green.girl knitting: commentary

17 october 2007 catching up

aside from the tragedy of the str sock that disintegrated, there have been other impediments to my knitting. like the small child's pneumonia. and work. and a general malaise.

in any event, there was some knitting, just nothing of a substantial nature. i finished the sKNITches socks and i am glad to be done with the yarn and happy with the socks though they are just a little big. not overly so but enough that they aren't a good fit under the birkenstock clogs. they are a great fit around the house and at night, though, so they've already had a lot of use.

jim's hat is done as well. it is reminiscent of the seahawks color scheme so we refer to it as the hawk head. he hasn't worn it for longer than a few minutes, though; it will definitely serve the purpose of keeping his head warm and dry in the winter, waiting with sophie for the school bus, as it makes his head so hot within the house that he can't bear it. if he ends up not wearing it at all, i will have no problem stealing it back, as i am rather fond of it.

the halloween socks? may or may not be ready for the holiday. i'll try and get excited about finishing them but no promises. i will be on a plane for several hours on the 30th, and then in a hotel room, so there will be some time for a frantic final push should it come to that.

this is my indulging the small child in her love of all things dog at the moment. it is a new leash and collar; not for any real dog, but for herself and various stuffed animals who are dogs, or pushed into dog service. i was just about to sew the buttons on the collar when i was informed there has been a change of heart and the collar is now required to be white and gray as well. "just like shaggy!" the dog, not the scooby stoner. she is completely enthralled with the shaggy dog these days, all versions -- the 60's, the d.a. of the 70's, the 2000's remake, doesn't matter, all shaggy dogs are good in her book.

and these? matching fingerless mitts, to make her appear more dog-like. she curls her fingers up so they can't be seen, and suddenly she has paws! it's a miracle!

finally, for my birthday i used a 40% off coupon from pacific fabrics and bought a giant skein of cascade ecological wool. i am thinking shrug of the most basic design -- knit in the round until the armpit, knit flat across the back, knit in the round again for the other sleeve. we'll see if i have enough yarn, especially as i am making the arms rather wide. it's a lovely yarn though, not at all scratchy and just a little sheepy in odor.

apparently the cat smells that as well as she keeps snuggling the skein and/or the sleeve. she loves it like a bunny, i tell you. it is most ridiculous looking, and she doesn't even care.

10 october 2007 tragedy

has anyone had this happen with socks that rock? two socks entered the wash, one returned unscathed. the other? like a wildebeest used it for tusk target practice...

one of the four holes up close:

i don't know if i have the patience, or the skill, to even try to fix it. and i want to know why? why?? why??? it was not caught on any machinery. there were quite a few delicates all in the wash together and only this sock fell to pieces. was it some strange weakness in the yarn? did a moth go crazy on this one only? is it a conspiracy to make me stop buying sock yarn? if the latter, it worked. i was so sad all thoughts of new yarn flew from my head and i didn't knit at all for a week.

september 2007