Sisyphus Knits

Maryland Sheep & Wool 2009

2009-05-10T08:56:00.008-05:00

We had a great time at a rainy MS&W this year; it's becoming an annual family tradition for my sister and I to visit our other sister who lives in Baltimore for MS&W weekend. We saw lots of cute animals and fibery goodness at the Festival, and were amazed by crowds that showed up despite the drizzly weekend. I was remarkably restrained when it came to stash building; I only bought 4 skeins of yarn (I know!): 2 skeins of Tess Baby Bunny in Robins Egg Blue to knit Whisper, 1 skein of Interlacements Toasty Toes, and 1 skein of Creatively Dyed sock yarn in Harvest. I was so excited to see Creatively Dyed there, she wasn't on the vendor list but due to a last minute opening was able to make it! She is such a sweet lady and her colors are beautiful!

So besides MS&W, want to know what else we did? Friday night we started out with some sushi and shopping: I bought 2 cute tops at South Moon Under, this one and this one and then we went to happy hour at Ra Sushi (drinks and sushi half off!) When my sister got home from work, we did a pub crawl in Fell's Point, unfortunately nobody in my family can drink more than one or two beers, so the pub crawl was cut short and we ended up eating dinner at One Eyed Mike's. I read about this joint in the WSJ a year or so ago, they are obsessed with Grand Marnier and for $100 you can purchase your own private bottle which will sit on the shelf waiting for you. But unexpectedly, for a grungy looking bar, they have great food, I highly recommend the crab stuffed portabello mushroom cap.

Next day, after fortifying ourselves with croissants and lattes at Bonaparte Breads (the owner looks exactly like Napolean) we headed off to MS&W. We hit it early (look at the crowds at 9:30 am) and left about 1:30 where we had lunch at nearby Great Sage, a fabulous vegetarian restaurant only 10 minutes from the festival. No lamburgers for us! Nothing against meat, but as my sister put it (regarding the lamburgers and lamb kebabs at the festival) "Isn't that like going to a Pediatrics Convention and frying up some babies?"

We had a laid back afternoon knitting and napping, then headed over to my sister's boyfriend's house in Federal Hill where we grilled some salmon and asparagus and made some sangria, yum!

Next day it poured rain all day, so we mostly did indoor activities: Cafe Hon for brunch (I recommend the mimosas and carrot cake) and then the American Visionary Art Museum. We spent a couple of hours here; it's all outsider art so art by people with no formal training (and some crazy people), kids would love this place. There was a model of the Lusitania made out of 193,000 toothpicks and 5 gallons of glue. Have you ever seen one of those rubber band balls? They had the same thing but 12 feet in diameter and made out of bras! Lots of whirligigs and toys with moving parts, hundreds of cool portraits made out of (what looked to me like) spirographs! Tiny sculptures carved in the end of a pencil lead! Murals drawn by a 112 year old man (similar drawing style to my 9 year old)!

Sweden, ya youbetcha

2009-04-03T15:27:00.005-05:00

Today we headed to Sweden. We hopped in the car, cranked up the Abba, and cruised on down to Andersonville in Chicago. First stop: Swedish American Museum, this was a lovely little museum, newly refurbished, and it was an ideal size for children. We spent about 30 minutes looking through the exhibits, which are all very accessible, for me the most interesting exhibit was about Raoul Wallenberg, who saved 120,000 people from the Nazis, only to disappear into a concentration camp himself.

Next we ate at Ann Sather's, famous for their cinnamon rolls, and rightly so. Although I swear I got a cavity just from eating one. We walked around the neighborhood which is full of cute book stores, art galleries, boutiques, etc.

I have to say this was an enlightening trip, Chicago has so much to offer, all of it right in our own backyard. We visited 5 "countries" and put less than 200 miles on the car altogether. I told the kids that it will not end here, we will continue our "Trip Around the World" in the coming weeks (on Saturdays) and I have Greece, Italy, Germany, and Korea in my sights.

Greetings from India

2009-04-02T21:33:00.005-05:00

Today, fourth day on our trip around the world, we went to India, or actually Devon Street in Chicago. The kids said this was one of the best days, even though they weren't crazy about the food.

We shopped in a sari/fabric shop (I saw the perfect fabric for the Kimono dress in Weekend sewing, but had no idea how much to buy, might have to swing by there on our way to Sweden tomorrow), bought 24 beautiful bangles for $15, some beaded purses, the little one bought a beautiful treasure box, and ate a fabulous buffet at Tiffin.

Tomorrow, Sweden!

Buenos Dias

2009-04-02T08:33:00.004-05:00

Today we went to Mexico! This was a homecoming of sorts, my husband was actually born in Mexico (the real Mexico) but grew up in Pilsen (the Chicago-Mexico) that we visited today. It was fun because he showed us the houses where he grew up, the laundry mat where they washed their clothes, his schools, the hole in the fence where he would sneak home from school when he was 5 (now repaired, we had to imagine), the alley where he learned to ride his bike, the park where he learned to swim, and much much more.

We ate lunch at Nuevo Leon on 18th street (highly recommended, lunch for 4 including tip was $31 and the food is great!) and we planned on visiting the Mexican Museum of Art, but our youngest felt sick and we had to head home (she was carsick, nothing to do with the restaurant, she didn't even eat). As my husband said, "Someone always gets sick when you go to Mexico!"

Before heading home, we picked up some Pan Dulces at Nopal. Tomorrow we are headed to India.

Tally Ho from Great Britain!

2009-04-01T07:59:00.006-05:00

Tally Ho from Great Britain! If you missed yesterday's post, I am taking my kids on a trip around the world (right here in Chicago) and today we went to Great Britain. We woke up and had English muffins for breakfast, natch, then we headed downtown to the Museum of Contemporary Art.

While I know the MCA isn't strictly British, I was hoping for some bad boy British artists like Lucien Freud, Damian Hurst, etc. Or at least I was hoping for some art, period. Sadly, there is very little art at the MCA! There was a small Alexander Calder exhibit, a small exhibit of charcoal drawings by a South African artist, which were nice but kids can't appreciate charcoals, and a Buckminster Fuller exhibit. While Buckminster Fuller sounds terribly British, sadly he is not. He is an architect with lots of wacky ideas, the kids were into his toothpick models and homes of the future, plus we all wished we could try out his rowboat (hanging on the wall, what good is that). When you walk down the Chicago Ave. to get to the museum, they have signs up that say "Fear No Art", well I'm afraid there was No Art there. Thank goodness it was free Tuesday, so we didn't have to pay to get in.

Next we went to the Peninsula Hotel for Tea; this was fabulous. They have a lovely children's tea, for $18 the kids get a pot of hot chocolate, a mini burger, a ham & cheese and pb&j finger sandwich, gummi bears, rice krispie treat, brownie, pb cookies, and jello. It was adorable. And for slightly more money ($45) mom got high tea with finger sandwiches, quiches, desserts, cookies, scones, and most importantly a glass of champagne (don't worry, my husband drove home). And when the waiter heard us singing "Happy Birthday" to the youngest (she turned 9), he brought out a beautiful ice cream cake bombe with a candle and we all sang again.

Oh and it drizzled all day so that was British too!

Next stop Mexico!

Around the world in 5 days

2009-03-30T21:24:00.006-05:00

We decided to stay home for Spring Break, which ultimately was a great decision as my youngest was sick with the flu last week and is just recovering this week. But still, I decided to take the week off of work to hang with the kids and have some fun. Tam told me that last year, her sister Heidi took her kids on a "Trip around the world" right here in Chicago, and I decided to do the same! I made passports for everyone and glued in the flags of the countries that we are going to visit.

Today we saw China, otherwise known as Chinatown, located at 22nd and Wentworth in Chicago. We shopped for trinkets in the little gift shops, ate at Joy Yee Noodle Shop, and generally enjoyed the sunny day! The highlight for me was when we ordered chicken rice noodle soup for my youngest at Joy Yee; the waiter came back out and said they didn't have chicken noodle soup (something about they need a whole chicken for that and couldn't get one this morning) but perhaps the 8 year old would enjoy the fish ball soup. We all laughed until we cried, first of all she is the pickiest eater alive and does not eat fish, and secondly we are all so immature that the phrase "fish balls" gave us fits!

Tomorrow we're going to Great Britain!

Homework

2008-10-13T18:23:00.002-05:00

Ok, this isn't knitting related, but since it made me laugh until tears ran down my cheeks, I thought I would share with the world (or at least the 3 people who still read this blog). My 11 year old had an assignment, she had to write a letter to President Jefferson from Lewis & Clark. Here is a portion of the letter:

"Dear President Jefferson,

We have had a major problem for the past couple of days and we are getting ill from not eating anything but animals. We were wondering if you could ship us some food but you might not find us. We are lost and one of the volunteers had drowned the night before, another got attacked by a grizzly bear and was found lifeless in the woods. Lewis is speaking: Sir I do not know what to do, I feel like I am the leader of this expedition and I am doing most of the work. Clark is helping out but he is not as courageous, devoted, or mannish like I am. So far it has been splendid except for some sudden deaths, but on the other hand we have been doing well and we will get your land complete. Clark is speaking: I can not believe that Lewis thinks he's in charge but really I am because I'm so much more masculine then him. Why would he even say that? Well yes I have a cold and some other fellows had catched it from me, I regret coming and I want to go home but I will stay because we are lost and we have seen things that are unbelievable. You say somethin astonishing we have probably already done it. I have seen Lewis talking to himself and thinking about things unbelievable I don't know what to say about him. I have to admit he has been the leader in our exploration so far. But I will overpower him someday in life when we are much older."

It goes on and on, but you get the picture. And when she finished printing it on the computer, we burned the edges and painted tea stains on it so it would look more realistic.

bibi 005

2008-07-27T20:56:00.001-05:00

bibi 005
Originally uploaded by lizflor@sbcglobal.net

I finished & blocked Bibi; one of my kids is modeling it for me, doesn't she look thrilled?

Details: I went down a needle size to get gauge, 5s and 4s instead of 6s and 5s. I knit the medium size & I did need 6 skeins; ran out of the fifth on the final decrease round. This was an easy, quck knit but I really like how it came out, the neckline looks good and lays flat and the decrease rounds towards the end give it a nice shape.

Instead of binding off the underarm stitches, I put them on waste yarn and kitchenered together at the end because I stink at seaming.

All in all I'm really happy with this sweater; I'll probably wear it to work on Friday with some dark trouser style jeans I have.

Bibi for Meme

2008-07-13T13:58:00.002-05:00

yarn photos 008
Originally uploaded by http://www.flickr.com/people/68299643@N00/

I bought this pattern here as soon as I saw it posted and the following weekend I went to my LYS and bought the suggested yarn mmm Noro. Cast on shortly thereafter and got lots of stockinette done on our roadtrip to Niagara Falls last weekend (I will post pictures of that as soon as we find the computer cord to my oldest daughter's camera, where all the pictures are stuck right now.) I am hoping to finish by next weekend so I can wear it to the Midwest Folk and Fiber Art Fair. I also finished the pom peds for my oldest, pattern is free and here, I substituted Koigu for the recommended yarn (cause I couldn't find it locally) and I really loved the color combo in the original Purl Bee Post.

Lazy Crazy Weekend

2008-06-08T15:20:00.006-05:00

We had a great weekend! On Saturday, my oldest was in the Softball Championships; they won! She got 2 big trophies: 2008 Tournament Champions and League Champions, 2 nail biting games, in the first they gave up 8 runs in the first inning, but came from behind to win. Then they had to play a second game, which they won 21 to 16.

Today it rained nearly all day, which was actually great for me. I cleaned the downstairs (sorely needed, let me tell you), started the Pom Pom Peds, which I have been coveting for a couple of weeks, and made the homemade Oreos that are sweeping the knitting blog world - they are amazing! As my oldest said, "these make Oreos taste like crap." Trust me, from a 13 year old, that's a huge compliment.

Sweater for Harry Winston

2008-03-02T17:22:00.002-06:00

Newly Uploaded 118
Originally uploaded by http://www.flickr.com/people/68299643@N00/

Friends had a baby in November, they named him Harry Winston, isn't that cute. So I am knitting Harry the Child's Placket Pullover Sweater from Last Minute Knitted Gifts (check the errata, here, if you get the inclination to knit it.) I'm using Pear Tree Baby Merino in a beautiful shade of green (technically Moss, but it is not the color of moss) and I am looking for tiny, diamond like buttons, because nothing less will do for little Harry Winston!

On the Horizon

2008-03-01T14:40:00.004-06:00

It has been a long, cold, snowy Chicago winter! I know, I know, what do I expect; I've lived in the midwest my whole life, winter is long, cold, and snowy. But this winter has been particularly brutal. Big snows followed by sub-zero weather. So come March, we long for a break, a little sun, sand, and beach. This spring break we're renting a house on St. Thomas with some friends and I am really looking forward to it. Thought I would share a couple of pictures of the house, because it's so freakin' awesome!

When life hands you lemons...

2008-02-24T17:11:00.003-06:00

make a Vegan Chocolate Strawberry Trifle! I made a resolution to eat more Vegan meals this year; if it were just me, I would go Vegan in a heartbeat, but my husband and kids are total meat lovers, so it's not easy. Still I try where I can. This morning I made a recipe from Vegan with a Vengeance: Scrambled Tofu. It was delicious, I pretty much followed her recipe, but added broccoli and didn't add nutritional yeast (because I have NO idea what that is or where to look for it!). This afternoon, I was making a Vegan Chocolate Cake (Namaste cake mix from Whole Foods) and the cake got stuck in a pan & made a big crumbly mess, so I cut it into cubes, then layered it in a trifle dish with Soy Whip (mixed with a little melted Scharffenberger Antilles Dark Chocolate) and strawberries. Voila, a beautiful dessert because my mom is coming over for dinner tonight and she deserves it!

Too Bad, So Sad

2008-02-04T20:13:00.000-06:00

So I haven't posted in forever & now I'm only going to post only so I can whine about the airlines again and I know that's lame. In knitting news, I've knit a bunch of hats and scarves and two socks over the past couple of months. But back to the whining, and I think this falls under the "life's not fair" category, because it's nobody's fault really, although United Airlines still sucks, as they did last April when they stranded me at LaGuardia for the night and then were mean about it. My sister & I were supposed to go to Sawgrass for a spa weekend in Florida this weekend. We had appointments galore scheduled for Saturday: facials, mani/pedis, massages and Telly Savalas waxings (I'm kinda glad that didn't happen, my sister booked that particular service, and of course she scheduled mine right BEFORE hers). But I digress. She was booked on the 8:08 am flight out of O'Hare and I was on the 1:15 pm flight. Since it snowed 8 inches that night, her flight was cancelled, and the 2 other flights to Jville that day were overbooked, so they couldn't get her out until the next day; but we were scheduled to return on Sunday at 11 am, so sensibly, my sister decided she didn't want to fly to Florida for 24 hours and declined the offer. However, this is where we encountered a problem. Because of course my flight was still going, and even though it was overbooked and they obviously needed my seat, they wouldn't work that deal on the phone for me, I would have to go out to the airport in order to get credit for my flight. But frankly I was not about to go out to the airport if I wasn't flying to Florida, so now I'm out the cost of the ticket. And the worst part of the story, after her flight was cancelled, my sister went to the baggage claim to get her luggage & they told her it was going to Jville & would be back in 5 days, they would deliver it to her house at that time, which would cost her $50. When she pointed out to the attendant that there was no way her suitcase had gone anywhere as no flights had taken off, he just pointed to the framed policy stating that he couldn't help her, once she checked it, it was going to Florida & frankly it was staying twice as long as we were planning on staying. United called my sister yesterday, they lost her suitcase. And, get a tissue if you need one, her favorite shoes were in the suitcase. For which they are offering her $150 compensation, roughly the cost of one shoe.

Da Bomb

2007-10-30T08:38:00.000-05:00

So on Sunday, Tamara came over to make "Lush" style bath bombs with me. We were inspired by 1) Tamara's recent visit to Lush at Macy's and 2) Glampyre's blog where she talked about making bath bombs herself. So Tamara brought a ginormous bag of baking soda which she bought at Sam's and I picked up some citric acid, almond oil, and grapefruit essential oil and we made some pale pink "bombs." My youngest tried one out on Sunday night and it worked great, fizzed like mad and smelled like pink grapefruit. Next time I'm going to order the citric acid from here, where it costs $2.25 per pound vs. $10 per pound at Whole Foods. If you want to make some yourself, we found instructions here, here, and here.

In other news, I finished my Chevron scarf on Sunday night, although it practically took an intervention to get me to stop (it was 76" long, but I still had more yarn!) I will post pictures after it's blocked and dried.

Also, true to my name (Sisyphus) I unraveled my Bluebell Boatneck sweater (and I was halfway through the ribbing!) because I tried it on and the neck was off my shoulders. This is extremely weird as I measured all over and I got gauge exactly (18 sts. and 24 rows=4 inches) and then I measured my neckline and concluded 24" would be ideal, which leads to casting on 24*(18/4) = 108 stitches, which is exactly how many I cast on, but my neckline was 34" wide! So I don't get it, but I think I'm going to try again with smaller needles for the 4 initial garter ridge rows

Hallowig

2007-10-20T21:08:00.001-05:00

rideandread2007 002
Originally uploaded by http://www.flickr.com/people/68299643@N00/

Why did I knit a blue wig? Who knows? Daughter #1 might wear it for Halloween, it was fun and fast and what else are you going to do with a skein of blue acrylic?

I just got back from NYC last night, by the skin of my teeth. Typical LaGuardia, they cancelled 200 flights, it was pure luck that they didn't cancel mine; otherwise I would have been #70 on the standby list as usual.

Travel isn't nearly as much fun at my new job as it was at my old one, mostly because I don't get to travel with Rian anymore. He and I have the same basic travel sensibilities: 1) Be organized and efficient, have all your materials ready, itineraries printed, and mapquests so you know where you're going, 2) Be willing to travel to the ends of the earth for a good meal, our best was Chez Panisse, 3) If you're stuck at the airport with time to kill, a ginormous cocktail is the way to go.

Snake socks

2007-10-07T18:11:00.001-05:00

Adrienne in knitting group pointed out to me that these socks look like snakes and she's right! I knit most of this in the Dallas airport, waiting 3 hours for a flight, I estimate this sock took me 6 hours altogether. I messed up the kitchener of course, but Adrienne straightened it out for me. I'm halfway done with the second.

Has anyone noticed all the very cool knitwear featured in magazines this fall? I pulled some extra bulky knit items out of W but can't find them, here's a sweater that was in Town & Country:

Mom & Apple Pie

2007-09-30T20:52:00.000-05:00

We went apple picking, for the second time this fall, at our favorite little family owned orchard in Wisconsin. It was a beautiful day & we managed to pick a full bushel of apples, Golden Delicious, Empires, Jonathans, and HoneyCrisp. When we got home, the girls and I made a pie, here is how we did it:

First pick 8 or 9 apples, we used Golden delicious:

Next, mix up a crust for a double crust, 9 inch pie. My recipe is simple, 2 1/2 cups flour, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 cup Crisco, 1/4 cup butter, 6 Tbsp ice water. I mix all the ingredients, except for the water, in my KitchenAid mixer, until it's the consistency of sand, with small pea sized pieces of Crisco and butter. I sprinkle the ice water on top & mix it gently with a fork a Tbsp at a time until it holds together. This keeps the pastry nice & flaky.

I roll out 1/2 the dough and line the pan with it:

I peel & slice the apples and mix with 3/4 cup sugar, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp. cinnamon, and 2 Tbsp flour:

Turn the apples into the pie crust and dot with 2 Tbsp butter, cut into small chunks:

Roll out the second crust, lay over the top and crimp the edges together, cut slits in the top crust so the steam can escape. Also I brush the top crust with milk and sprinkle with sugar, for a nice finish:

Bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes, then lower the temperature to 375 and bake for an additional 45 minutes. I had a beautiful picture of the finished product, but something happened to my camera battery & it didn't save. Trust me, it was beautiful! Now you can make Mom's Apple Pie too!

My second second sock

2007-09-30T20:46:00.001-05:00

My second second sock
Originally uploaded by lizflor@sbcglobal.net

I finished this ages ago, my second second sock. I included the gauge swatch in the picture to prove to Alyssa that I knit a gauge swatch! I've got lots of yarn leftover, maybe I'll see if I can knit a third sock, just in case I wear out one of the others, or maybe I'll save it to reknit the heel or toe if I get a hole. I messed up the kitchener on the toe 4 times and ripped back, I will get it this time! (Or else I'll make Adrienne do it for me next time at Group!)

My second first sock

2007-09-09T09:07:00.001-05:00

Newly Uploaded 025
Originally uploaded by http://www.flickr.com/people/68299643@N00/

My first sock I started almost a year ago, using the "socks soar on 2 circs" method with STR lightweight. It took forever, I frogged it a couple of times, and I never knit a second one. So at Stitches Midwest I bought the new Ann Budd "Getting Started Knitting Socks" book, I searched my stash for the thickest sock yarn I had (Interlacements toasty toes, purchased in May at MS&W) and followed the basic sock instructions. I knit this one last weekend (and Jen in Group kitchenerd the toe for me, thanks Jen!) then I cast on the second on our way to Wisconsin for apple picking yesterday. I am nearly done with the second, I love thick sock yarn! And I love the book too. Even Adrienne in my group, who knits a couple of socks a week, looked through the book and said there were lots of helpful hints in it. On a totally unrelated topic, I was drinking a bottle of Honest Tea yesterday & had to share the quote on the lid "The bad news: there is no key to the universe. The good news: it was never locked," attributed to Swami Beyondananda (his name is fun to say outloud, try it.)

Stitch n Pitch

2007-08-26T18:35:00.000-05:00

Well, I haven't updated for quite a while & the fans are restless, so I thought I would post some of what I am working on. I went to a Brewer's game on 7/19 with family, cousins, and friends. It was a great game, the Brewers won 10 to 2 or something like that, my cousin played 2nd base & scored a run and got 2 RBIs, so that was fun. As you can see, I am STILL working on the Chevron Scarf, it's about 4 feet long and I am planning on knitting it until I run out of yarn, so it will probably be another four feet soon. I finally got on ravelry, I'm sisyphusknits so stop by & say hi if you're on too.

Ravelry

2007-07-26T21:13:00.000-05:00

I've been feeling sooooo left out (although it's probably saving me lots of time) cause I'm not on Ravelry yet! Now they have a v. cool feature whereby you can see where you are on the list:

patiently awaiting your invite?
If you've added your name to the invite request list on our front page then you can use this form to check your place in line.

Found you!
You signed up on June 6, 2007
You are #7421 on the list.
611 people are ahead of you in line.
13235 people are behind you in line.
32% of the list has been invited so far

Dudes, while 611 people are ahead of me, 13235 people are behind me! For some reason that makes me feel better.

Castonitis

2007-07-08T20:24:00.000-05:00

Well I swore to myself I would finish up a few items around here before I cast on anything new, i.e Monkey Socks, Tomato, Wicked which I am dying to start. I wasn't going to knit the Summertime Tunic because I thought the style would not look good on me (nay, I KNEW it would not) but then my sister called and said "wouldn't it be fun if we both knit it" and next I knew, I was purchasing some ella rae silkience to knit the Summertime Tunic (although I'm knitting it in the smallest size for my 12 year old). I'm about an inch past the ribbing, and just on the endless stockinette, which is great mindless knitting for train rides, tv watching, etc. I had to go down a needle size to get gauge, so I'm knitting with Knitpicks options size 5s.

So then, I was catching up on bloglines on Thursday, and I read the Harlot's entry about the Mystery Stole #3. Although I was not quite sure whether or not I should do it, I figured I would sign up & see what happens. Funny story, I am new to Yahoo groups - I checked the box saying I wanted to receive the email messages - I had 300+ messages in my inbox relating to the MS#3 by Friday evening! Anyway I went to LYS, 3 Bags Full, picked up some Misti Alpaca Lace in Ivory, some addi Turbo Lace needles (size 2s) and knit the swatch. I like it (although I had to tell my kids to quit talking to me while I was knitting lace, I think I'll have to save this for when they're in bed!) The only problem was the beads, Michael's didn't have size 8/0 seed beads & I'm not into beading so I don't know where to go around here. I ordered them off the internet & they're going to take a couple days to get here; can't start Clue #1 until I get them.

Rare Event

2007-07-01T17:11:00.000-05:00

Yup, a Finished Object, which is a rare event on Sisyphus Knits. I finished one of the two scarves I am working on, a 1x1 rib knit out of three colors of Noro Silk Garden, alternating every 2 rows, inspired by this scarf on Brooklyn Tweed. It's 6 feet long, I think it's awesome, but my husband seems lukewarm on it (he said "it's kinda itchy"); I said, "but it's silk" but you know if a person thinks something is itchy, you can't really argue with them, it's itchy to them. Like the old buddhist saying, "I see red and you see green but we call it yellow." That is all for now grasshopper. P.S. I didn't block it, it's a scarf, but Alyssa, do you think I should block it?

My Sox Sux

2007-06-12T20:02:00.000-05:00

Drumroll please...my first sock...it sux! The yarn is gorgeous BMFA STR in Red Rock Canyon, it took me about a year to complete this sock. I started it last summer, knit to within a couple inches of the end, then frogged it due to general suckiness and major holes in the heel. Recast on some time ago (winter maybe) then let it sit, lingering, for months. Finished it this weekend, I guess it's not too bad, but I really messed up the kitchener on the toe...should have brought it to group for advice, but too impatient as usual. I will practice my techniques on the second one, then hopefully knit a better pair of socks eventually. If not, I will entertain suggestions on what to do with the roughly 17 skeins of sock yarn in my stash. Oh yeah, I knit this using 2 circs. Random thoughts - I love the chunky pooling & doesn't my leg/ankle look humongous in this picture!?