World Cup Socks

This is the fastest pair of socks I've ever made. It took me two weeks, during which I was regularly following the FIFA games in South Africa. I finished them last night, as the spouse was opening the Freixenet to celebrate Spain's victory.



I took the picture this morning, while still in my pajamas. The pattern is called "dead simple lace socks" (no wonder I finished them so fast), found in Wendy's Socks from the Toe Up. The yarn is Simple Stripes, from Knit Picks. It's 75% wool, 25% nylon.

I'm Back

At least I am back to knitting, so I might as well come back to
blogging. What brought me here today is a
pair of corn socks that I finally completed.

                


The color was impossible to capture. The manufacturer calls it "cactus", and it is a light shade of green, but not as light as the pictures. The yarn reminds me a lot of fixation yarn, only with a finer gauge.

I am not happy with the tuft. If I were to knit these again,
I'd leave more space between leaves and tuft, and make the tuft narrower.



It took me a long time to finish these socks because I associated them with a
negative period of my life. Finishing them gave me a sort of closure. I
still don't plan on wearing them anytime soon. Which is all right, because
it is warm enough for sandals and I will not need socks for a while.
Mind you, the corn fiber is like cotton, so they would still be
great for Summer, but I am stashing them away for now.

Sad Days

What I feared to lose, I already lost
What I expected to win, I no longer expect

                                           Antonio Gala

Corn socks and Merry Xmas

Again, I stopped blogging for a while, but I am still knitting and wishing everybody happy holidays. Here's what I've been working on:



Made with Maizy (82% corn fiber). I tried as best as I could to come up with a corn plant pattern. The tuft is going to be a challenge, but I think I can tackle it. What saddens me is that I could not come up with convincing corn ears, so I took them out.

Meanwhile, I hope everyone finds the time to knit over the holidays and enjoy themselves.

Baby Knitting

I hate baby knits. I know I sound bitter but that's the truth: I don't enjoy knitting for other people's babies given my own infertility issues. That said, I do share the joy babies bring to my friends' lives and am very happy for them. They know not to make me an outcast just because I have never experienced what they are going through, and they are wise to share the news and baby pictures, because they know I still love them and want to be part of their lives.

I am thrilled that one of my friends from college recently gave birth to a baby boy, but I felt terribly guilty about not sending in a handmade item. So here's a quick knit, from Bernat.



I used some leftover Caron Sayelle ack-rylic that I have had for quite some time. Not very absorbent, so probably a bad choice. But, it's machine washable, which is good, right?

Reno Socks

Recently I went to Reno with the spouse. My intention was to enjoy myself and knit a lot. Sadly I came down with a cold. I did manage to kint a lot (it happens when you're in bed two days in a row, I guess).

Anyway, here's the socks prior to ribbing, knitted on two circulars:



These come from Wendy Johnson's Socks from the Toe Up. The pattern is called Ribbed Ribbon. I was hoping that the yarn would work with the pattern but sadly it does not. Those muddled colored bands concealed it completely. Live and learn.

Here's one complete sock with ribbing.


When knitting lace socks, I should stick to solids. But solids are so boooooring...

Finished!

I refuse to find out when exactly I started this shawl. It was more than a year ago, and that is bad enough.

But here is my finished Kiri, made with three balls of Kid Merino:



Of course, it looks prettier when actually worn.


And now, what shall I do with two balls of Kid Merino? Any suggestions?

I'm not dead!

Although this job is killing me! Who would have known? But I am not here to complain about my job and the lack of knitting. I'm here to show off:



Yes! I completed that blasted Debbie Bliss baby jacket after chasing down the errata on Ravelry and squeezing barely enough time to cast off, block, seam, and give it to my friend right before she relocated. And of course, I forgot to take a picture of it, but my friend kindly sent me one.

Now that I have it, it would be a shame not to post it, don't you think?

There is something else I managed to complete but I have been unable to get a good picture of it. But it will appear here soon, I promise.

In Other Crafts

My sewing machine and I do not get along very well, but we had to work together for this project. On top of that, I had to freshen up my embroidery skills, on which I had given up years ago.

I don't want to show the complete names but I think the letters came out well. I am still not 100% satisfied with the sewing results but I cannot waste anymore time working on it. The bride to be, one of my best friends from college, assures me she is going to like it no matter what. I hope so. I will not be at the wedding, which breaks my heart. At least  I get to sign the guest book anyway.

List of finished books:

Breaking Dawn, by Stephenie Meyer.
Finally finished the series. It's not so great but it kept me entertained.

Stolen Innocence, by Elissa Wall
More about the polygamous mormon sect.

Tear Down this Myth, by Will Bunch
I always thought the Reagan administration was overrated. Now I know how and why that happened, plus I got the real facts.

Watchmen, by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons.
I missed the movie, which given the bad reviews, might have been for the best. The book is great, but one has to keep in mind that it was written during the 80's.

The Hero of Ages, by Brandon Sanderson
The last book in the Mistborn Series. Finally the whole thing makes sense. I liked it a lot, especially compared with the second book which seemed to have been written in haste.

Purple Socks!

My socks are here! They were knit by Nutsue, who used a lovely  embossed leaves pattern.



I have to show you a close up, this is a very pretty pattern indeed.



The socks themselves are wonderful, but she also sent me a few goodies, including a postcard from Paris, a Monet fridge magnet, two pens and some Fortissima Socka yarn with beautiful tweed colors.



All in all, a wonderful Spring package. I hope  mine arrives soon to its destiny too. I never took the time to post a picture of the finished socks, but here they are:



I also tackled the task of culturing some S.  marcescens and figuring out how to use the pink pigment from the bacteria to dye some yarn. It wasn't easy! The bacteria produced very little pigment when grown in a liquid culture, and also the pigment has low solubility in water. I did get a skein to absorb some color:



But that pale pink is very different from what  I was hoping for. I am thinking of giving this skein a second dye bath. Should I?