is to have lots of knitting time and nothing else to do. I always finish socks, but I'm not a particularly fast knitter, and it usually takes me a couple of weeks. Well, yesterday I found out that if I just sit and knit (for hours and hours) I can get half a sock done in a day! I don't really recommend the circumstances I had, but it's nice to know.
Here's what happened: My husband was having some trouble with his stomach Friday and Friday evening, but thought it would pass as most things do. He woke me up about 2:00 am with the news that he thought we should call a doctor. He doesn't like to ask for help (what man does?), so I knew it must be something. Long story short, the doctor recommended a trip to the ER, so I started on my odyssey of sitting and working on the sock (which had most of the leg finished) at about 2:45 am.
We worked our way through the ER, and after the CT scan they were pretty sure that the appendix would have to come out. DH was admitted to the hospital sometime that morning (it's funny how the perception of time changes when hospitals are involved) and we continued to wait to find out what time the surgery would be. The surgeon finally secured some OR time about 2:00 pm, and everything went very well. DH spent the night, I came home and had a good night's sleep, and picked him up this morning. He has some teeny bandages and sore muscles, but otherwise is fine. Modern medicine is truly amazing. (No photos - I threatened to take one of him in the attractive hospital gown and socks, but decided not to.)
But here are the socks: Monkeys out of Zen String Harmony, fingering weight in "Opal".
The yarn was nice to work with; it's merino and tencel, so looks shiny. I don't know if I could've made the two socks look more similar if I had divided the ball into two originally, (or tried to begin at the same point of repeat in the colors) but I just started knitting the first and then continued on to the second when that one was done. I kind of like the variation; besides, I didn't have a scale to weigh the yarn when I started, so I wouldn't have been able to scientifically divide the yarn into two equal balls. I recently got one, and it's fun to know how much yarn there's left when you're done with one sock. I usually make my cuffs relatively short, and have a lot of yarn left over when I'm finished.
I was worried the other day; I wanted to use the beautiful yarn I got from the Zen String sock club last month. It's sport weight with consequently less yardage than fingering, and since I knit cuff down, I was worried about using more than half of the skein for the first sock. I used the Spindle Sock pattern, and like the way the first one came out (even though I misread the directions for the cables and made a little mistake, I was consistent so I think they look okay.
Now I just have to remember to make the same mistake on the second one.
Yes, I do like Zen String. In fact, look what was waiting in the mailbox when I came home last night! Angelina put some yarn up on the website a week or so ago, and I just love the Bambewe, so when I saw the big skein she was selling (blue) and she said she could see it knit into a lacy wrap, I was a goner.
The lighter color is this month's sock club yarn, Serendipity fingering. It feels totally soft!
I bought some more Bambewe from the Loopy Ewe when Sheri had it in stock a couple of weeks ago. These are Bart and Louise and Blue Norther colorways. This yarn is 60% merino, 30% bamboo, and 10% nylon and is very nice to work with and wear.
And I found out it pays to link! I noticed that I have a $5 credit in my Loopy Ewe account, and it's there because someone visited their site and opened an account, arriving there by way of my blog! So thank you to whoever did that; it's really fun to realize that someone besides me reads this stuff. And I totally recommend The Loopy Ewe; I have never had a single problem with the (considerable amount of) yarn I've purchased there, their shipping is lightening fast, and Sheri is sweet and always willing to give help or advice. (This endorsement is the opinion of the writer of this blog, and was completely unsolicited!)
Also this past few days: I was invited into Ravelry (I'm LaurieB there) and got my ISE5 secret pal information. Fun, fun!
Here's what happened: My husband was having some trouble with his stomach Friday and Friday evening, but thought it would pass as most things do. He woke me up about 2:00 am with the news that he thought we should call a doctor. He doesn't like to ask for help (what man does?), so I knew it must be something. Long story short, the doctor recommended a trip to the ER, so I started on my odyssey of sitting and working on the sock (which had most of the leg finished) at about 2:45 am.
We worked our way through the ER, and after the CT scan they were pretty sure that the appendix would have to come out. DH was admitted to the hospital sometime that morning (it's funny how the perception of time changes when hospitals are involved) and we continued to wait to find out what time the surgery would be. The surgeon finally secured some OR time about 2:00 pm, and everything went very well. DH spent the night, I came home and had a good night's sleep, and picked him up this morning. He has some teeny bandages and sore muscles, but otherwise is fine. Modern medicine is truly amazing. (No photos - I threatened to take one of him in the attractive hospital gown and socks, but decided not to.)
But here are the socks: Monkeys out of Zen String Harmony, fingering weight in "Opal".
The yarn was nice to work with; it's merino and tencel, so looks shiny. I don't know if I could've made the two socks look more similar if I had divided the ball into two originally, (or tried to begin at the same point of repeat in the colors) but I just started knitting the first and then continued on to the second when that one was done. I kind of like the variation; besides, I didn't have a scale to weigh the yarn when I started, so I wouldn't have been able to scientifically divide the yarn into two equal balls. I recently got one, and it's fun to know how much yarn there's left when you're done with one sock. I usually make my cuffs relatively short, and have a lot of yarn left over when I'm finished.I was worried the other day; I wanted to use the beautiful yarn I got from the Zen String sock club last month. It's sport weight with consequently less yardage than fingering, and since I knit cuff down, I was worried about using more than half of the skein for the first sock. I used the Spindle Sock pattern, and like the way the first one came out (even though I misread the directions for the cables and made a little mistake, I was consistent so I think they look okay.
Now I just have to remember to make the same mistake on the second one.Yes, I do like Zen String. In fact, look what was waiting in the mailbox when I came home last night! Angelina put some yarn up on the website a week or so ago, and I just love the Bambewe, so when I saw the big skein she was selling (blue) and she said she could see it knit into a lacy wrap, I was a goner.
The lighter color is this month's sock club yarn, Serendipity fingering. It feels totally soft!I bought some more Bambewe from the Loopy Ewe when Sheri had it in stock a couple of weeks ago. These are Bart and Louise and Blue Norther colorways. This yarn is 60% merino, 30% bamboo, and 10% nylon and is very nice to work with and wear.
And I found out it pays to link! I noticed that I have a $5 credit in my Loopy Ewe account, and it's there because someone visited their site and opened an account, arriving there by way of my blog! So thank you to whoever did that; it's really fun to realize that someone besides me reads this stuff. And I totally recommend The Loopy Ewe; I have never had a single problem with the (considerable amount of) yarn I've purchased there, their shipping is lightening fast, and Sheri is sweet and always willing to give help or advice. (This endorsement is the opinion of the writer of this blog, and was completely unsolicited!)
Also this past few days: I was invited into Ravelry (I'm LaurieB there) and got my ISE5 secret pal information. Fun, fun!
Comments
Lovely yarn, lovely socks! And I certainly endorse The Loopy Ewe too -- wonderful customer service.
Waiting for my ISE5 match -- soon, no doubt!
Hope you have fun with ISE5,I had a bumpy beginning but doing great now!