Sunday September 17, 2006 I went to the California Wool & Fiber Fest with some friends. The fiber fest was part of the Mendocino County Fair. It was a long drive (about 2.5 hours) and the fiber fest was smaller than expected, but it was a lovely day at the fair! It reminded me of my 4-H days of projects and ribbons.
Well, it didn’t REALLY look like this, it just looked like this after I took it out of the baskets to organize it. Can anyone get those stupid Denise needle cables back in the box correctly? They need some kind of template or something to tell you which cable goes where. But what really concerned me was this:
I tried my best to untangle it
But anyone who knows me may (or may not) know that I have not the patience for yarn-untangling. Why then get myself into this situation? I do not know. It’s like I have these self-destructing behaviors on purpose. Any guesses where it ultimately ended up? The circular file (and I don’t mean for circular needles). I’m blaming it on the synthetic yarn.
Thank you BagSmith!
Here’s a picture of one finished purple ankle sock, knitted in Koigu Kersti 100% wool:
So you knit the sock up to where you want to start the heel, about even with yer anklebone. Then you knit in a row of waste yarn, move back to the beginning of the row and knit it again, this time back with the main color.
Since I knit enough length, I’m able to push it back enough so I’m not stepping on it. The yarn is pretty squishy, too, so I can’t really feel it anyway.
Overall, it’s a fine sock. I just don’t think I’m going to knit one to match with the same heel. Maybe I’ll rip it out back to the heel and reknit a short row heel since I’ve tried it on the purple sock. The top is also a little loose, maybe I should have knit some 1×1 rib for a bit more stretch. The yarn isn’t particularly high quality though, so I don’t think it will tolerate much abuse. And yes, now I have 3 finished, single socks without mates. My husband keeps reminding me I need to knit matching socks for them to be useful. I’m just trying to master new techniques to figure out what I like best!
purple coneflower
purple prairie clover
byron prairie, byron, IL
july 2003
So I’m on a flower kick. These are pictures from way back when I was *really* into taking macro shots of wildflowers, trotting around visiting prairies in IL. The best was when I realized there was a Nature Conservancy prairie right behind the school I worked in (not the Byron prairie). I noticed it when it had a controlled burn one spring because I could see all the black land behind the trees. I was then able to visit the prairie often and watch the flowers and grasses change through the seasons. Very cool (although I had to pick off a lot of ticks). It felt like no one even knew about the prairie and that it was my very own to explore, just me and my camera.
This is a picture of her amazing greenhouse:
We had a great time swimming in the pool, knitting, reading, and hanging out with J & B!
It was a lovely day at Babcock Lake in Yosemite. The extra day spent enjoying the lake was a decision made that morning. I had even put my sleeping bag in my stuff sack. But I really didn’t want to go. We ultimately decided to stay to enjoy the day and the wilderness. This is how far I got on the sock I started that morning:
This sock was destined for greatness. Destined for my first short-row heel. I ordered the yarn online thinking it was periwinkle blue. It was supposed to be for some handwarmers.. but I wasn’t sure the recipient liked bright purple all that much, so I ended up using a different color for that project. I kept thinking “what the heck am I going to use that bright purple yarn for.. I don’t even LIKE purple.” Socks for my niece? No way, it’s not superwash wool. The color grew on me and I thought it would look nice on my feet. It’s Koigu Kersti Merino Crepe on two size 3 circular needles. I used hellchick’s instructions on how to short row the heel with double wraps. I kept reading short row heel patterns and couldn’t understand the instructions or the pictures. For some reason this pattern made some sense to me and I figured I needed to at least TRY it instead of just reading it over and over again. I did knit the heel once and knew I was only picking up one of the wraps not two. I couldn’t really *see* the double wraps. Can we say Big Gaping Holes along the heel? I was on vacation in Florida for the Labor Day weekend, so I didn’t mind ripping out the heel and trying again. On the plane I made it halfway back up the heel and decided to get some help from Article Pract for the rest of it. A lady on the plane across the aisle from me was knitting an orange sweater. She was wearing sparkly glasses and a visor. I wish I had the camera handy. But then again, she probably would have noticed me taking her picture. Here’s progress on the pretty purple sock:
I think they want to be footies. I like walking around barefoot, but my feet end up freezing in this No.Cal. climate. I prefer short socks. There was this favorite pair of footie socks I had that rolled over at the top… but I lost one. I think I should re-create them in wool. Who cares if I have to hand wash them.
