Purlene’s Corner

(aya here)

Look at this ugly sock:

It’s just all over the place. It’s got big fat spirals of color, then some pooling, then it calms down a bit on the foot.

I did a k2sl2 pattern on it, figuring that it would tame down the pooling. I’ve tried these as zens, and it didn’t work. I tried them as monkeys, and that failed too.

This yarn wants to be ugly. So I’m letting it. I’d been avoiding it in my stash for so long, that I figured it was time to bite the bullet, and get them done. I carried the k2sl2 down along the heel flap.

Once the gusset was done, the yarn tamed down a bit, when I was only doing the k2sl2 on half the stitches.

See? The foot part isn’t so bad now.

One sock down, and one to go. This may be my travel knitting next week, just so I can get it over with.

I will say, k2sl2 is a comfy sock, even if it does border on fug.

(ames)

So, it’s been a while.  My camera died, which is SAD, and also kind of a relief.  I bought it six years ago for a trip to Australia.  Digital cameras were very new then, and I wasn’t sure how they worked or how you got the pictures off the computer and onto paper.  So, I took both a digital and a 35mm camera!  Lots of camera switching, let me tell you.  Anyway, that’s not the point.  The point is that I had a camera, and then I didn’t have one anymore, and they’d become a lot more advanced and awesome than my original one was. It took a while to replace it, is what I’m saying.

Also, I have not been much with the knitting. It is a sad but true fact that my knitting mojo gets depleted in the summer, even a cool and comfortable summer like Chicago has had this year. Instead of knitting, I have been running around and Doing Things. aya’s been making her first sweater, and I’ve – not. Here is what I’ve done this summer instead!

* Charleston for a WEEK! It was the most time I’ve been back home since I left in the middle of my college years, and it was great. Incredibly unseasonably hot (aya, I promise it’s nice in February, should we go back), but I loved seeing my family again and being able to spend more than just an hour here and an hour there.
* Had a birthday!
* Saw Star Trek FIVE TIMES. It was worth it every time.
* Fell in love with Sanctuary on the SyFy channel.
* Hung out with my Mom and visited a cute-as-heck yarn shop in Oak Creek, WI.
* Saw part of the Osh Kosh, WI Airshow that my Dad volunteers at every year. He and I wandered all around the fairgrounds looking at the 28947524508756 planes. SO MANY. Fortunately, Daddy knows all about them and was happy to share and teach.
* attended the first of what was to become many going-away parties for friends who are leaving Chicago. Sadness.
* Decided to change apartments. Cue chaos.
* Saw Panic at the Disco and Fall Out Boy, and thoroughly enjoyed them both – although FOB a little more.
* Realized how lucky I am to have so many good friends both here and far from here. <3

But I did knit. Witness:

Eesti Trail Hiking Socks from Favorite Socks, Interweave Press
Mission Falls 1824 Superwash Wool in Stone and Spruce

EDIT:  Because I am a ninny, and was updating Ravelry at the same time as the blog, I neglected to say here that the sock are for my Dad, who saw the Bayerische socks on the blog and requested hiking socks.  The original pattern has a standard heel flap, a spiral toe, and a snowflake design around the calf.  I ditched all of that.  Afterthought heel (which I hate actually doing, although I love the look), wedge toe, no snowflake.

The second Bayerische sock is in the commuter bag for CTA knitting, and is going well. I have also finally cast on for the Summer’s End cardi, which – well, I wish the designer had a better link than just to Ravelry. Not everyone is ON ravelry! Sigh. Anyway, it’s cute – lacey bottom with stockinette top, and the sleeves are stockinette with a lace panel going down the outside. I’d show you what the lace looks like, except this is all I have done so far:

Sergei is most unimpressed. :D

See? I have not dropped off the face of the earth! Also, it’s been nice here on weekdays, and I’ve been wandering Chicago on my lunch breaks. If you want a picture of a Chi-town landmark, let me know! If I can get to it and back in an hour, I will happily provide. Possibly with sock (although that’s really the Yarn Harlot’s thing, and I hate feeling like a copycat.)

(aya here)

Not much has been going on with me, knitting-wise or otherwise.

I’ve become a little bit addicted to a small little project – making ornaments for my Christmas tree with my leftover sock yarns. This will be the first year that I put up my own Christmas tree, and I inherited lots of ornaments from the family tree, but not all of them, so I’m trying to fill in some of the blanks.

These are wee sweaters. Here’s a picture for scale:

It’s a fun little pattern (see ravelry for link), and when I actually sit down to knit, I can kick one out in a couple of hours.

Sadly, I still have leftover sock yarns from these little projects. I think that next year, I will make little coordinating mitts or hats. This is the year of the sweater! I’ve been knitting these pretty much exclusively for a couple of weeks now, and ignoring a second sock and the Summer’s End cardigan that I cast-on for. It’s okay though, because I’m enjoying these little projects.

Not much else is going on. I did a little roadtrip up to the Maine coast this past weekend, I took my niece back-to-school shopping yesterday, and I’ve been ignoring cleaning the house. Today, however, I will clean. I need to vacuum like you wouldn’t believe, thanks to the two messy little boy bunz that live here with me!

(ames)

I have obtained a new camera. I know you’re all thrilled.