I don't know my bum from my belbow these days. My mind just wants to zone out; it craves indolence. Life, however, has other plans. It needs constant vigilance. Some casualties of this ennui have been my writing and my photography. No matter what I do I can't seem to muster much cogitation, and so blogging has fallen by the wayside.
This lassitude has also spilled over into my work life during my biggest crunch time. I usually relish this time of year, and the work that needs to be done, but not this year. It go so bad I panicked and brought home work last weekend. And for the first time in weeks I had a little fire in my belly. It felt awesome. I took turns knitting and working and wouldn't you know it, I got through the entire Bleak House Masterpiece Theatre program, knit almost an entire sock in a 24 hour period, and accomplished all the goals I set for myself with work.
Dad's Midnight Derby Socks are finis! And just in time for our upcoming weekend trip to visit him, in honor of his hitting the big 7-0. No matter how old my parents get, they'll always be like 45 to me. I see the aging, but my mind refuses to equate my parents with older people. It just doesn't and I'm not sure why, but I'm sure it's like that for most folks.
Back to my utter amazement at how fast I knit the second sock, I have to say that loving the yarn and the colorway probably helped me along. I'm a big fan of blue in general, and this deep navy, specifically.
When I untied the skein on my swift, I saw the knotted yarn holding the skein together was undyed. This was a first for me and seeing the natural colored yarn contrasted with the deep blue of the skein gave me pause, instantly fueling expectations of major bleeding when I washed the socks. It turns out my worry was for naught. I soaked the socks in eucalan for an hour or so and the water was barely discolored. The difference in the original yarn and the washed sock is indiscernible:
I began these socks on May 15th and finished them on May 31st.
Yarn:
Dream in Color Smooshy in the Midnight Derby colorway
100% superwash wool
I really like this yarn, even if it wasn't as soft as I had expected. I will definitely knit socks with this again. The 450 yards makes this a great yarn for men's socks.
Needles:
I started out with 2.25mm circulars on the toe and it was pretty obvious the gauge was a little too dense. Instead of frogging, I decided to switch to 2.5mm circs once I completed the toe. I returned to the 2.25mm circs for the heel. Once I began the ankle I reverted to the 2.5mm needles for near half the leg until for reasons of shaping I went up a needle size to 2.75mm.
Pattern:
I cast on 36 stitches, increasing to a total foot circumference of 72 stitches. Once I finished the toe I knit even for five rows, rather than begin the rib right away. The top part of the sock was the same k4p1 of Blue Wavering. I can't remember how many rows I knit before beginning the gusset. I made 17 gusset increases. The leg was the same as Blue Wavering, at about 66 rows including the bind off row.
This lassitude has also spilled over into my work life during my biggest crunch time. I usually relish this time of year, and the work that needs to be done, but not this year. It go so bad I panicked and brought home work last weekend. And for the first time in weeks I had a little fire in my belly. It felt awesome. I took turns knitting and working and wouldn't you know it, I got through the entire Bleak House Masterpiece Theatre program, knit almost an entire sock in a 24 hour period, and accomplished all the goals I set for myself with work.
Dad's Midnight Derby Socks are finis! And just in time for our upcoming weekend trip to visit him, in honor of his hitting the big 7-0. No matter how old my parents get, they'll always be like 45 to me. I see the aging, but my mind refuses to equate my parents with older people. It just doesn't and I'm not sure why, but I'm sure it's like that for most folks.
Back to my utter amazement at how fast I knit the second sock, I have to say that loving the yarn and the colorway probably helped me along. I'm a big fan of blue in general, and this deep navy, specifically.
When I untied the skein on my swift, I saw the knotted yarn holding the skein together was undyed. This was a first for me and seeing the natural colored yarn contrasted with the deep blue of the skein gave me pause, instantly fueling expectations of major bleeding when I washed the socks. It turns out my worry was for naught. I soaked the socks in eucalan for an hour or so and the water was barely discolored. The difference in the original yarn and the washed sock is indiscernible:
I began these socks on May 15th and finished them on May 31st.
Yarn:
Dream in Color Smooshy in the Midnight Derby colorway
100% superwash wool
I really like this yarn, even if it wasn't as soft as I had expected. I will definitely knit socks with this again. The 450 yards makes this a great yarn for men's socks.
Needles:
I started out with 2.25mm circulars on the toe and it was pretty obvious the gauge was a little too dense. Instead of frogging, I decided to switch to 2.5mm circs once I completed the toe. I returned to the 2.25mm circs for the heel. Once I began the ankle I reverted to the 2.5mm needles for near half the leg until for reasons of shaping I went up a needle size to 2.75mm.
Pattern:
I cast on 36 stitches, increasing to a total foot circumference of 72 stitches. Once I finished the toe I knit even for five rows, rather than begin the rib right away. The top part of the sock was the same k4p1 of Blue Wavering. I can't remember how many rows I knit before beginning the gusset. I made 17 gusset increases. The leg was the same as Blue Wavering, at about 66 rows including the bind off row.
Comments
Have a nice visit with your dad. I know what you mean about being in denial about your parents' age.
The socks turned out lovely!