Dreaming of an October Afternoon

Pattern: Terradance Socks by Lori Law of Ocean Wind Knits

Yarn: Colinette Jitterbug in "October Afternoon"

Needle: addiTurbo size 2 then 1 40"circ; magic loop

Cast on: July22 Bind off: Aug28

Really, these socks are merely plain vanilla socks. k2p2 rib, stockinette stitch leg, heel, turn, decrease, foot, toe, done. I paid for the pattern because of the heel. The picture on the pattern was this awesome looking linen stitch and I am a sucker for my desire to learn something new. The kicker for me was the linen stitch didn't work for me. I emailed the designer to see if I was doing something wrong; she replied promptly to inform me my stitches were correct. Maybe my colors might have been too varigated for the stitch, or my tension too tight, or a million different reasons; all giving me the result I did not intend. Oh, well. The colorway is fabulous so I will have to live with that.

The yarn is Colinette Jitterbug. I bought it on the Loopy Ewe merely because of the name, "October Afternoon". October is by far one of my favorite months for several reasons: 1) I got married on the 4th (ten-four good buddy), 2) tourist season has officially ended and I can relax/vacation/de-stress/clean my house, and 3) cooler knit-friendly weather.

I started with a size2 and decreased to size1 for the foot. The change is visible. The leg is size2 with deep pooling, while the foot is more of a swirling stripe. Cool none-the-less.

And speaking of cool: I now have windows! It amazes me the transformation that occurs when the windows are installed. My plywood box is starting to resemble a house! Doors come in later next week with the garage doors coming by the end of September. Electricity was brought down from the pole Wednesday. Today is/was Saturday and we installed all the electric boxes on the 2nd floor and in the laundry room, guest bathroom and guest bedroom. Tomorrow the rest of the house is scheduled for electric boxes and the start of the plumbing. We still need to schedule the well and get the radiant floor hoses installed, gypsum poured. Then we can insulate and seal her up until Spring. Whoo hoo! Home building is a lot of work, just as I expected. The thing that surprises me the most: HiOhSilver and I haven't fought like I have heard rumors that spouses do during home builds. I am so relieved. I would hate to have to bury him in the back yard or throw him into the Tanana. He is useful. Damned useful. And fun. And charming. And caring. Hon? are you reading this? I know my birthday is coming up. I love you! Know what else I love? Macro lens. and yarnie gift certificates. and Coach purses. and french bulldogs. and more yarn certificates. Inua is right down from your office. Hon? Hon? Oh well, guess he left. He is great though.

Sock Club Slacker

Pattern: Cleopatra's Stockings by Yarnissima for Blue Moon Fiber Art's Socks that Rock May shipment. Yarn: str "The Incredible Shrinking Violet" in lightweight Needle: size1 addi Turbos cast on: July17 bind off: July30 Yes, it was MAY's shipment. I have been so preoccupied with my own knitting, that I have let the Rockin' Sock Club shipment rock the stash bag(s). I hear that the next shipment is starting to ship internationally, so that gives me one week plus standard US shipping until a whole new package come. There is some pressure to cast on! This sock took some patience, some time to think the direction over, and a lot of deep breathing. I am not the type of knitter to get upset when every step of the pattern is not given to me spoonful by spoonful, but I did feel like there were "a couple planks missing on this girls dock". I made the smallest size for my size 8 1/2 foot because the Leafling (March's shipment) was overly generous on the size. After I tried the sock on before the heel increase (interrupt: these are made toe up) I came to the brilliant awareness that each sock pattern comes from a different designer so one design's generous proportions are another's snug-lovin'. I added two sts on each side for the heel increase and moved to a size2 circ for the leg. My socks were almost a full repeat shorter than the design. I followed the directions, but should have used my intuition instead and did an additional repeat. Overall, I give this pattern a solid A. Genuine construction, original thought on pattern, a challenge for me and a gorgeous rewarding sock for sticking it out and finishing the task. I read a lot gave up and made Monkeys. I am greatful I had the fortitude to stick it out. Ravelry helped! Oh, and I learned how to conceal wrapped stitches. If you dont know, check it out: Cat Bordhi rocks! And the house is going well. We have a certified septic system that my DH installed himself! Hubbie rules! There is now a roof. Both decks are installed. The windows arrived at the supplier last week and as soon as the framer gets back from vacation, we will have those installed as well. Doors are ordered. Garage door still needs to be ordered. Dirt work is done. We still need to install the well and put up the insulation sheet on the outside. Then it is considered "dried in" for winter. We hope to run plumbing and electric ourselves and install the piping for the radiant floor and have the contractor come and pour the gypsum. Siding goes up this spring and the lawn will not be installed until mid-next-summer. Whew, we have been working like dogs!