One Licorice Down, One To Go

A finished sock approaches.  Command?

I've got to hand it to the Sock Knitters Anonymous group on Ravelry.  Their monthly sockdown challenge has motivated me to knit this in 19 days.  I don't think I've knit a sock so fast.  I do have extra time between college and my job, but I'm still proud of myself.  I went from one year to less than a month.

It's very possible I'll finish the pair by the end of February and win fabulous prizes!

Once this is over, I'm going to sit out a challenge or two and pick up work on Rogue again.  I'm just starting the cable work around the collar.

On a side note, my friend Larry Oji described me as 'Kristi Kaufman, kickass knitter'.  I like that; one of the most gratuitous uses of the letter 'K' I've ever seen.  Sure...my husband composed the soundtrack for Contra 4.  I guess that's kind of a big deal, but I'm a kickass knitter!

Yeah.. :)

Heel and Turn

I love turning heels on socks.  It's when a top down sock really starts looking like a sock to me.  That and it's a simple technique with a neat effect.

I'm working on the gusset decreases now.

On a side note, I heard this at work today.

"We need more buckets for body parts."

We store the dissection specimens for the natural science classes.  If a lab needs a few eyeballs or hearts to dissect, we put them in buckets and cart them off to class.

So, as odd as that sounds, it's really completely normal!

Leg of Licorice

I started the Licorice Stick Socks on January 1st and have completed the leg of one sock so far.

I start school and my job tomorrow, but I hope I can keep up the pace.  This knit is going pretty fast for me, but hey...the yarn is really pretty.  There are silver slivers throughout the yarn, but I can't capture it on camera.

I Can't Decide

I've decided to participate in Sockdown: Ravelry! for the month of January.  I need to use up the tubs of sock yarn I have try to keep the construction of a pair of socks under two years.

January's theme is beaded socks, socks from an online magazine, or a mystery sock pattern by Emmie.  I really don't care for beads on my socks and I didn't want to deal with the uncertainty of a mystery pattern this time.  I'll be travelling in early January.

Searching through the internets has led me to the Licorice Stick Socks from Twist Collective.  It's in many Ravelry queues, but no one has started a pair yet.  For you Ravelers, the pattern link is here.

I pulled my sock yarn tubs out of the closet and started throwing sock yarn all over the bed.  I can't just look at photos of my yarn, I need to touch it and see it for myself.  I've narrowed it down to five...which one should I use?

1.  Yarn Pirate in 'Hard Cider'.  This was the "Booty" Club for last September.

2.  Socks That Rock Lightweight in 'Lenore' from the Rockin' Sock Club.

3.  Brooks Farm Acero in a denim colorway.  There isn't a specific color name on the tag.  I purchased this at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival.

4.  Dream In Color Starry in 'Tea Party'.  This was purchased at The Loopy Ewe.

5.  Dream In Color Starry in 'Dusky Aurora'.  This was also purchased at The Loopy Ewe.

I can't decide.  It takes me ten minutes just to decide what to eat at a fast food joint.

Excess Booty From the Yarn Pirate

This is the Yarn Pirate's Neptune colorway which was dyed exclusively for her "Booty" Club.

The chicken scratch is my self-imposed algebra homework.  I am trying to brush up over the holiday so I can test out of Intermediate Algebra and Geometry.

This is my TI-84 caculator echoing my frustration over the algebra.  I was learning pre-calculus about ten years ago, but it's difficult trying to remember it all again after such a long hiatus.

The real problem here is that I'm not supposed to have this beautiful yarn.  Nope.  I cancelled my "Booty" Club membership a few months ago.  I was so busy with my job; I didn't have time to knit with a new sock yarn every month.  I was also too busy to notice that I was still getting monthly shipments.  Once I quit my job, I realized that I received quite a few more skeins of yarn that I should have.

I felt horrible.  I did cancel my account correctly, but I was too busy to keep track of when I was supposed to get the last one.  So, I messaged the Yarn Pirate on Ravelry.

I offered to buy any extra yarn she sent me or send all of the yarn back.  I didn't want to cheat an indie dyer who happens to have a cute kid. 

She responded quickly and told me that it was an oversight on her part and to just keep the yarn.  Keep the yarn...at no cost.  Wow.  

Just to set things right though, I encourage you to try out the "Booty" Club.  Signups started on December 15th and it looks like the links are still up here.  You can choose to purchase  monthly or in three month blocks.  It's totally worth it!

Just don't be a nerd like me and loose track of your shipments.