The Sadly Delayed Update, Part 1.

Okay this thing has been languishing in my blogger account as a draft for a good month now, and I really have to get it put up. I had been meaning to post this around the end of Socktoberfest, but as the result of dog-sitting overnight (yeah, my sinuses hated me for that, guess I know one thing I'm allergic to), not getting anywhere enough sleep and working with the public, I got the creeping crud again. Cue feeling like someone had filled my sinuses with Elmer's Glue, and it just would not go away for a couple weeks.

Since then--and in the last couple weeks particularly--I've just been exhausted by work. It's that time of the year that people get sick so I 've been getting a lot of overtime, though the upside is that it'll give me some extra cash for the holidays...and more sock yarn, once my holiday knitting is done. But more on that later. First, housekeeping.



First up, the Boring Socks of Doom. DONE. Finished those a few weeks ago, and was glad to see them gone.

Next: Socktoberfest Shopping! I went into Toronto for the Creative Sewing and Needlework Festival and a yarn crawl on Oct. 22nd, planning to limit myself to two hours at the CSNF as I was going to be meeting up with someone in the Beaches for lunch.

I finished my walkthrough of the CSNF in about thirty minutes without seeing one thing that I really wanted to buy.

Yeah.

I haven't been able to go in the last two years so I don't know if there's been some gradual decline in the number of knitting vendors, but damn, it was disappointing. Not only that, but those few knitting vendors that were there weren't carrying anything I was looking for: precious little sock yarn--mostly of the self-striping variety--no laceweight and no knitting books that sparked my interest. A lot of the vendors I saw were selling kits (which don't really interest me as I'm a) a plus size and b) more likely to make stuff up on my own) and a lot of the others had a great deal of the frou-frou, fluffy crap that I'm not interested in.

Needless to say, I don't think I'll be going next year. I'll consider the $15 admission fee the cost of re-prioritizing my yarn trips (the DKC Knitter's Frolic is now the highlight of my knitting calendar!).



Anyway, went off to the Beaches and met up with my non-knitting friend at the Naked Sheep, which I was glad to finally be able to go to. Nice store, nice selection, and yay, I found Nancy Bush's "Knitting on the Road"! Though I'm not sure it'll become a regular haunt on my knitting trips to Toronto, considering it's fairly far out on the streetcar and a lot of the stuff I'll probably be intending to look for isn't stocked--which is nothing against the store, it just doesn't fit in to my purchasing habits (hell, I hardly go to Romni anymore for the same reason). If I have time, though, I'll make the trip.

Long, comfortable lunch with friend in a pub, then we split up and I went off to Lettuce Knit. This was my first time at the new location, and I love the store--so cozy, and so much good yarn. They had just gotten in a shipment of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock! So many colours! It probably took me a good half-hour to decide which of those I wanted alone. I also got my hands on some Trekking XXL, finally, and I found some gorgeous alpaca laceweight that I didn't buy even though I was lusting after it. Next time, and once I finish the Swallowtail Shawl. I also got to pet the resident kitties, which was nice as I still miss my housemate's cat from university. If I hadn't had my arms full and if I'd been sure of an easy reception from the cats I would have picked them up and cuddled them.

Last stop was the Knit Cafe on Queen St. W. and there, I found KOIGU! I must have spent half an hour trying to decide what to get, which was complicated by the fact that I could only find one of each of the colourways that jumped out at me, which is always the way, of course. I did find two skeins of a colourway I really liked, and which turned out to be rather appropriate. Oddly enough, the colours I picked...were exactly the same colours of the bruise I found on my thigh later that night from whacking it with the turnstile at one of the subway stations. I have now dubbed it the "bumps and bruises" colourway (see below), and I'm looking for a texture pattern that, well, fits the theme. Something like what the Lizard Ridge squares look like before they're blocked. Of course I could use Lizard Ridge, but all thos wraps and turns look like they could really be a pain in the ass to do in a sock, and I'm not sure it would keep that texture.



See? The dark blues, the dark reds and purples... They're even more vivid in person, really. Told you I was sad. Of course I could elaborate more about where my brain has gone with connections to that colourway, but then it would only make me sound even MORE sad, so no.

I have more--namely everything I've been doing in the weeks since that trip, but I think I'll have to save that one for another post or I'll really never get this one put up.

Socktoberfest is Here!

Anyone who's been watching the blog for a while should know by now that I love knitting socks. They're practical, they're portable, they're not to quick a knit, and not too long a knit, and there are so many gorgeous yarns. So needless to say, you all should know that I was going to be all over Socktoberfest like white on rice.

So to start off the celebration, Lollyknitting Around has posted a few questions for the Socktoberists.

1) When did you start making socks? Did you teach yourself or were you taught by a friend or relative? or in a class?

I started making socks in the summer of 2002. I came home one day to spot my downstairs neighbour sitting on the porch of the house we lived in (we were in a duplex), knitting a sock, and thought, "I should try that!" I taught myself to knit them using some worsted weight yarn and Judy Passman's Generic No-Frills Sock Recipe. I still think that, for those with some experience knitting, this is the best way to learn to knit socks, as it teaches the general proportions and techniques used in sock knitting, instead of getting hung up on exact numbers, allowing you to knit socks with any type of yarn at any gauge.

2) What was your first pair? How have they "held up" over time?

My first pair were a heavy, 100% wool worsted weight and the first time I wore them (in boots, no less) the soles felted. Needless to say they became house socks after that (but very cozy and warm ones!). They're still around here somewhere--I think buried in one of my storage bins in my closet.

3) What would you have done differently?

Not worn them in boots. I think it was a good idea to use the worsted the first time though, so I wasn't trying to juggle teeny yarn and needles as well as figure out the pattern.

4) What yarns have you particularly enjoyed?

KOIGU. Oh dear mother of God, when I go to CSNF I'm going to mortgage my firstborn for the stuff. Same with Fibre Artist, and I can't wait to get going on the Cherry Tree Hill I got in NY. I like Regia as well, and I kind of like the self-striping yarns, but I think I'm making the transition over to handpaints. I'll probably still get some of the self-striping occasionally though (though in more interesting colourways than the Boring Socks of Doom). When I finally get a credit card I'd love to start trying some of the smaller producers, like people with Etsy shops.

5) Do you like to crochet your socks? or knit them on DPNs, 2 circulars, or using the Magic Loop method?

I barely crochet, so no. I Use DPNs as my circular needles are unorganized enough already--I don't need 2 pairs of every kind. Plus, I do two socks at the same time anyway--I have two sets of all my sock-size DPNs so I can two the two socks at the same time, but this way I can also stagger them, so that when I'm knitting the foot on one, I'm doing the heel on the other, etc. Magic Loop... Meh, I might try it sometime, but I don't see much of a reason to switch from DPNs as they're working just fine for me. Plus, they make non-knitters boggle.

6) Which kind of heel do you prefer? (flap? or short-row?)

I've been doing a lot of toe-up socks lately so I know while there is a way you can do a heel-flap type of heel toe-up, I just stick with the short row. Plus, I find the short row heels fit my heels better, so even the last couple pairs of top-down socks I did were with short-row heels.

7) How many pairs have you made?

Oh Lord. Um...at least 20. I've got about 10 in my sock drawer now, at least 5 or 6 in my laundry basket, 1 pair that I just finished, 1 pair that still needs to ahve some ends woven in, I've made a couple for people that asked me to, and I know I'm forgetting a couple more.

And naturally I've got a hell of a lot more sock yarn to knit up.

And to ring in Socktoberfest, I have photos of the COMPLETED Kasshabog Dusk Koigu socks! Wore them today for my first Preschool Storytime and they were so comfortable.

Ta-daaa!