i'm a jaywalker

woo! a finished sock! and one that fits even. i will start the second one this evening so as to avoid my little jaywalker becoming a one-sock wonder.

i have to confess...i don't feel like the jaywalker captured my attention as it seems to have done for so many others. i am happy with the end result (just happy to learn i can actually knit a sock!), but i often found the work tedious, and i'm not overeager to start the second one. i'm finding myself dreaming about lace socks though - maybe that's where i'll find my love for sock knitting. and i'm not writing off the jaywalker pattern completely - it is a lovely sock!

i think part of my problem is the yarn i chose. this was made with knitpicks memories sock yarn in geranium. a lovely yarn to be sure, but if i learned one thing knitting this sock, it's that i get frustrated by the, well, variations in variegated yarn. i kept willing it to stripe, and of course it did not always comply. i think i would have felt more satisfied with the crisp, well-defined quality of a self-striping yarn, or even a pretty, tweedy monochrome perhaps.

but i don't want to detract from the fact that i DID finish a sock! so here it is...

since socktober is kicking off this weekend, i thought i'd honor the occasion by ordering some yummy new sock yarn. i went for lisa souza's sock! yarn, in gingerpeach.

behold:



i may not be done yet...do i need some of this?

down...up...down...up

i just joined a gym! how very unlike me. i have to admit that one of the biggest draws was my friend telling me how all of the exercise bikes have tvs on them...tvs with cable! i'm hoping i can catch some project runway action in real time instead of having to wait for the previous season to come out on dvd. it's exercise made for lazy people like me! couch potato self...meet fit self. :)

socktoberfest!

i just joined socktoberfest! hopefully it will force me to finish my first pair of socks that are taking me way longer than they should. i seem to be the only person who thinks socks take a long time - i finished half of orangina in about the same amount of time it's taken me to do 3/4 of a sock. so that is my soctoberfest goal: pick up the pace, do more than one row a night, and have at least one completed pair of socks at the end of the month to show for it!

my week nights planned out for the next six months or so...

just to keep me honest, here's my six-month project plan:

jaywalkers (finish)
plain jane slippers (finish)
orangina (finish)
totoro hat
squirrel and oak mittens
day flower scarf x 2
hedera socks
hoover baby blanket

and if/when i ever finish those...i'm thinking fad classic.

the sad/depressing/practical part of this list is that i already have yarn for all of these projects. no yarn shopping for me for a while.

what's this?!

i started a blog! i never really thought i wanted one...it feels so self-absorbed, and plus i know it's just one more thing for me to remember to do. but i've become so into reading other peoples' blogs, especially knitters' blogs, so i felt like maybe i wanted to be part of the fun. we'll see how long the good feelings remain - this was a random idea born from having nothing to do at work today, so like many of my projects, it may fall by the wayside as newer, more exciting things catch my attention. or it will become one more thing to feel guilty about not working on when i get busy. but for now i'll be optimistic and do what i always do when i have new, open space - decorate!