Circular Socks

Some of you may recall that one of my New Year's resolutions (in addition to knitting a top-down sweater, which I've done) was to learn to knit socks on circular needles. Ta-Dah! I did it.

This is actually the second pair I made. Here is the finished product: (One of these days I'm going to get some nifty sock forms like Barbara to show off my socks.)

I took a class at my LYS to learn to do this. Five women, all of us incredibly frustrated for the first two classes until suddenly we 'got it.' Here are my thoughts on the process: Pros: It seems faster than knitting one sock at a time on double points. It's great for self-striping yarns like this or simple patterns.
Cons: The yarn is constantly getting tangled. You must have two balls of yarn instead of one big ball. I can't imagine doing it with a lace pattern.

I think I will knit simpler socks on circulars and stick to my trusty double points for lace, cables, and other fancy patterns.

Have any of you knit socks this way? What do you think of the process?

Spring Has Sprung!

At least I thought I heard the "boing, boing, boing" when my pretty pansies started blooming. And I could swear I smelled that wonderful smoke-y aroma that says someone's fired up the grill for a cook-out. Even my daffodils, lily of the valley and crocuses were poking up out of the ground.




Then Mother Nature - bad girl! - decided she wasn't quite through with us and tossed some more snow our way. Not a lot of snow, as you can see in the picture, but just enough to let us know that this endless winter hadn't ended.


So what's an antsy, angsty gardener to do when she can't get outside? Besides read seed catalogs and the "Grow" section of the newspaper - and work on her new book, of course. She knits some socks, that's what! I can't remember if I already posted this picture, which I took a while back, but here's my latest pair of socks.

I also knitted a kind of cross between a tote and a purse and felted it but I haven't been able to get my camera to work properly yesterday or today so I can show it to you. Which is a real shame because I've got a great "Spring Has Sprung" prize I'm going to put up as soon as the silly thing starts working again.

What's happening weatherwise where you are? Sleet, snow, sunshine? And what are you planning to make to celebrate spring?

Knitting Resolutions

I'm looking forward to 2008 as a year filled with knitting and writing, two of my favorite things. Though I'm not much on resolutions in general (many years I don't bother to make them at all) I do have a few knitting-related goals for the coming year. To whit:

1. This year, I'm going to learn entrelac. I have some nice variegated yarn and a scarf pattern I'm going to use as my first project.

2. I also want to try my hand at Fair Isle knitting -- Barbara's snowflake socks inspired me!

3. I'm going to complete some of the many projects I have yarn for -- sweaters and socks I'm eager to wear.

4. I'm going to do some summer knitting -- a sleeveless shell perhaps.

5. I'm going to knit some striped socks in order to use up the bits of sock yarn I've been collecting. The wilder the better for these.

So there you have my knitting resolutions. Would any of you like to share your own New Year's resolutions -- knitting or otherwise?

TAG-ALONG

Okay, I'm through traveling for a while (just got back from OKC and Dallas) and am ready to play "Tag."

1. Like Barbara, I have a grandfather who was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Hector William McKenzie was his name; his father was George and his mother was Mary White McKenzie. After Mary died, father and son moved to Clay Center, KS, where they had relatives who welcomed them with open arms. Hec was my maternal grandfather. My paternal grandfather, Edmund Charles McCoy, was born about ten minutes after his mother, Mary English McCoy, set foot on US soil. That makes me a proud McKenzie-McCoy.

2.
Abraham Lincoln is my guy. Not just for all the obvious reasons, though, they're certainly important. But also because of his courage and "get on with it" attitude in the face of so much personal tragedy. And because I can read his speeches over and over again and never tire of those beautifully-arranged words. (FYI: this is a photo of the small statue we keep on my grandmother's Stickley Brothers desk. I carried it outside because it didn't show up all that well inside.)


3. I often wonder if anyone's really "listening" in this noisy world we now live in.

4. I once beat 22,099 men and women in the Mayor's Christmas Tree Bowling Tournament with a handicap score of 649 (I had two 200+ games and one in the 180s). First prize was a first-class trip to Las Vegas for me and my husband. We had a blast and, ironically, I couldn't lose at the craps tables no matter how crazy I bet.

5. I like to cook, and I'd love to write a low-fat/mostly sugar-free cookbook containing all my converted recipes. What think y'all of that idea?

6.
I didn't make these hand-knit socks - they were a gift (and cost $35 US, if you can believe that!) - but I am going to love wearing them. They're made from cotton/linen yarn and I believe they'll keep my tootsies nice and warm come winter.

7. I'm writing a book set in 1930s America and am using my mom's diaries that cover the period 1933-1943 for research on clothes, music, movies, weather, etc. I'm also considering doing a blog of her diaries and wonder if anyone would be interested in the day-to-day life/historical aspects of a young woman in that period of time. And I'm trying to think of a name for the blog ... suggestions welcome!

Have a good one, all.

Fran