I promised I’d post pictures, and I did!

Here’s secret sock number one! I turned the heel last night, which is such a relief — with that accomplished, I think I’ll actually get this done before the week is out.

(don’t mind my heel)
These are vaguely adapted from Vivienne Shen’s Gull Wing pattern from Socks Socks Socks. It’s Cascade Fixation on US2 Brittany Birch needles, with contrasting heel and (eventually) toe.

And in the gratuitously cute pet category, Basil, who seems to think my knitting basket is her own personal nest:

(I need to get working on that Kitty Pi bed…)

With my sock savior challenge well in place, I needed to track down some Cascade Fixation in a hurry — my foster sock pal can’t do wool. The colors they had at Cass St., my LYS, were all variations on purple and green, the two colors my sock pal dislikes.

But I found another great supplier at Simply Sock Yarn. Allison seems to carry just about every color of Fixation that there is, among other great sock yarns, and not only that, she’s local: she was able to meet me at Firefly Coffee House to hand off the yarn Monday evening before my knitting group at Borders, so I’m well through the leg of the first sock. Hooray! And as an added bonus, she gave me an extra great deal on the yarn, knowing that I’m coming through for someone who bailed on Sockapaloooza. Knitting karma is a wonderful thing.

Of course I’m not near my camera or knitting again, so I can’t show you pictures yet. I will soon.

Finally, a bunch of photos! First, one each of the two pair of Regia 6-Ply socks I cruised through during various local theater performances.

Next, the beautiful socks my sock pal, Anmaryam, knit for me. It’s Koigu in a gorgeous colorway.


Here comes progress on the Eris cardigan. I’m doing this in KnitPicks Merino Style, and I’m on the sleeves. This pattern has been nothing but fun — clever, clever Girl from Auntie.

I’m making another Cable and Bobble Hat with a scarf to match of my own devising for Michelle, to go with her red winter coat with black buttons. It’s black Rowan Cashsoft DK, which shows up well in the first picture, and not grey, as it appears in the second, but the second picture catches the texture of the pattern really well.


Next, the KnitPicks Dancing socks I started for Mike way back in September while walking the Breast Cancer 3-Day, and finished in line for Soarin’ at Epcot.

Penultimate: Cherry Tree Hill socks for my sister-in-law. I was knitting my sock pal socks while we were visiting her house, and she commented on how she would like a pair of homemade socks, and her birthday was a couple weeks ago, so I’m pushing to get them done. The color is quite a bit less electric blue than it appears.

And last, but not least, the yarn my friend, Sarai, bought so I could make her a sweater. I’m struggling with the swatch. I had thought that working with yarn that I wouldn’t otherwise be drawn to would be fun, but I keep finding it difficult to get to it.

I am a Sock Savior.

I got an email from Alison today, asking if I could please be a Sock Savior for someone who got bailed on. “Of course,” I replied. The initial information on my new sock pal didn’t have a name on it, but as I read about fiber preferences, I got the feeling I knew who it was.

As it turns out, I do.

This person is pretty well-known in the land of the knitblog, and while I know Sockapaloooza is just one friendly knitter making something for another, I also feel a little like I’m making something for a bestselling author or movie star. Except that instead of making something for someone I’ve admired anonymously in a stalkeresque kind of way, this particular something will have been specifically requested. And it’s gotta be good, too. And fast, because my sock pal has been left hovering over the mailbox for the last month and a half, waiting for something that would never come. Nothing like pressure.

Okay. Yes, yes, I know I haven’t posted pictures. The main issue is that I often post here in the odd moment of break time at work, so when I’m thinking about taking photos, I’m neither near my knitting nor the camera. The few pictures I’ve done lately (i.e. the last three months) have been rush jobs, early in the morning before work, with me popping out the memory card to throw in my work bag and unartfully crunch through a thumbnail maker over lunch. And when I’m at home with the camera, I’m knitting.

Excuses, excuses… Well, I just sent off a short bio for a presentation I’m going to be giving in the fall on blogs in libraries, and since I included this blog in it, I have great incentive to be a better blogger this summer so that all these librarians see fresh content when they come to check it out.