Kiss My Knits!

You may recall I wrote a little something about my mom on Mother’s Day. Well, it’s Father’s Day, so it’s Dad’s turn!

There are some things my Dad has instilled in me, not through lecturing, just through example.

It all boils down to this: In life, you can be a jerk or you can be a good guy. Be a good guy. Let’s break that down into its components!

Number one: don’t be an elitist snob. Treat others with respect, especially those that you don’t think you have to. Dad worked the night crew for years, so he knew this well. He was right – when I was working at the TV station, having a good relationship with the guys in Master Control saved my bacon on more than one occasion.

Number two: be nice to strangers. Now obviously, as a young woman you have to be selective about this, but really, life’s too short to stand off to the sides and keep your yap shut.

Number three: do unto others. Not from any biblical command, but because it makes other people smile, and that’s really the best reward. Dad kept candy in his desk drawer at work for years, becoming known as “the candy man.” It really made peoples’ days better.

Number four: stay down to Earth. And that brings us to the following. Dad is what I’d call a man of the people. He’s a smart guy from a family without much money, and he dropped out of school to go to work. Later he joined the Air Force and definitely made the most of his experience. This story takes place after he has shipped off to points North.

I took this down as he was telling it to me over the phone one day, so it’s in his own words. He didn’t know I was writing it down, so hopefully he won’t be mad. If so… I’m sorry, Dad! Love you!

The flying beer keg. Cut for language.

Pattern: Rainbow Socks by Susanne Kitzmann
Needles: Size 1 / 2.25mm (size 0 / 2.0 for heels)
Yarn: Regia Design Line Kaffe Fassett Colorway 4251
Time elapsed: begun March 30 2008, finished June 14 2008

What an enjoyable pattern! I loved these colors and wanted to do something with the yarn besides a straight stockinette, but didn’t want a complex stitch pattern to get lost in the colorway. This little gem seemed perfect. Short rows beginning and ending on each side of the leg create a neat zig-zag pattern. I got it from MagKnits, and thank goodness I printed out a copy before that site went kerflooey. The pattern is again available in both English and German from the designer’s site.

I knitted these toe-up instead of the called for toe-down. The striping matched up nearly perfectly on the feet, but by the time I turned the heel and moved up the ankle, there had been enough little changes in gauge, etc., that the striping was off, as you can see. Also, I meant to put the heel on the second one on the opposite side of where it actually is, so that the striping wouldn’t be parallel on the foot and then mirror-imaged on the leg. Oh well. That’s okay, I didn’t really care if they were perfectly in sync. They’re a little crazy and that’s as it should be.

I made them just a hair too long, both in the foot and in the leg. The foot isn’t so bad, I can live with it, but the leg comes up onto my calf and binds a bit. If I fold the cuff down, as pictured to the right, it’s no problem. Fine by me, because I’m definitely not ripping it out. I did the heels on size 0 instead of size 1 because heels are always the first things to go in my socks. I I’m going to have to go back and reinforce the gap at the heel turn. Oops.

I’m really happy with these socks. They were engaging, but didn’t demand a lot of attention. And I got a lot of “how’d you make those triangles? Did the yarn do that?” from both knitters and non-knitters alike, so it was kind of a logic-puzzle conversation starter. It’s a neat use of short rows and of self-striping yarn. I’d do it again!