O.K., I promised Bekki, my pal in the Alison's Sockapal-3-za, that I'd post pictures of these when I could. I love, love, love these socks, mismatched as they are. She bought two of the same skeins, only look how different they are! Both equally beautiful.
I'm planting almost exclusively orange toned flowers in the pots by the door this year. Red Durango marigolds not yet planted, pale orange violas interspersed with stones we painted this winter, and more.
Yes, the knitting world, in particular, is very small indeed. Yesterday, on the same day that I finally gifted one pair of these socks to my SIL for her birthday, I also received a pair of socks from my Sockapal-3-za pal, Bekki of The Pig Wot Knits, all the way from Cambridge, UK . The very same day, the Sockapal-3-za pal that I had knit for, Shannon of Yarn and Chocolate, only 5 hours away in Helena, MT (as far as I know, my closest fellow knitting blogger!) received the pair of socks that I had sent off only the day before.
Bekki knitted a truly British pair of socks, Elfine socks, of Fyberspates hand-dyed sock yarn. Check them out here. Since there were so many people participating in Alison's sock exchange this time, I really only had time to check out maybe 30-40 pair of finished socks through the list. It just so happens that I had seen Bekki's socks and commented on how much I like them. Of all the pairs that I saw, hers were the ones that really struck me. And then when I opened her package yesterday, there they were, in my hands and quickly onto my own feet. I never knew I could love a pair of socks so much! They're stunning: the knitting, the yarn, the pattern, the fit! They actually fit better than any pair of socks I've made for myself yet. The thought, time, effort, and knitting that she put into these socks is truly incredible. Did I mention that I love them?
Thank you so much, Bekki. I can't say enough about these socks. I wish I could thank you in person. I wish I could show you right now how nice they look on my feet. I'll post my own pictures of them first thing when we get a new camera.
And as for the pattern, it's even prettier than I had thought it to be in the pictures I've seen online, particularly in this yarn. The lace pattern looks just like autumn leaves. I've been meaning to give this pattern a try. Last night, I already cast on a pair for a friend of mine's birthday in June! Why have I never given lace socks a try before? For me, it's so much more wearable than a shawl and in a small, doable project. This won't be the last pair of lace socks I'll be making.
I'm feeling truly blessed by all the sock love going around! Thank you Sockapal-ooo-zers, sock momma Alison, and all the sock sisters. (And to think I almost didn't sign up this time!)
So, does anybody know any other knitting bloggers that are close to me? It's about 5 hours from here to Helena, MT, about the same to Calgary, AB, and about the same to Spokane, WA. I live just below the Canadian border, south of Fernie, B.C., about 20 miles west of Glacier National Park, and about 45 miles north of Whitefish, MT. Shannon is the only other Montana knit blogger I've come across yet. Is there anybody else out there near by?
How I wish I could drive to your house and deliver these directly to your door, ring the bell, and be there in person, when you open the package that I'll be sending out tomorrow. How I wish we could sit down over coffee or tea and good chocolate while we knit and discuss the highs and lows, the joys and woes, of motherhood together, favorite yarns, whether or not spring is happening early or late this year, knitting stuff...you know, the usual things. Then maybe we'd hit the town and check out an LYS or two. Ah, but alas, here I live, with my nearest known knitting bloggers about 5 hours driving time away, even that too far to go to hand deliver hand knit socks.
Yet, of all the 606 possible people I could have been matched up with, of all the places on this planet that you could possibly live, surprisingly, the chances of the above situation actually occuring are really not all that remote. Someday, we might just do exactly that: sit and knit and sip and eat and talk and maybe even visit yarn stores. (Alison, are you sure that this was really a random match?)
Sockapal 3, I hope that they fit well and that they'll make it over your heel and ankle. They are the tiniest bit taught on my own feet, and our foot measurements are similar. I hope that the top ribbing doesn't cut off your circulation like a tourniquet. I had to take the ribbing out several times, eventually settling on bumping up from size 1's to size 2's and then changing to size 5's for the second to last row, then size 8's for the last row, and then binding off VERY LOOSELY with a size 9. That is why they look flared out at the top, because they are. The baby cable rib pattern sucks in tightly in the picture on the right giving it the illusion of a knee high, but I as you can see on the left, they are not. They're only to about mid-calf on me. As I did with my Sockapal-2-za socks, I may have yet again erred a bit on the tighter side.
These are made with Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock yarn in the Valentine colorway. The pattern is the Baby Cable Rib from Sensational Knitted Socks, by Charlene Schurch, knit toe up, over 52 stitches. The heels and toes are reinforced with a second strand of the same yarn.
I'm crossing my fingers, hoping that these socks are to your liking. More than that, though, I'm hoping to one day see these socks on your feet. I enjoyed knitting these. Let me know what you think of them!
Your Sockapal 3,
Siri
p.s. Yes. These are more of those awful, blurry, Polaroid izone 310 pictures from that photo shoot the other day. For clearer in-progress pictures, see here.
p.p.s. Just think of all those socks out there crossing the globe in the next week or so! I wonder if yours will even board an airplane on their way to you?
p.p.s. By the way, the yarn, unknit, went all the way to Panama and back with me last month.
p.p.p.s. I don't think I've written so many post scripts since junior high or high school.
For those needing a bit of inspiration in this final homestretch, check out Whimsy's post here. Perfect. It will give you the strength to go on!
In response to some recent comments: Yes, it's a toe-up sock based on a combination of Wendy's Toe-up sock pattern and the Baby Cable Rib from Sensational Knitted Socks. The yarn is Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Valentine, knit on #1 dpns, over 52 stitches. I started with the Textured Rib pattern from the same book, but after turning the heel and starting to incorporate the pattern across all the stitches for the leg section, I realized that I had started with the wrong number of stitches and now the pattern wouldn't line up. Looking back, I think that I could have just picked up some stitches to make the pattern work but, impulsively, I ripped instead. Oh, well. I've been wanting for awhile to try out a sock pattern with tiny cables.
As for Jessie's question about the mismatched needles, I almost never have a full set of the same needles possibly due to the fact that I use them for other purposes...
...and then misplace or lose them altogether. I did this on Saturday while making eggrolls for a potluck and now there's a bamboo needle in the mix.
...or starin' at the fire, fireworks, sky, trees, computer, camera, etc.
Friday night: a campfire at home. Just us. We ended up following the Use What You Have -a-long. Without the proper fixings for s'mores on hand, we improvised with mini-marshmallows on bamboo skewers and substituted the chocolate bars with Girl Scout Thin Mints. NOT a bad compromise. Finished the first Sockapal3za sock while sitting by the fire.
Saturday night: campfire and potluck birthday party celebrations for a friend in "The Enchanted Forest" right up the road from us. Lots of fire and sky watching, drumming and laughter with friends. Didn't knit a stitch.
I'm loving all the comments left on the last post, how everbody has such a unique take on this. Thank you for sharing. Many good thoughts. Obviously the sleep issue is one that hits close to home for others, too. How could it not? Of course, as soon as I posted about this, both the boys slept straight through the night on Friday night, and then on Saturday night they tucked themselves into their sleeping bags by the fire and fell easily to sleep enabling us to stay late at the party and then scoop them up into the car and drop them right into their beds when we get home. You've got to enjoy the good nights! There are probably quite a bit more of them than I alluded to in that post. You forget when you're in the thick of it, and apparently then again when you're beyond all this.
It's about time, n'est-ce pas? Out of a misguided fear that I might run out of yarn to knit with while away on vacation, I picked up this yarn at Hilltop Yarn East in Seattle the night before we hopped on the plane. It's Lorna's Laces, Valentine.
Now. What pattern? Nothing too complicated as time is running short and the yarn will likely do it's own crazy patterning. I borrowed Sensational Knitted Socks from Shannon's mom hoping to find inspiration in there. I think I might just try the super simple Textured Rib pattern. Luckily, my sock pal's foot is about the same size as my own this time.
I can't really explain why I've had such a hard time getting rolling this time around. I'm excited about the pal I was matched up with. I think I've just been unable to find the right yarn. The one I chose might not exactly be the perfect match, but now that I've settled on something, I'm looking forward to doing the knitting.
Download Pulsatilla_slavica_Ceskoslovensko.jpg" />
