Knitting’s like a virus. You catch it, it incubates, all of a sudden you start presenting all of these symptoms ( staying up all night working on a project, stashing, explaining the virtues of merino to complete strangers on the train) and then — THEN you start to infect other people.
Lately I’ve been in and out of the doctor’s office with one of those non-urgent but annoying issues that leaves you with lots of time to sit in a waiting room cooling your jets. So last time I went, like any good knitter, I brought a sock, and I sat in the waiting room and knit. I had other patients stopping me with questions, and then one of the receptionists demanded to see how I was turning the heel and asked me what the pattern was and proceed to pick my brain for good websites. Then they sent me into a room to wait, and the doctor came in, saw me knitting, and proceeded to exclaim over it for quite some time.
Well, today I was sitting in that same exam room, knitting while I waited for her to come in, and when she did, she pointed her finger at me. “You!” Me? I wondered if I’d bounced a check or something, when she starts laughing and waving her hand at my sock. “You’re the one. You came in with your knitting, and then I went and learned how and now I have no more free time and I never get anything done! Show me how you knit, I want to see how you make the stitches.” She wouldn’t let me leave until I’d spilled my guts about things like Knitpicks and Knitty and Ravelry, and promised to bring in some FOs for her to look over when I go back next.
I think I might bring her some yarn. Just to keep her symptoms from getting too out of control.
The socks in question:
Pattern: Waving Lace Socks, by Evelyn A. Clark. Published in Favorite Socks. (This is the pattern on the cover, even.)
Yarn: Lorna’s Laces Shepard Sock Multi in Watercolor
Needles: Bamboo DPNs, size 1
Notes: These are the first socks I’ve made with Lorna’s, and oh boy I think I’m in love. I wore them for the first time a few days ago, and they fit comfortably and smoothly. I was pleasantly surprised by the hand (foot?) of the fabric, and when they were on my feet I forgot there were socks there at all. More of this yarn, please.
The pattern was a lot of fun, and I’ll be repeating it at some point. The lace is easy to memorize and fun to watch coming off the needles, and it is solid and simple enough to stand up to a busy colorway like this one. I figured I’d take a chance and see how they two went together, and I’m glad they did. One thing for next time: I will be careful to read the first chart (for the scalloped edging) the right way – not backwards, making upside down un-scalloped edging. By the time I realized I was having some chart issues, I was halfway through the first sock, and the only solution was to repeat the mistake on the second one and call it a feature.
On a more solemn note, I dubbed these the “Grandmommy Socks” on Ravelry. My grandmother passed recently, and this sock was the last thing I’d knit in her presence. She actually examined the first finished sock the night before she died, was unimpressed with the colors — in her defense, the lighting in the hospital made the whole thing look like a rather muddy brown — and asked me how I made such tiny stitches. It took a while before I could pick them up, after that, but they are finally finished now, and every time I pick them up I think of her, and I expect I always will.
And if you check the Yarn Harlot’s blog post from her Brooklyn reading the other day, you’ll see me! I certainly got plenty of chances to see Stephanie:
She did a great reading, and then proceeded to honor my good buddy and fellow stitchenbitcher Rebecca and her Eye of Jupiter sock with a moment of Internet Fame that I think is richly deserved. I got to watch Rebecca conceive and wrestle that sock into being, and I’m just tickled she made such an impression with it. Made an already enjoyable night even more awesome.