finished sockapalooza! or, my sock saga. or, what I did on my spring vacation.
- This has nothing to do with knitting, but I started out my vacation by taking my daughters to see The Strokes. I kinda like them, too. You can read a review here, written in the inimitable Michigan Daily style: “Not surprisingly, the Strokes covered their bigger hits, including ’12:51′…” “Not surprisingly” — because isn’t that what groups usually do in concert? (12:51 is, of course, Michael and Christina’s song.)
- Slept in the next day, and then finished my Sockapalooza socks! Here they are: before, during, and after blocking. The second pose is with a hyacinth from my garden, because it is finally spring.
- I read 2 books about Brooklyn, because our colleague, Susan, took us there a couple of weeks ago. I told her I had read a review of Noodle Pudding in the New Yorker, and it turns out it is only a couple of blocks away from her house. It was great.
- My plan to knit the Gentleman’s Socks while we drove to and from Chicago was thwarted because I could only find one skein of the black yarn. There are obviously 2 in the picture I took before, but I can find no trace of the second anywhere in the house. I suspected feline foul play at first, but the felines usually leave traces. It remains a mystery. So, instead I took the pumpkin-colored yarn and knit one Canal du Midi sock from Knitting on the Road by Nancy Bush, for me. I liked the process of knitting this pattern, and I liked the spiral toe a lot, but the sock has some odd features, most noticeably a weirdly narrow little heel. I have to decide if I like it well enough to make the second one.
- We went to Chicago. Here’s what it looks like from the Hancock Observatory:
Apparently, the police in Chicago ride Segways. This reminded us too much of Arrested Development.
- In the touristy book in our hotel room I saw an ad for a yarn store, “We’ll Keep You in Stitches!”, located within walking distance of our hotel. It turned out to be a very small space upstairs in a building on an upscale street (most of other stores had doormen who watched me go by). Three elderly Eastern European women were inside flashing away on their knitting needles, and I was the only other person in the room. It was crammed with yarn, all still in plastic bags along the walls, and not really in any particular order that I could tell. It turns out that they finish items that other people start, knit entire outfits for their customers, and teach knitting, so this was more of a workshop than a store. When I asked if I could look around and they said, “Yes, yes! You can even go behind the counter!” So I did. I also felt conspicuous enough to feel like I had to buy something, so I purchased some green Zarina Merino.
As I was checking out, one of the women asked what I was going to make and I told her socks. She said, “Socks are too hard for me!” Then she asked me a lot of questions about how long it takes me to do a pair, and how many have I done. I guess the lesson is you shouldn’t be intimidated by Elderly Eastern European Knitters.
- And my new plan is to knit the Gentleman’s Socks in green Zarina merino.
Wow – looks like you had a very productive vacation!! Your sock pal is going to be very happy – they are beautiful.
Beth
24 Apr 06 at 8:00 am
Your ‘pal socks are wonderful! I requested lace socks…could it be?
Police, huh? I thought they were metermaids! Ha!
Neva
30 Apr 06 at 6:09 pm
Hi, Neva. I’ll never tell – at least until after tomorrow! I can’t wait to see the socks we all get.
Sherry
1 May 06 at 7:52 am
Hi from your lucky sock pal. ;-) I love, love the socks! Thank you so much.
Michelle
michelle taylor
4 May 06 at 8:31 pm