Picots, Picots, the Biggest Philistine, Picots.

Hi, meet my newest obsession: Picots. Hi there, picots, nice to meet you. You do look fabulous on all my socks. And I do mean all of my socks. I'm not exactly certain what instigated this obsession, but I suspect it was the Princess and the Picot. The hybridization of the sweet picot cuff and the addictive Monkey pattern. How perfect! How perfectly adorable (not to mention one miraculously gets out of knitting ribbing, which I am all for)! But what if one were to push the envelope a bit further...


OH MY! Picoted Monkeys with a schmancy (but easy!) twisted rib??? Tell me more about this fabulous new FANCY Monkey! This most excellent discovery was made by one Ms. woolforbreakfast, and upon seeing hers, I knew I had to have some Fancy Monkeys too. In pink, no less. And theeeeen... another amazing hybridization came into being...


Giotto-With-the-Flows! Truly, one of the most clever melding of two great patterns into one FANTASTIC pattern! Anna Bell's Giotto socks have the most amazing cuffs. So detailed and pretty. But the main stitch of the sock, the infamous T3s (otherwise known as the triple twist stitch) is VERY hurty. Pretty, yes. But hard on the fingers and hands. Ow. I miraculously made it through one skyblue giotto, but the experience was pretty intense, with all of that crazy triple twisting and such. Then along came Ms. Clever, one Ms. whitknits who discovered, after suffering the pain of the T3s for herself, that a super-fantastic sock could be had pain-free with the substitution of Evelyn Clark's Go With the Flow sock pattern. Voila! Again, had to have for myself. Oh, I am in love with these two socks!! They both have me quite captivated at the moment.

And just when I thought I was sated, I started daydreaming about other potential picot/giotto cuff hybrids... the giotto cuff with plain stockinette (oh, Kris read my mind! I might just have to have a matching pair...). And the giotto cuff with the hedera leg pattern, perhaps (OH! Lori is clearly on the picot wave-length, as well!). Mmmmm, picots. They are clearly taking over the world. And my blog.

Oooooh, right. And the winner of the blogiversary contest! Of course! How could I forget? Silly me and all of those sweet, sweet picots!! And the biggest Philistine is...


Ms. schrodinger knits! Congratulations, Ms. schrodinger! You are the new owner of a complete set of soapy goodness! I do hope you enjoy it! (Have y'all seen this gal's newest sock design? It is way cute! Check it.)

I really do owe everyone (all 102 of you!!!) a great big ::THANK YOU:: for the blogiversary well-wishing and taking the time to humor me and play my silly little online quiz games. That is about as interactive as this blog will ever get, I SWEAR. Believe me when I say that I know how horrible FORCED FUN (oh, poor Minty had to endure it recently) is. And I rarely wish it on anyone. (What do I have to say about Charades? It makes a great sock pattern. Period. The end.) But I hope you all had a bit of fun learning whether or not you harbor a true inner Philistine nature.

Now, show me those picots!

I know I am, but (what) are you?

'Tis the season for blogiversaries! Apparently, a ton of people start blogs in July, and I am no exception. My blog turns 1 today! To celebrate the occasion, I'm re-issuing my very first blog post and turning it into a contest for a fabulous prize!


My question to you: Are YOU a Philistine? (Or do you just like reading about one that knits?) Take this very *official* test and find out! (If you are a regular reader of this blog, you will remember my penchant for trusting the results of online quizzes). There are several choices of quizzes. Choose one of them and report your quiz results in the comments, and your name will be entered into a drawing for this fabulous prize:


A complete package of soapy goodess that includes one bath tea, one jar of bath salts, one silky hand & body cream, and one soap! What would my blogiversary be without a heap of soapy goodness? I guarantee the winner will be the best smellin' Philistine around! I'll randomly draw a name and announce the winner on Thursday, July 19. And remember, the higher your percentage score is on the quiz, the less of a Philistine you are!

And thanks to everyone who left me comments on my newly finished Sockapalooza4 socks. Believe me, I was just as surprised as you that I was able to knit TWO of the SAME socks in a row! But not to worry, the Single Sock Movement hasn't crumbled entirely. I'll have some more single socks to share with you very soon!

Happy Sunday, everyone!

Finished: Sockapalooza4 Rococo Socks

They are finished. On time. My sock pal will have socks! And a matching pair at that. And, um, they fit me perfectly, despite my apparent sizing them for a foot two sizes smaller than mine. Hopefully with a little wash and block action, they'll fit her, too.


Finished: Sockapalooza4 Socks for my sock pal!
Pattern: Rococo by knitspot
Fiber: All Things Heather 100% superwash merino in "Orchid"
Needles: size 1 dpns
Date Started: 20 June 2007
Date Completed: 10 July 2007
Modifications: A few minor modifications. See below for more details.


First, I now love these socks. The whole time I was knitting them I was so not into them. But they turned out great. They're sort of difficult to photograph with any due justice, mostly because the yarn is very fine and the pattern is subtle. But the combination of those two qualities created these amazing light, wispy socks. Love the Rococo pattern. I *will* knit some of these for myself, definitely. And see that cool detail in the above photo? Gutters of purl stitches along the sides of the sock, which work a lot like elastic. For, you know, a perfect fit. Great design detail.


The most extreme modification I made to the pattern was knitting the back panel of the sock in plain stockinette, rather than repeating the front lace panel. I just fell in love with the little stripes the colorway created on the foot bottoms that I wanted to keep it going on the back of the sock. Now, I have to admit that I do like the lace panel knit in back too... have a look at the newly finished pair knit by the chemgrrl. Very pretty. But I think the plain stockinette works better in the case of my socks. The yarn is thin, so stockinette adds stability to the sock and seems more balanced for the variegated colorway.


Cute toes! I love the combination of pseudo-cables and laciness.


And check out those cute lacy cuffs! Love that detail.

Did I mention already that there are two? That's right, there are two. I hope my sock pal loves them.

Next up: 'Tis the season for blogiversary celebrations! Seems mine is coming up in a few days. There will be a big-time-fun contest. With some sort of give-away, I'm sure. Though I have yet to establish what that will be; I'll have to get creative, as I am beyond poor right now. Yay, one year old blog!

Between the stitches there is life.

This weekend, a very special friend got married. I rarely see this friend, so it was an extra-special nice time, seeing her so radiant and happy with her new husband. Her new life. The wedding was also extra-special because I got to see another very good friend whom I also rarely see. And he was the officiating minister (a very non-religious minister, mind you) of the wedding. A good friend marrying a good friend. What could be more awesome?

This wedding, while serving as a milestone and changing the life of my friend Michelle, served also as a reminder of the importance of friends and their interest in one another's lives, even if it is from afar. I was reminded that my friends are interested in my life, even if they cannot be a part of it on a day-to-day basis, and they check in on me via the blog now and again.

My friends are, therefore, very much up-to-snuff on my latest handknits and yarn purchases. And, as my friend Michelle pointed out, very VERY familiar with portraits of yarn poised just so in bowls and such. But where is the life? When are they afforded a glimpse of what I am up to lately?

So, on occasion, I am going to attempt to incorporate some every day life and happenings between the knits and fibers. So that my friends can feel even the slightest bit involved in my life. Between the stitches there is life.

Congratulations, Shellie!

My sock pal has a sock!

Okay, sure, so maybe it's just one sock, but one is better than none, right?


And look: it's a pretty sock! I'm happy with the way it turned out. I had some trouble knitting this sock... for one, the yarn I'm using is very fine, and, well, I really dislike knitting with fine yarn. I always feel like I can't keep the stitches at an even gauge. I almost ditched it for another pattern (again!) but then I decided to stick with it. And... I'm glad I did. It's a nice sock. I did modify the pattern a bit... I only did the lace panel on the front and left the back in plain stockinette. I just really loved how the subtle variegated stripes looked on the bottom of the foot that I wanted to continue it up the back leg.


And my sock pal suggested lacy socks, and, while this pattern isn't the laciest ever, I think there's just enough of a lacy look to suit my sock pal just fine. {And let's not mention to my sock pal that I squeezed my size 9 feet into her dainty little size 71/2 sock.}


And you know me, I'll have that second sock done in no time flat, what with me having the reputation for being such a monogamous knitter. I mean, if there's one thing I endorse it's finishing what you start. One project at a time. I'd never fall prey to Second Sock Syndrome. Not me.

Oh, and I'm not a sarcastic person, ever. Nope. Never, not at all.