Socks and cats

Well, I was going to show you a picture of my Sunset socks, which I finished last night, but Mollie has other ideas; apparently they make a very comfy cushion

(click on pic to biggen)

You can just see the cuff of one sock poking out to the left of her ear. I would try and move her, but she’s obviously very tired, having spent the morning jumping out through the living room window then shouting outside the front door until someone is daft enough (that would be me, then) to let her in, even though she is perfectly capable of jumping back up the way she went out. In the summer months, this is Mollie’s favourite game, although I have to say that I find it rather tiresome…

 

Ah wait! She’s moved

Sunset socks: yarn is 75% merino 25% bamboo from Knit ‘n’ Caboodle (whose service is excellent). Hand-dyed by me a few months ago when I was in splish-splosh mode. Pattern is a diagonal lace with 5st repeat from Barbara Walker’s Treasury (book 1), knitted toe-up. I was intending to use Colin’s Andersson Heel Mach #2, but it just didn’t look right after my modifications (needed for the smaller size I was making) so I used my usual short-row heel.

On the whole, I am pleased with these, although I have begun to realise that I am becoming quite anal about symmetry. The sock which has “k2tog, yo” is much neater than the one with “yo, ssk”, and it really bugs me. I have tried every sort of left-leaning decrease I can find to try and get properly matched diagonal lines, but to no avail; left-leaners are simply not. as. neat. (… aaaaaand breathe…). You could well argue that no-one is ever going to look that closely at the socks, particularly when they’re being worn, but I know… I just know.

 

Still playing

I’m still figuring out what to do with the camera, but so far I’m very impressed. These fuschias actually belong to our neighbours although they seem to like hanging over the fence and getting mixed up with the clematis. (click to biggen)

Not Knitting

So, not much knitting going on round here. There has been progress on the sunset socks (one is finished, the other is over half-way) and there has also been a great deal of frustration caused by computers not behaving in a fitting manner. It’s sorted now, but not without a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth.

 

What have I been upto instead of knitting? Well, Bethany and I spent the afternoon out in the fresh air, putting my new camera through its paces. (I didn’t pay Sony’s prices!)

 

This is what we did:
clicky-clicky
 

and this:
clicky-clicky

 
Hope you enjoy.

 

 

It hurts

to knit at the moment. In a frenzy of activity almost unheard of in the Creek household, much gardening was performed today. Hedges were trimmed, weeds ruthlessly ripped out, lawns were mown, edges were neatened and paths were swept and squirted with weed-killer. The net result (apart from a very tidy garden) is a very sore, achey wrist and NO KNITTING!!!!! I can just about type and have managed to wield the camera, but knitting involves movements that are just a bit too painful.

I do have a finished object however

Francie sock knitted in Opal Uni colour. No modifications as such, but I knitted the foot slightly shorter than given in the pattern. The pattern does give instructions on what to do for a shorter foot but on the first sock, I had great difficulty getting it right and there was a certain amount of swearing and cursing fudging involved; second time it went like a dream. I must have been having a few senior moments first time around. (I should make it clear that I have knitted a pair of socks, not just the one but it’s very hard to take a picture of both your own feet without making them look deformed.)

 

A few months ago I dyed some sock yarn, the first skein of which made a pair of socks that went to live in France with Bethany’s exchange partner. The second skein was a merino/bamboo mix which I was very keen to try, but I put it away during a rare attack of tidying and promptly forgot about it. I found it the other day and have started a diagonal lace sock which I am knitting toe-up as usual. I will be trying out Colin’s Andersson Heel Mach2 for this as it looks so very neat but also gives a little extra room for a high instep. I have had to fiddle with the numbers, but I think I have the percentages right…I’ll let you know…

I’m quite pleased with progress so far and very happy with the colours, which were inspired by a very pretty sunset.

The back

 

 

The front.

 

 I intend to make the diagonals on the other sock a mirror image of this one, assuming I can manage to get the left-leaning decreases to match the right-leaning ones, but that’s a whole other discussion for another time. For now, I’m off to rest my poor aching wrist.

At last…

more graph humor and song chart memes

 

…Someone who understands…