Hey there stranger!

It's been a while, no? We have made it out of Houston (just ahead of a Flood of Biblical Proportions) and are comfortably ensconced in Vermont at the moment. I've taken advantage of the Grandmothers to get some knitting done. But in order to have at least a few posts over the next few days, I will not talk about all of it here.

First up: ta da! The first of the TdF socks is done in it's first incarnation (the cuff is going to be adjusted when I get to London and the rest of my yarn for this project).

Pattern: my own, to be available in late June.
Yarn: Cascade Fixation (98% cotton/2% elastic), 100 yds/50 gr. For a women's size 10 I used about a ball and a half.
Needles: US 1/2.25 mm
Gauge: 7.5 stitches/12 rows per inch.

These anklets are knit from the toe up, with an easy lace pattern reminiscent of the switchbacks on Alpe d'Huez, one of the most famous and storied climbs in the Tour de France. Easy, peasy and quite comfy for the hot days of summer, whether or not you're riding your bike!

FO: Science Geek socks

Pattern: Biological Clocks by Janel Laidman, from The Eclectic Sole
Yarn: Araucania Ranco, 1 skein
Needles: US 1/2.25 mm
Gauge: 9 sts (!)/12 rows per inch
Comments/mods: These socks have been on my list for a while now, and I finally cast on for them in January. With one thing and another, the knitting was finally done on the last day of February, but I did not get a chance to sew down the cuffs. So here they are for March.

I did change the pattern a bit from what is in the book. First off, the pattern in the book is written for a smaller foot then mine. That wasn't so bad for the circumference of the sock (62 stitches), but the number of increases for the gusset was a bit wonky. I forged ahead, continuing the increases to what I thought was a reasonable number for my foot, did the heel, got through 3 of 4 charts, and then bowed to the inevitable realization that the sock was too big. So I ripped back to the midfoot and used Cat Bordhi's Riverbend sockitecture for the rest of the foot, did an eye of partridge heel and went on with the charts. This worked much better, and they fit great!

I really enjoyed this yarn - it's got a very nice, substantial feel to it but is plenty soft enough for next-to-skin wear, and the colors are just lovely. I can't really justify any more yarn purchases (look for a dramatic update on the amount of Knit Picks Palette I own in the near future), but when I get back to that point, I'll get some more of this.

Heh heh...I have DNA on my feet...what a geek!

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Book update for Feb/March:
16. Whiskey and Water - Elizabeth Bear
15. The Alton Gift - Marion Zimmer Bradley and Deborah J. Ross
14. Dragon Singer - Anne McCaffrey
13. The Bull from the Sea - Mary Renault
March
12. Careless in Red - Elizabeth George
11. New Amsterdam - Elizabeth Bear
10. In the Moon of Red Ponies - James Lee Burke
9. A Different Light - Elizabeth Lynn
8. Little Brother - Cory Doctorow
7. Darwinia - Robert Charles Wilson
February
6. Undertow - Elizabeth Bear (I needed some aliens to recover from the overload of teenage vampire hormonal angst and wizard vs. werewolf shenanigans)
5. Fool Moon - Jim Butcher
4. Breaking Dawn - Stephanie Meyer (phew!)
3. Eclipse - Stephanie Meyer
New Moon - Stephanie Meyer
1. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Steig Larsson, translated from Swedish by Reg Keeland.
January

I shudder to think of the therapy bills

that will result in my future because of the pictures I am about to show you. But so be it. They are too good not to share.

Wednesday morning, I noticed when Boo woke up that her right eye looked a bit swollen. Sure enough, someone (damn February mosquitos!) had bitten her right at the corner of her eye, and her lower lid was reacting in typical Boo-fashion (welt, welt, welt!). I didn't think much of it until I picked her up at school.

This is how she looked when we picked her up on Wednesday night.

Mosquito: 1, Boo: 0

The next morning it was even worse, Benadryl not withstanding, so we made an appointment with the doctor. One ped visit (complete with every parent's favorite words: Staph infection), and one large bottle of antibiotics later, we had this:

And as of Saturday morning, her eye looked totally normal, if a bit discolored around the edges. Poor thing. Thankfully she didn't seem at all bothered by the fact that her binocular vision had disappeared overnight. Or that she looked kind of freakish. In fact she took great glee in going up to unsuspecting people, sticking a finger in her right eye and shouting "Skeeto!" It worked better while it was still visibly swollen (the cashier in the grocery store yesterday just smiled and nodded).

Thankfully, Boo had some new socks to console her in her time of travail:

Pattern/yarn: the same as Devil's pink girly socks, only using Grumperina's helical stripe technique and two shades of Kool Aid dyed Knit Picks Bare sock yarn, dyed in Fall, 2006.
Needles: US 1/2.25 mm
Gauge: 7 sts/inch
Comments: Socks for the girls are my new love. Fast, sweet, and they use up yarn amounts that are silly for almost anything else. I'm still hoping I'll finish the geeky nerdo genetics socks by the end of the month, but in case I don't I've got February's pair covered.

Back in the saddle again

The first pair of socks for 2009:

Pattern: umm, no. Top down, picot cuff, eye of partridge heel, star toe, 42 stitches.
Yarn: Cascade Fixation, in a color I believe is #9398, just under one ball (100 yds).
Comments: I realized last week that my Science Geek socks were not going to be done in time for the SAM knitalong. Enter a quickie pair of socks for Devil. I started them last Thursday during an epic Barbie Fairytopia video marathon and finished sewing in the ends on the bus ride home last night. Love the stripes. She wore them to school today. With her Tomten. Win, win, win. I guess Boo needs a pair now. Good thing I picked up a bunch of this yarn on sale a couple of months ago!

And hopefully my socks will be done next month. Onward to pair #2.

Addendum: Brilliant!

FO: Ironman's Christmas socks

Pattern: Spiraling Coriolis by Cat Bordhi
Yarn: Trekking XXL colorway #76, 1 skein
Needles: US 1/2.25 Harmony double points
Gauge: 9 sts/12 row per inch
Comments: I did the same pattern that I did for my July SAM socks, but widened the spiraling band to include a cable. I worked the cable over 7 stitches (p1, k2, p1, k2, p1), crossing every 8 rows. I crossed the cables towards the top of the sock, so they go in opposite directions on the two socks.

Again, lovely colors from the folks at Zitron. They looked a lot redder in the skein then in the finished socks, but the striping is pretty subtle (always a good thing with items for Himself).

I always get a smaller gauge with Trekking XXL then with other sock yarns - it's definitely on the thinner side - but it makes a nice fabric that wears well. I made a pair of entrelac socks for Ironman out of the same yarn a couple of years ago that are going strong (must write up that pattern sometime).

So this concludes this year's Sock a Month extravaganza. I think I only missed one month, and one month was a total cheater. I'm hoping to keep up the streak in 2009, but may have to resort to either knitting socks just for myself or for people with smallish feet - there's been a lot of very small stitches this year!