Hospital Knitting

I know that I haven't been posting much lately. It all started with some drama at work, but that quickly got shuffled into the not important category.

My Significant Other got sick. Really sick. In the past 5 days I have been to the emergency room twice and now that he has been admitted, I have spent many hours sitting by a hospital bed.

The second Asymmetrical Cables sock is done except for grafting the toe and I will be sitting with a design project tomorrow. I've also been thinking of casting on a hat, but I'm not sure how reliably I will be posting here.

I'm sure all of you understand.

I will try to update when I can, both on my knitting and the status of the SO.

A Bad Week

I'm sorry that it has been a while since my last post.  I have just been having a really hard time lately and I'm not sure how to talk about here, or if I should talk about it here.

Suffice it to say, all is not so f***in' sunny in day-job world and I'm having trouble coping with it. 

I've been trudging along with the April Asymmetrical Cables socks and I am on the second one.  I am actually very happy with how they are turning out and my SO is starting to almost sound excited for me to finish them.

Also, I managed to complete the Yarn Shop Hop here in the Twin Cities and I took some notes.  I will work on a post of my impressions for later this week.

In the meanwhile, here's a cat in a cowl:

Why Do I Even Ask?

I wonder if everyone experiences this:  Last night I talked to my brother.  He lives out in California and I wanted to get his sweater measurements because I'm kicking around an idea for a Christmas present for him.  However, I have been so excited about this idea, that I actually told him the basic concept.

I think this is where I may have started to go wrong.  Now he has an opinion for everything from exact length, to zipper vs. buttons, to design motif, and I am listening to him.  I know, it will be his sweater, but it will be mine as well since I am designing it.  Where do you draw that line?  I want him to be happy with it, but it is a present that I am going to be spending a lot of time on.

And my brother may be notoriously fussy, but I did explain to him that if I take the time to design and knit a f***ing sweater for him, he will f***ing love it.

I guess I may be a little cranky today.  I have been pretty knocked out by the flu for most of a week now and although I have gotten some knitting done, I have managed to take care of very little else.

Right now, my socks are the only thing that I have on the needles that isn't a design project.  I have moved from the instep decreases to the foot now and feel like I am in the home stretch with this first sock.  I will be teaching myself how to graft with Kitchener stitch for the toes!  I am actually kind of excited.  I love how seamless Kitchener stitch can look and I know it frustrates some people, but I seem to enjoy some of the more frustrating aspects of knitting.

So close to done!

And now, the moment people have been waiting for:  The Drawing!

I ran the 35 comments through the random number generator at Random.org and the winner of the Knit Picks 4" dpns is . . .

#23 - Connie K.  greyowl (on ravelry)

Congrats to Connie and I will be PMing you on Ravelry to get your mailing info!

May these needles make you many beautiful socks.

Fritz don't care, he's got a sunbeam.

On Wings of Stainless Steel

Wow. What a response to my last post! So many wonderful sock ideas! I too dream of the perfect legs for my socks. And for you beginners who commented: do not be afraid of cables; they are much easier than they look.

However, I realized that I never described my dream socks.

I am currently dreaming of making the Almondine socks from Sock Knitting Master Class in something bright and colorful. I love leafy botanical patterns.

And as for the new HiyaHiya needles, this sock has started to just fly by!

My First Giveaway

So I made a mistake.  Last post, I was so excited because my new needles from Knit Picks had arrived and I was all set to make this second pair of socks.  The mistake?  I need longer than 4 inches of needle.  My hands are just too big for these needles.  So after struggling through most of the leg portion of my first Asymmetrical Cables sock, I have thrown in the towel, bought a pair of HiyaHiyas and admitted to myself that I will never be able to use these needles.

My new needles that don't poke me in the palm.

The needles that I wanted to use.

So I have decided to give away the whole set of 4" Harmony Wood knitting needles on this blog.  I will take all of the comments from now until Friday, April 5, 2013 at midnight CST and run them through a random number generator to pick a winner.

Please tell me in your comment what your dream sock looks like.

But look at those cables!

A Mystery Solved

Hello internet peoples!  I have finally solved the Mystery of the Missing Knit Picks Box.  After checking the website and following the tracking number link to find out that the box was delivered on the 19th, I asked the neighbor if she had seen it, and low and behold, it was sitting in their kitchen.  We have an apartment with three girls living in it next to us and about once a year one of them moves out and a new one moves in.  Apparently that was happening this month and my box got mixed up in the confusion.  I am just glad that I found it.

Of course I was so excited, that I immediately cast on for the Asymmetrical Cables sock that I plan on making for the month of April for The Sock Project.

Finally started.

I'm afraid that they are still not in a very exciting color, but soon I will make a pair for myself again and those will be in more interesting colors.  I am, however, very excited about the design of these socks.

I also got some blocking done today because I finally have the Euclan that I ordered.

Hooray for Euclan!

The nice thing about not getting my box of goodies on time is that I actually finished all of the projects that I had on needles and it made me feel restless.  So I started on a designing project.  It is now in the works and I will update you about it when I am finished.

If anyone would still like to knit along on the Asymmetrical Cables socks, it is not too late.  You can comment on this blog, message me on Ravely (BettyCrocket) or just send me an email at bettycrocketdesigns@gmail.com.

Blocking for the First Time

Today I actually blocked something for the first time.

I know. I probably should have learned about that long before now, but there is no time like the present.

This is a swatch for something that I am designing for self publishing. I will definitely post here when I finish the pattern, but other than this picture, I am trying to keep my mouth shut about it until it is done. Wish me luck, both with the designing and the keeping quiet.