Socks ::sigh::

You might remember that I finished the socks I was knitting for Hubby last Thursday.
You might also remember that I said I wasn't comfortable with not having a pair of socks on the go, and despite all my deadline projects I didn't know how long I could hold out.
Well, I held out until Sunday night.
Now, all I did Sunday night was cast on and knit one row of K2, P2 ribbing, but it was enough to calm me down.

Temptation Abounds
I think part of the reason I caved so quickly is because I worked at the store both days this past weekend.
Sometimes I can go for a month without being tempted by any of the yarn. I see it is pretty, but I don't need to take it home with me.
Sometimes I see a yarn and start thinking of things to make with it, but it is just a passing fancy inspired by a new yarn and new patterns.
This is most likely to happen at this time of year, when the season is changing, and we start getting in tons of new yarns. Like right now all these pretty new cottons keep appearing.
Sometimes I see a yarn and I'm helpless before it and have to take it home right then regardless of all my WIPs and stash. This is what happened when I bought the beautiful Mohair Splash the other week.
And sometimes a yarn catches my eye in a new light and I decide I really want it, but I know I don't need it, and I have to fight the urge.

Oooh Red
That happened pretty early on Saturday.
I spotted a skein of Claudia Handpaints sock yarn in the Freesia colorway.
It was bright red, fading to pink and white with some blue thrown in for good measure.
Just totally my kind of colorway.
I was like, "Where did this come from? And why have I not seen it before?" Another staff member informed me the previous dyelot had been much more pastel.
Of course, I was especially susceptible to the lure of sock yarn since I didn't have a sock on the go and I was scoping out possibilities for my Landscape sock pattern.
But I fought the urge. During a lull in the action, I fired up my Ravelry account and reviewed my stash in order to stay strong.
And I made it out of Saturday unscathed.

More Temptation
It might have also helped that I spotted a fair size box in the back room marked "Lucy Neatby's Yarn." Which had obviously been sent ahead for her visit tomorrow and Saturday.
(No, I won't be attending either class. It's very sad. With the trip this summer, I can't sacrifice the vacation day to go Friday and I'm working at the store Saturday. Can't have it all.)
Well, it was just a box full of that glorious Cat's Pajamas yarn!
I pawed through it checking out all the lovely colors.
Of course, the first one I pulled out was the Fiesta colorway, which made sense since it is the colorway I bought in Celestial Merino for my Rainbow Swirl Socks. I think this time I'll get the Honey Pot colorway; it is browns and golds and quite lovely. Not really my normal, but I like it ever time I see it.
I think I'll make a shawl with it.
Let me specify, I'll make someone else's shawl pattern with it, so I don't have to think.
Anyway, the potential of buying some of that this weekend shored up my reserve.
(I e-mailed Cynthia Saturday night threatening to swipe the box and disappear forever, but she called my bluff and laughed at me.)

Defensive Measures
When I got home Saturday, I realized that I would have to get a sock project going if I was going to avoid buying that Freesia yarn.
So I dug through my stash and ended up taking out the blue & white Koigu and the Smooshy yarn I bought at Christmas time. I took them to the store with me Sunday and used the swift and ball winder to wind them up.
In this way I was able to go into the backroom and visit with them if I felt my resolve weakening.
Still, when it came to it Sunday night, I ended up settling on that ball of Sockina Cotton you saw at the beginning of this very long post (but you are used to me being long winded).
I cast on 52 sts using the fancy 2.5 mm metal needles Hubby bought me in Poland, and was going to run with it, but then I got suspicious.

The Evil of Cotton Socks
This yarn is 55 percent cotton, 25 percent nylon, and 20 percent acrylic.
I bet it doesn't have a lot of memory to it.
I have two pairs of cotton socks. The Regia Cotton ones are pretty good. But the Lana Grossa Cotton Fun ones are baggy. I suspect my gauge might have been a little off, but they've grown and not sprung back after washing.
I actually have a desire to frog them and rework them, I just haven't gotten around to it.
So I was thinking I'll do these Sockina ones in a 2x2 rib all the way down, rather than just the cuff, to give them a little more spring.
But then it occurred to me I'd have to cast on fewer than normal stitches to account for the stretch of the ribbing as well as the stretch of the cotton.
And that's as far as I've gone.
In stead of just casting on and plunging into my 15 rows of ribbing, I switched to stockinette stitch after two rows so I could get a true gauge.
I've also decided these needles aren't going to work. They are a bit too slippery, and I think a bit too big. I fished out my US1 Brittanys, but haven't switched over yet.
All of my attention has remained focused on the blue scarf. I'm starting to worry about it being a decent length when it's done. I'm sure it will be fine.
My ability to return happily to the deadline scarf proves that my cunning plan worked!
I don't need to be actively working on the sock, I just have to have a sock to work on.

Thoughts On Sock Surgery

I got a comment the other day, which is terribly exciting because it doesn't happen often. :-)
Christy wrote that her very first pair of socks came out big enough to fit her dad, but then she noticed a dropped stitch and hasn't handed them over yet. She can't decided if she should leave them as is because they are her first, or frog them and rework them to fit herself.
My first instinct was to tell her to open up the toe, pick up the dropped stitch with a crochet hook, and then give them to her dad.
I suppose how much she likes the yarn would come into play. Of course she could always get another ball of it and then they would have matching socks. snicker.
She could, of course, rework them and call it practice. But she should look up articles about reclaiming yarn to get out the kinks, I think Knitty had a good one.
First socks are, apparently, notorious for being difficult and coming out weird. I base this assumption on the regular parade of first socks on the Yarn Harlot's blog whenever she is on tour. (And some day I'll figure out how to get blogger to link properly for me, for now I remain linkless.)
My own first socks where done using some self patterning Regia and a free pattern from Mary Maxim.

(Thanks Flickr for making the picture so huge.) Anyway, there they are. As you can see, they have a mutant shape. The cuff is a bit big and the foot is a bit small, but they fit and I wear them on a regular basis. My sock knitting skills have improved considerably since this pair, which were a necessary first step in learning the construction. Still, I think they are pretty good considering I was in the wilds of New Hampshire without contact with other knitters for guidance, using just books and the internet to guide me. People really need to take advantage of classes and guilds and knitting/crochet groups, it makes life easier.
And, to date, I've only reknit one pair of socks. The first pair I made using Lorna's Laces Shepard Sock yarn. I calculated the gauge incorrectly. They fit but they were a little big. I think I wore them twice before I ripped them out and reknit them at a smaller gauge.
Actually, is there a statue of limitations on frogging finished projects? I made a pair of socks from Lana Grossa Cotton Fun. I'm not sure if I did that gauge wrong as well, or if they have just grown since they are cotton, but they are starting to get on my nerves and the last time I wore them I was seriously thinking of frogging them. I have enough left over for a second pair, maybe I should make those first—at a smaller gauge—for comparison before I assault the original pair.
In the mean time, I realized on the train this morning that the foot row count from the first Joy of Charlene sock should still apply to the second sock and I'm going to aim for it. I'm thinking I'll do the short row toe, both for consistency and because it looks nice. (Whether or not the first sock is going to meet a bad end will depend on how they both end up fitting once I can wear them.) I'm closing in on the toe on the second sock, but I won't be able to try the sock on until late tonight or tomorrow. First, I'm wearing my Doc Martens today. Second, I acknowledge that trying on socks on the train is a bit creepy for those around me. Third, Hubby invited a bunch of people over for burgers before we all troop downtown for the fireworks so little knitting will probably be done at home tonight.
(Yeah, my town is doing fireworks tonight. It makes no sense.)

A bag idea

Since I've become such a Ravelry addict, I thought it might be fun to make myself a little felted bag with the Ravelry logo and my ID.
Note my use of the word "little."
As I contemplated this idea, I thought to check the site and found that someone else had indeed already charted the logo. Phew, one less thing to worry about.
I dug some white and red Cascade 220 out of my stash from when I made mom a bouquet of Pick Up Sticks felted flowers. I bought green and black.
The plan was to make wide stripes green/white/green with the logo in the bottom third and my ID in the white section. Now the logo is 93 stitches wide and 65 stitches tall. Not wanting to resize, I just rolled with it. I also didn't bother to check gauge since I was just making it up rather than following a pattern.
I cast on 100 stitches, to give myself some space on either side, and thought I'd made the bands 60 rows long, so just about the entire logo would be on green. I'm going to work the ball in intarsia and the letters and ball details in duplicate stitch. (When I first hatched the scheme I'd thought of including "hello my name is" in the top band, but realized that would be too much duplicate stitch.)
30 rows of green later I thought, "huh that looks big" and decided to check gauge and reconsider my plans.
I'm getting 4.5 sts and 5 rows per inch on a size US 10. I quickly decided to drop to 30 rows of each color. As it is the prefelted dimensions are going to be around 24x24. A little bag indeed. I think I'm going to need more yarn.
The stealth knitting is progressing, but not quickly enough.
I bought some new sock yarn on Sunday. This lovely looking stuff called Glazed Sock from Madelinetosh. Knitting Central hasn't carried it before. There were oh, six skeins left when we closed Sunday. For all I know they are gone now. With all the sock knitters in that store, new sock yarn tends to evaporate.
There were a number of lovely colors. I tend to buy the bright colored sock yarn, and I'm drawn to blues. But I'm making an effort not to duplicate. Part of the problem is I've got a bit of a sock yarn stash built up and I don't remember those colors as well as I remember the colors of the socks I've finished. Must knit faster. The color I chose is called "Robin's Nest" and is light blue, tan and white. Thought it was a safe choice. Turns out I have a finished pair of socks in Regia Cotton that are similar, but the Regia ones are darker colors and have that whole jacquard thing going on, so I think I'll be fine.

The camera came home to be recharged. I pounced on it and took some pictures. Still no pictures of the fixed and finished sweaters. Hubby was busy doing work, and with it being night I didn't think they would come out good. I did take pictures of the finished I heart Husband socks and my new sock yarn. Samson totally made a play for the Madelinetosh. Right there in front of me. He isn't usually so bold. Then he went after the Cascade 220. Sassy thing.