Tuesday, January 24, 2006

Selfish, Selfish Woman


It's all about me today. Well, after I got done watching, feeding, changing, bathing, napping and playing with Aidan.
First the socks I made "for Gene" are now mine. He does not need them. Well, he does, but I love them, and there's always more yarn, and he'd prefer a lighter weight sock anyway. Then I made another pair for me out of the same yarn, but with a turned heel instead of the spiral ribs - see pic. Both pair are Artyarns newHandpaint Stripes sock yarn on size 6's at 5.5 sts/7 rows per inch. Gene's were a toe cast on, inc to 48 sts and knit in a spiral 3:3 rib. I always do both socks at once on a long circular now, except the pair I usually work on when I am teaching dpn socks. Then I use dpn - would not be good for the teacher to be standing there, extolling the virtues of dpn socks while using circulars. I truly do love dpn, and have nothing against them, just that for my own purposes the circulars are so FAST! The ones pictured are 44 sts, top down, using Charlene Schurch's Sensational Knitted Socks book for an 11 st pattern, and the socks out of my head by now but originally Yankee Knitter's sock pattern (which, if you buy only one sock pattern in your life, it should be that one). I would have put up a pic of the spiral ribs too but they're drying and so would be uncomfortable to wear. Flat they look like what they are...camo colored tubes! Then I finished my crocheted hat for Meg (wait, that's not selfish, is it??) so now there is a written pattern for it(that part might be selfish, writing patterns is really a selfish activity if you think about it), and I can make her more to match her entire wardrobe (or teach her to crochet...). The hat is Artful Yarns Fable, cotton/silk and on hand from a design project, so she can wear it at work and not die from overheating.
Now, in taking pictures for the hat I discovered something truly amazing. I actually look like my half sisters. Bizarre. I never noticed it before (and I suppose 39 years old - in three weeks - is a good time to notice it??) We share a father, but have different mothers. I really have spent a lot of time whining on the inside that I really look like NO ONE in my family, so to discover that I look like someone is kind of cool!! I also spent a lot of time comparing family photos with my face in a mirror when I was a teenager and could never figure out who I looked like, or if I looked like anyone. I was beginning to wonder...But now I know. I look like Jody with a little Jaime around the edges. Pretty cool.

4 comments:

Persnickety Knitter said...

Love the socks -- color and pattern. What kind of heel did you do on the toe-up socks? And which construction method do you now prefer -- toe-up or top-down?

kraftygirl said...

Those socks are fabulous! Is Charlene Schurch's Sensational Knitted Socks a good book? I have been using the yankee knitter pattern as the basis for all of my socks (even from other pattern books). Thanks Melissa!

MelissaKnits said...

The toe ups are a spiral rib tube sock, no heel. It took me hours to just give UP. I could not find a pattern I liked for a toe up, tried my own, failed, and quit. I absolutely prefer top down. Toe-up should be reserved for questionable yarn amounts only.

The Charlene Schurch book is fantastic!! I recommend it highly. It's great for taking your socks to the next level, or for just getting some wonderful ideas. The other thing I recommend for you (both!) is the Knit to Fit Ankle of Calf Sock Nancy Lindberg pattern which is a top down, any yarn, gauge-and-measurement based pattern. We're using it to teach from now instead of the Yankee Knitter pattern - this next class will be my first class with this pattern in fact. I love it becasue it offers more flexibility than the Yankee Knitter pattern, so if I have a student with a particularly narrow or wide foot etc. we can accomodate them.

Persnickety Knitter said...

Is that pattern (Knit to Fit Ankle of Calf Sock) available online at Webs?