Everything's coming up orange!

I'm still hanging in there, sort of...

I never mentioned my little "accident". The day before Thanksgiving I had ventured out for the second time since the hurricane (a month prior) because I STILL have no stable front door. Walking back thru my parking lot I tripped over some hurricane debris that I didn't see because the lights in the parking lot that were damaged have not been replaced (yes, it was one of the dreaded hunks of roof that were still not removed in over a month jutting out onto the sidewalk!) When I fell I cut both my hands and really slammed my knees into the concrete. Both knees were bruised but my left knee was badly damaged. It swelled to the size of a small watermelon and I was black and blue from mid-calf to mid-thigh. I went to the doctor the Friday after Thanksgiving and have lots of soft tissue damage but nothing was broken. My knee is still very swollen and completely numb but the only treatment is keeping it elevated, anti-inflammatory meds and a warm heating pad until all the blood that seeped into the joint and tissue is reabsorbed. So even if I had a front door that locked, I wouldn't be going very far....Lovely, hmmm? Is 2005 done yet???? 2006 HAS to be better!

There is good news on the horizon tho....I have an appointment for a NEW DOOR on Sunday! Now let's hope the dude shows up!

On the knitting front, the bad news is the Jaywalkers are no more and the real expensive Opal is in the trash! I did ok with the pattern for the leg portion but even tho I was still getting gauge, the foot portion came out way too big. After ripping and re-knitting a good portion of the sock three times I decided the Jaywalker pattern, being designed as close fitting with negative ease, was not the best choice as a gift for someone who's feet were not accessible to me for ongoing fittings. In addition, the Opal did not hold up to frogging very well and altho it hurt my heart to toss the skein that was so dear and spendy, I couldn't live with the now fuzzy, worn appearance of the yarn! Sometimes a knitter's just gotta cut her losses so Jaywalker and $500 Opal, R.I.P!

Seems all I can knit these days is socks. Perhaps I need the relatively quick sense of accomplishment or it's all my present short attention span can handle. Here's the sock that took the place of the Jaywalkers.....It's the "Child's First Sock" from Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush made in Louet Gems Quartz....a light sportweight, ultra soft merino in a orange/terra cotta marl. I adore this yarn and the pattern is a very fun knit. For any sock knitters, the Knitting Vintage Socks book is a must have! Full of lovely patterns for men and women with lots of history and various interchangeable toe and heel treatments.

The pair is finished but I'll allow the recipient to show off the completed pair on her blog if she wishes. I just hope they fit and she likes them!

Since it's been all orange all the time here lately next I give you........drumroll please.......

THE PUMPKIN SOCKS

I've been wanting to design the perfect pair of footies for my extra fluffy feet and I thought, what better yarn to use than the extra special, dyed just for me, Pumpkin Yarn?

A bit of math and a bit of experimentation and these fit PERFECTLY!! And I love, love, love how they came out! They are sooooo soft and I love how the color goes from apricot to almost rust, just like the P-Man!!

Specs:

Knitpicks "Dye Your Own" Fingering weight yarn, expertly dyed to match my Pumpkin by La of JenLa fame
Pattern: My own.....top down, tubular 1x1 rib cast-on for cuff, 2x2 rib for leg and instep.

I really like the look (and less bulk) of the YO short row heel but I find the heel cup a bit shallow. To combat this I unvented my own version. Here's a close up......

NEWFANGLED HEEL

After dividing the stitches for the heel, I worked eight rows even before beginning the short row/yo decreases forming a "mini-flap". I used an Eye of Partridge slip stitch pattern starting with the work even rows and throughout the rest of the heel construction for extra cushion and strength. I worked the heel as I normally would for a yo short row heel but when I had completed the heel I picked up nine stitches on each side of the "mini-flap" for a mini-gusset.

MINI GUSSET CLOSE UP

Once I picked up the gusset sitiches and joined them with the instep, I decreased one gusset stitch (two stitches per row) every other row until the stitch count was back to the original number.

I'm really proud of the look of this heel and the fit is superb!! I think I've finally found my "formula" and can expand on more sock design from here.

La, thank you again for this lovely sock yarn that's inspired me to build a better mouse trap and will always make me think of you and my P-Man!

Even the P-Man has a thing for orange these days.....LOOK!


He was huggin' the Gems Quartz like no tomorrow! He knows soft and delicious orange yarn when he sees it! Just like him....orange, soft and delicious :)

Now a girl can't limit herself to only the orange spectrum, especially when she gets something like this in the mail......


Yes, it's a beautiful skein of Socks That Rock yarn in the Mesa colorway!! My favorite grrlfriend Margene and her buddy Susan sent me a splendid care package that included this amazingly beautiful yarn, some patterns, a cute quilted bag, and a few other little goodies to make me smile! Thanks Utah Grrls! You made this knitter's day (week, month....) I'm planning another pair of footies, this time with a bit of textural interest that should do this lovely yarn proud!

Thanks for all the ongoing support and kind words, now please think good "door fixing" thoughts for Sunday!! See ya soon!!