Progress at last

There's been a hiatus in the knitting (and the typing, so therefore the blogging for that matter) because I sliced the tip of one of my fingers instead of the broccoli last week and it was days before I could type or knit again. But now I am back at it. The socks are on temporary hiatus still though since I've started another project which I'm not gonna talk about yet for fear of jinxing my ability to knit fast enough to finish it in time.

Since my last post, I've been wrestling with old computers (backing up data and wiping hard drives and such) here at home. And before slicing my finger, working madly on my RSC socks & Gift 1. Gift 1 is more than half done now, thank goodness. It took me forever to decide on what exactly I wanted to do for that gift and even now I catch myself worried that she won't like it. In more rational moments I feel more confident that she will. I'd cross my fingers but I still have some work to do on it...

I managed to get my Rockin' Sock Club socks to the "part way along the foot" stage for both socks. It amused hubby no end to see me contorting around to take a picture of my feet wearing partial socks against a background that wouldn't be horribly embarrassing because of a the mess visible in the distance. The rest of the family just thought I'd lost it.One sock is sort of pooling and the other is striping. I believe that is due to a slight difference in gauge between the two socks. I don't get why really since all knitting has been being done with the same set of DPNs. The others are the same size but have only been used to hold the sock that was ahead while I caught the other one up to it. Possibly the second sock - the striping one - is striping because I wasn't as tense only I'm not sure it is the larger sock now that I think about it. I'm not positive about the gauge difference either because I've been too lazy to pin mark and measure properly.

They feel like they fit and I do have one bigger foot so I'm happy so far. The orange safety pin is telling me that is the instep (there's a green one on the soles - orange for sun-side, green for grass-side) because I'm just knitting the knits and purling the purls and I just know I'll forget which way is up once I get to the heel if I don't do something to keep track early on.

I had a terrible time with the toes of these socks. Which is funny only because the socks I finished that generated the beginning of this blog were also toe up with the short row toe thing (though not garter stitch) and I had no trouble whatsoever with them. Only, if I took notes on how I did them, I don't know where they are now. I soooo need to keep a knitting journal. I bought one so now I just need to remember to USE IT! You'd think the trauma of redoing the first sock's toe 4 times (I knit that toe five times, and the yarn still looks only a little bit fuzzy from all that ripping out - that's pretty good stuff, that STR) would have permanently seared into my little brain what I needed to do next time. No such luck. I started the second sock no more than 10 days after finishing that first toe at last and, yup, frogged and reknit three times.

Now I'm starting that new project, which I hope to have far enough along to feel comfortable blogging about it in a week or so. But that's it for knitting content - not much considering how long since I last posted, so I think I'll admit I have been buying yarn for future socks. My latest escapades at Sheri's shop netted Yarn Pirate and Cider Moon. And made me an official groupie. Possibly in record time. I must develop some self-control soon over this sock yarn fever stuff.
And oooh, squeal, etc. I am such a lucky new blogger I can't believe it. I was over at Maia's for her way back machine contest (man I wish I was that good a knitter even now let alone during my wayback period) and I won a prize! Which I totally feel undeserving of, having only recently found her blog. (No, not enough to not take it. Turn down handspun? Not gonna happen.) I'll post pics and tell all in a later post.