Panda Wool Socks and Scary Stuff

Completed these last night.
Made with Panda Wool (bamboo & wool) I obtained at SWAK in Guthrie while I was on FreeWheel (cross-state bike ride) this year.

I picked a stitch pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks and did a short rolled (stockinette) edge instead of ribbing and varied the heel for a wide heel.
I knit one sock on Turbos and one sock on bamboo circulars--magic loop both. I like the metal turbos better, that sock went a LOT faster.

BOO! HA--happy halloween. Changing the FONT every few words is about as scary as I'm gonna get today--how sad.


I'm living vicariously again.

Meredith and her friends are being TROLLS today. I guess there are parties at school? OF COURSE there are--surely she won't wear a costume to class? No, she will. The costume is Depends under tights, short t-shirts, gelled, sprayed, ratted and painted hair and something shiny in the navel. Anyway, she and friends went to a Party America store and she embarrassed herself by asking some old guy working there "do you have any really BIG jewels, i mean really big ones?" She meant for their belly buttons, but I guess he took her to be some a young smarty pants trying to make fun of him and walked off. When her friends told her what he probably thought, she was going to apologize, but they said for her to leave the poor guy alone--he'd probably keel over if she approached him again. (So, for the record old guy, if you read this blog--like THAT is going to happen, she was NOT being a brat, just somewhat trollish).

I have no idea what Alex (freshman at OU) has planned. I do know that he came home last weekend and ran the Tulsa run. He wore a pair of obscenely short running shorts that belonged to his dad in the late 70s, early 80s, striped tube socks, and a Mork and Mindy t-shirt that is waaaay too small and too short for him. The Tulsa World made mention of his get-up, but not his name.

In honor of Halloween, I'm off now to cast on the Tempted hocus pocus sock yarn from the Loops sock club. The pattern is Bellatrix from knitty.com. You know her--Bellatrix La Strange--one of the Black sisters, her sister is married to Draco Malfoy's mother. Of COURSE I am a Potter geek.

Sock Obsession Progression

Featured elsewhere on my blog is my very first sock. It was knitted on 2 circs and used 2 entirely different kinds of yarn because I ran out. My second pair I started just before I had hand surgery (carpal tunnel) in March. They were knitted on the magic loop, which I found to be a much preferable technique.

Pair three are worthy of the Lucy Neatby Celestial Merino Dream yarn in fiery fuchsia. Funny that I was surprised they were sooooo pink--I guess I didn't look at the name of the yarn. They were knitted on size 2 circ--using magic loop. I consider them my first real socks even though the only ribbing is at the top and they are just straight knitting. They are real socks because I really cared about how they turned out--the other two pair I knitted just for the sake of learning to knit socks.

Next, I completed the mate of my first ever sock. "The improvement between the two socks was remarkable," remarked Ann, who can always be counted on to say something as cliche as . . . (never mind).

I'm trying to hurry and complete the pair currently on my needles because the Temptation (hand painted exclusive to Loops) Koi in a Blender yarn from the Loops sock club awaits me. I need the needles for the new yarn. AND I am not not not buying more needles (probably like I am not not not coaching soccer, and I didn't didn't didn't get a new dog). I will, however, admit I am lusting after the pretty knitpiks wooden circulars Eric brought to knit night last week. Now that I think about it, I do not have any size 1 needles. hmmmmmmmmmm

Anyway, I really love the socks on my needles (pair 4). Magic loop, again. I am doing a little twisted rib thing I found in the Sensational Socks book. The yarn is Crystal Palace Panda Wool (bamboo, wool and nylon). I cracks me up that I am knitting them on bamboo needles, how's that for being easily entertained. (Actually, I have one sock on the bamboo and one on metal, which is not nearly as funny to me).

Looking at the photo, I notice the preponderance of pink. Odd really, 'cause I'm not a pink-esque person. That gives me a reason to buy more sock yarn--can't have the balance of nature upset by an overly pink collection of socks.