Shows Continued Improvement
You know how you look back on those (dreadfully earnest and sickeningly leaden) papers you wrote your first year of college and just wince? Or maybe it's entries in your high school journal or your first few blog entries that make you cringe. Well I did that the other day. Not with papers, but with my early patterns. Popped was my first pattern, and I didn't know what in the world I was doing back then. Luckily, that one got totally revamped somewhere along the way as part of it's release through Knit Picks Independent Designer Program, so it's fine [...]
Pleased To Meet You
We had plenty of warning. We knew Earl was coming and so had decided to stay in on Saturday. In the days before, we had visited two yarn stores, a book store, a game store, a grocery store, and two distilleries. We were well provisioned. We spent the morning in the water, then dried off and made breakfast (french toast of course). By noon, it was getting blustery. Some time around two, I stepped outside to try and get a picture. Even standing on the porch under a substantial roof, I was thwarted by blowing rain. You can just make [...]
Blocking
I spent the weekend blocking the socks for the book. Well, not the whole weekend, it doesn't exactly involve a lot of active work, mostly five minutes of soaking and stretching followed by a few hours of waiting for things to dry. Sheri at The Loopy Ewe was kind enough to send me a pair of her lovely sock blockers in medium, as the ones I had were an extra large and so not quite right for this project. Almost all of the socks are here, and blocking takes a while when you've got this many socks, so it seemed [...]
Drumroll Please
And the winner is Christine! Check out her lovely socks, I know she'll put the yarn to good use. I've sent off an email to ask for a mailing address. And to answer her question, the Sock Plus 8 is a bit more tightly twisted than SG Bugga, and the Bugga is a bit softer and fuzzier. They're about the same thickness, and both come in drop dead gorgeous colors. I'd be happy to use either (and both are going to be in the book), and think they'd likely work for a lot of the same patterns. And to everyone [...]
Hit the Beach
Since we had driven up the western side of the Cabot Trail on Thursday, we thought we'd check out the eastern side on Friday. Before we set out, we took advantage of the clear weather and the dock at our cabin to take the final photos of Socky. He very much enjoyed his dip, he encountered no sea monsters, and he was promptly rinsed out (salt water not being good for wool) as soon as we went back inside. The highlight of the drive was Black Brook Beach. Now it seems that 'beach' means something a bit different around these [...]
Make A Note
It's hard to know when the last cool day of Spring happens. You don't really notice it until it's come and gone. It's easier to notice the first cool day of Fall. Yesterday, for me at least, was that first cool day. I was sitting in my office reading, and I realized I was chilly. Not pleasantly cool, but actually chilly. This isn't really a problem for a knitter. I went to the sock basket (abandoned since some time in May) and pulled out something warm and woolly. They totally took care of the problem. It feels like a milestone [...]
A Surprisingly Knitterly Place
Being now armed with a toe, Socky felt ready to venture out on more explorations. Having enjoyed Ironworks Distillery on Wednesday, he was interested in finding another similar facility. Before we set out to locate such a place, we decided to stop in to the grocery store. You see, a hurricane was coming. Earl had decided he really wanted to visit with us, and he was willing to come all the way to Nova Scotia to do it. He was due to arrive Saturday, so we thought we'd lay in some provisions. We were staying in a lovely little cabin, [...]
Gramercy
As I explained once before, I started designing socks mostly through an (oh so fetching) combination of laziness, bossiness, and inability to follow directions. I kept it up because knitters seem to be disproportionately awesome and kept making me feel good. Designing has turned into an important part of my life and has let me do all sorts of things I never thought I'd do. I've met marvelous people, gone off on exciting trips, and am almost done with my first book. How cool is that? I mean really, who would have ever thought knitting socks would turn into all [...]
Purely Medicinal
After Tuesday's trying experience with the rocks and sea monsters, Socky was a bit out of sorts. Luckily, there was a facility nearby that had just the cure for his ills. The Ironworks Distillery was, by happy coincidence, conveniently located just down the street from our lodgings in Lunenberg. We were able to stop in and get a wee restorative sip for him (it doesn't take much when you're a sock). So as not to be rude, we picked up a bottle or four for ourselves. I can officially recommend the vodka, and I am nigh on heartbroken that the [...]
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