did I graft it on flipped?). I'll notice, but hell, the colorwork still looks divine to me.

This is one of the last Christmas presents to make, and it's only December 2, so overall, I'm pretty happy. Plus, Dad stopped by yesterday, in town for Big Game (boo hoo), and I shipped lots of the presents off with him. I have one more for each of my nephew and niece, these mittens, and I think that's it. (Well, except for Mom's socks, on which I have 6.5" done--phew!--and I don't know if I'll be shipping it, as she hasn't decided whether she's coming down here for Christmas.)

Heaving a sign of relief... and getting back to Charade to power on down to the heel...