The beginning of a Sock Madness sock

There she is:  a toe and 5 repeats.  72 sts on a foot that normally uses 56 sts.  I think it will be big on me.  We'll see.  In order to tighten it up, I'm using 2mm needles with their nasty pointy points that dig holes in my fingertips.  There's no way I can ever get 9 sts/inch with a larger needle.

It's pleasant to knit.  I'm not going quickly at all.  I don't mind getting knocked out on this round.  We're going from 30 places to 20, and for me to make that 20, I'd have to start zooming.  Not happening.  So, if I make it, I make it.  If not, that's OK too. 

I'm on a great team!  Many of my team mates have won in the past, and are now relaxed about it all.  Smart knitters with great attitudes. 

And now I have to get back to the socks.  Maybe I'll just make it.

Yet another pair

of basketweave socks.  I knit this pattern over and over.  Why?  It's pretty no matter the yarn; it's mindless, but not boring; it fits; it's great TV watching stuff.

Cannot remember whose yarn it is, but I bought the yarn at Woolbearer's in Mt. Holly, NJ.

Here's a closeup of the leg.  Is this not a cute, mindless, adorable pattern?

Demogorgon socks finished.

Yippee, I finished this first round of Sock Madness.  Interesting sock, toe up with an afterthought heel.  Different lace on each foot.  Strange bind-off, different toe.  All-in-all, not too crazy to knit.  But then, this is only the first round, and I'm on That team, with the folks who can knit a pair of socks in under 24 hours!  The fastest person in this round of all 26 teams knit her socks in 17 hours. 

Socks are too wide on me, and of course, too long.  I have to knit the medium size, and I'm really a small size person.  But they are not too egregiously large, so I'll wear them anyhow.

Sock Madness 13

It's that time of year again:  Sock Madness on Ravelry.  This is SM 13.  You begin with a qualifying round, and here are my socks, Smock Madness.  Knitted very loosely to fit the large Hubz feet.  If you don't think that gauge matters, then this should convince you.  Had I knitted to gauge, it would have fit Miss P's feet.  Me?  I have small narrow feet and none of the SM socks ever really fit me.  But my gauge was much looser so that he could have new socks.

This is a close-up of the leg beginning.  You can see the pattern and how loose my gauge is.

My yarn was an ancient ball of Lion Brand Sock-ease.  Somehow I acquired 3 balls of this stuff for free, and I don't much like the color.  So I'm planning on using it for the initial pairs of SM socks.  The color leaves something to be desired, but the Hubz doesn't care, and neither will Miss P, should she get the next pair. 

Thanks, Deborah Hamilton!  He does like them, which is good since they won't fit anyone else.

First sock

I finished the first sock of this round of Sock Madness and started the second one yesterday.  I estimate I'll be done on Fri.  In the past, I was able to knit a complex pair of socks in 2.5 days, but that was really pushing it.  This year, my body wants me to slow down.  I have to listen to my fingers, hands, wrists, elbows and shoulders.  Don't really want to, but it makes sense.  So these will be a 5-day pair of socks.  And then I will rest!

Isn't that a cute heel?  I love the pattern and I may use it on a hat or a pair of mittens.  It's pretty toasty. As usual, the sock is big on me.  Not bad in the circumference, but too long.  I have to follow the pattern exactly.  I'll still wear them, even though they bunch up a little in the heel.

OK, lots of knitting today.  No errands, no lunch out (bummer), just knit, knit, knit.  Make pizza dough and bake bread, but that's it.

Knitting! Stitching!

I finally finished the latest basketweave socks.  They took me forever mostly because I was knitting the red socks for the little guy.  And also, I was really bored knitting them.  But Sock Madness starts early March, and those dumb socks had to be finished.  So, here we go again:  yet another pair of basketweave socks.

Last night I almost cast on for another pair with some sort of lace pattern, but I'm saving my energy for the crazy Madness socks.

And here are the latest 4 blocks of Valse Brillante.

If you look closely at the light blades, you might see writing coming through.  That's because I cut out the papers from magazine inserts.  They are almost the perfect weight.  I trace around the original paper and then cut just a hair in from the pencil line to make them the correct size.  They can be reused, too.

By the way, if you click on the pics and see them much larger, then you'll notice some of my stitches showing through, particularly on the little center hexies.  I don't mind them.  In the overall quilt, they won't matter, and frankly, life is too short to rip them out and redo. 

Guess what starts tomorrow!

Feb 1:  time to sign up for Sock Madness!  Yay!

Ok, back to English paper piecing.