Unsatisfied with my first pair of socks, I’ve decided to cast on for another. Couldn’t find any sock yarn in my little stash so I dug out a skein of sport weight merino and googled the internet for sock-knitting tips. Since my kitchener toes were looking pretty shady, I decided to try the Figure-8 Cast On for a pair of magic loop toe-up socks. Bwa ha ha, wonky toes no more. I’m working these babies on Sz 0 needles to get a dense fabric and have a total CO st count of 60. Couldve’ done away with 56, but hey, I ain’t complaining. Now the pattern I’m using does not contain any extra umph to it, so I whipped out my Summer 2005 Interweave Knits for the lace chart used in the Padded Footlets. Since I’m knitting toe-up as opposed to top-down, my lace is reversed. Hence, the arrow signs. I like them this way too. I’m about 1.5 inches away from turning the heels, but I just gotta document my progress along the way so I can refer back later on for the other sock.
Right now I’m only knitting one sock on one circular needle, but for those of you who are interested in the 2 socks on 1 needle method, here’s the link for it.
– Casting for 2 socks on 1 circular needle
– And a pattern by Barbara to get you started too!
Last but not least, how about a pair of these? Vintage Footlets, yum! *Edit: Check this page for pattern errata on the footlets.
Oh oh… so, question. What kind of sock yarns do you recommend for feet pampering? I know there’s lots of variegated yarns, but I think lace shows up much better in solids. Suggestions please…. fire away. And much-ass grassy-ass (mucho gratias)

First of all, stripe knitting SUCKS ASS. *inhale… exhale*… May I present to you, TWO giant dish cloths. Yea, this is how far along I am on the Phildar sweater. And it has no shaping whatsoever. Do not be fooled by the slender edges of the pieces, it’s just the yarn curling. And short rows on top with stripe sequence? Har har har… bazillion loose end hell. What have I gotten myself into? That’s right, winnie, how very smart of you to do short rows AND switch yarns at the same time? *snicker snicker* I wanted to begin the sleeve knitting with tubular cast on, but at this point, screw it. Knitting 160 sts per row on sz 1 is just too, um, lovely, for words.

So, I’ve picked out my yarn for the Stitch Ya Neck Out scarf swap. And don’t worry, yet-to-be-determined-SYNO-pal, it ain’t black yarn. It’s a most lovely maroon-brown 100% superfine merino yarn. Wanna know what they’re destined to be? Click Here. Yup. I’ve wanted it since the first time I laid eyes on it, but the endless ribbing has kept me far far away. Oh don’t get me wrong, I have no qualms about ribbing, but 100% ribbing? *ponders* hm, I’d take lace knitting any day over ribbing. I am looking forward to knitting some Backyard Leaves, or Ruffles, or even Branching Out from Knitty. I understand that the first two are very popular picks.. so fear not, cuz here’s one happy volunteer who’s dying to knit them for ya.

Remember my nervousness and excitement over meeting up with Joy and Andrea? It was supposed to happen at 2pm, but the greyhound didn’t cooperate. Andrea and I had big plans to truck Joy around the LYS in LA, spanning from Universal City to Santa Monica and possibly even Hollywood. Unfortunately, Andrea had a class to attend and by the time I met up with Joy, it was too late to hit any yarn stores. But boy did Joy make up for lost time! The little lady brought us goody bags with sample yarns from Artfiber, munchies, and get this, a whole cake of cashmere yarn!! Speaking of which, Andrea, you and I need to meet up at UCLA some time next week so you can pick up your package. Any later, and I’ll hoard your share too. Hee hee.

Before meeting Joy, I was a bundle of nerves. Will she be as cool as she seems on her blog? Will it be awkward? Maybe I should bring my knitting so if it gets awkward then I’ll just knit? What if I clam up and bore her to death? Oh my god I’m actually meeting up with ppl from the internet? Oh my god I sound like such a loser… you get the point. Well, the moment we met, we gave each other a big hug and surprisingly, my nervousness kinda melted away. I guess Joy has that effect on people. I didn’t bring my camera, so y’all will have to wait to see our pic together on Joy’s website at a later date. It was a hot humid night, so don’t be surprised if we look a little frazzled with shiny foreheads. You’ve been warned. I had a really great time hanging out with Joy and her friends - Thomas the Ultimate Karaoke Machine, Sarah the Crafty Crochet Queen, and Eric the Fabu Decorator. Okay, I am just making up titles for them now, but that’s my impression in a nutshell - all very cool people.
Joy wanted to know what I was working on right now, and it’s Backyard Leaves from scarf style for my mom. I’m using sportweight yarn.. so hopefully it won’t be too holey after blocking. Here’s my progress so far..

Enjoy your weekend y’all. I’m camping out at my bf’s air-conditioned house.
*Edit: Here’s the sweaty pic that I stole off Joy’s blog. Har har.. I brightened it so you can see us a little better, although probably shinier too now that I look at it.

I’ve been slacking on Phildar Stripey….the endless stockinette is boring me to death..argh.. I am so not in the mood for big projects recently, so I’ve resorted to making scarves. Here is Leaf Cravat by Teva Durham, using sz 5 needles and a sport weight Baruffa Aerobic Yarn.
Let me tell ya, this sucker is LONG. I just kept knitting and knitting, and before you know it, it’s 10 ft long! Ha ha.. Good thing it’s uber-skinny, so I can just wrap and wrap and wrap. I’m also working on another scarf for my mom, but no pictures yet.
So remembered how I tried to steer my sister away from black, gray and white? She still wants gray. I’ve managed to talk her into adding another color, and guess what she wanted? Dark Olive Green. *shakes head* I give up. Here’s her cabled armwarmer, using sz 7 circs and Cascade 220 yarn.
Since I’m in the mood for scarves and little pick-me-ups lately, I’ve signed on to Stitch Ya Neck Out. Check it out, we’ve got some awesome knitters in the swap. I’ve never knit for another fellow knitter before, so I’m a little nervous about having my knitting scrutinized. What if my swap pal thinks I am a horrible knitter? What if she thinks her scarf looks like crap? yea, self-doubts can be nerve-wrecking. Hopefully it will work out. The kick-off is early August. Go sign up like I did (at 3am in the freakin’ morning when I was semi-delusional).
Supposed to be meeting Joy and Andrea in the afternoon. A little anxious, but a little excited nonetheless.

Armed with a wealth of information from the Internets and support from my powerful allies - the sock knitters, I present my first sock. Not first pair of socks, just the first sock. Like all newbie sock knitters, I am now prancing around my apt at 2:00am no less, wearing one sock. And hot damn, taking pictures of your own foot without trembling like jello is hard work. Let me provide you with a verbal description - I’ll spare you the visual on this one.

****Now.. imagine a dog pissing. Got it? Okay, now imagine the dog pissing, in the same position, but lying down (belly-up)on the floor. *****
That was the pose I had to take in order to provide my geisha sock for your viewing pleasure. You may now laugh….(30 secs later)… okay, that’s enough laughing. Moving on..
Another mindless knitting project is a 7 ft monster that is the love-child of Crazy Aunt Purl. BF is moving to Canada and he needs a warm alpaca scarf around his neck soon, and a warm alpaca scarf he shall receive.

Okay, I shall now go to bed with one sock on foot, and an empty glass of wine. Happy weekend everyone!
Edit: The Geisha Sock has a fraternal twin!