Four Weeks, Eight Socks (or, My Life, the Catastrophe)

It occurred to me that I never blogged to tell everyone that I actually made it home. Well, I did. The return trip was not without major drama, so I won't tell you how all flights (American Airlines) through Dallas were cancelled and how we had to order new tickets from Southwest (love them) and how we spent the day in the airport waiting for that flight, only to find that it was delayed more than 90 minutes and how we didn't get home until 3 a.m. Nope, not gonna explain any of that :)

Instead, I'll share some sock progress.

Ze Jaywalkers are done. Regia silk color on size 1 Pony Pearl needles (airline safe, you see):

And so are the #2 Monkeys, completed just yesterday. Colinette Jitterbug on my standard metal dpns, size 0. I bought this yarn before the trip and have absolutely fallen in love with it.


The Jitterbug is delightfully smooshy and sproingy, but the yardage is scant. These Monkeys are short one cuff repeat and one foot repeat for a size 5 foot. They're snug, but I love them. I've actually bought two more skeins of this yarn -- one in the "plum" colorway and one in the "olive" colorway. I haven't picked patterns specifically yet, but I will soon.

As soon as I finish the next two socks in progress.

I finally figured out what to do with that Fleece Artist Sea Wool ("Spring" colorway), as well as the Socks that Rock that I've been struggling to choose a pattern for.

Over the weekend, while I was laid up on the sofa with Achilles Tendonitis (still really bothering me) after a week that consisted of two trips to the Department of Motor Vehicles, one trip to the dentist (old filling jumped ship), a busted AC at work (that was Tuesday -- welcome back to work) and a trip to the internist (on Friday for the ankle), I struggled with the sea wool yet again, determined to pick a pattern that would showcase this lovely stuff. I finally opted for Evelyn Clark's Waving Lace sock from Interweave's "Favorite Socks" ... which I finally broke down and purchased. What you see on the left in the photo above is Sunday's sock progress. It's amazing what you can do when you're relegated to doing nothing. Another repeat and I'll be at the toe on the first sock. They're a bit longer than usual for me, but I'm really hoping the yardage holds for its mate. The yarn is light and airy and fun to knit, and I've no doubt that these will become nice Spring/Fall socks. Not too heavy and not too warm.

At this point, I need to issue a formal apology to two of my cousins -- my ankle rendered me unable to attend one's graduation party on Sunday, and to see his sister's new baby. I just couldn't walk and I feel horrible for not being there!
The sock on the right is also an Evelyn Clark -- the Go with the Flow pattern started in the Socks that Rock "Footzey Foo" colorway. I've completed the fourth pattern repeat on the leg (it calls for 20) and it's one of the fastest patterns around. What's even better is that the pattern is super easy to remember -- which makes this pattern a great one for carrying along on doctor's trips, DMV debacles and anything else that happens to come my way (today it will most likely be the mechanic ... I think my water pump is finally hosed).

Not to be outdone by the car, this week's announcement from L'il I is that we head off on Friday for our Rho-gam shot and one-hour glucose torture test. I've managed to fail by one point for the other pregnancies (which culminates in a four-hour hell), so I'm hoping this one will be better. Send happy vibes!

California Monkey Business

The flight out here to California was a long one ... broken up with a short layover in Dallas and a mad dash to a last-minute gate change (not fun in DFW period, much less for a pregnant woman) and three-hour legs on either end. Absolutely exhausting.

The Monkey Socks would like for me to tell you that they are now complete as a result. They were not happy freaking out the muggles on the airplane, and absolutely refused to be photographed over the mountains of the west. They did, however, enjoy the chair in my room at the Hilton and agreed to be photographed as they lounged in their completed state:

I haven't yet told them that I didn't bring appropriate shoes to take them out for a stroll...

In other news, there was a little progress on the second of the Jaywalkers, and I've started the Bordello Socks in a lovely green Sea Wool from the Loopy Ewe ... it's the pattern on the yarn band (I only brought the Monkey and Jaywalker patterns with me). These are done on 52 stitches on size 2 needles. I expect rapid progress. I started working on these at 5 a.m. PDT.

So that's all for now. My media facility opens today at noon and there are still a few details to hammer out before opening. It's time to get ready and go to work!

I Only Have Two Feet

So what in the world is up with THIS?

The current socks of my world, clockwise from lower left: MocCroc, one complete and the second on the foot section; Monkey's in Colinette Jitterbug (I actually meant to do these toe-up because I'm not sure I can gauge yardage right) and three Jaywalkers (don't ask) -- one in Ellen's Half Pint Farm merino/tencel blend from Stitches, one in Opal's "Owl" colorway and one in Regia silk.

I don't know how it came to this, really. Part of this I can blame on the sock virus that's going around, but part of it is attributed I'm sure to my upcoming nine-day business trip in California. Girl needs a plane project, after all. I usually do shawls, but these days I'm just not feeling the love. I figure a couple of socks in progress (the ones that are on Pony dpns or the rosewood dpns are doable on the plane) ought to do the trick. At least until the flight home :)

A word about the patterns. Now I thought that MocCroc had to be one of the fastest ones I've done. I was wrong -- the Jaywalker knits at lightning speed! The Regia one is less than 24 hours worth of knitting (with a workday in the mix) and I'm just about ready for the heel. I understand Cara's obsession with these socks, and I see myself wanting to make a million pairs (hence the other two in progress).

Thoughts?