It's All About the Sock (Yarn)

One could also call this post "Bed Rest, Week Two," but that would be extremely boring.

I'm still gestating. L'il I will be 36 weeks young on Monday. Not much longer now. As I said in my last post, bedrest is a double-edged sword -- but I will say that amidst the chaos that is my office world (and my "husband-is-cleaning-not-me" home world"), having quiet days to plow through work has been quite nice. Conference calls aren't the easiest thing in the world to manage, but I'm plodding through with only a minor feeling of disconnection from the world.

And a major feeling of connection with my knitting. The past two weeks, as you know, have been filled with socks and other finishing, though progress this week seems a little slow. I'm getting ready for the heel on the second Conwy (which I think I'm dragging on because I LOVE knitting it and I don't want it to end).

I've also been toying with Wendy's new Southwestern Sock (making modifications and doing it cuff-down rather than toe-up). First, I cast on with Mountain Colors Bearfoot in the Yellowstone colorway (and packed it in a bag to take to the hospital). After a few sessions, I realized the yarn was giving me a huge headache. Not that it was being problematic, mind you, but it was literally giving me a migraine. Every time I picked it up to do a repeat, my head was pounding. I think it's the mohair, and I think it needs to go. The sock is sitting now post-heel-turn, pre-gusset pickup, and will most likely be frogged. That's the bad news. The good news is that someone is going to get this yarn -- along with the other skein I have (in the "Jasper" colorway) just as soon as I decide on some sort of contest. Wanna see the sock before I frog it?

So, in my effort to find a good yarn for the Southwestern pattern, I went to my all-time favorite yarn: Fleece Artist 2/6 Merino. I've only used it once (for the Moc Croc socks I did earlier this year) and I fell in love with it. As it turns out, I had a perfect skein. Filled with chile reds and deep greens and golds and some subtle browns, it definitely reminds me of my trip to Santa Fe and Albuquerque last year (plus, it still coordinates with Laura's bag). So I started the sock up with the new yarn. And I have to tell you that this pattern is a fast knit. And further proof that everything is better in Fleece Artist.

Today is Saturday and it's a big knitting day for a bed-rester. I get to watch the men in my life work around the house while I lay on my sofa and knit, knit, knit. I hope to finish the Conwy sock and perhaps even the first Southwestern Sock. Then my next step is identifying the next pattern and a good yarn to go with it. I want to use one of the new skeins and design my own sock. I've been mulling stitch dictionaries and studying Nancy Bush for a good heel and toe (I'd love to do something with a half-hankerchief heel and star toe, but that combo might be better suited for a delicate sock -- and right now I'm not into super-delicate).

And so a question (not the contest). I've done some enhancement over my bedrest period and have new yarns to play with. Which one do you like best?

Chewy Spaghetti in "Lyrical" (this may end up as a Monkey) and Cider Moon in "Kansas"

Schaeffer's "Lola" in Pumpkin Spice and Fleece Artist in "Rainforest"

Mama E's July Sock Club Yarn -- "Boogie Boy Blues"

Mountain Colors Weavers Wool Quarters in "Rosehip" and Mountain Colors 4/8 Wool in "Juniper" (I snuck out to the LYS while the electric company took down a tree and cut my power on Thursday ... it was hot as hell in our house and I needed to go somewhere cool or stay home and get dehydrated)

and lastly, Black Bunny Sock Yarn in "Honeybees."

Thoughts?

"Laziness may appear attractive, but work gives satisfaction..."

Anne Frank wrote this in a diary entry dated July 6, 1944, and somehow it seems fitting for my current situation. You see, I think all of us at some point envy folks who live the life of leisure and don't have to cook, clean or leave the house for work. I enjoyed it for the first few days, but then the restrictions of having to rest all the time and only being able to leave the house for doctors' appointments set in and it started to feel a bit like prison. Since August 4 is the day that the annex was raided, it seems appropriate to quote her. Now I'm by no means comparing my current plight with hers (few could), but times like these certainly make you realize just how directly Anne hit the proverbial nail on its head.


With the craziness going on at the office, I feel a little guilty for not being there in person, but I've been putting in full days from home and I don't feel nearly as behind as I did when I first landed my butt in this position. In fact, having quiet time to work is quite satisfying. Especially when there are socks to show for it. Here's the first Conwy sock (second has been started):




I cannot tell you how much fun I had with this sock. From the patterned rib at the top all the way down to the cute little star toe (which may be my new favorite), I loved every minute of it. It seems that my Socks that Rock "Downpour" (the yarn that simply had lost its identity months ago and was cast furiously aside into the pit of difficult yarns) has finally claimed a personality. These little ribs on the sock work so well with the striping and even in the lightweight (as opposed to the mediumweight I used for the Unst socks) it knit up at lightning speed.


Like I said, I've started the second, but I'll wait to show you a picture until I've finished.


And now, I'd like to thank everyone who has called to check in, e-mailed good wishes and especially Laura, who stopped by on Friday after our spinner's group meeting for a visit. If you visit her blog, you'll see that she's been sewing a bit lately. Last week she sewed up the cutest sock bag ever, and wouldn't ya know it, the next day she had done another and promised it to me! She brought it over with her and I can't tell you how it cheered me up. It's already packed with a sock to take to the hospital:




The yarn inside is Mountain Colors Bearfoot and the pattern I'm using is Wendy's new Southwestern Sock pattern that you can get for free over at The Loopy Ewe. I should point out here that I'm partial to The Loopy Ewe and that I AM a Loopy Groupie. You can see him in there, but my Loopy postcard is in the bag for a shot with L'il I for the Loopie on Vacation collection. Yeah, I know that the hospital isn't really a vacation, but it will be about as good as he'll see from me this month. He'll take other visits after the babe arrives.

And here's a shot of the outside:


The colors suck in this photo, so if you want better pictures, you'll have to go see Ms. Soapturtle at her place. She did a better job setting up the shot :)

And while you're visiting folks, pop over to see Theresa, whose lovely little girl Zofia was born the same day I hit the big 33. She and I have been chatting and e-mailing back and forth with baby updates for a few months now. I'm about three weeks behind her in my pregnancy, so it's been pretty fun having someone to banter with who also had to deal with a Dr. Serious and a Dr. Wonderful.

And speakng of doctors? I have just one thing to say: Just when I thought Dr. Wonderful was the best of the best, today I had my appointment with Dr. Awesome. More on that later -- and a photo of another new acquisition (came yesterday, but I'm feeling too lazy to go get it and take a picture).

Well, well, well...

Joyce Grenfell wrote: "Progress everywhere today does seem to come so very heavily disguised as chaos." This is how I'm feeling these days.


Today is the day that L'il I turns 35 weeks ... one week past the point where labor won't be stopped, and five official ones until they would officially declare that he's done cooking. I'm still at home on the sofa, working on work and knitting in my free moments.

I've made a slew of knitting progress.

Allow me to present a finished pair of Unst socks, courtesy of "Knitting on the Road" by Nancy Bush. These are the first socks I've completed from the book (had a few false starts last year), and they are by far the FASTEST socks I've ever knit. I literally started them on Friday and finished them on Saturday. A sock a day. Good lord. It was a whirlwind. The yarn is STR: Obsidian in mediumweight and these were done on #1.5 needles (dpns).

I also finished up a washcloth that has been languishing.

And a burp cloth.



And the Lacy Scallop scarf that I started a year and a half ago. The pattern comes from Wendy's book.



I should point out that I'm halfway through the first leg of the next sock -- Conwy by Nancy Bush -- and, believe it or not, my STR in Downpour is doing GREAT with this pattern. This yarn has been the bane of my existence since I first tried it months ago, and it's been sitting in a bag, all wound up and waiting for a pattern. It gives me great pleasure to say it has found a soulmate and is chugging along nicely. If this goes as quickly as the Unst socks once I get moving, I will be one happy woman. I will show a picture once I'm past the heel.

And on other progress (besides knitting and baby), our massive houseclean is going well. It would go much faster if I were able to get off my butt and help my hubby, but he's doing great solo.

Back to work....