FO Show and Tell

Here at Molecular Knitting there are 2 new FOs. Well, one is new, and the other was in hiding until given as a gift. My MIL wanted to knit socks; she knits scarves on very big straight needles. She bought two different balls of Lionbrand self-striping sock yarn and some dpns and went nuts. She couldn’t stand it. So she sent me the yarn and asked me to knit the socks for her. That she tried both balls of yarn I find a bit perplexing. But anyway, I knit the first pair for her this last Spring but not in time for Mother’s Day. So we sent them as part of her birthday gift earlier in September, and she did tell M to thank me for the socks. But she didn’t say how they fit (she had sent her measurements with the yarn). I made M ask her this past Sunday and it turns out she finds them too big in circumference (I made an 8 inch sock for her 9.25 inch foot). But the problem is that she wasn’t going to tell me! I know she didn’t want to hurt my feelings, but as I have the second ball of yarn to knit up for her, I really needed to know how the socks fit. I’ll knit the second pair with fewer stitches and see how that works, but there won’t be any other surprise pairs of socks until I know how the second pair fits. But here is the first, too large pair:

On the subject of handknitted Christmas gifts, my mom has some novelty yarn that she tried to knit into a vest, but it just didn’t work out. She figures the yarn wants to be a scarf, but she opined that another scarf was “the last thing she needed,” so the yarn has gone to stash. I guess I won’t think about knitting her a scarf for Christmas. My gift knitting projects are vanishing. More time to knit for me! I think Mom is way too smart to ever say she doesn’t need more jewelry even though she doesn’t. Hmmm….

But my other FO!

Don’t you like the bandage?

At first I thought fingerless gloves was to be honest a stupid idea. But then I thought about how cold my fingers get while reading in bed in winter when our thermostat is set at 62 F. Suddenly I saw fingerless gloves in a whole new light. These each took part of an evening to knit on size 10 dpns. The yarn is Misti Alpaca Chunky, and it is super, super, super soft. The pattern was free with the yarn purchase, and it worked pretty well, although I was not overly impressed with the plan for the thumb gusset. I did it as written, and it worked, but I think the Fetching pair from the Summer 2006 Knitty, has a better construction plan. I will have to try that pattern too. On this pair I liked the mock cable made by ktog, leaving both stitches on the left needle and then knitting the first stitch again, slipping both stitches off the needle. It went fast and easy.

The success of these gloves with their missing parts has led me to think about other knits with missing parts. I speak of the shrug. I have really thought the shrug a ridiculous article of clothing, but as with the fingerless glove, I am experiencing a change of heart. I work in a lab that is “environmentally” contolled so well (you should sense the deep sarcasm) that temperatures fluctuate almost wildly and the various areas of the lab have very different microclimates (it’s a pity we don’t work on making wine). A T-shirt or blouse is often too cold, but a cardigan too warm. A shrug just might the answer. I’ll have to ruminate on this some more.

If you need a laugh on Thursdays, be sure to check out Jessica’s blog Rose-Kim Knits. Thursday is dedicated to “What the hell is this?” You have to look at last week’s winner; it’s a beaut.