Kiss My Knits!

Turned the first heel on my daughter’s Valentine’s Day socks. It’s an eye of partridge stitch on the back, reinforced with wool/nylon thread. Hopefully these won’t wear through as fast. They’re going to be murder to darn. She seems fine with store bought holiday-themed socks, so I’m going to ply her with those so she won’t want to wear these every day. I hope.

These socks are going on the back burner now as I plow ahead on the Jayne hat line. I want to get back ahead of the curve. A very nice woman just ordered enough hats for everybody in her Browncoat family, including toddlers. They’re for Christmas photos for this coming year. I may have to insist on being on her Christmas card list, because that sounds awesome.

I should really put up a Jayne hat gallery at some point. There are some stellar pics that really should be shared. Today’s favorite: halfway down on this page. Heh.

Fishwatch 2009: Day 2 – fish still alive.

Been trying to eat healthier recently, and it’s paid off. I finally moved lower than my previous weight plateau. The weight isn’t really going to start moving again until the weather improves and I can get out and run more reliably, but it’s still encouraging.

Last night, curious and maybe fishing:
Me: Are socks that I make for you more special than ones you get from the store?
Em: Well… I like them both. Both socks you make me and socks from the store are nice.

She is nothing if not honest. Okay, then I know a little girl who’s getting a bunch of socks from the $1 bin at Target so that these last longer.

This morning I prepare more packing materials. I’ve got two more Jayne hats ready to go out (Austin and Australia) that need cool boxes. But first, a little wii running. It’s rainy and cold, but I feel like moving my feet.

Em is back in school today, and for all my grumbling about wanting time to myself, I find that I miss her. She is finally, however, excited about going back to school and got off to a good start this morning.

This was by no means a sure thing. She has been very upset about Christmas being over, and had a lot of trouble adjusting to the idea of a new year. There are some changes we can minimize in her life, but stopping the new year from coming is not within our power, so we just had to ride it out.

One of the things she was upset about was me telling her that she would need to stop wearing her Christmas socks. That’s not because I have a problem with having Christmas year round, but they were constantly being worn through and I had to darn or resole them daily. She decided however, that perhaps she could have Valentine’s socks. And Halloween socks. Also, Thanksgiving. You get the idea. So now apparently hand-knitted socks for every holiday are a new tradition in the house. I’m taking it as an opportunity to practice my Fair Isle colorwork. I don’t get enough of an opportunity to do this, so I could use the practice.

Em: I can wear them in April for Easter, too.

Well, that’s one holiday less I’ll have to knit for, but I’m going to have to be more vigilant about not letting her wear them out. The heels and toes on these will be reinforced, but there’s not a thread in the world that can stand up to my girl’s happy feet.

I dyed up the yarn for Em’s next pair of socks today, but I want to swing by a fabric store to pick up some Wooly Nylon thread to carry with it for reinforcement. You see, today I decided that it would be easier to cut out most of the sole of one of her old socks and re-knit it than to try to do a bad patch job. It was the first time I’d tried to do that. Unfortunately, kitchenering the old and the new back together did not go smoothly. There’s a big peak on the sole now, like stiff meringue. It’s where the number of stitches on one needle did not match the number on the other and I tried to MAKE it work. Sigh. Holly Jolly no more, I now dub them Frankensocks. At least I got the toe and the sole fixed, more or less. I’ve also got a line on a bunch of sportweight wool/nylon blend that would stand up better to abuse than the 100% merino I’m using.

Am I going to complain about having to do all this mending? Well, yes, apparently I am. But I’m stopping now to look at someone who’s doing far more time-consuming work, knitting the sweaters for the upcoming stop-motion animated movie Coraline.

Em and I are off to the planetarium this afternoon for their annual December program on holiday traditions. It should be fun. I’m enjoying spending time with my girl, but I must admit I’m ready for school to start again.

Development: Christmas socks live most of their life as yarn. When ready to mature, they leap onto the needles. The needles knit the fibers together, producing the adult sock. The size of the sock is determined by environmental factors, such as the quantity of the yarn and size and patience of the child receiving the socks.

Adult Life: The newly matured sock quickly adapts to its new home on the foot, often spending 5 days out of the week there. It must occasionally return to the water to clean itself. If it does not, its lifespan is greatly shortened. The sock has a symbiotic relationship with its host, providing it with warmth and Christmas cheer, while the host provides shape and (usually) basic care.

Returning to Yarn: The Christmas sock will generally live through the holiday season, approximately 30 days. The sock develops bare patches as the season wears on. Its host may provide basic health care in the form of darning, but eventually nature must take its course. The sock will unravel and return to the yarn from whence it came.

Reproduction: The cycle continues the following year, when the host begs for a new pair of socks.

Source: The National Christmas Sock Advisory Council.

D’oh!

This is what happens when you wear the socks every single day and night. I get them off of her every couple of days for washing, but they weren’t meant to stand up to this kind of wear. I darned each heel this morning, but this will pose a new challenge – I’m out of red yarn!

Guess I’ll just have to dye some more. Yay!

ETA: Now there are holes in the toes, too. It looks like these socks are just out of warranty, so now they can fall apart. Em still wants to keep them on.

My mother-in-law went to Germany and brought back sock yarn for me. How thoughtful! I knitted some up in the car on the way home, and was delighted to find that I had not dropped or gained any stitches, even though I was knitting in the dark. Unfortunately, it’s a bit loose on size 1 needles, so I’ll have to drop to 0s. Besides, I need my lone size 1 for another project that’s ongoing.

It’ll be at least Spring before I have time to tackle this yarn, but I’m touched by my mother-in-law’s thoughtfulness.

Three pairs of Fuzzyfeet in varying sizes for my nieces, who are also varying sizes. I just finished these up today, aside from weaving in ends. Since we go see them tomorrow, I’ll be weaving in ends tonight. Talk about squeezing it in under the wire!

As you can see, I didn’t bother with a jogless join to make the stripes line up. I figure since it’s on the sole, it won’t really matter.

Knitted on size 10 1/2 needles with Lamb’s Pride worsted from my stash. I have a big stash.

Since kids are notoriously picky about clothes, they’re also getting gift cards. We just also wanted them to have something to go under the tree besides a little envelope.

These will be given unfelted, along with a zippered pillowcase and instructions on how to felt them, so that the kids can have the fun of making their own slippers exactly the way they want.

I’m happy with how these turned out, and happy that I was able to do it entirely from my stash without purchasing any extra yarn.

Em is currently watching the Royal Ballet perform the Nutcracker on PBS. I’m just glad she’s getting to see the real thing instead of the Barbie version. Merry Christmas one and all.

What awful ladders along the side! I’m much better with two circular needless than using just one in the magic loop method. Unfortunately, I’ve only got one size 1 needle, so magic loop it is, even if it is only a 24″ needle and thus a bit short for that purpose. We do with what we have.

These fit me perfectly. Unfortunately, they’re for my father, whose feet are a half inch larger than mine. D’oh! I’ll have to swing by later and see if they work. I don’t think they will, but it can’t hurt to check.

At least I left that big blue lifeline in there, so it won’t be too hard to rip back and redo.

These will eventually have a Charlie Brown stripe around the ankle. Before I can finish these, though, I owe slippers to several people before Christmas. Busy busy!