Welcome to summer. Well, summer where I am, anyway. It is now officially the Summer of Socks.

(Insert trumpet fanfare here.)

True to my word, I did not cast on for my first sock until approximately 5:10am today. And here is that first sock:

Sock 062107

The yarn is hand painted 50/50 silk/merino blend from All Things Heather, in the “Passion” colorway, purchased from The Loopy Ewe. When I checked earlier today, there was still a nice assortment of colors available in this yarn. I advise you to go buy it immediately if it is still there. It is fabulous!

Although it is described as light sportweight, I am knitting it on US 0 (2mm) needles and getting my usual 8 stitches and 12 rows to the inch. And it looks fabulous, too.

Look at that toe.

Toe 062107

Do you know what that is? That’s Judy’s Magic Cast-on for Toe-Up Socks. I was practicing it last week when I wasn’t knitting socks.

I used the Turkish Cast-on for my last couple of pairs of socks, but wasn’t happy with it. No matter how carefully I did it, I always had loose stitches at the toe that I had to go back and tighten up by inserting the tip of a dpn in each stitch and winkling the yarn tighter. So I got out some sportweight yarn and 2 circular needles and practiced the Magic Cast-on, and found I am far more successful with it. While you can do the cast-on with dpns, I find it much easier to execute on circulars.

So . . . do you like this stitch pattern?

Eyelet 062107

It’s a double eyelet rib, and I am liking very much how it looks in this yarn.

As soon as I post this blog entry, I will be working on my at-home sock. You’ll be able to see my progress on that in Sunday’s post. I started it:

Another Toe 062107

Sock Contest

Don’t forget — you must have your guesses in to me by Sunday at noon eastern time. See yesterday’s entry for information on the contest.

So far 478 of you have submitted guesses!

Because I truly have no idea how many pairs of socks I will churn out during the Summer of Socks, I too have made a guess. I told it to L-B so I can’t cheat and change it later. If I guessed right, I’m going to award myself a prize too. Oh, and L-B will win a prize too, as the Keeper of Wendy’s Guess.

The KOARC submitted a guess that shows a touching if somewhat unrealistic level of faith in my ability as a knitter. But he specified that he’s not entering the contest.

Oh, and there will be no book giveaway this week, as I don’t want to get the contest emails mixed up with book giveaway emails. The book giveaway will return next week.

Lucy Sez

Lucy 062107

I’m making a guess — do I get a prize too?

My name is Wendy and it has been 7 days since I have done any sock-knitting.

Who knew I’d suffer such withdrawal symptoms from sock knitting?

Fortunately, the Summer of Socks starts tomorrow. According to the rules, any sock knitting that is included in the Summer of Socks must be commenced after 5:00am tomorrow. I get to the train station at 5:10am, so I’m covered. I’ll wind my yarn before I leave home in the morning — I think that’s allowed.

For the past week I’ve been fondling my sock yarn, deciding what to use for my first socks out of the starting gate. On Monday I showed Rossana my “overflow” sock yarn stash. (Don’t ask.) We happily sat on the floor of my living room, surrounded by cheerful skeins of sock yarn, while Lucy looked on and no doubt thought we were nuts.

Here’s my plan:

Tomorrow I will start two socks — an “easy” sock for commuter knitting, and a “hard” sock for at-home knitting. They will both be toe-up socks, and they will both be new designs that I have worked up during my week-long sock knitting hiatus. I’m very excited.

I have all sorts of sockie hijinks planned. Things to astound and amaze you! Things to terrify you and make you gasp!

(Things to make you think: “Okay, she has finally snapped if she thinks this is astounding/amazing/terrifying/gasp-worthy.)

But let’s have a little fun. In the comments the other day, someone suggested that I hold a contest for people to guess how many pairs of socks I will knit during the Summer of Socks. I thought that sounded like fun, so a contest we shall have.

How Many Pairs of Socks Will Wendy Knit During the Summer of Socks?

Some info that might help you pick a number:

• The Summer of Socks runs from June 21, 2007 at 5:00am until September 21, 2007, 10:00pm.
• My intent at the start of the project is to knit only socks during this period.
• I reserve the right to change my mind about knitting only socks and throw in another project here and there to spice things up and to keep you guessing.
• I am not planning on pulling all-nighters knitting socks. I’m not going for speed here. I will just churn out socks at my usual sedate ladylike pace.

Some rules:

• Only one guess per person
• That guess must be made by noon, Eastern Time this Sunday, June 24, 2007 to be entered in the contest.
• All guesses must be sent via email to blogcontestATcomcastDOTnet before noon Eastern time on Sunday June 24, 2007.
• Put your guess (in numerals) and nothing else in the subject line of your email. Emails that do not have a subject line that contains just the number will be disqualified.

Why so strict? Why so picky? I usually get lots of entries for these contests and I need to be able to search the subject line field so I can determine the winner(s) without having to open every email.
The person who guess the exact number of pairs of socks (not individual socks) I knit, or comes closest, will win fabulous prizes. Said fabulous prizes will most likely consist of yummy sock yarn and pattern. If more than one person guess the magic number, more than one person will win.

You can see that Lucy is pretty jazzed about this.

Lucy062007a

Okay. Tonight I’ll be knitting on the silk scarf. See you tomorrow!

Scarf 062007

Lucy Sez

Lucy062007

“I have tassels between my widdle toes!”

Because the knitting chez WendyKnits is sorta boring right now, I thought I’d show some fun stuff I’ve acquired recently.

First up, a card case for my Moo cards!

Moo Card Case 061907

Is that not too cute? I bought it from Splatgirl on etsy. She’s got several different styles of “Moo Pockets” for sale, and you can choose your own fabric from the ones she has available. (Seriously, though, how could I not choose the fabric with “moo” printed on it?) My Moo Pocket has a clip on it so I can hang it on a purse handle, as pictured.

Second, danglefree stitch markers!

Stitchmarkers 061907

I bought all of these from Hide and Sheep (also etsy) on Margaret‘s recommendation. I got several different sizes, and different color beads. Pretty!

Both these sellers gave me extremely prompt service and the items are lovely. I give ‘em two thumbs up!

Third . . .

Posy Sock Sack 061907

A Posy Sock Sack, made by Knitnana! (Although at the moment it is a Posy Scarf Sack.) This is in the “Michelle Meow” fabric, lined in a pretty green. There are pockets inside to hold needles, tape measure, and whatever notions you take along with your sock knitting.

I love it! And I love the button.

Posy Sock Sack Button 061907

The Strange Case of the Stink in the Office

It just keeps getting better and better (said in a sarcastic tone of voice).

It’s a long story, but the short version is that the guys who came on Thursday to service our moldy reeking radiators did a half-*ssed job. (Now why does that not surprise me?) It’s still stink-o-rama in the office and I’ve documented the problem in writing and the timeline of events and sent it up the line of command, as I was advised. I hope they do something sooner rather than later. I left work early today (at my boss’s urging) because the stench got unbearable.

On Friday we lifted the tops off the radiators and saw that the workers had shoved this down inside.

Bad Air Sponge 061907

Oh yeah. That fixes everything.

I have more photos, but I’ll spare you. They are not for the faint of heart. They are also not for the weak of stomach.

Lucy the Party Girl

Sherry asked:

I’m curious, does Lucy generally like people who visit?

I think Lucy is like Will Rogers — she’s never met a man (or woman, for that matter) she didn’t like. There are some people she seems to naturally gravitate towards, and be particularly fond of, and Rossana is one of those people.

But I can well imagine that anyone who has ever met Rossana probably feels that way about her. Lucy is simply showing that she has good taste and is an excellent judge of people.

Extreme close-up!

Lucy 061907

It’s been a happy Monday for me because I did not go to work today.

As you can see here, Lucy’s stylist came to visit.

Rossana and Lucy 061807

That’s Rossana, who I haven’t seen since last autumn. Can you tell that Lucy adores her?

Rossana’s been busy traveling for a while, and she brought me a very cool gift:

Hello Kitty Bags 061807

Hello Kitty zippered bags! These will be perfect to use as sock-in-progress bags, don’t you think?

(I have another new sock-in-progress bag I’ll show you tomorrow.)

I have, however, been doing no sock knitting — I’m waiting til Thursday for the kick-off of the Summer of Socks. Then there will be some serious sock knitting going on.

In the meantime, I’ve been knitting on my silk scarf.

A close-up.

Lace Scarf 061807

I’ve been doing some fiddling around with stitch patterns too, as I want to create some new sock designs. So the knitting progress is a bit paltry right now.

Thanks for all the lovely comments on the Handsome Triangle. And thanks also for all the votes at the Blogger’s Choice Awards. I really appreciated that!

Just a quickie post today because I’ve got some back pain and sitting at the computer is not particularly comfy. I’ll be back tomorrow with more to say . . .

Lucy Sez

Lucy 061807

“Boy, did I have fun today! I need a nap!”

So there I was, doggedly knitting along on the Handsome Triangle on Friday night, when it occurred to me that it was getting awfully big, I decided to look at the pattern to see the finished measurements –82″ across by 43″ down the center back. I measured my work on the needles. Yeah, already had that, and more, without stretching it.

The pattern directs you to work to 120 rows. I stopped after row 90. Looking at the photo of the shawl on page 31 the book, I believe they stopped thereabouts as well on that particular shawl.

After some very gentle blocking, my shaw measures 104″ across the top by 50″ down the back.

I’m glad I stopped when I did.

I believe I had 326 live stitches when I finished knitting. The bottom is finished off with crocheted loops. –chain eight, then work a single crochet together with one live stitch of the shawl, then chain 4, et cetera. I worked all my loops as an 8-stitch chain because I thought the 4-stitch chain was too skimpy. So using my exceedingly shaky math skills, I have conjectured that needed to I crochet 2,934 stitches on the edge of the shawl.

Guess what the majority of yesterday afternoon and evening was spent doing?

Triangle061707c

I do rather suck at crochet, so it took me longer than it should. The pattern directs you to use a 5mm crochet hook, which of course I didn’t have. I do, however, have a lovely Brittany 4.5mm crochet hook with a fancy carved head.

So I used that. By the time I was done, I thought it was slightly less lovely because the lovely turned head of it had rubbed against the side of my hand throughout the whole crochet process. (No doubt if I held the hook properly this would not have happened.)

But I completed it and I’m happy.

Triangle061707

I did not wet block it — rather I steamed it with my iron. I don’t like to wet-block 100% silk — I don’t think it is particularly effective. Steaming, on the other hand, worked very well. While I didn’t carefully steam each little crocheted loop open, I like the way this looks — it makes a sort of ruffle at the bottom.

Triangle061707a

One more shot:

Triangle061707b

Book Giveaway

The winner of this week’s book giveaway, chosen by the random number generator, is Valeria L. Valerie, I’ve emailed you. Thank you to everyone who entered.

Shameless Self-Promotion

Yesterday the KOARC pointed out to me that my blog had been nominated for a Blogger’s Choice award in two categories: Best Hobby Blog and Best Blog Design. In a fit of poor sportsmanship, I immediately voted for myself in both categories. I have no illusions about winning in either category, believe me, but if you have any desire to do so, please consider voting for me so that I will not be totally humiliated by the small number of votes I’ve received.

And a big thank you to whoever it was who nominated me!

Ragdoll Puzzle

Lucy061707

Quite the little contortionist, isn’t she?