Quit ‘cher belly achin’!

Now, I ain’t one to sit around and bitch. That’s just not my style. Case in point:

The Walker Treasury Project. Yea, yea, the small black and white photos suck. But now, we can all work together and come up with a better solution. It’s teamwork darlins!

But now last night, I was knitting myself a dish towel. Something kitchy, somethin’ so ugly in color choices that only a mother could love ‘er. The stitch pattern that I picked out was from Barbara Walker’s Treasury of Knitting Patterns. It was a good pattern, but it was a 12 row repeat. And the gol’ dang book kept flippin’ flipping closed on me.

Luckily, the pattern was pretty basic and after 2 rows I kinda figured out what I was doin’.

But still, the frustration demanded I do something about it. Behold:

One of those things is not like the other!

What a perfect fix -and why havne’t I seen this before – I’d have done it long ago!

The details:

1. Call up your local copy shop. Mine was in the library of my college. Ask them if they could take a soft cover book and make it spiral bound for you. If they say yes, you’re in luck!
2. Take them your book. Have faith that they are not going to ruin it. That they are professionals. Know that when your book is returned to you, it will be way more useful to you than before.
3. Walk away if you are weak. If you are strong (or curious, like I was) then watch as they chop the spine off the book. Gaze as they drill the holes along the spine (only a few pages at a time here). Look with wonderment as they spin a spiral through the holes – and make your book whole again!
4. Pay. This cost me $3.60 – seriously. I do not know why I didn’t do this sooner.

Next up: My second treasury and my Knitter’s Handbook (which I never use because it never stays open!!!)

Feetsies…

It’s cold outside.  There’s 4 inches of snow on the ground and wind chills in the single digits.

And I only have one sock.  It’s a warm sock.  But one sock nonetheless.

Time to cast on for the next one…

I can’t get enough socks!

Seriously. I love me some sock knitting. I also love me some sock wearin’ but I can’t finish a pair reliably.

I’ve been knitting them so fast that I can’t even photograph them in progress! It’s crazy I say! First up, I’m knit this long and ugly Koigue sock (furthest to the left). Since I hadn’t knit with Koigu before, I knit the sock toe up to use as much yarn as possible. Since I hadn’t worn Koigu before, I used KP essential for the toes, heel and cuff. The stitch pattern is based on the Campfire socks from the talented Cider Moon. The socks come up VERY high and since I didn’t do any calf shaping, they’re pretty tight on top. I’m calling them slouchy 80’s socks. Live and learn right?

This the Monkey Pattern from Knitty. I love this knit. It’s fast (hence, no photos in progress) and it really does a great job with variegated yarns. The yarn is Claudia Handpaints as gifted to me by Tori for Secret Pal 9!

I’ve also knit a plain jane stockinette sock in some Trekking that I picked up a few months back. Quick and painless. Not much else to say here except that the leg is pretty long and I really, really hope that there’s enough yarn left in the skein to knit the other sock.

And, rather than knit a mate for any of these three socks, or the ugly gray sock which doesn’t fit anyone, or Sarah, I’ve started a new sock. Check it out:

This is the Norwegian Stockings pattern from Nancy Bush’s Folk Socks. I’m so in love with this pattern. Like the last pair of fair isle socks I knit, I keep wanting to knit a little bit further to see how the pattern works itself out. I’m so addicted to stranded knitting. In fact, I took the photo of this sock maybe two ours ago, and I’ve already done a whole ‘nother repeat of the gray and blue pattern. Love this sock! (the yarn is KP Telemark – GREAT for this pattern, by the way!)