FO: Monkeying Around Socks

Put these through the washer and dryer today, and took a picture:



Project: The Crazy Monkeys, based on Cookie A's pattern.

Yarn: Jojoland Melody Superwash, significantly less than 2 skeins.

Needle: Knitpicks 32" fixed circular, size 0 (2 mm).

Notes: I really like the look of this yarn, but found it too splitty for my taste. I kept catching extra strands of the stitch in front of the one that I was knitting, which is not a usual thing for me. Superwash, though, is definitely the way to go as far as socks are concerned; I have enough to do handwashing various items for work wear, let alone having to add socks to the mix. Per the picture, one of them really is slightly longer than the other: an unfortunate side effect of not having sock blockers, I think. Whatever. This so does not bother me.

It was fun to see the simple lace pattern appear, although I am apparently not yet smart enough to memorize the 8-row pattern repeat. It's always good to try out a new technique, and this time around I learned how to do a gusset and heel flap from the bottom up. Interesting, but the result was not quite as snug a fit as the short row heel I did on my previous pair of socks. I think I may need to pick up a sock pattern book soon to learn a little more about sock construction and fit.

This project has gotten me firmly hooked on knitting socks, so yay for that! I usually wear cheap cotton ankle socks, the ones you get at the drugstore for $2 a pair, but I rather like the idea of having a pair of handknit socks for every day of the week. Maybe someday I'll even sign up for the 52 Pair Plunge. :)

Oh hai, bitch, u no studeez

Obviously there is no room to open textbooks. Look at that gigantic foot!

So, I turned the heel on my sock. (Note strategic placement of sock pattern.)

January knitting goals (better late than never, right?)

I like the idea of accountability, but frankly, knitting is near the bottom of my list of daily priorities. I'm going to frame these monthly goals more as personal challenges than anything else. I'm not racing against real deadlines, after all. So here are the January goals:

1. Complete my toe-up Crazy Monkey socks. I cast on for these on January 4, and I've just started the heel flap increases on the second sock.

2. Start and complete a Foliage hat.

3. For the Secret Project, cast on and get to the mindless knitting part so I can take it on the commute.

Another year, another set of resolutions

I've been posting my projects on Ravelry and woefully neglecting my little blog here. To sum up December, I did manage to clear everything off the needles before the end of the year, adding to my finished items list a little hat for my nephew:



And a pair of socks for me:



And a couple of garter stitch dishcloths for the kitchen:



It is very clear to me that I have no actual need to purchase yarn in the foreseeable future, so my knitting resolutions this year all center around stash management and reduction. I'm going to try to stick to a few rules:

1. Put a moratorium on yarn purchases for the first three months of the year. I can best accomplish by avoiding yarn browsing both online and in-store.

2. Publish monthly knitting goals, and document my progress on achieving them. Ravelry is an awesome tool for managing your stash and project ideas, and the blog is a great way to track actual movement.

3. Set aside some daylight time on the weekends to get some decent FO photos in natural light.