A Simple Sock

My sister asked me for black-and-white socks, so I looked around my stash and found some yarn I think fits the bill. I probably last shared a photo of this project, which I named Bruce, because I worked on it watching a Bruce Springsteen concert on TV,  in December. I carried it around for a long time to work on when I needed something that didn't require a chart (like waiting in airports), but it went slowly. Then I took it off the needles because I needed a size 0 for some other project...that really slows a sock down. But, I did manage to finish the first of this pair last week.

This is my office, so you can deduce that I finished it while waiting for some software to crunch (I had a big project that had to churn away for a half hour). The yarn is from Knitivity as are many of my sock projects, and according to the label it was made in October 2008. I think it may be another one-off that didn't do what it was supposed to do for a named colorway, but I thought it looked cool. I like how it stripes.

The photo above was supposed to show how there is one rib that travels across the sock, but mostly you see a sideways Polycom phone and some fake flowers. Unfortunately, my little design element was so subtle that it didn't hardly show up at all! Because of that, sock #2 is going to just be a 2x2 rib standard toe-up sock. No bells and whistles. That's fine. They will be sturdy, comfy, and quite neutral for my sister's wardrobe that is also quite neutral.

I hope it will be fewer than four months before I show you the finished second sock. I'd sorta like to be done with this by her July birthday! (I could finish in a couple of days if I wasn't distracted by the more exciting orange socks!)

New Year's Greetings with Socks

New Year's greetings to all of you! I rang in the year at a small gathering of friends, most of whom I had been with to ring in 2000, so it was interesting to think of all the changes we had been through. I am lucky that I still have my knitting, my constant companion, to keep me on an even keel. I know many of you find knitting a real help in your life--it keeps us from ever being bored, it calms us in times of stress, and most important, for me at least, it provides us with a way to meet new people and make some wonderful new friends. So, to start the year I would like to thank everyone who is hanging in there and reading this blog for being there. I am glad to know many of you in person, and I feel like I have gotten to know many of the rest of you through your own blogs, Ravelry, Facebook, e-mail, etc. Our connections with others are precious, and I think it's pretty cool that an "old-fashioned" thing like knitting cam combine with new technologies to bring people closer. I will keep knitting on, hoping it leads to some small measure of peace and understanding among people everywhere!

Oh, and I finished an Angee sock. Look how pretty it is hanging on a red wall in our media room. I think these are going to be a wonderful pair once the other one is done.

The pattern is not bad to do, but it is one of those where you need to have the chart in front of you at all times, so I can't work on this as quickly as I would like--there are lots of places where I knit where I can't hold on to my pattern easily!

On the other hand, I can knit these socks for my sister just about anywhere, even though I think I am going to add a little twist to the leg. I'll show it to you when there is more of it. At least I got a photo of the sock in progress, finally. I've named the socks "Bruce" because I was watching Bruce Springsteen on a TV program while doing the heel, as you can see.

I am liking the yarn a lot. It is definitely black for the most part, but I like the white and tan striping. I hope it is what my sister is looking for. If not, I will certainly take them! These are not in your face or overly exciting, but they are nice, interesting socks. I will enjoy finishing them.
Well, I am from the southern part of the US (Gainesville, Florida), so I have to go cook some black-eyed peas, collard greens and cornbread, because that is what we eat on New Year's Day. I will help Lee take down the Christmas decor and other holiday stuff, too. Then, I'm going to start that second Angee. If I can get another sock done this weekend (and that should be quite possible), THEN I will start another project...probably those gloves I mentioned. Then I have to figure out whether a Shetland shawl or a sweater I've been wanting to make for a long time is next...stay tuned.

Let's hope for better times for all of us.