booyah

Well, well, well.

Look what happened!


We see a toe and some foot; no heel, no leg, no cuff... that can only mean one thing!!

Finally, the figure eight cast-on did it for me. Yes, I can wind my yarn around my needles. Yes, I can increase on tightly-gripped DPNs until my fingers fall off. Yes, I can make a toe-up sock!

I'm thrilled. I'm also relieved--I've been commissioned by a friend from work (read: she's paying for the yarn) to make a pair of socks. We're going simple, here: self-striping, bright, quality but not luxury yarn, in the simplest garter rib. I purchased a 50g ball of this squishy Regia (which I'm loving) for each sock and will just knit until I run out of the stuff. Hooray!

Her ankles and calves may pose a challenge: my buddy's calves are rather thick. She isn't,this isn't to say that they're out of proportion, but they're built solid. I'll have some increasing to and do. Another new technique! I LOVE these socks.


They're also very playful. Let's go to the park, they whispered as I tore into my salad at lunch last Thursday. I want to play on the swings!




And let me just say that now I understand the glory that is full outdoor daytime sunlight for pictures. Let's hope that I'll be heading to the front steps to take more pictures. Dear lord, look at this blog. Eek.


Speaking of, what's with the two-week hiatus? My mom came to visit this weekend, which means that I had an apartment to clean like the dickens this past week. I mean, I haven't been living in a sty but seriously, the floors needed some lovin' and I had a few things to put together before she came. This is the first time she's seeing my new apartment and I didn't want this to be a "oh, I love your new place, but why don't we go to Ikea and pick up XXXX/couldn't you use a ____?" visit.

Revamping my knitting basket was a focus of my Week of Preparing. I was operating under the assumption that my stash will never grow. I will never buy knitting books or print patterns off the internet and I will never have a makeup bag full of notions to contend with. Therefore, in the corner of my bedroom sat a monstrosity:


You can only imagine the carnage. Yarn and patterns strewn upon the floor, spilling out of the basket... holy crap.

No more!! I headed to Target with the intention of picking up something made of white laminate. Wierd. I've been into dark wood lately. But nope, this project called for cheery kid's room white laminate and canvas storage cubes.


Ahhhh.


I keep my needles in a wasabi pea can, which I love (my mother: "You could turn that into a lamp! Easy!") but might look for a funky vase or something instead. The needles are all different brands and colors and sizes; straights and DPNs alike, but I love seeing them out and at attention!


Which reminds me. The day I went to pick up the Regia for my coworker's socks, I witnessed a bicycle accident as I drove home. I was the first to the side of the unfortunate biker, and dear lord. There was help and an NP (hooray for nurse practitioners!) and a doctor showed up after a few minutes as 911 was called, but from now on I will always have nitrile gloves in my car. And I will always wear a helmet. The person I helped that day did not.

Whoo! Okay! There's my friendly PSA for the post. Wear a helmet. Keep gloves handy--you can order a box online (expensive) or next time you're in for your checkup or annual or doctor's appt, ask for a handful (the price of your co-pay or sliding scale clinic fee--god I love those). I grabbed mine at work.

Alright. 3504 people are ahead of me in line to receive a Ravelry invite. Getting closer!! Whee!