fo: world rib socks

without fanfare, i present:

world rib socks
pattern: lichen ribbed socks (ravelry link) from vintage socks by nancy bush
in knitpicks essential riverbed multi (special dye lot)
started: september, 2007
finished: november, 2007
needles: 1 – US1, 2.5mm knitpicks circular needles

my mods…toe up, short row heel, sewn (l) and traditional (r) bind off

i royally screwed up the bind-off yet again. er…(cough)….

in an effort to study the elasticity of different bind-offs, i used two different cast-off methods. (i admit – i didn’t have the first sock with me when it was time to b.o. the second. i just assumed that i used a simple sewn bind-off (like on the left)….but i didn’t. the first sock (on the right) was finished with a very very loose traditional bind-off….now that i think about it, i didn’t have a needle at the time and decided that risking a non-elastic bind off was ok.

the risk was worth it; my bind off was loose and elastic…no frilly willy nilly cuff for me! (except that i used a different bind off for the second sock). while i prefer the look of bind off on the right, the sewn bind-off is decidedly stress free. is it worth ripping back to fix the error?

no.

oh! and the yarn?! well, the jury is still out.  i’ll report back after wash and wear testing.

tagged: a reading meme

oye. you’d think that when you finally respond to a meme you would reveal something interesting and profound about yourself. instead, the geekiness is revealed.

well, liz tagged me…and though i’m not so good with the meme’s (this is my second ever i’ve responded cuz i’m so not cool), i have the inkling to respond. here are the rules: open the book you’re currently reading to page 161 and read the fifth sentence on the page, then think of 5 bloggers to tag.

patients share more information when they feel safe, as within a relationship with a specific registered nurse.

i bet you want to run out and buy the book now, don’t you?!? (snort.) the quote is from “relationship-based care: a model for transforming practice”, the american journal of nursing’s book of the year in 2004.

now i loves me a good nursing book…but i’m reading the book for a committee (for work) called the professional practice committee. the committee is supposed to be the ‘voice of nursing’ in our hospital and serves as a liason between staff rn’s and the executive staff. anyway, the committee was directed to make decisions and have discussions about the topics at hand from within the paradigm of the book. blahbitty blah blah blah…yes…i dig it. the nurse geek has revealed herself.

(getting distracted yet? wait! here’s a yarn picture!!)

koigu painter’s palette premium merino
100% merino | 50 g: 175 yds | 2 skeins
vacation yarn purchase in vancouver, canada
from three bags full

tag, your turn!!! euroboy, carol, stacey, valerie and yarmando

riding the wave…

remember i said in my last post that i had started another project before bellamonkey? actually, i tried to start a number of lace shawls. ‘tried’ being the operative word. and why wouldn’t i? the lace diamond stole was so fantastic! i wanted a shawl in every color!!

for me, though, the marriage of yarn and pattern is a sort of magical thing. i’ll troll for patterns through books, magazines and on the web, mentally noting what piques my interest. then i’ll browse the lys or e-tailers or the stash for yarn that catches my fancy. when doing one or the other, suddenly inspiration strikes, the stars align and poof! an obsession is born. at least 99% of the time. and at least until the first sock is born.

the other 1% i find a project that i love and (cough) plan to knit it up. admittedly, much less magical, but these projects also exist. meet clapotis.

2nd wave clapotis
in knitpicks bare fingering 100% merino
started: october 2007
needles: US #4 knitpicks options circular needles
notes: zzzzzzzzzzzzz

i have always wanted the have the clap (snort – sorry, i know that’s been overplayed but, come on, let a gal have some fun!). i saw clapotis as a way to stash bust. but, my stash is almost exclusively sock yarn in sock quantities. not so much with the choices. my second problem lies in the fact that i wanted a dark….scratch that….a black shawl/scarf. i may be thirty-ish but my eyes belong in a 90 year old’s eye sockets. that would be just asking for a migraine. (excuse me, waiter, i’ll have a migraine with some blurry vision. but, can you serve that on the side?).

i really wanted to make this project. it’s almost like a knitting milestone.

oh, you started knitting when? that’s fantastic! you must have knitted clapotis, didn’t you?!?

i wanted to be able to say yes to that question and be one of the hundreds that participated in the knitting web community. (i realize i have a blog…but clapotis is more than that i guess. i mean, i’m not the only one who wants to knit it). anyway, i had some kp bare lying around. it isn’t superwash so i didn’t want to dye it up for socks…instead i decided to use it for this project.

since the yarn is so plain i think the magic of clapotis is lost on me. I AM GOING TO FINISH IT, THOUGH. i’m about halfway through. i’m just not so obsessed like some people (it looks awesome carol!). once i dye it black i foresee it being used many times over.