Doing my part

I did participate in worldwide knit in public day, though it was not an organized event. Nearly every Saturday is KIP day for me, though! First, I met Karen for lunch at Panera and talked to a woman who thought it was cool that we were knitting together. She was not a knitter, but she still called it cool! I wonder if she'll ever pick up the needles and give them a try. We then scooted over to meet Gena at Angelina's Teas where we were sold $0.25 chocolates by Angelina herself (and sold tea by her mother). I sipped Panda Keemun and brought some Cream Earl Gray home with me.

I shall always have fond memories of Cream Earl Gray. About a month ago I got to go visit my family for Mother's Day weekend. I was excited because I had purchased a sheep teacup, tea infuser, and loose cream earl gray for my mother as her Mother's day gift. She presented my birthday present to me the same night - an infuser teapot. As if that weren't enough of a coincidence, the teapot she chose for me matched the teacup I picked for her. While everyone else was going to bed she and I brewed some of Mom's new tea and sat up sipping and talking. Since I live pretty far from my family she and I don't get moments like that often. Now the smell of Earl Gray reminds me of home.

While we were at the tea shop I took a break to wind my hank of Fleece Artist into a center-pull ball. Now, I've always said that everything looks better in a hank, but as I saw this yarn forming into a ball I fell in love. Fleece Artist does not reskein their yarns so you see large patches of color in the hank. When I wound the ball I could see how long the color runs are, and how they gently run into one another. Looking at the hues all mixed together in the ball enhanced my love of a yarn that I was already dieing to knit with. Balling it when I have another sock on the needles was a mistake. I managed to resist the siren song of Fleece Artist all day Saturday, but today I broke down and had to cast on with it. It's so silky soft, and the colors are <3!!!> Someday this will be waving lace socks, but I suspect I will need to find needles smaller than a 0 to make them work. Does anyone have a cure for knitting dismally loose?

I'm not upset about having cast on a second pair of socks. I had nothing else on the needles because I finished the Green Gable sweater (there is a pic on Gena's blog, I'd take one myself but it's currently very soggy). I like to have 2 projects in rotation. I've found that now that I cast on for waving lace socks I am eager to knit more on my leyburns!

The "neglected" sock actually got a lot of love on Saturday as it toured the town with me. I'm still not loving short row toes and heels, but maybe by the end of the pair I'll be a changed woman. My next toe-up sock will use a figure 8 cast on and a slipped stitch heel flap. I like the feel of a heel flap better, and I don't get the little pointy bits (admittedly the pointy bits are probably just a lack of practice on my part).

I actually have a score to settle with the figure eight cast on. About 3 months into my knitting career I decided I wanted to knit a pair of socks. I selected my yarn (Koigu that remains unknit to this day) and my pattern. The pattern called for this cast on, and I actually figured it out. I was so proud of myself. But, much like kitchener, you're left with loose stitches at the tip of the toe that must be tightened. I went back to tighten these stitches but my beginning knitter's eyes could not trace the stitches well, especially when they were all loose and sloppy. I finally got down to the last 2 stitches and could not find the next stitch to pull. I put the toe down and came back to it later, but after many tries I simply could not figure out how to get rid of the huge awful loop of spare yarn sticking out of my otherwise lovely toe. I finally admitted defeat and ripped my toe back to wind it back into its little ball.

These days I've kitchenered a few toes and I know how to read my knitting and trace the yarn through a row of knitting. I still have that lovely Koigu all ready to go (it is crying for revenge, for no Koigu should go unloved). All I can say to the figure eight is:

Bring. It.