Two Toe Tuesday: Would You Believe a Finished Pair?

I started these Smooshy Socks back in March, and I can't believe that it's taken so long to finish them. I love the yarn (Dream in Color Smooshy on Ravelry in Dusky Aurora) and the pattern (Eyelet Rib Toe-Up Socks by Wendy Johnson), but I was working on a lot of other projects during that time. I wasn't necessarily finishing many projects, but I was working on a lot of them! I'm hoping that all of that incremental work is going to add up to a number of quickly finished projects sometime soon--but don't hold your breath.

These socks travelled with me to Spring Training, to a work conference in Leavenworth, WA, and all over the Seattle area, but they didn't go with me on my trip to Europe, so they took at least a full month off during that time. I'm very pleased with the way they turned out. The fit is great, and I love the color of the yarn. There are probably some areas where I reversed the decreases (did K2tog instead of SSK, & vice-versa), but they don't stand out at all. The biggest problem I had was the bind-off, which was too tight and had to be picked out and re-worked. I ended up using the version that Grumperina describes here, and it worked like a charm. Let's just hope they are tight enough to stay up, because I hate a slouchy sock.

The finished socks weigh about 87 grams, and I have about 30 grams of yarn left. I don't imagine that I could have made the socks much longer than they are without adding some sort of calf shaping, which I wasn't going to do. I know that the photo above doesn't show how tall they are--here's another shot where you can see how high the socks come up (about an inch higher than dachshund height), as well as my stunningly tanned legs:

Frieda was completely uncooperative when I tried to include her in the photo--she refused to look at the camera in any of the 12 photos that I took. I suppose that it is her job to watch the backyard for cats, not pander to the camera or flaunt her natural good looks. Very annoying for me, though--especially since she'll try and fight these socks if she sees me putting them on!

I can't knit and watch a live baseball game

but when the score looks like this:

I think that I'm well within my rights to pull out this:

After all, we were sitting in the pricey Terrace Club seats--I might as well get some knitting value out of them! I've temporarily misplaced the toe yarn for the M's Socks that I started on opening day, so I've been working on the Smooshy Socks.

It should be noted that on Wednesday's pitching duel against the Red Sox, I knit only during the pre-game, because that was a game worth watching. Here's the photo (note that we were in our regular seats, which are awesome but much more reasonably priced):

Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again

Last week at knit night, there was some talk about how many of us feel stuck in a rut. A knitting rut, a general rut, a "how can it be snowing in April" rut. I've felt kind of the same--I've got a lot of projects going on, and I am actually working on many of them, but I still feel kind of stuck. What's got me stuck, more than anything else, is HEELS. I look in my knitting bag before leaving the house so that I'll have a project with me, and what do I find? Socks that are either at the heel or just about at the heel. I come home from the gym and I want a mindless project to work on while the aches and pains settle in, and what do I find? Project that involve elaborate counting of stitches and rows, due to heels.

Example #1:

Here's the sock that I started on Opening Day. It's a great travel project--plain stockinette, no muss, no fuss. However, I'm within 2 or 3 rows of the heel flap now (this photo is a few days old), so until I get the heel flap done and the gusset decreases underway, this baby's grounded.

Example #2:

I'm knitting this pair of socks two at once, and I love the yarn and the pattern, and how they work together. The foot of these socks flew by, and then once again I was stalled by the heel. It's a new heel to me (some sort of reverse flap), which means that it's slower than average, and I have to really pay attention. In the photo above, I've actually finished one of the heels, but you can see the sad other sock near my foot, which is unfortunately heel-less. I've made some progress on heel #2, and should finish it soon, but it's taken a looooong time.

Example #3

These socks have been completely finished for weeks, except for one thing. Yes, they need heels. I thought that an afterthought heel would solve my heel problem, by not really interrupting the main sock knitting. While that is the case (these were a great carrying around project for that reason), I've gotten not much further than picking up the heel stitches.

The obvious answer to the portability problem is to cast on another pair of socks, right? First, though, I'd really like to get the M's sock past the heel--we've got tickets to Ichiro Bobblehead night next week, and I'll have these with me!

What, Too Busy to Knit?

I'm back at home, but preparing for another busy week. Mom and I leave for Spring Training on Thursday, and I'm still a little behind from last week, but the yarn for my Vickie Cardigan arrived so I started the first sleeve:

So far, so good--I had a small problem with the first transition from the "O" to the "X" on the side cables and had to rip back several rows, but otherwise all is going well. The color of the yarn is exactly what I wanted, it's a Cascade 220 Heather that's a navy/red blend. I'll try to get some natural-light photos to see if the color will show up better--the photo above looks more grey to me.

ETA: Crap! I just noticed a mistake in the photo above. Maybe I can crochet hook it back into order?

The Smooshy socks are moving along, I'm just about to the heel. Nothing like six hours on a bus to promote sock knitting progress! I'd like to finish the heels this weekend, so that these are back on auto-pilot travel project status.

I haven't had a chance to respond to the comments from the last post yet, and I really need to get to work, so here are answers to the questions:

What color is the Smooshy?
Dusky Aurora. I love it, the colors are beautiful and the transitions are really subtle.

Sleeping Lady?
Yes, Sleeping Lady. I wish that I could live in a cabin like that (with maid service and a delicious cafeteria, of course). Wouldn't that be a great place for a knitting retreat? Maybe they already have them there.

Stitch Pattern hard to memorize?
No, not at all--one row of real pattern, three rows of following the rib. After the first inch or so, I've only checked the pattern to see how close I am getting to the heel.

Two Socks at Once hard?
The only tough thing is getting the two socks started at once, and ripping out two socks instead of one if you make a mistake. I take the easy way out, and start the toes one at a time and then put them together. I usually knit the toe (or cuff) and a bit of the pattern to make sure I'm happy with the gauge/color/pattern before starting the second sock--I really don't want to rip out two whole cuffs or toes.

Two Toe Tuesday: Out of Town Edition

I'm out of town at a work retreat in gorgeous Leavenworth, WA, and I've got to get some sleep but here's the new pair of socks I started last week. I got a lot done on the bus on the way here, and I'm loving the pattern (The Double Eyelet Rib (pdf download) sock by Wendy, available at the Loopy Ewe). The yarn is Smooshy, and it's really really great. I'll try to take some nature-y photos tomorrow, it's really gorgeous here.