The cottage socks for my dil and son, with the skid-free designs on the bottoms!

TA DA!! I’m a officially finished with my Christmas 2012 knitting! (now all I have to do is mail it to them before next Christmas!)

I used Regia ABS Latex for Slip-Free Socks on the bottom and the stencil that you can get from herrschners.com. As you can tell, the black isn’t really black and the red isn’t really red (the blue is a pale sky blue). I’m not really happy with the colors but I am happy that the cottage socks are now skid-free. Or at least, skid-resistant.

What to do now? Once again I’m at the “All Finished With the Knitting I Was Under a Deadline” to do (even though the deadline was 5 months ago). So, now what?

Fortunately, I still have to knit cottage socks for me and the family of triplets plus one that I wanted to do so that by next fall, I can have the pattern ready for self-publishing. I also have other knitting for myself I want to do plus all kinds of ideas for my family <g> for next Christmas. (Might as well start now so there’s a tiny chance that they may get them on Christmas 2013.)

Further up and further in!! (as said by C.S. Lewis in The Last Battle)

Socks 5:

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These socks match.

To a knitter.

I seldom knit a pair of socks of the other matching kind, the kind non-knitters appreciate. Because when you finish knitting one sock the fun is over. Making the second sock, identical, is just homework. Boring.

A solution would be to make two socks at the same time, on a long circular needle. But this takes a long time. But not twice as much as making one sock after the other however.

Another solution is to channel Pippi Longstocking.

Or insist they match anyway. These do!

ps. I dyed both yarns myself

Clear

Short practice but sweat like crazy.

21,15,12,9,6,3
Box Jumps
Up right rows

Wow, that feels good to get off my chest!

I never- and really, I mean NEVER- thought I would be “one of those sock knitters.” You know, the kind who can’t be without a sock on the needles, who scroll through ravelry at one a.m. looking at sock patterns, who believe buying sock yarn doesn’t count… okay, to be fair, I already believed that. But the magic of sock knitting has taken over! I love knitting socks. I’m not even afraid to say it, I love socks!!

Prior to this discovery, I have knitted 2 1/2 pairs of socks . My first pair are huge, my second were worsted weight ankle socks for a friend, and the 1/2 is a knee high striped sock that I suffered Second Sock Syndrome with. But now, I feel strange when I don’t have a sock going!

These were my first pair after I caught the sock bug. They are from a 1953 pattern book found for free here! The yarn I used is Anzula Dreamy, which is, for lack of a better word, dreamy. I would highly recommend working with it.

The most recent finished pair are from the same 1953 pattern book. Though I modified a simple sock by adding a small lace pattern of k2tog, yo, k2, yo, ssk, to either side of the leg & foot. This yarn is Pigeonroof Siren Sock, which is also lovely but sadly discontinued.

Yay for socks! Currently I am working on a Malabrigo sock from Nancy Bush’s Knitting Vintage Socks and loving it. I don’t know when this sock craze will end, but if “never” is the answer, I think I would be okay with that.

My Land Army sweater is done, hopefully it will be photographed this week!

xoxo

Sydney

p.s. I met an octopus today. Her name was mystery.

Yesterday as an early birthday present-slash-raw-material-hunt, me and my sibling ventured once again to the usual spots of Quiapo and Divisoria to find good buys of fashion and accessories. If only we lived so close to these two, me and my siblings were so sure to always shop there than in popular malls. Hnngh. I seriously love Quiapo and Divisoria and would really really want familiarize myself with the streets, corners and stores. For certain that there’d be more to see and buy.

My first splurge are socks and tights — to which I adore since so long ago. Especially the emerging tattoo stocking fashion that is making its way around online stores. There are certain designs I’m after but I ain’t regretting with these babies. I got these for pieces for 150PHP – 200PHP ($3.65 – $4.86) each.

Shorts and skirts are slowly filling up my closet than pants — bearing my small height plus the crazy hot weather, I’d rather go with shorts. I got these three for 100PHP – 220pPHP ($2.43 – $5.35) each. They’d definitely go great with those socks. Hee!

Then this here platform shoes that I was surprise to see being sold… and it roughly reminds me them BJD’s shoes with this black-white design. *laughs*I just hope this pair would last on me. I tend to really use platform shoes during walk and casual adventures inside malls and events. I haggled this for 500PHP ($12.15). Thank you to Ajanine for sponsoring a hundred bucks for this! Wee!

Lastly are tops… that I realized recently that I have less of them compared to my frilly dresses. I’mma sad to see my current tops circulating it’s almost embarrassing! so buying these darlings were a must from my checklist. I had wanted to purchase tops that are between 80PHP and 200PHP ($1.94 – $4.86)… and yay. I found these.

Despite the humid heat, huge crowd and really long commute to Divioria and Quiapo, I always come home from the place with buys like these. I’mma so coming back soon!

PS. I had my usual Thai food at Chariyah’s at 168 Mall. Hurhurhur.

Seren weighs 11 lbs 2 oz

Seren is 22 inches long

Seren’s head measures 14.75 inches around

Of course, Ever helped with measuring and listening and blood-pressure-taking.

1: Socks/stockings at the beach.

Socks and stockings are perfect for keeping our feet nice and toasty during the chilly season, yet porous enough to allow our skin to breathe. However, the trouble comes when the fabric stretched with the movement of our foot and quite literally, traps the perfectly sized grains of sand in it’s tissue and clutches it there for rediscovery in your car, shower, washing, bed, kitchen… need I continue? Why is there not the thought to remove socks and stockings (like you did your shoes), feel the sand between your toes, then after your visit is complete, wash your feet off near the footpath and place your clean socks on your clean feet to resume toasty status?

2: Personalised number plates stating the type of car.

People pay hundreds of dollars for a personalised number plate. I do understand the lure of a gorgeous colour that matches your car’s interior (or rims?) and the ideal that initials are a little more appealing than a random selection of three numbers and three letters but why waste your money on restating the brand or model of car? BMW, WRX… I can see just next to your number plate the make and model, why restate it on your number plate? And more importantly… what happens when you transfer your plates to a new car that, heaven forbid, is NOT a BMW or WRX?

3: Remixes… of remixes.

It has taken me a while to get used to the idea of remixes. Running to the dance floor when a song I love comes on at a house party or club and screaming along to the lyrics with my friends, then… the lyrics stutter. The beat ceases and a sound revs up like a plane and becomes high-pitched, ironically proportional to the increased confusion on my face. A couple of years on, I have accepted the funkiness of some of the beats created through remixes, but remixes of remixes? Is there any of the original song left? Did you just add “Yeah. Woo!” every 2 bars and call it your own? Officially confused. Where am I? HELP!

4: Babyccinos.

Ah, babyccinos. What’s not to love about frothed milk and a little chocolate powder? The part that weirds me out is when mothers take their children to coffee, purchase said baby-chino and have a coffee date. Coffee, addictive enough already, doesn’t need this habit instilled from the age of two.

These socks (let’s be honest, they’re quite hard to miss) are now so infamous amongst mine and my brothers’ friends that she’s started taking requests. If she likes you enough, she might even make you a customised pair with the design of your choice. And if you’re really, really lucky, she’ll make you a matching pair of gloves…

So as I turn 24 on the 24th, thanks for borning me, and thanks for keeping me in socks (and blankets and scarves and gloves)!

That should be all of them, but it doesn’t show the details.  There is a hat there, 2 pairs of socks, 2 different kinds of fingerless mitts, one for summer, one for winter.  And a silk lace scarf.

Now for a little detail:

These socks I call the mismatched match.  They are a pair, but the stripes don’t match up and that’s the way I wanted them, much like the socks on Harry Potter.  These were a blast to make and I will make more of them.

The red mitts are wonderful and I love the way they turned out.  Very warm and a lot of stretch to them.  I’ve had this affinity for red in the last little while.  The blue gloves go from pale blue and grey to a deep rich midnight blue and make me think of a stormy midnight sky.  They are made from a silk,, merino blend and knit up very evenly.

This is a silk,merino scarf knit in a lovely fan and feather pattern.  It reminds me of the sea, so I call it the Mermaid’s Tale.  There are some beads at each end, to help weigh it down a little.  I just loved the blend of colors from a lovely sandy beach tone to a deep green ocean hue.

Finally that gnome hat in the back in the bright red wool (from the picture at the top of this post).  I was thinking about the fae folk, in particular the red caps, who mop up the blood of their victims with their hats.  I had fun making that hat and am currently working on a bright red hood.  That should be done by end of day today… Or maybe tomorrow.  I keep getting inspired to do more and have a lovely big trunk full of wool to play with.

Socks 5:

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Some people get up on the wrong side of the bed. Others roll out of bed the wrong way and voila, their day seems to be magically selected for them. Fortunately for me, I usually roll out of bed feeling good about what is ahead for me.

Unfortunately, that feeling doesn’t always last very long. The sock drawer effect happens and I pick out a day of frustration to wear like a ratty, old pair of sweat socks.

That happened to me recently. For the first hour or so (getting up, doing my devotions, showering and having breakfast) everything went well. Then I was informed that I needed to drive my wife somewhere on my way to work.

Sometimes it just takes a little rewriting of the daily script to initiate “a day of interruptions” theme. … Oh, and believe me, that did it! Driving Lily to her destination, I was a little agitated. It detained me from getting down to my planned work.

When I finally got to work, in walked an unplanned, unscheduled, perfect illustration for my “interruptions” day. The man was seeking help but each time he had come the previous week, he had been told to come back as I had been on vacation.

The last time he had been told to phone first before he came in. Instead, he just showed up. He was in need of some financial assistance and though I am not a money lender, as a pastor I am used to trying to help out people in his position.

He needed food and the solution was to get him a grocery store gift card. However, after being put off a few times already, he was not in a mood to be put off again.

As I listened to his story, my heart went out to him. Yes, it would be an interruption for me to stop what I was doing to go buy him a gift card, but I felt that’s what I should do.

Unfortunately, he had a few restrictions. He could not go to the grocery store that was the closest to the church. The next closest did not have a store near where he lived.

That meant this interruption would take even longer. Half way there I remembered I had taken my wallet out of my pocket and it was still on my desk at church, so I turned around and went back.

I got the wallet, drove back to the grocery store, and bought the gift card only to notice that the store was affiliated with a grocery store that was close to the church. I could have purchased the card there and saved half the time!

That’s how my day went, one thing after another … until I got home and changed my socks.

Here’s the thing: You can focus on the frustration of each day and get all agitated inside. OR you can view the events of the day as things God brings your way and deal with them as opportunities to serve Him. Your choice.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What is your biggest frustration?  Leave your comment below.

In the meantime I have been working on some socks (surprise, surprise!).  They are almost finished but I thought it was high time for a blog post so here is an “in progress” photo…..

Slip slop socks

The yarn is Schoeller & Stahl Fortissima Colour, and as you can see it is a self striping yarn with quite long colour blocks.  From the sole stitches you can see how it would stripe in stocking stitch but I wanted to break up the stripes a bit so have used some slip stitches.  It is just enough to add a bit of interest to the yarn and when you are knitting.  I would be curious to see how it would work in a yarn with shorter colour transitions.

The circular needle you can see dangling there is a new acquisition.  One of the ladies at my knit group picked up a set of KnitPro Karbonz DPNs at Wonderwool Wales a couple of weeks ago.  I wanted some instantly but as I very rarely use DPNs I was agonising over whether to get some.  I need not have worried because on doing a small bit of research it turns out they also come in straights and fixed circulars!!  Yippee!!  So I ordered a 100cm, 2.5mm circular from Meadow Yarns because they had the best price, and it turned out that the service was also excellent.  The needle arrived in a couple of days and for only 95p P&P – and there was a little gift of a herbal tea sachet included.

The Karbonz are made of carbon fibre with nickel plated brass tips and a black plastic cable which is strong but also flexible.  The tips are about the same thickness as Addi Lace which are my usual preferred sock needles, but interestingly the DPN version is even pointier.  In fact that is why I ordered them because I was expecting them to be the same, but on comparing them with the DPNs, the DPNs in exactly the same size are very obviously pointier. I don’t know if this is true of all the sizes, which go from 2mm up to 3.5mm.  The carbon fibre makes them incredibly lightweight, and they are super smooth and easy to work with.  And they don’t smell funny if you don’t use them for a few days – has anyone else noticed this with the Addi Lace needles?  I think they start to tarnish a bit and begin to smell metallicky, but the Karbonz don’t do this.  The price is a few pounds higher than other brands, but as a treat these are a very nice needle to get hold of.

So as these socks are almost finished I now need to decide on my next project.  I have a collar and seaming to finish on my Notre Dame de Grace sweater, and I also have a Paulie cardigan about 30% done, but I am itching to start something new.  I have been mulling over a little yarn-bombing idea for a while now, and just a couple of weeks ago I found the perfect yarn.  There was no knit group at the yarn shop that week so a few of us met at a local garden centre, and while there we had a little yarn swap.  Sarah brought along 2 balls of this yarn…..

Ribbons & Purls

which is going to be perfect for my little scheme! I’m not sure how I am going to get away with decorating the object in mind due to it being in the city centre and under the scrutiny of CCTV cameras but we shall see!