Hey, I have a knitting blog! Wow!

Shocking, isn't it? I hadn't actually forgotten, of course—it's just that there has been so little to say. Despite the tons of free time I've had as of late, thanks to being (regerettably, painfull) unemployed, I have done very little knitting since arriving back in New England. Reading and the job search have been taking up most of my time—and without the daily commute or lunch hour, knitting often takes a back seat to my other interests.

I was well on my way to finishing hedera back in New York, when I realized that the first sock, even after one size adjustment, really was still short in the foot. Knowing myself, and how picky I am, I decided that I will go back and fix it, after finishing the second. Only, I couldn't finish the second, because I managed to forget my darning needles at home. Oops?

It's entirely the fault of my impatience, really. I should have looked at them, my gigantic troll feet, and back to the socks again, and realized that there was no way in the nine hells that they were going to fit perfectly.

I pulled hedera off the needles (I'll get back to it one day, when I'm not so sick of looking at it), and started a simple sock based on the smallest size of the Tech Guy Socks—3x1 rib, with the same number of stitches cast on, although it will possibly have a short-row toe, if I'm feeling brave and can find a decent guide. I am nearing the heel on sock one, so at least I've done something. In theory.

As for the aforementioned Mac Socks (part of the Tech Guy Socks pattern), they will have to wait until I can afford to purchase the appropriate yarn. Alas.

—J

'Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.'

It's that Christmas time of year, and now that I have technically, although not officially, graduated with a B.A., I should have plenty of time to knit—right? Wrong! I have been staying with my parents in New York for the past few days, and have never had more than a half hour to myself. I have read one canto of Dante's Divine Comedy (which I had originally intended to finish, in its entirely, before Christmas), and I have knit two rows on Hedera. Two. Half of a repeat, done in the car on the way to the New York Aquarium, until I realized that knitting in the car is not like knitting on the train, and I was going to be ill soon enough if I continued.

I should have had Hedera done by now, really; I even brought an extra ball of yarn with me to start my third pair of socks—something simple, I was thinking, mindless, like a 2x2 or 3x1 rib. I would still really like to have Hedera done before Christmas. Right, sure. Luckily (and much to my dismay), my Christmas presents are going to be virtually non-existent until about a week after Christmas, thanks to Amazon. That is when my books will now be arriving (my mother is not happy), so the rush to finish Dante and run headlong back into the joys of Douglas Adams is no longer there. A shame, but it means Hedera will finally be getting the love she deserves, and I can go back to mindless ribbing just in time for our yearly visit to Pennsylvania.

There will probably not be pictures until I am back in New England anyway, sometime around the end of the month. In the interim, I wish you all the most pleasant of holiday seasons. Cheers,

—J

So much knitting, so little time.

Sock one of the Hedera pair is completed! I am in love with the short row heel, and I think it will be my main technique from now on. The heel flap feels more sturdy, but I tend to wear out socks in the toes, not the heels, so I don't think it will be too much trouble.

The Winter 2006 issue of Knitty is up, and it is beauteous. There are so many interesting and adorable things, most of which I will never have a reason to knit. Eiffel might just replace Tempting II as my first sweater, though—it has more variety through the body, and I wouldn't be altering the pattern at all.

In addition to wanting to start on the Mac Socks soon (Hedera number 2 might wait a bit—second sock syndrome, and all), I'd really like to work on Counterpoint these next few weeks, to break up the socks a bit. Illusion knitting looks interesting, and I have this wonderful vision of piano keys in a deep, toasty brown and warm cream, antique; perfect to go with my new coat, and more subtle than the example scarf. Something soft in a yarn, a touch thinner than worsted weight. In other words, I would like, for once, to knit a scarf I'll actually wear.

The Irish hiking scarf is still sitting around, looking for someone to be gifted to, for that very reason. Acrylic, even blended with 20% wool, makes my skin crawl. Good for people who will forget to handwash; bad for me and my growing adoration for natural fibres.

Finals are over in one week. This means that I graduate soon, and classes will not be getting in the way of my knitting time, at least for a little while (of course, work will). Delicious, isn't it?

—J

Priscilla A. Gibson-Roberts's Short Row Heel

I've been knitting like crazy all morning. Hedera has been taking up my time, these days. I've made the occasional error on the leg, but manged to fix it all without it looking too shabby. I did have to restart the sock last weekend, after I realized I was doing the ssk incorrectly (I forgot to slip knitwise), but since then things had been going relatively smoothly. Until today.

"The crisis of today is the joke of tomorrow."
—H.G. Wells

One can only hope. I had decided to work a short row heel for Hedera, instead of the heel flap/gusset it calls for. The problem is, perhaps, that I don't own a reference for sock construction, and the websites I've been going off of haven't always been very clear. Purlwise has been my main reference, and I don't mean to say that it isn't good; it just isn't always as clear as I would like. It was the TechGuy Sock pattern that helped clear things up for me when I was uncertain. Of course, had I thought about it in the first place, I could have figured it out on my own and saved myself an hour and a half of knitting/ripping back, but apparently thinking is highly overrated on Saturdays. Then again, so is wasting time.



As you can see, I eventually got the hang of the first part of the short row heel, and have just now finished the second part. Finally. After taking a close look at it, though, I realized that part of the rightside of the 'seam' that the short row heel (not a real seam, mind you) is full of holes—in other words, I messed up, and covered for the mistake poorly.

Tomorrow I'll be back to square one, then, the start of the heel; my hands ache and I can't stand to look at Hedera any more today. One of these days, I'm going to learn to use a lifeline when trying out new techniques. It'd save me so much time.

"After all, tomorrow is another day."
—from Gone With the Wind

Yes; it is, indeed.

—J