• Maybe…
• 2

Hmmmm.  Maybe it’s not so bad.

I suppose one doesn’t generally hang socks side by side and stare intently at them.  At least I don’t.  I tend to put them on my feet and go about my day.  And while my feet generally remain in fairly close proximity to each other, they don’t actually spend a lot of time lined up awaiting examination.

Maybe I can live with it.  If not, I’m now provisioned with a large supply of Kool-Aid packets in flavors that bear no resemblance to any fruit found in nature.

• Do You See That?
• 1

I tried to pretend it wasn’t happening.  I tried hard.  But alas, I can no longer ignore it.  Look at those stripes.  On the left, big stripes on the top and little stripes on the bottom.  On the right, little stripes on the top and big stripes on the bottom.

Also, and perhaps even more infuriating, the sock on the left is far brighter than the sock on the right.  I am displeased.  Rather amazingly displeased.  I could probably get past the striping thing, but the color is really throwing me.

I’m considering washing the left sock a few extra times or maybe leaving it to soak overnight to see if I can get it to lighten up. I actually far prefer the bright colors, but I can’t think of a way to brighten up the lighter sock, so I think I’ll have to settle for dulling down the bright one.

I’m pondering over dyeing.  I’ve more or less come to the conclusion that the pattern is cool, the yarn base is lovely, but the dye job is rubbish.  That’s what over dyeing is for, right?  Any reason that would be a terrible idea?

• Dear Madam
• 2

To the person who wrote to me insisting I:

1. hurry up with the pink mitts already
2. be sure to release them as a free pattern
3. explain how to use worsted weight instead of fingering weight
4. describe how to work them back and forth instead of in the round

I’m afraid I must decline.

I generally try to be accommodating.  Really I do.  If someone has a question or a problem with one of my patterns (which happens very rarely) I will do what I can to help.  Alas, rushing to release a completely reworked version of a pattern for free is apparently something I will not do.  Somehow getting my first heartfelt if slightly unreasonable demand feels like a milestone of sorts.  I’m oddly amused.  Please note, this amusement is likely to be short lived.  You needn’t decide to bury me in further unreasonable demands.  I’m guessing the novelty wears off quickly.

However, to those of you who have been kind enough to say that you like the pink mitts and are looking forward to their release, I can say that they’re almost ready and should be out the first part of April.  I can also say that they’re not nearly this bright in person (my camera is giving me fits), and that I will be sorting out some sort of yarn giveaway to go with the pattern release.

• Promising
• 2

Well this seems as though it could be rather promising.  I really do like them both ways, though the inside out version is currently slightly in the lead.  I’m actually starting to like the reverse stockinette sole too.  Apparently some people make all their socks that way because it makes the inside of the sock particularly smooth.

I think that when I write them up, I’ll just explain how to arrange it so that the regular stockinette side of the sole matches up with either side of the stitch pattern.

In other news, I’m picking up my new car tomorrow morning.  After ten years of faithful service, my current car has come to the end of its life.  Somewhat to my surprise, I finding it a bit hard to say goodbye.  I’m sure this feeling will wear off once I’m in my shiny new car, but at the moment, I’m a bit nostalgic.  Alas, the inconvenience of a car payment seems likely to stick around far longer than the blue feeling.

• Once More With Feeling
• 1

The socks I mentioned the other day are out.  I’ve called them Once More With Feeling to commemorate their magical transformer-style nature.  When the bottoms (inevitably) wear out you can snip one stitch, do ten minutes of finishing, and have a pair of fingerless mitts made from the stitches of the leg.  You know that the feet wear out long before the legs.  (Really, has anyone ever had the leg of their sock wear out?  I know I haven’t ever seen it.)  I hate the idea of throwing out all that perfectly good knitting on the leg.  This is much more fun.

On the off chance you think it’s a terrible idea, the pattern also includes instructions for making a standard sock.  And just in case you want mitts now and don’t want to wait for socks to wear out, instructions for making mitts straight away are also included.  The second photo there (the light purple) was provided by Knit Picks and shows their new tonal sock yarn.  Looks to be lovely stuff, but I didn’t want you to wonder why the two colors of purple looked so different.

On another note, turns out you really like the idea of reversible socks.  Who knew?  I’ve finished the leg of the first one and am fiddling with the heel flap, pictures to follow shortly. Now the only thing with reversible socks is that the sole of the sock is going to look dramatically different depending on the side you’ve got showing (well, unless you double knit the sole, but I’m sure not going to do that, so I don’t expect you to either).  Anyone find that to be an insurmountable difficulty, or do you just accept it as the fundamental nature of knitting and carry blithely on?