Sock Stuff

I finished knitting the sock for my pal! I wrote the pattern (and checked it twice)! I made stitch markers! I boxed it all up! I forgot to photograph it! I could cut through the mailing label and the packing tape, unwrap things, but I need to think about that. I had such a feeling of it all being done except for the trip to the post office. Won’t my pal take a picture? I’m such a goof!

Thank you to everyone who left such heartwarming comments to my last post! I’m taking things day by day, bit by bit. My hormone medication and my own hormones hate each other and seem to be in competition to see which can make me more depressed. My doc changed my hormone formulation, so we’ll see in November how that works. To my readers under 40: try not to turn 40 but stay alive. The ovaries go rogue after 40.

In the meantime, I have been trying to finish my Minimalist Cardigan, but I can no longer knit the two row pattern repeat of moss stitch reliably. I keep switching to seed stitch. AAAARRRGGGH! After I do that two rows in a row (yes, it’s a sad state of affairs here at chez Molecular Knitting), I fix everything but then knit on something else. I may never finish this last front. But I want the sweater! Here is the left front after 2 weeks since casting on:

Due to the aforementioned moss stitch fiasco, I have been knitting socks for myself. I even have a pair in the second sock stage. Granted they are only a garter rib, but that’s boring to knit, and I am on the second sock. The yarn is Fleece Artist Merino in Hercules (although it is very dark for Hercules).

I am trying to knit up sock yarn that I’ve already wound into a ball, so I got out this Cherry Tree Hill in Log Cabin (?) and decided to do an uneven cable (4 by 2 instead of 3 by 3). Barbara Walker refers to this as an ancient or archaic cable, but I wonder why she thinks the early developers of the cable would first choose to cross stitches unevenly. Wouldn’t you think to do a 2 by 2 or a 3 by 3 cross first–all nice and symmetrical? Anyway, I like how the uneven cross makes the cables look fat. There are 6 cables going around this sock and they alternate with left vs right cross (and the round I cross them on). The tiki mug approves. Tiki mugs come from a warm climate and appreciate a cozy hand knit when the weather turns cool. Here he is all snuggled up to take a little nap. I guess I won’t be knitting on this sock today.

I have also finished a pair of socks for my MIL for Christmas, but I can’t get them to photograph well. That should teach me to knit a subtle knit-purl pattern in a blue-grey semi-solid yarn. I am inordinately pleased with how I modified the pattern on each sock, so I’d really like to get a decent photo. I shall refer to my photography books and see if they can help me. I do have 3 FOs to post. I shall try to post more often.

In the meantime,
Happy Knitting!