Wednesday, July 9, 2008

neverending socks



Approximately one year ago, I purchased a skein of SWTC's tofutsies from a yarn shop in New Haven. It languished in my yarn stash until this past Febraury, when I acquired Favorite Socks, and decided it was time for me to get in some quality sock knitting. I started at a swift pace; one day after casting on for the first sock, I was nearly ready to begin the heel. However, I did not continue at this speed for very long. In fact, I slacked off so much that I didn't even finish sock number one until the end of May. And now, as the middle of July approaches, I am finally almost finished.

I don't know why it's taken me so long to complete this project; they've been fun to knit, the lace pattern is easy to memorize, and I love my harmony wood dpns. It might have something to do with how splitty this yarn is. I've had to practice extra vigilance while knitting in order to avoid the dreaded errant loops (and there are still a couple here and there), and I think I might be over knitting one sock and then the other. This last realization pains me. At the beginning of this year, I shelled out for a whole set of harmony dpns, and it would be such a shame to let them languish in their plastic sleeve. However, in the interest of actually finishing my sock projects, they might enter into an early semi-retirement. That is, as soon as I finish the baudelaires I've recntly started (I just couldn't wait a few more days to cast on!)

Despite my slow sock knitting pace, I have been getting other things done. Today was my first day of teaching book arts to summer camp kids. We made paste paper, and they loved it, depsite the fact that we ran out of paste in a record 45 minutes. I made six times the original recipe, and was convinced I'd be taking home extra, but oh, no. The kids were paste-happy. It probably didn't help that one of them was eating it because, as he told me, "It tastes really good!" Sure, cooked wheat starch is my idea of a tasty snack, too.

And for all you ravelers, my last book, Lace Stories, is featured in the latest edition of This Week in Ravelry. (Hello new ravelry visitors!)
In a bit, I'll post a copy of the story for the uninitiated to read.

4 comments:

bockstark.knits said...

Yeah, I noticed that with the tofutsies, but I haven't knitted with it yet. One of these days, if I can tear myself away from the wheel! Your socks look great though!

Unknown said...

Just a little note to say that I'm your HHHH partner, and am doing my research. Spinning to happen this weekend. :->

Heidi said...

ooh, froofy, you're fast! I'm still working on the perfect color combo for my downstream buddy. I'm looking forward to whatever you're going to surprise me with!

and bockstark, thanks for the compliment; I do really like the socks, but I'm staying away from the tofutsies from now on. I'm forcing myself to finish these within the next day or two, and then I'm allowed to play on the spinning wheel (and work on secret HHHH projects).

daintydance said...

Thanks for sharing. Say hello at Bobbins and Needles. I hope to conentrate on finishing the tip of the toe of my sock tonight and spinning.