Boy's Sock #1(b)

For anyone who hasn't met Boy yet (and I know there's a lot of you), you really should. I was truly blessed when Boy decided to go against convention and ask out his best friend's ex-girlfriend. And though it took, lets see, five or six years before I actually said yes, I think it was a pretty good move on his part as well. I couldn't imagine my life without my soulmate, my partner in crime, my reason for getting my lazy butt out of bed and going to work every day...

So why can't I finish his socks?!?

Maybe it's the adorably misshapen size 13 feet, or the fact that this is the first time I've used sock yarn and size 1 needles, or maybe I just want him to keep waiting for his socks like I've been waiting for my engagement ring for two years now... Whew, that feels better.

I started out so full of hope; this was going to be my first socks, the first time I actually used real wool, and they were going to be awesome because I was making up the pattern myself with help from the Socks 101 tutorial on Knitty.com. I had not undertaken socks for Boy yet because I didn't think any off-the-rack sock pattern would fit his gigantic tootsies. I took a boat across the bay to try out a yarn shop I'd found searching the web. Alamitos Bay Yarn Company has been the only LYS where I wasn't treated like a nose-picking felon. I've had bad yarn shop experiences, the first one I went to turned me off so badly I used acrylic for another 10 years...

Boy had wandered off somewhere else, so I picked out a navy blue and heather gray, along with some black Rowan DK from the discount baskets (haven't turned down 50% off before, certainly ain't starting now) and went on vacation. Apparently no one knits in Hawaii, because I could not find the right sized needles on the entire island of Maui.

I came home and eventually started the socks on October 24. I was so nervous that things were going to turn out badly, expecially when I decided to double up on the yarn for the heel and toe without changing the pattern. It turned out to be a long project; I'm used to turning out a hat and scarf in a few days, this was a serious commitment. (Watch me freak when I start my sweater =) I got a lot of it done at the hospital while we were visiting Boy's father after his lung surgery (not cancer, but might have tb). It is lumpy and odd looking, but so are his feet, so I was hoping it would work out. I finally Kitchnered Boy's Socks #1 (a). He tried it on and danced around in it. I have to finish this; I need to see him dancing around in socks I made for him. Eventually.

I am currently half way through the cuff of the second sock, most of it done within the last two days. In the meantime I have made three scarves, one set of earmuffs, and finished several projects that were just lying around to avoid this second sock. It's not that I don't love him, but I have about 40 skeins of acrylic that I can't seem to stand the sight of anymore and want to whip up into things my family will like for the holidays, and for people at work, and just for any project that won't take 2 months to trudge through.

Just remember the dancing...

The Knitting Wounded

Hello, and welcome to my blog!!!

Uhm, just don't touch anything, alright?

I'd say my history as a knitter is a pretty standard one: learned to knit eons ago and just started up again in earnest in the last year or so, have yarn coming out my ears, and the inexplicable compulsion to accquire more. I've done a bunch of scarves and hats that I don't wear. I just started making socks; my boyfriend is now in possession of one sock and the first two rows of the second one. I have 20 balls of chocolate wool I bought to make the Mariah sweater from Knitty. I even found 3 balls of fabulous, discontinued black Rowan DK at my LYS that I will make into some pretty cabled socks eventually. I was really looking forward to this weekend. I work Thanksgiving, then I'd have five days off to sort the stash and get that last sock done.

Then, at work on Wednesday, the nagging weirdness in my left hand turned into three numb fingers. I went to the company doctor, who, when he finally saw me, mumbled something about nerve damage and told me to take Ibuprofen and come back on Tuesday. Nerve damage? NERVE DAMAGE??? Crap. I am the sole provider for my little family, knitting is the only thing that keeps me sane, and I take all my degree courses online through University of Phoenix. This is not good news.

So, while I'm waiting for further tests and whatnot, I'm trying to keep the swelling down in my fingers and whipping out acrylic scarves and whatnot while I have some time off. I have a goal of 50% stash reduction before I bring another skein into the house. I have a bunch of acrylic that the good-hearted people of the world have given me, piles and piles of butt-ugly yarn. Ugly things need love too!

Wish me luck, I'll keep you all posted...