Braving the cold
1.12.2005
Look what I decided to be brave and wear the other day:
Yep. Them stylin' beaded socks. Just thought I would share some observations.
1. The cuff is too short. I don't like cold breezes up my pants leg in winter.
2. If you cross your legs at the ankles, which I apparently do more frequently than I realized, those beads HURT!
3. Koigu is amazing. My feet were definitely comfy and warm all day.
4. That's just the greatest color isn't it? :)
5. They make an interesting rhythm while going through the washing machine (and they came out completely unharmed by the way).
Overall I have to say I'm very happy with them. Just have to remember not to cross my legs at the ankles when wearing them.
I've done more work on Mariah's sleeves and the learning curve is improving. It isn't taking me nearly as long to finish a row although it does take a bit more concentration than most things I've been doing until now. I'll spare you the pics since I know everyone is going to be sick of looking at this thing by the time it's done. I did manage to figure out how to do the big cable without the cable needle after really sitting down with it and concentrating on what I was doing. I also learned a couple of things about this method.
1. If you are going to do a purl stitch first, put the yarn in front BEFORE you do the slipping of the stitches. Then it is right there and waiting when you are done instead of needing to put the last stitch back on the left needle, rehook it and then purl it.
2. If you kind of squeeze the stitches toward the needle before you slip them off, it is easier to get them back on the needle.
In a feeble attempt to keep things interesting here I tried to start a toe up sock last night using the Queen Kahuna book. You'll notice that there isn't a pic here. That's because there is nothing to show. I guess I just wasn't in the frame of mind for learning something new because I could NOT get the thing to work. I'll give it another try this week and see what happens. Anyone ever use this method and have some hints for getting it going? I was able to cast on but after that I was toast.
Many thanks to those of you who left book suggestions on my last post. They were all very cool. The biggest problem is that I really CAN NOT go over $30. This gift card is one of those that if you go over the spending limit it just gets refused. A bit of a problem. I did find a book that was within the price range though on another search. It's Knitting In Plain English by Maggie Righetti (which is awfully close to Righini for any other bassoon geeks out there). Does anyone out there have it? What do you think? I kind of think I'll like it because of her sense of humor (at least what I can tell from the couple of pages that are up on Amazon) and I'm interested in some of the finishing techniques, the hints for working with more than one color (which I admit I haven't learned yet) and the fact that it fits the price guideline and gets me free shipping! If you know it, please leave a comment and let me know what you think.
I leave you today with a pic of one of my fav Xmas presents from this past Xmas. I saw this in a little Xmas shop near home when I was out with my mom one day and exclaimed how cute it was. Mom therefore had to go back and get it when I went back to CT (have I mentioned my mom kicks ass?!). It is very nice to come home to a cup of hot tea after being out in the cold and dealing with many idiotic CT drivers. File this under "random things that make me happy".
Yep. Them stylin' beaded socks. Just thought I would share some observations.
1. The cuff is too short. I don't like cold breezes up my pants leg in winter.
2. If you cross your legs at the ankles, which I apparently do more frequently than I realized, those beads HURT!
3. Koigu is amazing. My feet were definitely comfy and warm all day.
4. That's just the greatest color isn't it? :)
5. They make an interesting rhythm while going through the washing machine (and they came out completely unharmed by the way).
Overall I have to say I'm very happy with them. Just have to remember not to cross my legs at the ankles when wearing them.
I've done more work on Mariah's sleeves and the learning curve is improving. It isn't taking me nearly as long to finish a row although it does take a bit more concentration than most things I've been doing until now. I'll spare you the pics since I know everyone is going to be sick of looking at this thing by the time it's done. I did manage to figure out how to do the big cable without the cable needle after really sitting down with it and concentrating on what I was doing. I also learned a couple of things about this method.
1. If you are going to do a purl stitch first, put the yarn in front BEFORE you do the slipping of the stitches. Then it is right there and waiting when you are done instead of needing to put the last stitch back on the left needle, rehook it and then purl it.
2. If you kind of squeeze the stitches toward the needle before you slip them off, it is easier to get them back on the needle.
In a feeble attempt to keep things interesting here I tried to start a toe up sock last night using the Queen Kahuna book. You'll notice that there isn't a pic here. That's because there is nothing to show. I guess I just wasn't in the frame of mind for learning something new because I could NOT get the thing to work. I'll give it another try this week and see what happens. Anyone ever use this method and have some hints for getting it going? I was able to cast on but after that I was toast.
Many thanks to those of you who left book suggestions on my last post. They were all very cool. The biggest problem is that I really CAN NOT go over $30. This gift card is one of those that if you go over the spending limit it just gets refused. A bit of a problem. I did find a book that was within the price range though on another search. It's Knitting In Plain English by Maggie Righetti (which is awfully close to Righini for any other bassoon geeks out there). Does anyone out there have it? What do you think? I kind of think I'll like it because of her sense of humor (at least what I can tell from the couple of pages that are up on Amazon) and I'm interested in some of the finishing techniques, the hints for working with more than one color (which I admit I haven't learned yet) and the fact that it fits the price guideline and gets me free shipping! If you know it, please leave a comment and let me know what you think.
I leave you today with a pic of one of my fav Xmas presents from this past Xmas. I saw this in a little Xmas shop near home when I was out with my mom one day and exclaimed how cute it was. Mom therefore had to go back and get it when I went back to CT (have I mentioned my mom kicks ass?!). It is very nice to come home to a cup of hot tea after being out in the cold and dealing with many idiotic CT drivers. File this under "random things that make me happy".
