Tired of socks yet?

So, tired of sock yarn yet?

I'm not. Just before my brother arrived, I ordered a pack of 6 skeins of Opal sock yarn from the nicest woman on eBay. She packed them beautifully, added two candies, and sent them off from Germany to Japan. They are the "Lollipop" colors, and as soon as my kids saw them they immediately picked which skeins would become their socks. (Of course they are the same 2 skeins that I was hoping to make into MY socks.)



Can you guess which two the little kids picked? Yep. The colorful ones that actually look like a fun stripey lollipop.


Mousie is a patient backdrop, and partial to the bright ones as well.



I'm still on the 2nd Nemo sock (same place as last night), but I took a break to attempt to make a fun scarf -- and I hated it. I cast on some random number of stitches -- perhaps 18 inches worth -- and proceeded to knit in garter stitch with shiny purple yarn (yes, I should have known what it would end up like), and then double my stitches every few rows to make a swirly twirly scarf. What a great idea -- and what a joke. After 6 rows it looked like a cheap fake purple plastic Hawaiian lei. I plodded on -- I don't know how many stitches I cast on, but let's say about 60. After doubling 3 times, I had 480 stitches on my needle, and it still looked awful. I knit a few more rows and then cast off, hoping that the twirl would change everything.




It didn't.



It still looks like a cheap purple Hawaiian lei. Don't believe me? Check THIS picture out. Which one took 90 minutes of my life, and which one took 17 cents of my money?

Sock race!

So yesterday I promised pictures of the unstoppable sock -- here is the sock in its earliest sock stages, crossing the finish line! Yippee for the sock! Yippee for the understanding husband who thought I was amusing and not just deranged!


That's the grounds of the Imperial Palace behind us.

The family at the finish line -- notice kids with scooters -- I think it was the only way to ensure that we wouldn't have to carry them for part of the 5K. It was a hot hot day. After that, we walked to Tokyo station to put my brother on the train to the airport. Another 2K. Then a few more K getting back to the tent and the car.

From here to a birthday party, and then home to veg with Dominos delivery and Finding Nemo. (One of the reasons that the socks are now dubbed the Nemo socks.)

So that was Saturday noon -- would you believe that I'm turning the heel of the second sock tonight -- Tuesday? I *KNEW* if I had more sock yarn that I'd be knitting socks like a madwoman.

Only downfall? No one I know has actually expressed any desire to wear handknit socks. I know, this is probably a good thing, because I have so many relatives I'd never get there. Still....looks like just me and the kids.

Looky-looky

So in one month we've had 3 visitors. That's a personal record. That's a month in which I have limited computer access, since our computer room IS our guest room, and vice versa.

Also, visitors means YARN PRESENTS! My visitors are all very skilled in this area, and brought fun and lovely things. We've already seen what dear brother-in-law brought (Cherry Hill Sock Yarn, yeah, baby!) and the lovely socks that came straight from that.

My mother-in-law brought fun yarn -- all kinds! I can't wait to see what I'll do with it -- perhaps some fun poncho with ribbons, or using that ribbon yarn for fringe. Can't tell yet!


THEN, my brother came last week -- and yippee yahoo, he brings several skeins of sock yarn and a new Addi Turbo. Truly manna from heaven. These are all skeins from the article about favorite sock yarn in this season's Interweave Knits.


See these? One is a wool and bamboo mix -- how cool is that? And another has aloe in it -- now that's fun knitting. (Yes, I do amuse myself sometimes.)

Now this one below -- THIS SOCK RAN A 5K.

Yep. Well, okay, actually it WALKED a 5K. Somewhere in this world, there are pictures of me crossing the finish line WHILE KNITTING. This is perhaps the "coolest" or "most loser-like" knitting thing I've done, depending on your point of view. My husband was moderately amused. I give him serious points for walking right next to me as if EVERYONE knits in a fun run.

The sock in this picture has since been finished, and its mate has been started. And let me tell you that I'm a little concerned about whether or not the orange vertical stripes on the first sock will come out similarly on the second sock. After all, this sock has been dubbed the "Finding Nemo" sock, given its orange and white vertical stripes, its deep blue ocean stripes, and the yellow and white flecked part, which my son has deemed "the sunshine." I'd better go and knit some more and see how it comes out.

We love visitors!

I've had guests!

This means new yarn presents (hooray!) and lots of time spent with visitors, and not much time spent blogging.

My brother is the only guest so far who has taken me up on my offer to "bring me some yarn that you like and I'll knit you something." He brought some cool yarn in a color I never would have chosen for anyone, but it looks good on him. I mixed it with some Noro that I had, and VOILA! it's a pretty cool hat.



That's him, talking to his girlfriend on the phone. Notice the ring on his finger? They are both wearing them. Hmmmm.

Tank-o-rama

I've picked up last fall's WIP, and finally attached the straps -- I wasn't sure if it would fit at all, and was dubious...and VOILA! It does!




This is the Lotus Blossom Tank in bamboo from the Summer 2006 issue of Interweave Knits. I still have to do the finishing touches (do you like the necklace of the Addi Turbo needles visible at my neck?), so it should be finished tomorrow.

Knit Geek?

I haven't posted in a week -- perhaps it's because it's lonely out here in blog land, perhaps because I've been busy having visitors, running around gaining consensus for fundraising, and maybe it's because I've been too busy finishing the second sock!!!

Check it OUT! A PAIR of socks!



Not only that, it's a pair of socks that FIT. It's a pair of socks custom designed with the wearer's individual feet in mind, socks for large women's feet. Thank goodness there was enough yarn. There was some serious math involved.

After the first sock was finished, I weighed it on my kitchen scale, which I think is accurate to +- 4 grams. I knew that the weight on the ball band was 4 ounces. I knew that was about 120 grams. The first sock weighed 58 grams. The remaining yarn weighed 62 grams. I breathed an early sigh of relief, figuring that I would be okay, especially when my brilliant husband asked if I had factored in that the sock I just knitted may be heavier that the yarn used to knit it because it might have absorbed moisture from my hands. BRILLIANT! I was so impressed. Still am.

Lo and behold, I had enough yarn to finish the second sock, and I wore them all evening. Mind you, it was a very sunny day, and we have south and west facing windows. Mind you, the air conditioning is not on. Imagine how warm the apartment was. Imagine my nice toasty feet. I was putting the kids to bed, tucking them in, and I kept asking them, "Aren't you too hot for all those covers?" It was a while later before I realized the socks were doing a slap-bang job of keeping me extra warm.

So, if the math and the discussion on the effect of moisture on the weight of the item wasn't geeky enough, I actually sent a picture of my socks as an attachment to an e-mail on a totally different subject to a group of people who don't really know about my knitting fanatacism. Before I sent it, they probably thought I was an almost normal expat mom, and now I've proven that I'm a secret nutcase -- who in their right mind would knit a pair of wool socks in the early summer in Tokyo? Who would knit a pair of socks at all?

I'm going to go knit a clock vest next. Provided that I can find the right needles. (They don't sell Addi Turbos in Tokyo, at least not officialy. I've heard tell of one renegade shop owner who sells them from her personal stash in secret under the counter. We are talking coded password secret spy stuff here. Very exciting.)

Half a pair of socks!

I must say again -- remember how I just needed "more sock yarn" so that the socks would begin to FLY off the needles?

Yeah, baby! Socks, indeed! Note that I have not posted since Apr 27. I cast on the morning of April 28, and I've been obsessed since, knitting whenever I could.


Another view? Of course, I'd love to show off my sock some more. See those holes? Those are SUPPOSED to be there. See how nicely they line up, how orderly the K2togs and SSKs all stand up at attention? Do you see where I missed two SSKs two rows in a row? NO, you @()%* DON'T, because I ripped back 8 rows to make it right.




I now understand why people knit socks. Well, maybe not everyone, but I find myself patting myself on the back for all the lacy designs, for the tiny needles, for the best Kitchener stitch I've ever done (yeah, okay, I've only done 3, but I'm still patting myself on the back pretty hard), and most of all -- OH MY GOD THESE SOCKS FEEL AWESOME! These sock knitters, they are not kidding when they say "you'll never go back." These sock knitters know. And now, I know. Rather, my left foot knows. My right foot is envious.

As for the left foot, it is pleased, and has almost forgotten how bothersome the two small holes on its ankle are -- small puncture wounds. Nay, these wounds are not from a stray knitting needle. They are wounds that are the approximate diameter of a cat claw. This means that sometime in the night, at least one and perhaps two cats were wrangling with my feet, or perhaps with each other and my foot was an innocent bystander taken down in the brawl. What I can't believe is that I have no recollection of the event.

I have, however, avenged my foot -- both cats have now had their claws trimmed to a humane level. I had neglected one cat on this duty last month, and she was toting some vicious talons.

I leave you with a blurry close-up of the toe: