Sock Update and Other Fun Things

Sock Update: I finished one of the Java Socks!

I love it so much! It's so soft and comfortable! The yarn is amazing, possibly my favorite ever. I will eventually make some for myself, but now I'm forging ahead on other Christmas gifts.

I thought I'd share some other cool things, too. First is what I've been using to transport my sock projects:

A Chinese-takeout box.  

 

It's great for a couple reasons. It easily contains my project and the accessories like a measuring tape and pattern. Also, as an advantage over a plastic or canvas bag, its rigidity prevents the tiny needles from snapping. I recently accidentally sat on and destroyed a couple of size 2 DPNs and was pretty devastated over it, which is why I searched for a reasonable alternative containment system. I think certain tupperware would work too, the trick is finding one that's long enough for needles. But it's always good to think creatively to repurpose something that is often thrown away.

Lastly, I was Christmas shopping at Bed Bath & Beyond and I saw this:

It's a sandwich cutter to make your sandwiches in the same of dinosaurs. It was too cute, I had to get it.

Fun fun fun!

The Good, the Bad, the Ugly, and then some more Good

The Good: I finished the Cadence Socks and they're awesome!

First Christmas present done! My sister will love these!

The Bad: I have a math exam tomorrow and I am totally unprepared!

The Ugly: The short socks are done...

wah waaaaah....

Ew.

Yuck. Get them away. Ew. Ew.

I'm pretty sure my only mistake was making them too big. I'm going to try again on 6's and see how that goes. Also, the pattern is obviously totally wrong about sizing. On these I did 9 iterations of the cable pattern (including the decreasing part), but I'd say for a size 7 foot or so to do 6 or 7 cable patterns (but maybe less on 6's, I'll let you know when I figure it out) But another sizing issue: the ankle is way too loose! My other sister would be like, "you made your other sister those amazing Cadence socks and I get these? You must hate me." So I'm not going to give her these socks. Because I don't hate her.

Maybe if you made these on 7's with thicker fluffier yarn they'd make good slippers, but now they're sort of ugly floppy useless sock/slipper hybrids. Another (necessary) deviation I made from the pattern is that I kitchener'd the toe shut, instead of pulling the yarn through the remaining 10 stitches.

The also-Good:

Instead of going back to the short socks, which I'm completely sick of, I forged ahead and started the Java Socks for sister's room mate #1:

Now this is what I thought sock-knitting would be like before I started. The Cadence socks were really easy and went really quickly. These socks however, they're just inching along. This yarn is much finer and I'm actually sticking to the size 1's. But they are oh-so-soft! 

Here's my game plan: The pattern said the leg is 6.5 inches long. Each iteration of the pattern (4 rows) is about a half an inch long. If I do 4 iterations of the pattern (about 2 inches) per day, I'll be done with the leg in a few days. Not bad. My problem is that this weekend is Thanksgiving, and my whole family will be together. This by itself is not a bad thing, but that means I can't work on any family-related projects, because then they'd see their gift before it's done and that would ruin everything. So I have to strategically work on certain projects while certain people are not around. I can work on the short socks on the way to Thanksgiving, because sister #2 won't be in the car, and I can work on the Java Socks at the party while sister #2 is around, and maybe I'll work on the fuzzy hat if my dad isn't around at some point.

I also need to come up with a gift for my mom. I really want her gift to be like a grand finale to the Christmas 2011 gift collection, but I can't find anything spectacular (and yet doable) enough. It's hard to browse patterns on Ravelry when I have 3 projects going at once. It makes me feel guilty. There are just too many fun things to do and no time at all to do them!

More Christmas Projects / Annoyances Part 2

I know it's probably the last thing I need to be doing right now, but I was testing out this fleecing technique used in this fleeced earflap hat because I bought some roving at the farmers' market and it just looked like SO MUCH FUN! And I assure you, the fluffiness and warm cuddly feeling that this little swatch gave me is getting me really excited to actually start this project. Here's a picture of what would be the "front flap" of the earflap hat made with Cascade Eco Wool and some truly fantastic roving from Wisconsin Highland Farms*.

Holy fluffiness!

Mmmm so soft! I love it!

But here's the thing. My priority list is as follows:

1. Study for my exam this week

2. Study for my exam next week

3. Finish the short socks

4. Finish the Cadence socks

5. Earflap hat

So you see here, this hat currently falls as #5 on my priority list, although I think taking out my giant pile of recycling should be up there, too. ANNOYING. 

Now, back to the short socks. Here's where I'm at:

Now, I selected the size 5 - 6 1/2 because my sisters and I have small feet. However, the pattern says to continue the sock 7 inches from where the heel flap diverges from the rest of the sock. But my foot is only about 6 inches longer, and then you need to factor in the toe decreases, right? My gauge is not off, how can this pattern be more than an inch off? And the toe decreases have to be at least 10 rows long! How ANNOYING. 

* Here's a shout-out to Wisconsin Highland Farms:

Wisconsin Highland Farms, LTD. 

Ann & Steve Herr, Owners 
2428 S. Dickey Road - Broadhead, WI 53520 
608-897-4380 
ann.herr@hotmail.com

Fall Food

Ah, fall. Something about fall foods that seems like the entirety of summer was simply working towards the deliciousness of squash and apples. I was at the Dane County Farmers' Market this weekend, which happened to be the last outdoor farmers' market of the season, and I got some fantastic deals, including a grocery bag full of acorn squash for a couple bucks. Amazing! I shared some of my steals with some neighbors and started cooking some for myself immediately! Acorn squash is easy: just cut them in half, take out the "guts" and cook them face-down on a baking sheet until they're done. I set my oven to 375 and it took them about 30 minutes, but if you're going to try this you should probably consult some other source, because my oven frequently lies to me. It's a small, robust, antique-y looking thing. What I really need is an oven thermometer...

So what to do with the seeds? I usually just compost them with the rest of the squash insides. This time, I tried roasting them. After I scooped them out of the squash, I pulled the extra stuff off the seeds and rinsed them. This can be tricky! They are slippery little tiny tricksters. Then I dried them off with some paper towels.

Here they are sans gooey stuff and rinsed.

Then I added some olive oil, just enough to coat (a few tablespoons) and some salt, garlic powder, and some paprika. I spred them out on some parchment paper on a baking sheet and set the oven to 300.

I took them out after 15 minutes and tossed them, then put them back in for another 15. You could probably leave them in longer and make them crispier if you wanted to.

Yum! When I'm home alone doing homework, these go fast! They almost taste like sunflower seeds.

On another food-related note, I got one of these fancy coffee makers for my birthday:

Hellooooo caffeine addiction.

These things are just amazing. I've already had two of these today (too much, Anna?) and it is pretty tasty. Flavored coffee is really not my thing, but from the variety-pack I tried a vanilla flavored coffee, and when it is hot and fresh this stuff is good. Highly recommended to people who are busy, lazy, or both (like me). 

Annoyances

A couple things are annoying me right now. Yes, it's almost 2 A.M. which might explain most, if not all, of my menial complains, but I will share them with you anyways:

Cadence Socks:

Almost done. Yeah, almost. Because I ran out of yarn. At the toe of the second sock. That means I'll have to go buy another skein of this (expensive) yarn just to finish the toe! Then what am I going to do with the rest??? UGH. Look at it! It's just screaming "finish me! finish me!"

So, facing this tragedy, I started on socks for sister #2. I spotted this pattern a while back, the unoriginally titled "short socks." It almost sounds too good to be true. Socks on size 7's? Who has heard of such a thing? After doing the Cadence Socks on size 2's, I was so shocked to have to re-acclimate myself to the 7's.

What a monstrosity! You could whack someone over the head with these giant pillars of wood and kill them instantly.

The execution is easy enough, except for the pattern is complete gibberish. It's like one painfully long run-on sentence with random, unnecessary punctuation AND CAPS LOCK. "REMEMBER THE GUAGE!" it screams at you in the middle of a paragraph. Why? Shouldn't I have theoretically checked the gauge before starting? Even if I didn't, (I hardly ever do) why on earth would I check it now? You don't give the gauge for ribbing!
"NOTE: This pattern is written in American English. All measurements in charts are in cm."
Really? Does that make sense? It doesn't to me, but that might be the result of a lack of sleep on my part. 
In a more realistic sense of complaints: thrown in here and there are vague terms like "rib" which is supposed to imply 3x3 ribbing. The charts are also not the best. 


</whining>


It's decided: everyone is getting socks this year. I have sock fever! Except for Dad, who is getting this hat.