boo.

happy halloween!! ye’ere skeerd, weern’t cha? hehehe.

i’ve been away….but….i guess i’m not surprised. last year october was christened “frogtober” as my knitting mojo dried up with the leaves. i started the month with good intentions….you know, try to finish up some old wips and TRIED to motivate myself by denying myself the privilege of knitting up a new pathways sock. (sigh). but, bella fell to the frog pond, the horror!

bellatrix….rest in peace?

but, this year there will be no eulogy for bellatrix…she has been reincarnated (cue thunder)…(no, cue evil laugh….) MWAH-HAH-HA-HA!! meet bella reincarnated…. (more thunder)….(louder evil laugh)….(cue lady screaming)…

sheeeee’s baaaaaa-aaack: bella monkey!!

bella monkeys
pattern: monkey, by cookie a.
claudia handpainted yarn fingering weight in black walnut
2 skeins | 180 yds : 50 g | 100% merino wool
started: october 31, 2007
needles: 5 – #1 2.5mm susan’s rosewood dpns (gifted by gena – thanks gena!!!)

despite all best intentions, i caved. i couldn’t force myself to finish knitting the mates to my single socks. so i did what any determined knitter would do. i started another project. actually, i started two. but that one fell victim to my lack of focus (remember my crusty knitting mojo?…yeah, ol’crusty beat me again).

i love this yarn…so soft…and i love the colorway. i couldn’t leave it in the frog pile.  it was calling to me…(tani!!  tani!!! knit me!!  i want to live!!!).  and so i did.  (yes i realize i am listening to the voices in my head, so what?!?)  it’s worth it; i like monkey a lot and can see why people go ga-gah over it!   i think, though, i may go down a needle size for the foot. me likes me a nice cushy fabric.

how fitting that bella rises from the dead on halloween. MWAH-HAH-HA-HA!! (hey! i didn’t cue any evil laughing!!)

the photoshoot. starrring….sheldon

 

work it!!!

 

 

give me a “blue steel”….no,no,no! i want…..”magnum”.

 

 

show me your stuff.

 

 

requisite butt shot.

 

 

um…sheldon? what are you doing?

 

 

**SHOCKING**

 

 

[THIS PICTURE CENSORED FOR THIS BLOGGING AUDIENCE]

sss roundup…new pathways are calling…

**edited to add: i’m warning you in advance…this is a long post…i had to catch up on posting somehow!!)**

…but old sock projects are bringing me down. so, i need to finish up something soon, no? after i clear out half of these, i think only then i’ll start a new pathways sock.

single sock syndrome….sucks!

from l to r: dimple in cth supersock (not blogged); jackie o lace in cidermoon flurry; roza in lorna’s laces shepherd sock; bellatrix in claudia merino fingering; world rib in knitpicks new essential (not blogged); green cable in knitpicks old essential (not blogged); and slipped stitch in sock club yarn.

at last count i now have about 7 socks that do not have a mate. how sad! (how the hell did that happen?!?) i now bring you the sock WIP update:

*deep breath*

cute, dimpled, but lonely

dimpled is a simple slipped stitch pattern that i knit up when i was sick. i couldn’t commit to something so boring as plain stockinette, but my addled brain didn’t work so good . so i browsed vogue’s stitch dictionary (vol. 1) and picked this out. i find it a little drab. consequently…(dum-DA-DUM!!!)…SSS!!

oh, jackie!…er….jackie o lace

pretty. but a little boring once i got the hang of the lace pattern. i probably would have finished the pair had i not made the mistake of binding off too tightly on the first sock. i used the 2×2 tubular bind-off. i’ve been successful in the past…but for some reason this one isn’t stretchy. bleh.

roza, a little uptight (heh-heh)

roza was another travel sock. i really liked the pattern (by grumperina). i can’t remember for sure, but i think i went down a needle size or something cuz the damn thing is SNUG. i frown on it and do not wish to knit the mate. i envision frogging and making something else?!? or do i have the patience to pull out the weaved ends?

too wild and loose for me, bye bella

bellatrix. this was my travel sock to vancouver. in the original pattern on size 0′s the foot stretched too much. so i altered it so that i could still knit up the rockin’ yarn i paired with the pattern. so much potential…so perfect the marriage of pattern and yarn. but yet, bellatrix would not cooperate. way too loose around the ankle. i declare this yarn is too nice and deserves better. it should serve good and not evil anyway…

butter says the colors look like a globe…hence “world rib” socks”

the rib on the sock really isn’t so wonky…just looks that way in the pic. i’m done with the toe on the second sock…i’m still on the fence about the yarn on this one.

after the gansey high, i was jones-ing for cables…

i wanted to use up some of my kp essential, too. this is the older stuff. the solid green makes for a nice neutral background for cable ‘pop’…but the yarn is so bleh and i dislike the seed stitch between cables. i know. i should have ripped back….but i thought it would grow on me. my plan is to finish the first sock and knit another cable pattern on the next sock. who says that i have to knit the same pattern anyway? (trying it on for the photo shoot, i’m having 2nd thoughts about this yarn/sock combo. i’m in the mood for some cables again…and the yarn, though not as fun to knit with, may make a sturdy, durable and wearable fabric…hmmmmm….)

slipped stitch slipped my mind.

slipped stitch? i love this sock. just haven’t gotten around to knitting the pair.

oh. so. sad.