Therapy socks – the end

I finished the second therapy sock on my 5 1/2 hour train ride to Leipzig, where I chatted about  knitting with two charming old ladies in my compartment. it was great. It’s funny though, I was waiting in Hamm for almost an hour and nobody commented on my knitting – and then suddenly within two minutes, two old guys came up to me (separately) and were like “Socks or scar”, I replied “Socks” and they both proudly showed me their own handknitted socks they were wearing. I love old people.

So, where the first therapy sock is too tight (the bindoff), the second one is a tad too loose. Funny, kind of. Otherwise they fit perfectly, I slipped them on as soon as I was done (sans  weaving ends in) and went through what felt like half of Leipzig in them.  Brilliant.

Ah, Leipzig.

Stitch markers

OMG I want stuff off this site. SO BAD. Since the stitch markers are absolutely beautiful and tiny rings instead of droopy thingamabobs, under a dollar, international shipping is $1.85 AND the $/€ exchange rate is awesome for stuff like this right now.

*hyperventilates*

Well, I won’t order any anytime soon. Which basically means till after Leipzig, and then I’ll see how much money I have left and the paying options on this baby. *wibbles*

Hat! Hathathat!

I finished the teal hat today. This is my first project that was largely done in public, due to a very frustrating shoe shopping trip with my dainty-footed mother and sister. Sigh.

Any way, this hat doesn’t look anything like the Odessa hats I’ve made before, and I have no idea why. Although… I only CO 85 stitches instead of 110 cause the yarn was thicker. Maybe you’re supposed to use a number divisible by ten? Or eleven? (the decreases go in steps of eleven) Yeah, that might be it… oh well. It’s all pretty and girly though (not that the Odessa hat isn’t). The decrease looks like a star, or the sun, especially cause I felt I’d screwed them up so royally that for the last couple of rows, I ditched the pattern and decreased in stockinette. So… yay!

Plus, it looks pretty cool inside out, which is another advantage over the Odessa hat.

Honestly, I should make this into a pattern. There’s no copyright on stitch sequences.

Pictures? Pictures!

inside out

the crown

Give yourself over to absolute pleasure…

I started an Odessa hat with the teal Piace yarn. Sigh. I didn’t want another WIP – two pairs of socks and a scarf (plus the sweater I need to frog and redo the arms that I’m not even thinking about) should be enough, shouldn’t it? Well, apparently not, and I just couldn’t resist I suppose?

Anyway, the Piace is a luxurious knit – unsurprising with 60% Merino and 40% microfiber, and the color really appeals to me. It will also look good with my more or less undyed/growing out brown hair as much as it will when I’m a firetruck-colored redhead again. Complementary colors! :D September will also be the time I’ll slowly be needing hats again, anyway. Anyway, this is my procrastinating-from-everything WIP: Procrastinating from Bio, the Q sock (damn the day I fell in love with the pattern) and sort of Express Lane. That is, Express Lane is supposed to be my train knit, apart from maybe the toe, so I need to stave myself off that. Though I should really do Q on the train to get it over with… oh well.

This means I’m basically using all the yarn I bought in Dortmund the other week. Ooops.

Also, apparently my second Leo cozy got lost in the mail. Which is sad, cause I don’t have anything of the red yarn left and it was so nice and variegated and perfect for a lighthouse-stripe wool condom.

Still haven’t ordered the Erdbeerbecher. If I have money left after Leipzig, I will though. Good plan.

Wait… it’s Friday already?

I just realized History went well… and that this means I can order the Erdbeerbecher yarn!!!!!

Oh, this just tops off my day perfectly.

Now I have a Q one and a green one

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Originally uploaded by slashkitten

I just finished the first therapy sock! It went really quickly considering how little time I had. It’s pretty short (12 pattern repeats) which I like. Somehow I managed to get the bind-off to be too tight though.

But apart from the difficulty of getting the cuff over my heel, they are PERFECT. Seriously. I’ve never had socks that fit that well. *in love*
And the yarn too. It looks better by daylight, I’ll have to take a picture tomorrow.

Yay socks!

Woops, where did that heel come from?

I haven’t had any time recently – organizing, studying, running errands and studying some more – yet I got around to turning the heel yesterday on my first therapy sock. It’s so fast I can’t believe it: I timed myself and did half a pattern repeat in 8 minutes (minus the heel and toe, that’s only 2 hours and 40 minutes, roughly), and there’s 7 1/4 pattern repeats on the foot of the sock… yes, only 7! The yarn is so stretchy I made the small size, and it’s perfect and snug. And I still love the colors, the way they change… even though somehow it reminds me of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for some weird reason. Hm.

And the pattern is so great. Have I gushed about the pattern yet? I probably have, but it’s so awesome. I knit in class yesterday (last day, it wasn’t like we did anything anyway, and I’m perfectly capable of knitting while we’re talking about future plans), which is where I finished the heel and two pattern repeats. I didn’t do the pattern heel, like with the tip, cause I couldn’t understand what they wanted me to do, so I did the heel described in Charmed Knits, which is a short row heel with the yarn wrapped around the ‘short stitches’ instead of… whatever. Ah, I love these socks. They’re so quick and easy, yet not boring. Maybe, if I’m not sick of them after the second one, I’ll do another pair, maybe with solid color wool yarn. And I still need to think of something for the Erdbeerbecher yarn in (the rather probable) case I splurge on it. And the Q socks… *sigh* Well, I’ll have 6 hours of train riding on the 18th and another 6 on the 2nd in which I have to keep myself occupied…

Stress relief and wishlists

My therapy socks – I could also call them spring socks or outdoorsy socks, the color is so nice and reminiscent of a meadow – are progressing better than I thought. I can do half a pattern repeat (4 rows) in 8 minutes and I’ve been taking it everywhere. Even though I’m mortally afraid of one of my bamboo DPNs might break. They knit very well though – I like the lightness and the smooth, but not too smooth feeling.

… I want Ebony needles from Holz und Stein. Or KnitPicks Harmony. Selana had hers with her at the Knitting Meetup and they felt awesome, though I’m sot of skeptical about the shortness – they’re two inches shorter than my other DPNs. Hm.

I also discovered the Tausendschön online shop and fell in love with the Erdbeerbecher. I really like the Golden October and the Koi, too, but the Erdbeerbecher has such a spring/summer feeling to it I just wanna knit it RIGHT NOW. But €11 is kind of expensive (with shipping; still cheaper than Wollmeise though and almost as pretty as her Rhabarber), so I decided to see how well my exams go, esp. history. And if I have a feeling I did well, I’m gonna treat myself. Gotta set goals, cause I’m fucking sick of studying!!!

Oh, by the way…

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Originally uploaded by slashkitten

I’m done with the Rose Shrug! Yay!

I picked up along the bottom and just knit till I was pretty much out of yarn. Added a second buttonhole along the way, I use this one, the second one doesn’t even have a button attached to it. I realize it looks stupid with the shirt, but OH WELL.

Therapy socks

After much consideration – I just couldn’t decide on a pattern to try the Hot Socks yarn with – I started a new pair of socks last night: Express Lane. They’re toe-up, which I’ve always wanted to try (even though I didn’t get the second part of the toe instructions and just k/p2tog, turned, p/k1, m1 to close the hole, p/k2tog), and the lace pattern is really neat and easy to remember.

Why therapy socks? Cause they’re stress relievers, simple enough to calm me down and de-stress, yet not (yet) boring enough. And they’re my distraction from Q, which is annoying the hell out of me and I don’t want to deal with them right now. Even though I wanted to save that yarn for my trip to Leipzig, but oh well, I can do Q on the train if I’m done with them.