The Sunday Update

Okay, first and foremost I have to get something off my chest. I have to do something tomorrow that terrifies me. It's totally freaking me out.

Alright. Now that I've established my state of mind (frozen in anxiety) let's move on to the knitting. I finished Roza's Socks. I even took a craptastic photo of them.



This brings the total number of pairs of handknit socks in the house to ten (four pairs for Stephen and six for me. I'm the knitter. I get more socks.) I enjoyed making these socks. They are fantastically simple knitting, really. As long as you read the pattern notes. When I swatched the pattern stitch (the brioche stitch) I started out by bring the yarn forward when I slipped the middle purl stitch purlwise. This made it pretty much impossible to then purl the next stitch. I read the pattern notes and slapped my forehead. Duh. Of course you slip the stitch with the yarn in back. Anyway, once I figured that out these socks flew by. The result is a sock that is both intricate and simple. I have to admit that once I had established the pattern (you repeat the same two rows down the leg and on the top of the foot) I didn't even glance at the pattern again. Possibly, I missed something different about the toe shaping or heel turn or what have you, but I'm okay with that.

I enjoyed working with the Opal solid sock yarn. I like Opal sock yarn a lot and use it frequently. It seems to be harder wearing than Lorna's Laces (a plus when I'm making Stephen's socks) and it comes in an array of non-girly colors. I made these socks on size 1 bamboo dpn's. It seems like my size one's have become my go-to sock knitting needles, replacing my size 2's in that capacity. Perhaps I've become a looser knitter over time?

Before I can tell you what my next project is, I should first tell you that I did a little yarn shopping yesterday. I went to the shop just down the street and lo and behold! They had several skeins of JaggerSpun Zephyr Wool-Silk. I was floored. And then promptly bought three skeins of it: one in the cinnabar (red) color, and two in the violet color. I bought it because I had read on lots of blogs and on message boards how much other knitters like this yarn for lace knitting, and I had been planning to order some from Fiddlesticks Knitting for a long time, but had never actually done it.

Now, I know that I said in my last post that I couldn't wait to start on the Bayerische socks, and that is still pretty much true. However, after finishing my third pair of socks in the space of a month I decided that I needed a break from sock knitting and the Zephyr was calling to me. So instead I cast on for the Dolphin Lace scarf from Victorian Lace Today (page 106.)



This scarf is going to be gift for my mom. It's in red, which is her color and she has hinted that she might like something done in lace. So far I have mainly been confused by this pattern. This is a reversible (done in garter stitch) double-bordered scarf, and it violates all of the lace knitting rules that I have ever known. First the border patterns are staggered. What I mean by that is the left-hand side border is one row ahead of the right-hand side border. This also means that you have two right sides and two wrong sides. When you are on the right side for the righ-hand side border you are on the wrong side for the left-hand side border. It's making me a little crazy. Especially since the pattern doesn't explain this. No, I found this out by googling the scarf and finding a Victorian Lace Today knit along page. Now, eventually I would have figured this out because the pattern wouldn't work otherwise, but I wouldn't have figured it out until much later and painful frogging would have ensued. On the other hand, and to my credit, I did take the time to write out the charts this time. As Grumperina mentioned, the charts are just too small in the book, even for someone with perfect eyesight.

Stephen successfully replaced the faucet yesterday and the villagers (me) rejoiced. I ran two miles on the treadmill today and my heart rejoiced. I came home and made pizza and my fat cells rejoiced. Oh! And I also watched several hours of a series of shows on the History channel about illegal drugs. Fascinating. Do you know who first synthesized and patented heroin in the mid to late 1800's? Bayer. Yes, that Bayer. The Bayer that makes the aspirin. It was marketed as a pain reliever, cough suppresant, sleep inducer, and generl cure-all. You could get it mail order through the Sears and Roebuck catalog, complete with a syringe. And Merck invented Ecstasy (MDMA.)