Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Last socks of the year

So I started these socks in early November, hit a bit of a stall when I wasn't sure how long to make them, and then the disaster hit near the end of November, so they were put on hold.

But I've cleaned up, and to keep my sanity, I worked on the socks. I finished them a few weeks ago, and haven't had the time to post any pics!

These were meant for my Mom. But I don't know her size, and since she wasn't nearby so I could measure against her foot, and since my foot WAS here, I made them my size. So I guess these will have to be for me! I'll make another pair for Mom later on.

These two balls of yarn have been sitting here for years, calling out to me nearly every day that they want to be socks. But I didn't have the right pattern until one day I stumbled across this one. It is called SKYP because you do the cable cross with a YO. It was a fun little manoeuvre, and look quite nice. Because I like to twist thing just a little bit, I made the twists in the opposite directions for each sock, just to be different. You might not even notice!

This is a 75% wool/25% nylon by Patons called Kroy socks, 50 gm ball. I wanted to use it all, with nothing left over, and so I had to do them toe-up. I used my own heel design, knit the leg as long as I could, and when there was just a bit of yarn left, continued with the established 2/1 ribbing until the yarn ran out. I had about 20 cm left after binding off the first sock... and I had just enough to barely make the last stitch on the second sock. It would never hold that way, so I "borrowed" 5 cm from the left over and spliced it in to do the last 2-3 stitches. All's well.
I like the way they fit. They feel very comfortable. I wore them the rest of the day after taking these photos. I probably won't wear them every day, but once in a while, when I think of it.

Now, to find more yarn (somewhere in this turmoil) to knit another pair. Oh, yes, the repairs have been done, I have a new carpet, but they didn't feel they had to rip out the walls, thankfully. I now have to move everything back in from storage, but first I need to sort it out, and get rid of a lot of stuff I don't need any longer, or was too damaged to salvage. This will be very painful.

Best Wishes of the Season

(This should have been posted a few weeks ago. I don't know what happened)

I wanted to send some sort of holiday greeting to my friends and colleagues, but it is difficult in today's world to know exactly what to say without offending someone. So I met with my lawyer yesterday, and on her advice I wish to say the following:

Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low stress, non addictive, gender neutral celebration of the summer or winter solstice, depending on which side of the equator you live, holiday practised with the most enjoyable traditions of religious persuasion or secular practices of your choice with respect for the religious/secular persuasions and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practise religious or secular traditions at all.

I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2012, but not without due respect for the calendar of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make our country great (not to imply that our country is necessarily greater than any other country) and without regard to the race, creed, colour, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wishee .

By accepting this greeting, you are accepting these terms:

This greeting is subject to clarification or withdrawal. It is freely transferable with no alteration to the original greeting. It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for her/him or others and is void where prohibited by law, and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher. The wish is warranted to perform as expected within the usual application of good tidings for a period of one year or until the issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the wisher.

Best Regards ( without prejudice )

Name withheld ( Privacy Act ).

Oh, the hell with all of this! Merry Christmas!