A little here and there

The distracted knitter is back from being distracted with all the possibilities of projects. I've got two lace scarves on needles, have knit another sweater, have a beautiful vest knit and ready to block, am working on magic squares for a local community project, oh another scarf in that bag over there, and experimental entrelac scarf-ness that I'm working on. And yes I'm doing them all at once. A little here and there. Keeps me entertained.

So as I develop a deeper sense of what it means to be a Knitter, I've been exploring humorous knitting writings. Of course I would develop an interest in the Yarn Harlot. Though I have a general distaste for Canadians due to their lack of driving skills on I-5 and the constant appearance of their coinage in my register, the Yarn Harlot of Toronto has won my heart. I've been reading her book, The Yarn Harlot, and I feel as though she see's my soul! She knows deep down the desire to knit and create. The frustration I feel when patterns and charts make no sense are sympathized when I read her witty short stories. And her blog is amazing as well. In fact she has influenced me to attempt socks.

The Yarn Harlot talks about not really being a Knitter (capital K) unless you have knit all the areas; hats, socks, scarves, mittens, sweaters, bags, felted bags, tops, etc. And of course the styles; color work, entrelac, instarsia, cabling, lace work, etc. I've almost covered all these areas, however basic the project was. But socks... I once made 1 baby sock. Note the 1. Ribbing drives me nuts in general, turning the heal somehow went all wrong, the length of the foot is 3/4 the desired length because I just wanted to be done, but the toe is a beautiful example of Kitchner Stitch. Needless to say I had no desire to attempt socks again.

But there have been signs. I can't ignore the signs. The Yarn Harlot talks about socks being so easy. Their compact so you can take them anywhere and work on them. I saw a patient waiting for her prescription at the pharmacy. She didn't have a problem waiting because she simply sat down and pulled out a sock she was working on. It was a sign I tell you! But aren't socks too hard for me? I have no patience for sock yarn and size 2 needles. I needed something very simple. I've saved at least 20 patterns on Ravelry/Knitpicks of beautiful intricate socks that I only wish I could create. So the other day I was wasting time on Etsy, and one link lead to another. Somehow I found myself looking at a ravelry profile and there was the simple sock pattern that someone like me could make; "Plain Vanilla Socks". Another sign! I love vanilla yogurt, ice cream, body wash, lip balm, so of course I would love these socks.

I grabbed my hiya hiya size 2 9in circulars (the most amazing creation, no double points for me), some sock yarn and cast on! I really do hate ribbing, but it seemed to pass quickly. I've decided to knit anklets since I personally don't like long socks. Knitting the heel was slow back and forth with several dropped stitches (which in turn meant tink-ing, knitting backwards), and then the dreaded turning of the heel! I took my time so that there was no possible way I could mess it up. I was victorious and the heel is beautiful. So currently I'm working on the gusset and instep. I think this is the most beautiful part of a sock. I must be strange that way, but the lines of the gusset are beautiful and I can't really explain why. But so far in my project, I think I'm actually going to knit the 2nd sock! This is huge.

So between the socks, magic squares, scarves, and summer skirt (a project in the planning), I'll be pretty busy for a while.