Friday, May 27, 2016

Picking colours

So... I picked this colourway for my next pair of socks.  It was the most different from what I'd been knitting, and I felt like a change,


and WOW was I right about this combination looking like a science experiment!  I love how the stripes are coming out.  It's a very invigorating knit, which I know sounds ridiculous when you're talking about your 800th stocking stitch sock.  (Okay, I probably haven't knit 400 pairs of socks, but I can't be sure, because I haven't updated my Ravelry page in forever, and anyway it feels like I'm on sock 800 so there you are.)

It's so much fun to knit this yarn that I might have had trouble stopping.


I'm on to the sock heel for this one already, and it hasn't even been a week, and I'm pretty sure I haven't found any more knitting time than earlier because the condo is gradually filling up with giant boxes containing light fixtures.

Now, I don't mean to suggest that the space they are taking up is the problem, or even the fact that I have to find a place for them, where we won't trip over them for at least two months.  The trouble is that I have to open each box and check the lights for damage, because it could be a while before they're installed and it might be too late to have them replaced if need be.  Some of the lights take longer to check than others, like the four hallway lights I chose.


See those small white-coated glass panels set into a black framework?  Well, and it turns out that each panel is packed separately to reduce breakage.  It took me 21 minutes to check the first light and I can't face the other three, so trust me: not getting bonus knitting time here at home.

Thankfully I am taking a three day course starting today, and the commute will be about 90 minutes each way, so I have another sock to work on.  In the other colour!


because I am terrible with decision making.

Of course, if I'm knitting one at home and the other on a train for three days straight, it kind of defeats the purpose of casting on an emergency sock.  So I am keeping the mate to the first one as backup:


I find if I get the cuff knit somewhere easy, I am good for emergencies for quite a long time.  I work 82 rounds of leg before I start the heel flap, and that gets you through a lot of Emergency.  And although I did tweak my standard sock pattern a little over the winter, I've memorized the changes and can knit without referring to any notes, which helps.  Even in a waiting room, I would be okay to do a sock gusset.

When things settle down some, I'll write this pattern up as a freebie to share with you all.  There's another version I use for heavier sock yarn that would appeal to any first-time sock knitters among you and/or people who can't face tiny sock yarn, but I don't have a widely available yarn source for that yet.  It's probably enough to start with the standard size sock yarn... especially if what you're after is a nice time consuming portable knit that doesn't require lace-level concentration. There is a lot more knitting time in sock yarn, and it's more compact for your bag, too.

But first: this course.  It is all about PICKING COLOURS.  Paint colours, specifically, but still.  Decision-deficit me in a room full of people who are passionate about interior design, learning all about the undertones in paint colours.  My brain is going to be pretty full by the end of each day, I guarantee you.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend and I'll see you again on Monday!


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